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TRIP REPORT: Glasses in a Rush (Or, New Spectacles Time) – Growing Old in Style

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Glasses (Spectacles) in a Rush. Because it’s nice to see things properly sometimes
Growing Old in Style

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Sometimes it’s nice to see when travelling. If I can pick up glasses that are ready to go in 30 minutes or so when travelling, even better. Time to go shopping for spectacles….

In this mammoth trip report (note, headings subject to change)

Those of you who are bespectacled (like me) can make mistakes with glasses, whether you realise it or not.

On this trip, I made the mistake of leaving the UK with a set of glasses with the wrong prescription (and I think it was more than a couple of years out of date, so… very clever, by my standards). More annoyingly, I realised I made the mistake when I got on the coach to Heathrow.

Thus, when I travel, I have two choices – put up with the headaches when my eyes get tired or try to find replacement glasses if its possible.

And no, I won’t do contact lenses. The idea of them continues to scare the living whatsits out of me.

In the dim and distant past in the UK, various opticians had on-site laboratories that could knock up a pair of glasses in an hour if you were good. This then extended to a day or two, before most of the opticians moved to having their lab work done off-site, or pipelined elsewhere (and I’ll be honest, I’ve kept an eye out for one-hour labs in the USA during my travels, coming up blank mostly.

These days, if you’re lucky, you can get next-day glasses (or try some of the online opticians who promise next-day glasses).

Which isn’t helpful if the headaches aren’t helping or driving you semi-mad.

Singapore has a plethora of opticians who can make up sets of glasses in 30 minutes to a few hours, which can be a shock if you’re used to waiting forever for replacement glasses.

For those who shop in Singapore for glasses, something to be aware that they prefer fixed radius glasses (rather than glasses with a sprung-hinge frame) – something to bear in mind.

It is therefore a good idea to keep your glasses prescription on you in some form (I have a copy of mine on my phone, with the values I need to see out of – and no, you don’t get to see how blind I am).

For this trip, I went to Owendays (which has various outlets across Singapore and Japan). I went to the branch in Raffles Place, and hunted around for frames and glasses, with prices starting at S$98 upwards.

a man on an escalator
Down we go 

a man standing in front of a display of glasses
You’re a set of glasses, Harry! Or would you prefer to make a snowman, Elsa? 

And yes, whilst there were buy one, get one half price offers, I was happy just picking up one set of glasses, which happened to be in the cheap end.

The optician asked if I needed another sight test. I declined, as I had my prescription on me. With those details and confirming they had the lens, they could make up my glasses once paid in half an hour.

Excellent.

Given that this optician was in the basement of Raffles Place, I went to Cold Storage to grab some drinks and wait out the 30-minute turnaround needed. Sometimes, it’s needed to stop on a thing before moving forward.

30 minutes later, I rocked up at Owedays, and yes – my new glasses were ready. And it’s so nice to use glasses that you can correctly see out of.

a counter in a store

The glasses were the usual anti-reflective coat with a 1.6 index lens (so they don’t look like massive bottlecaps). Yes, they’re a little thick rimmed – not my usual style (I prefer thin metal rims normally) but at £59 equivalent all in, with a rush job…  I’m not complaining.

a pair of glasses on a table

I was more than satisfied with them for the price paid – and probably would go back to that optician next time.

Put it another way – I’m using them as my daily glasses for now.

a pair of glasses on a black rectangular device
And yes. With a few more fingerprints on it thanis  good for anyone. 

Another place I’ve tried in the past is Eyedentity in Bugis Junction. Again, for about £100 equivalent, I had two pairs of new glasses in an hour. Again, well-made and thin 1.6 lenses as standard.

For travellers with a little bit of time who need glasses in a rush, it pays to shop around – there are lots of glasses shops/opticians in Singapore – some who have a 1-2 day turnaround, some who will have glasses ready in the time it takes to wander off and explore somewhere for a few hours.

And sometimes, it’s just nice to see with the prescription you’re used to, rather than having glasses off the edge of your nose.

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