Monopoly Singapore: Then & Now

-Product Review-

I'm sure everyone must have heard of Monopoly, the evergreen property trading board game. Di-di & I first had a taste of Monopoly with our Monopoly Junior set and we loved it!

Now, Hasbro has launched the world's first two-sided Monopoly board game here in Singapore with the Monopoly Singpore: Then & Now edition. And thanks to Hasbro Singapore, we monkies got a set for ourselves to try out!

The board has 2 sides to it, featuring iconic past and present Singapore landmarks on opposing sides of the board. With the 'Then' side, we got to re-visit past Singapore historic sites like Big Splash, Oxley Estate and Coleman Market. Yah, places which hold lots of fond memories for Daddy.

Flip over the board and you will see the 'Now' side, with current landmarks like The Esplanade, Lau Pat Sat and The Fullerton Hotel. Places which di-di & I have grown accustomed to.

And in a nod to the shift in eras, this Monopoly edition also allows for 2 ways to play and deal - either through the traditional way of playing & paying in cold hard paper cash, or the modern way of transacting with an electronic banking device.

Mummy had long been wanting to try out this electronic device because she thinks it's too cool to credit and debit money this way. Daddy thinks she's just being plain lazy.

Anyway, in keeping with the Then & Now theme, newly-designed game tokens have also been included in the box, like the tingkat (or tiffin-carrier), wooden clogs, trishaw and mobile phone. The Durian token remains the most popular token though, with Daddy & Mummy fighting over it whenever we start a game. Heh.

But there were no fighting when it came to choosing which side to play first.

Di-di & I unanimously chose to play with paper cash on the 'Then' side. Nothing beats wheeling and dealing in stacks of money we say!

We can't grab certain concepts like Mortgages just yet... BUT we sure know how to build lots of houses & hotels on our estates and then, we pray really hard that someone will land on them! HAH!

Well, at least that was how I got bankrupted when I landed on one of Mummy's estate. Bummer.

No matter, there is always the 'Now' side and I shall return with a vengence! If you are interested in becoming a Monopoly property mogul, Monopoly Singapore: Then & Now is retailing at S$79.90 at Toys 'R' Us and all major departmental stores.

Have fun!