Stamp hunting has moved from niche hobby to weekend outing. In Singapore mid-September 2026, that means a free Starbucks Adventure Journal across eight landmark stores, the SLA25 Rediscovery Trail winding down on 13 September, and SingPost’s SLA25 commemorative stamps still on sale at philatelic counters and online.
The same impulse shows up elsewhere: Japan’s long-running station stamps, Karnataka’s viral philately passport, New York’s FIFA 2026 neighbourhood passport, and mall stamp rallies in Penang. Ink stamps and postage stamps are twin hobbies that reward getting out and looking closely.
What stamp hunting is
Stamp hunting, or a stamp rally, is a scavenger hunt with ink. You pick up a card, journal or passport, visit listed spots, and press a rubber stamp into each blank. Some trails are free; others sit beside a spend threshold or ticketed attraction. The prize can be the filled page itself, a sticker, pin, magnet or limited freebie while stocks last.
It sits next to classic philately, which collects postage stamps, first day covers and cancellations. One hobby lives on café counters and mall concourses. The other lives at post offices and specialist shops. Plenty of people do both.
Why it’s global again
Japan normalised the idea decades ago. Station stamps, or eki stamps, have been part of rail travel since the 1930s: free ink marks at stations that travellers press into notebooks. That habit still travels well for Singaporeans heading north or east on holiday. It is a traveller’s reference, not a list of Singapore venues.
Elsewhere, postal services and cities have packed the same idea into booklets. India Post’s Karnataka Philately Passport sold out in batches in 2026 as travellers chased pictorial cancellations at heritage sites. In New York, the free NYC Neighborhood Passport tied stamp collecting to FIFA World Cup 2026 neighbourhood exploration from June. In Penang, malls such as 1st Avenue have run “Stamp-lah” style rallies for shoppers in September 2026.
Brands like the format because it moves people through stores and districts. Collectors like it because each mark is a date-stamped memory. Social feeds filled with completed cards do the rest.
Singapore’s stamp season
Singapore’s recent wave mixed malls, museums, transit and coffee. Past campaigns, for context only, included Metro’s free stamp rally at Paragon and Causeway Point until 30 June 2026; POP MART’s Gallop Into POP-sperity passport at Resorts World Sentosa until 15 March 2026; SBS’s SG60 Fun Discovery Trail across MRT stations until 31 October 2025; the National Museum’s 138th-anniversary stamp rally in October 2025; Make Your Mark at the Singapore Sports Museum into May 2025; LEGO store passport stamps at Sentosa; and LTA’s Move Lite CCL6 Adventure Stamp Rally at the 4 July 2026 Circle Line Stage 6 preview.
None of those past trails is a mid-September 2026 live hunt. What is live now is thinner and more specific: Starbucks’ Adventure Journal, SLA25 until 13 September, and standing SingPost philately.
Where to hunt now
Starbucks Adventure Journal
Starbucks Singapore launched the Adventure Journal on 4 September 2026. Visit eight stores and collect landmark-themed ink stamps in a free travel-style journal, available when you take your first stamp. Designs nod to places such as Katong shophouses, Gardens by the Bay, Jewel Changi Airport, Bird Paradise and Sentosa.
Stores: 37 Smith Street, Liat Towers, Gardens by the Bay, One Fullerton, Jewel Changi Airport, Bird Paradise, Katong Square, and WEAVE at Resorts World Sentosa.
Cost: Journal and stamps are free. Separately, an Adventure Pin Set (blind bag with two pins) is available with a minimum S$30 nett spend in one receipt at selected stores islandwide, one redemption per transaction, while stocks last. No public end date was published for the journal trail mid-September 2026; treat it as while stocks and stamp pads last, and confirm at the counter before a long hop across town.
Link: Follow Starbucks Singapore channels and participating stores for stock and pin outlets.
SLA25 Rediscovery Trail
The Singapore Land Authority’s SLA25 Rediscovery Trail runs from 14 July to 13 September 2026. From 12 September, that means the trail is ending on 13 September. Sign up on the web app with a mobile number, then GPS check in at up to 25 State properties, answer a short trivia prompt, and explore at your own pace with OneMap routing. More than 140 tenant promotions sit on the app until the trail closes.
Limited wooden postcard-and-magnet mementos (one for every three unique sites; eight designs, 200 of each) have been fully redeemed. You can still complete check-ins and use the promotions until 13 September.
Cost: Free to join. Memento stock is exhausted.
Link: sla.gov.sg/sla25trail and sla25trail.sla.gov.sg
SingPost SLA25 stamps
Alongside the trail, SingPost issued the “Revitalising Spaces, Connecting Communities” commemorative set with SLA on 14 July 2026, illustrated by Joachim Kok. Five designs cover Temasek Shophouse, KADA, Smith Street Chinatown, 1 Goodwood Hill and Dempsey, with a red balloon motif across the set. First Day Covers and presentation packs were part of the issue.
Where: Philatelic Counter at the General Post Office, Philatelic Store at Tampines, and shop.singpost.com, while stocks last. Selected products were also listed at Temasek Shophouse and KADA.
Cost: The complete stamp set with 1st Local has been listed online around S$5.22; other packs and covers vary. Confirm current prices and stock at the counter or shop before you go.
Classic philately
If you prefer postage stamps to café ink pads, SingPost’s standing philatelic outlets remain the steady base. The Philatelic Counter at the General Post Office (SingPost Centre) and the Philatelic Store at Tampines stock commemorative issues, thematic sets and related products. Online orders go through shop.singpost.com.
Brand and mall stamp rallies rotate in and out. Attraction passport stamps (theme parks, certified LEGO stores and similar) come and go with seasons and anniversaries. Treat those as pop-ups: check dates, then go while the pad still has ink.
How to start
Carry a small notebook or the free card on offer. Note the date and place beside each stamp. For SLA25 before 13 September, register on the web app first so GPS check-ins count. For Starbucks, start at any of the eight stores and ask for the Adventure Journal with your first stamp.
Check opening hours and whether a freebie is still in stock. Pin sets, journals and philatelic packs are while stocks last. If you travel, a blank page also works for Japan’s station stamps and other overseas pads. Mid-September 2026 in Singapore, the live window is short for SLA25 and open-ended for Starbucks, so plan the trail first if you want both.
