The above very low-res title image is direct from the source changibusinesspark.com

2023

It is 2023… Yes we know that we posted about re-invigorating this blog more than a year ago… But we lied. Actually, no. We really did plan to, but we got distracted by other things in life.. It was truly an unintended hiatus. But it don’t matter now, cause now WE BACK.

Changi Business Park

In this brand new year of exploitation, we have decided to venture into new territory (albeit only one stop from Changi Airport) in Changi Business Park (henceforth referred to as CBP). With neither of us currently bogged down by the unending stress of university education, we felt that it was the best time to do some exploration because what value does this blog provide if we keep returning to same old places?

CBP is unique in that it’s not exactly a commercial area that typically attracts shoppers and diners. As the name suggests, the area was created to be a business hub and this makes it quite a departure from any of our past exploitation locales, especially in terms of VIBE and CROWD. The people you typically see in Jewel on weekday afternoons mostly consist of senior citizens. At CBP however, it is corporate slaves as far as the eye can see.

As it has been some time since our last legitimate exploitation, we were raring to put our scouting prowess to the test. Our finely honed skills of plug spotting and environment assessment had us swooping into cafes all over CBP with EAGLE EYES.

All before lunch, we managed to complete a thorough reconnaissance of 5 different complexes within CBP, for our beloved readers.

1. Changi City Point

This mall is a gem in the centre of this barren OL wasteland. It happens to be the only outlet mall in the east of Singapore (that we are aware of). This makes it a pretty solid destination for finding deals as a consumerist slave.

In the cafe exploitation department however, the mall contains 3 main contenders:

1. Starbucks
2. Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf
3. Huggs Coffee

Unfortunately, all three have major weaknesses.

• Starbucks and CBTL each only have ONE plug each (and not to mention are complete RIPOFFS in terms of cost) and Huggs has no plugs at all.
• They are all in high-traffic areas, resulting in non-optimal working environments.

Another problem with CBP is that during lunchtime, the office crowd goes hammo and it gets super packed and noisy all over Changi City Point.

(Side note: for some reason, there is this one bubble tea stall called Old Tea Hut that the office crowd seems to FLOCK to)

Ranice has personally exploited Starbucks just yesterday. Her first solo exploitation, which she will be writing about in an upcoming post.

2. ESR BizPark @ Changi

Just Dough

Although we successfully identified some potential exploits in Changi City Point, we knew that the real gems in a place like CBP would be in the actual office buildings because any cafes there would be deserted while the working crowds were in their offices. Our first stop was this complex called ESR BizPark @ Changi which was just behind Changi City Point. It consisted of a few office towers with a mall-like area on the ground floor. The shops were pretty much entirely eateries and a supermarket.

We combed through the shops, and many plug lunges were made. Sadly, most of the establishments here were completely plug-less, except for one. Just Dough Cafe.

It was calling out to us… SCREAMING to be exploited. Here was where we decided to settle for the first half of the day before lunch. More about Just Dough Cafe in our next post!

3. The Signature @ CBP

Reakella Cafe

Despite deciding on working at Just Dough, we knew we had a responsibility to first scout out as much of CBP as we could. The next building we visited was called The Signature @ CBP. As we approached it, the building really seemed to be purely an office. However, as we were walking along, Mik spotted a tiny cafe through the reflection of the glass.

It was deserted AF, being a non-commercial building. But the vibe was pretty good. Strong air conditioning, very high ceilings, lots of glass everywhere letting natural sunlight in. Unfortunately, there was only 1 plug, and the establishment’s fatal flaw: NONE of the chairs had back rests! In fact, they weren’t really chairs, they were more like stools. Quite a deal breaker tbh. We did not bother to check if there was WIFI.

Research on the internet shows that the prices of the food there, however, is quite affordable. In fact, it was labelled by state controlled news website Mothership, as a “brunch spot”. Not sure what sane person would ever specially come to CBP for brunch though…

4. Plaza 8 @ CBP

{knead to eat} @ Plaza 8

Why so many “@”s? We don’t know. Must be a business park thing. Upon first impressions, Plaza 8 appeared highly promising. There was a pretty modern looking food court with tacky neon signs and $9 pints after 5pm. Past the food court, we spotted a cafe called {knead to eat} which immediately piqued our interest. (We have no idea why they chose to stylise their name with curly brackets).

There are several elements we took note of that made {knead to eat} a HPEL, or High Potential Exploitation Location. From our preliminary inspection, {knead to eat} possessed decently located plugs and free wifi. Stay tuned for our full review when we return to exploit this small business.

5. Singapore Expo

Coffee Bean

The last stop on our scouting tour was Singapore Expo. The main area was pretty dead as there weren’t any public exhibitions taking place, but the (somewhat) recently built Timbre+ at the centre of the car park area did have a bit of a lunch crowd when we arrived. We managed to spot some plugs here but no free wifi and it was also semi-outdoors which made it a definite no considering our current weather.

We continued on to the DEPTHS of Singapore Expo to scout out the most obscure of exploits… It was a sizable walk (we covered over 6k steps at that point), but at the end of the rainbow, we found the pot of gold that is the most DESERTED and perfectly exploitable Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf outlet we have ever come across. This may be one of the best spots we have come across so far and we will definitely be paying a future visit… Stay tuned for the review.

Yes, there are a lot of upcoming posts to look forward to in the immediate future… See you guys soon!!