Where to change SGD to TWD in Singapore

Where is best place to change Sing dollars to Taiwan dollars?

I did not had much to change for the taiwan trip this time round.
As recommended previously when changing SGD to MYR , for a small amount of a few hundreds, it may not be worth the time and effort to make a special trip down for the few dollars savings.

However, there is still a way to get a better rate than the money exchangers at the Singapore airport.

And that way is to think out of the box and...

Change at the money exchangers at the Taiwan Taoyuan airport.

Twd change at the airport in taiwan

There will be 3 money changers,
・one straight after you touch down towards immigration,
・one after immigration at the luggage retrieval belts area, and
・the final one at the pathway after the customs declaration.
The final one had the best rate 21.5, though only slightly better than the one right after you touch down towards immigration(21.3).
I would say go for the one with the least queue.

Comparison of rate

Singapore Airport offered 20.6
Taiwan airport offered 21.3 -21.5.
That translates to a 3~4% savings! which turns out can be quite substantial!


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First time to dubai: what to wear for work, how to get to your hotel, where to change money

I had the chance to visit Dubai,UAE for a work assignment and being the maiden trip for me, I felt myself asking a lot of questions. It was after all, not the usual work trips to Southeast Asia, and the culture is much different.

What to wear to work

I was thinking to wear polo tee in view of the hot weather, but was concerned if it would be too casual by Dubai standards. My worries were unfounded. There were definitely people in suits and ties, there were also a handful in normal long-sleeve shirt and pants, and polo tees were not uncommon.

For ladies, my feel is most expats dress conservatively, though you could still see some ladies dressed like they are still in Europe. (Dubai is a city with a significant number of western expats after all)

In times of doubt on the dress code, always err to the safer side.

Where to change money

Unlike more common places like Malaysia and Japan, where the currency rate does not differ much whether you change it in some of the currency exchange hotspots in town or at the airport, for the case of AED ( United Arab Emirates Dirham, UAE's currency) , it does matter where to change.

In simple numbers, this was the rate i got at various places

Arcade: 1 SGD : 2.530 AED

Airport: 1 SGD : 2.358 AED

That is a difference of about 17 bp , which is about 7% difference. (To put things in perspective, thats about $7 bucks you are saving for every $100 you are changing)

I changed 500 for this trip , saving me about $35. (Totally worth a trip down to raffles place to change!)

I also read online that the rate is better at dubai.

I went to the Dubai mall to check out the rate, they offered 1SGD : 2.35AED (Not fantastic)

Not very sure if I was able to get my hands on any AED at Dubai, I decided to change in Singapore just in case(my usual style). I am glad i did!

How to get to your hotel from the airport 

(Hint:Uber)

Nice rides, you will get minimum a lexus.

Call the driver to coordinate where to meet.

My case:

From the airport, Head out of arrivals turn left, and you will exit to the taxis area.
Across the road is the car park.
This location is gate 2, I waited for my driver here , who parked his car and came out to meet me.

Hope this was useful for you!

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How to change money at Singapore money changers

Today, I was at lucky plaza to change some money to Hong kong dollars HKD from Singapore dollars SGD. 

Why lucky plaza?

My top choice has always been the arcade at raffles place, simply because of the high density of money changers as well as the transparency of prices displayed on the electronic board
However, today was a Sunday and the arcade is only open on weekdays and half day on Saturday (url). Thus on a Sunday or weekends, I would typically go to Chinatown or Lucky Plaza.

As I am near to Orchard, Lucky Plaza was a natural choice.

Rate quoted verbally at Lucky Plaza

So previously I have shared with readers how to see the rate at money exchangers under we buy or we sell, but bear in mind these are rates quoted on the digital screens.
For lucky plaza, most shops did not have those screens and you have to enquire verbally.

In my case of HKD, it would have been 0.18 under we sell, but when quoted verbally, the money changer person will give you the convertd we sell rate, for example 1/0.18 = 5.62.
In this case of converted rate, the higher the number, the better.

The 5.62 stands for for each sgd, you will get 5.62 hkd.

So after asking around, I got a rate of 5.63 and settled at that rate (Rates would not differ that much though there are many shops there ).

Savings versus rate at airport

At the airport, the rate was 0.18196, which translates to 5.49.
As such, I have saved about $18 (2.3%) from my $800 change..
Not much, but since I was already in the vicinity, why not pick up the savings?

Read more: My recommendation on where to change


So in short,
when quoted verbally at the money exchanger,
The higher the rate,
the more foreign currency you will get.




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Which number to see when changing money?

A beginner's guide to we buy we sell in currency exchange

Confused when comparing currency rates? 

Not sure how to interpret the two column of numbers : we buy , we sell?

I have not travelled for a while and found myself asking this question when changing to Indonesian Rupiah (IDR) in my recent trip to Jakarta. I thought it will be useful to share this information since I believe this question will be encountered quite frequently by people like me who does not do currency exchange often.

Click here for the best place to change currency in Singapore

Here are the 2 tips to remember when you are exchanging currency.

• Always look under "we sell"

>We sell is the amount that the money changer will charge you for 1 unit (or could be 100/1000 units) of the foreign currency.

• Then find the lowest number among the shops you are comparing

>Think as it from this perspective

: you are looking at the currency selling price and the smaller, the better.

Now, an example

I wanted to change SGD to IDR (Singapore dollars to Indonesia Rupiah) , there were 2 banks at the airport (Why change at the airport? Reason here )

So i looked under the "we sell" column

1st bank offered 0.109 the other offered 0.112. Which one should i go for?

I should choose the one offering 0.109, which means I will receive 1000 IDR for $0.109 SGD

To exchange for 1,000,000 IDR, I will hence need $109. (It will cost $112 if I went for the other bank)

So remember

look under we sell, and 

the smaller the figure, 

The better rate you'll get

Hope this was useful for you

EUFASS