Shopping in Malaysia

Kuala Lumpur is a shopper’s paradise. There is a wide range of shopping establishments and modern air-conditioned shopping malls, department stores, handicraft centers, duty-free shops, bazaars and night markets. Among the items high on the shopping list of tourists are pewter, batik, duty free items, electrical products, sportswear and handicrafts. For a very different experience visit the night markets or ‘pasar malam’ which begin their trading activities in the late afternoon. These open-air markets feature hawker stalls that sell a variety of local produce, foodstuff, clothing and cakes. Bargaining is a common practice. One can see a number of street artists and traditional medicine vendors.

Famous Shopping Malls in Kuala Lumpur

Bukit Bintang Plaza and Sungai Wang Plaza

These two plazas located in Bukit Bintang have a long history in Kuala Lumpur. They are both connected and housed within the same structure, though the administration is different. Today, it remains one of KL’s most popular shopping malls for its sheer number of establishments and trendy shops with a culture for bargaining.

These two malls are the place to look for wild and unorthodox fashion with a distinct Chinese flavour. You can also get a good number of electronics, especially cell phones and other mobile accessories.

In addition, there are a large number of Chinese restaurants and avant-garde cafes where you can feast on some delicious food. Otherwise, you can binge in fast food outlets such as McDonald’s and Kentucky Fried Chicken. As the space is tight, weekend visits can get pretty claustrophobic with the sheer amount of local shoppers.

One Utama

The One Utama shopping centre in Bandar Utama, is one of Petaling Jaya’s largest and popular malls. It consists of two wings connected directly to each other over a wide road. With a total build-up area of over 5 million sq feet, One Utama has over 600 shops that cater to a wide range of shoppers retailing fashion accessories, electrical appliances, pets, knick-knacks and other merchandise.

The mall has several prominent sections meant to entertain visitors, including a Rainforest House, which is a zone planted with over 100 species of flora and dotted with al-fresco cafes and restaurants. The entertainment section on the other hand, has cinemas, a bowling alley, karaoke lounge and indoor rock climbing gym. As the mall is extremely wide, be prepared to walk quite a distance to cover all the shops!

Kuala Lumpur Markets

Chinatown

The famous Petaling Street is Kuala Lumpur’s Chinatown – a vibrant marketplace for Chinese-centric goods such as medicines and herbs to more contemporary items like fashion accessories and electronic products. Affectionately called ‘Chee Chong Kai’, which means ‘Starch Factory Street’, Petaling Street was once a tapioca mill for Chinese labourers. Slowly, it became the large, noisy and popular market it is today as business associations, temples and societies rose up.

From early afternoon till late at night, the entire street is cluttered with stalls peddling all manner of goods from under the sun. From Holland grapes to Taiwanese batteries and cigarette lighters to souvenir shirts, Petaling Street is a hive of commercial activity. Perhaps most famous among its goods are pirated products, ranging from the latest movies on DVD to China-made ‘Rolex’ watches and ‘Versace’ jeans to imitation Ray-bans. Don’t forget to haggle! No price is set in stone. The prices are raised extremely high but you can bargain them all the way down, sometimes to more than half the price.

Besides shopping, a number of Chinese al-fresco restaurants are situated at an intersection of Petaling Street. These are popular places for tourists to eat at night. You can also pick up a snack from the many stalls that sell traditional delicacies such as pastries, savoury meats and cakes.

Pasar Malam

Night Markets, which are called ‘Pasar Malam’, are a very prominent feature of Malaysian shopping. They’re available in every state and popular because they allow locals to do shopping for their household needs within their own residential areas. Night markets are basically streets which are converted for one day only in a week into a market-place, usually in housing estates of residential areas.

In Kuala Lumpur, you can find many night markets happening each day in different places throughout the week. In these Pasar Malams, expect to find all sorts of merchandise under the sun. You can buy various items such as household goofs, audio/visual equipment, batteries, trinkets etc. Even more popular are pirated goods that display prominent brand names from ‘Gucci’ handbags to ‘Nike’ T-shirts and ‘Rolex’ watches to the latest cinematic offerings on DVD.

You can also shop for fruits and other fresh produce or try out different kinds of cakes and food. Visiting the Pasar Malam is indeed a popular pastime for locals after dinner, to just stroll around, look and shop as they walk from one end to the other.