Been There... Done That...: 313 @ Somerset

The last addition this year to the already crowded Orchard Road, the 313@Somerset, finally opened its doors yesterday. Unlike its neighbour, Orchard Central (whom opened a few months earlier), this bad boy looks set to challenge the superiority of Heeren, Cineleisure, and by extension, upmarket Orchard - with outlets aimed at the youth market. If anything, its already caused havoc within the architectural community - being the second shopping mall in Singapore to achieve the Green Mark Platinum Award, the first being City Square in Serangoon. Amazingly, its also the first shopping mall that I know of that has a training centre, providing free customer service courses aimed at mall retail staff.

From what i've heard, the project was down with lots of problems - so much so that it was rushed through-and-through, in order to make it in time for the christmas shopping crowd. I seriously doubt any of those workers got any sleep in the past week. Heck, they didn't even have time to install the flooring - prefering carpets instead as a temporary measure!

Ah well, its all in the past now - those workers can now take a semi-breather, come back next week for those remaining 2-million touch-ups. It was worth the hard work - the mall was buzzing with excitement. Almost 80% of shops made it for the soft opening - most of them internal shops which did not have to deal with too much window display. Unfortunately, their facade starlets weren't that lucky. Out of the few, only Zara made the day.

The great buzz could mostly be attributed to the current carrot of the mall, Uniqlo. The Japanese casual wear label opened their biggest store in South East Asia with a bang - by dangling a big fat discount carrot. Queues were seen extending way beyond the shop entrance - mostly made out of teens and young adults.

Other attractions include a 4-level Forever 21, UK fast fashion brand - New Look, HMV Music Store, and Stadium, the sports concept store. Cotton On looks set for their first facade flagship along Orchard Road too.

On the F&B side, Marche makes a return with an outlet strategically positioned next to the Somerset MRT entrance. The entire B3, dubbed the Food Hall, houses plenty of small bite, fast food and budget friendly restaurants. If you're looking for more, there's also a few unique upper-range restaurants such as the Hand Burger, Flying Chillies Thai Restaurant, Brotzeit German Bier Bar & Restaurant, Kamado Japanese Wood Fire, and Trattoria Cucina Italiana. Last but not least, there's always the food court - Food Republic housed on the 5th floor, opened their largest outlet in Singapore here - boasting 21 stalls and 5 mini-restaurants. Hence, rest assured, there will be food.