Candy Shop on Sentosa: Hershey's Chocolate World at RWS

Hershey's Chocolate World Singapore is on Level 1 of Arrival Plaza at Resorts World Sentosa, units #01-075 to #01-077, and it opens daily from 10am to 8pm. The brand's website lists it as one of five Chocolate World stores, alongside Hershey in Pennsylvania, Times Square, Las Vegas and Niagara Falls, and it is the only one outside North America. For families heading to Universal Studios, it is the candy shop near me that sits right on the route in.

Hershey is the Pennsylvania company behind HERSHEY'S KISSES, REESE'S Peanut Butter Cups and the chocolate bars that most Americans grow up with. Its Chocolate World stores are destination shops rather than ordinary outlets, built to be visited on a holiday. The Singapore store is the brand's foothold in this region, and the Resorts World Sentosa directory describes it as the place to indulge in KISSES, Bliss chocolates, Twizzlers and Ice Breakers.

It also leans towards Hershey's darker side. The resort's directory notes that Hershey's is a leader in dark and premium chocolate, naming Hershey's Special Dark as one of its best-known lines. That is a useful pointer if you are buying for adults: the dark chocolate makes a less obvious souvenir than milk chocolate bars that can be found in many Singapore supermarkets.

The centrepiece is a wall the brand calls the Amazing Candy Machine. You choose from rows of chocolatey, fruity and flavoured pieces and build your own assortment in a bag, which is the part children remember long after the trip. Hershey's does not publish Singapore prices online, so the candy wall is paid for at the till, and it is worth deciding on a rough budget before the children start pulling levers.

My honest advice: skip filling a bag with plain milk chocolate pieces you could buy anywhere. Use the wall for the sweets that are harder to find in Singapore, such as the fruity American candies and peanut butter pieces, and buy chocolate bars only as gifts. A small, varied bag is more fun to share than a heavy one full of the same thing.

Beyond the wall, the shelves carry REESE'S Peanut Butter Cups in several sizes and gift formats, HERSHEY'S KISSES in their foil teardrops, red Twizzlers licorice and Ice Breakers mints. Peanut butter and chocolate is a classic American pairing that many Asian visitors try for the first time here, so REESE'S is the one product to buy if you are new to the brand and want to understand why Americans love it.

Keep allergies in mind with a group. Peanut butter appears in many of the most popular Hershey products, and pieces in a self-serve wall sit close to one another. If someone in your party has a nut allergy, stick to sealed, labelled packets on the shelves rather than the open dispensers, and read the ingredient panel on each pack before handing it to a child.

The store closes at 8pm, earlier than many mainland malls, which catches people out after a long day at Universal Studios Singapore. The calmest time is between 10am and late morning, before the park crowds spill out for lunch. If you pass it on the way in, resist the urge to buy straight away; it is simpler to shop on the way out and carry chocolate for the shortest possible time in the heat.

If the store is packed with a tour group when you arrive, walk the Resorts World promenade for fifteen minutes and come back. Your other choice is to save the candy hunt for VivoCity on the mainland, where Candy Empire sells imported European sweets at #B2-03 until 9pm. The Sentosa Express connects the two in one stop.

Sentosa is hot and humid all year, and a paper bag of chocolate left on a beach chair at Siloso or Palawan will melt within minutes. If you are spending the afternoon outdoors, keep your purchases in an air-conditioned hotel room or a locker, and eat anything soft first. Licorice, mints and hard candies cope with the heat far better than chocolate, which makes them the safer choice for a beach bag.

For a flight home, put boxes of KISSES and REESE'S in hand luggage, where the cabin stays cooler than the hold. Pack them flat, away from heavy bottles, so the foil wrappers are not crushed. A sturdy gift box from the shelves survives a long journey much better than a soft paper bag from the candy wall.

The store's crowd is made up almost entirely of holidaymakers. Families fresh from the theme park steer children towards the candy wall, couples staying at the resort's hotels pick up chocolate for the room, and groups of friends from the region buy REESE'S to take home. The unspoken rule at the wall is to fill your bag and step aside, so the next child can reach the levers.

If you are shopping for colleagues back home, a single large bag of mixed sweets from the candy wall, divided into small portions, often goes further than several individual boxes. Gift tins and branded packs on the shelves are the better choice for a manager or a host, where presentation matters more than variety.

Most visitors take the MRT to HarbourFront, walk into VivoCity and ride the Sentosa Express from Level 3 to Resorts World station, which brings you into the heart of the resort. Universal Studios Singapore, the S.E.A. Aquarium's successor the Singapore Oceanarium, and the resort's casino and restaurants are all within a short walk of Arrival Plaza, so Hershey's is easy to slot into any Sentosa itinerary.

Hershey's Chocolate World Singapore, Resorts World Sentosa, Sentosa Gateway, #01-075/076/077, Arrival Plaza Level 1, Singapore 098138. Hours: daily, 10am to 8pm. Nearest transport: Resorts World station on the Sentosa Express, from VivoCity Level 3 next to HarbourFront MRT. Hershey's does not publish Singapore shop prices online, so budget at the till.