West Singapore Malls Rated: Jurong Point, Jem, IMM, Hillion, Rail Mall

Jurong Point, 8/10: one of THE most confusing malls

Two wings, JP1 and JP2, joined by bridges that never seem to be on the floor you are on, and a Boon Lay bus interchange underneath that half the west uses as a shortcut. It does not feel like a Singapore mall because it feels like a Malaysian one, in a good way: a proper Japanese food street, a wet-market-sized FairPrice, and a crowd that is there to eat, not to browse. Eight out of ten, and the two points off are for the map. We keep a running list of what is new there, most recently Gotcha Matcha's second outlet and Wingstop's flagship.

Jem and Westgate, 8/10, and IMM, 7/10

Nobody goes to Jem without going to Westgate. They are across the road from each other at Jurong East MRT with a sheltered link, so in practice they are one mall with two anchor tenants. Jem has the IKEA, Westgate has the kids' floor, and between them you can kill a whole Saturday. Eight out of ten for the pair.

IMM is the outlet mall a few minutes further along Jurong East, and the honest score is 7/10 with the caveat that we have only seen about 20% of it. It is huge, the outlet floors are a maze, and every visit ends with the same sentence: "wait, there is a Level 3?"

Hillion 8/10, Rail Mall 6/10, Star Vista 6.5/10

Hillion Mall at Bukit Panjang is a pretty basic neighbourhood mall that scores 8/10 for one reason: the pasar malams in the open square outside. When one is on, the whole of Bukit Panjang is there and the mall is just the air-conditioned bit you walk through to get to the ramly burger.

The Rail Mall on Upper Bukit Timah Road is an open-air strip of old shophouses with cafes and a Coffee Bean, which is lovely at 9am and a disaster at 3pm when it rains, hence 6/10 and "good luck if there's heavy rain". Star Vista at Buona Vista is 6.5/10 because we only ever go there for concerts at The Star Theatre, and the mall part is the bit you walk through to get to the escalator.

Next: the Yishun edition

The last slide promised "the hood area of Singapore" next, which is Yishun, and the north edition already exists if you cannot wait: Northpoint and Causeway Point rated.