Where to Shop in Kuala Lumpur
This city is a pretty good area to shop in. Here are a run down of some of my favourite shopping centres in Kuala Lumpur and in the suburbs. These also include some of FT’s favourites… for some different reasons. :p FT, for those of you who don’t know her, is a huge shopaholic… and I love shopping with her because she is the Master Bargainer – she will get either a really good price, or get freebies thrown in. She excels so well in shopping that whenever we go travelling to Malaysia, she always has to send boxes of stuff back by post.
Cheaper Shopping
Sungei Wang Plaza – Sungei Wang is a great place to get cheap goods. It can be seen as slightly dodgy (I can assure you there are worse places), but it’s a totally awesome place. You can buy shoes, clothes, mobile phones, digital cameras, and jewellery… almost everything. The best thing is that it is kind of cheap, and you can bargain down even more!
If you are heading down there and want to know where the workers eat, there is an escalator that will take you to the Tech Zone (I think). From there, take the stairs to the hawker centre. Alternatively, stay tuned for more updates on where to eat.
Petaling Street – Petaling Street is a Chinatown market zone where you can find a night market where people sell bootleg fashion to toys. This is a fantastic place to go to if you are excellent at bargaining! One of my best bargains was 2 (fake) branded bags for RM$20-$30 (AUD$6-$10).
Moderate
Mid Valley Mega Mall – With over 400 shops and outlets, you can find everything here ranging from cheap electronics to branded fashion. I find the first two levels are the best in terms of personal shopping. There’s also really great food to be found here, a cinema, and a bowling alley.
Sunway Pyramid – Modelled on South Africa’s Sun City, Sunway Pyramid has a distinct Egyptian façade with a lion and well… a pyramid. Inscribed on the pyramid walls are not Egyptian hieroglyphics but hieroglyphics to do with shopping! For those who get bored from shopping, there is an ice-skating rink on the ground floor, a bowling alley, and a cinema. There’s also Sunway Lagoon, which is a theme park consisting of both dry and wet areas.
Moderate to High End
1 Utama – One Utama is absolutely massive. One could shop here for days! There is an old building and a new building… lots of different types of wings… too many shops. There’s also a rainforest zone where they’ve planted 100 species of flowers, 2 cinemas, a bowling alley, rock climbing, and a karaoke lounge.
Lot 10 – I don’t regularly come here, but my favourite department store here is Isetan. It’s kind of like Myer or David Jones, but you can score some great clothes here. There are also other brands to be found here such as Hush Puppies.
High End
Starhill Plaza – managed by the Lot 10 crew, but is much more luxurious with famous designer brands. Come here if you have money to spend, or just want to check out the giant chandelier. There’s also some good eats to be found here, but they can be quite expensive.
Pavilion – the latest shopping centre to hit the Bukit Bintang area. It’s posh, trendy, and contemporary. There are even Doormen who will open the taxi door for you when you arrive! It is 7 storeys high, with the massive brand names. It’s so new and posh that my newly cleaned sneakers actually squeaked while I was walking. We also came across a shop that was selling a dress for GBP£350! My goodness!
The Gardens – the 2nd latest shopping centre in Kuala Lumpur is attached to the Mid Valley. Once again, it made my shoes squeak. FT and I actually went there twice. The first time was when we were like, “O… M… G… it’s so shiny and sparkly” we quickly left. But after visiting the Pavilion, we were ready for it. I guess it’s good to go browsing in here, but unless you’re rich, like the Pavilion, you probably shouldn’t buy stuff here.
Suria KLCC – Just call it KLCC like the locals. My Canadian friend kept calling it Suria, but no one ever calls it that. Fortunately, the shops here aren’t scary in price unlike the Pavilion and the Gardens, but all the shops are branded items like Bvalgari or Esprit.
Even if you’re not into shopping, you should come here for 4 reasons:
1) To check out the architecture. “Huh? Architecture of a shopping centre?” you might ask. Well, it’s actually also known as the Twin Towers, the tallest twin towers in the world.
2) Get here early in the morning at about 6 am for your free ticket for 10 minutes to the enjoy the views at bridge, the highest point non-Twin Towers workers can go above… unless you’re Sean Connery and Catherine Zeta Jones in the movie ‘Entrapment’. The earlier, the better because queues grow really fast even though the ticket office only opens at around 8 am. If it gets sold out by the time you reach the ticketing box, you will have to come back and queue the next morning. Really. The queue is enormous, and you can be in the queue for 2 hours.
Once getting out, enjoy the beautiful interior of the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra area… and look up at the lights. They are kind of nice. Go to the nearest exit to the outdoors, and you’ll find great views of the tower as well as a nice water feature.
3) To check out the water feature, wander around the garden, and water park or jungle gym at the back. Great for little kids or for those wanting to escape the urban jungle but want to visit somewhere green that is in the city. 
4) On the top floor of the shopping centre are 2 hands-on science and technology museums. As the Twin Towers are owned or perhaps mainly occupied by Petronas, there is a large Oil and Gas exhibit. It’s interesting for those who are interested in that kind of thing, but even I could only handle it for about 20 minutes at the most. The best thing is skipping right to the end where you can pose in front of a computer web cam and print out photos from there.
The 2nd Museum is called ‘Speed’. This one is the more hands on and way more interesting one, with activities including running, kicking soccer balls, and just good ol’ plain fun activities. It’s also the cheaper option of the 2 museums.
Tech Shopping
If you can’t find the technology you want in any of those shopping centres, head to Low Yat Plaza for some great tech shopping bargains. There are about 3-4 levels of shops filled with electronics and technology. The only thing though is that you have to be careful you are getting the real item, and not the fake one.
