Shopping in Kuching, Sarawak

KUCHING : MONEY AND SHOPPING IN KUCHING

There's some interesting shopping in Kuching. For a wide selection of tribal handicrafts and touristy gewgaws, head down to the aptly named Main Bazaar street on the Kuching waterfront. It's worth going inside for a look, as many shops have larger and more authentic collections hidden away upstairs or in a back room.

Note that, in this mostly Christian city, some shops close on Sundays.

Markets

• Sunday Market (Pasar Minggu), off Jln. Satok (between Esso gas station and Wisma Satok). A Kuching institution, starting every Saturday afternoon and winding down by noontime Sunday. Very much a workaday market, with tourists few and far between, the emphasis is on fresh food of every description. Be sure to try some apam balik (pancake with nuts and margerine, very filling, absolutely delicious and only RM1 a piece). Bring along suitable footwear plus a tolerance for heat, crowds and powerful odors.

• Two other local markets, more conveniently located and open daily, can be found at the west end of Jln. India.

Shopping Centres

• Boulevard Mall, located at Mile 4 Kuching-Serian Road (not far from Regional Bus Terminal). Opened in late December 2007. It offers a Boulevard Hypermarket and Department Store plus a variety of shopping outlets like Sony Centre, Popular Book store and fast foods outlets such as Sushi King, Kenny Rogers Roasters and Manhattan Fish Market. The management is currently expanding the mall. Phase 2 will be ready in 2009.

• The Spring (http://www.thespring.com.my), located at Jalan Simpang Tiga (between the city centre and airport). Opened to the public in January 2008, The Spring is Kuching's largest and 1st true lifestyle shopping mall. Shiny and new, it offers many international brands like Esprit, Mango, Charles & Keith, Starbucks, Padini and Collection and Quiksilver etc. spread over two stories and a basement. Factory Outlet Store (FOS) selling rejected yet qualitied clothes are available too. It also has a Parkson Department Store and a supermarket, Ta Kiong offering many imported goods. The MPH bookstore is also available.

• Green Heights Mall, located at Jalan Lapangan Terbang, Kuching's first suburban neighbourhood small mall, with an international Cold Storage Supermarket, with some 4,000 m² of leasable space, opened on the 13 June 2008. It also has Coffee Bean and Tea Leaves as one of its tenant.

• Sarawak Plaza, Jalan Tunku Abdul Rahman (next to Grand Margherita Hotel). One of Kuching's older malls. Lea Center as the anchor tenant in it, selling variety of shoes. Recently, it has just been renovated and it promises to provide a better shopping environment for the locals and foreigners.

• Tun Jugah, Jalan Tunku Abdul Rahman (opposite Sarawak Plaza). Stands majestically twelve storeys tall at the commercial and financial hub of Kuching City. It comprises of three levels of retail stores, nine levels of office space, and two levels of basement car park. It also has one of the major local bookstores, Popular as one of its anchor tenant in it.

• Wisma Saberkas, located at the junction of Jln. Tun Abang Haji Openg and Jln. Rock, is a round tower on the outskirts (approximately 15 minutes from the Waterfront) that offers a feast of hi-tech products based around mobile telephones and computers.

• Riverside Shopping Complex, Jln. Tunku Abdul Rahman (opposite Sarawak Plaza). Standard Parkson fare, with Times Bookstore, shoe shops, jewelery and the likes. Also Giant Supermarket under the same roof. It has the fast food restaurant franchise like KFC and SugarBun as its tenants.

• Kenyalang Park, Kenyalang Suburb. A very old place that consists of a cluster of shophouses and one enclosed area. Its the place to go if you want to find cheap items like clothes, accessories and DVDs/VCDs. Around Jan-Feb, Chinese families come here to get supplies for the Chinese New Year celebrations - which are available only once a year.

• Crown Square, Towards Pending, opposite Hock Lee Centre. A small but newly refurbished shopping mall. Its tenanted by Mr. Ho's Fine Foods & Restaurant as well as a Japanese, Indonesian and Chinese restaurant - on top of several standard fashion outlets. Also, the biggest baby and kids outlet in Kuching, Mummycare and Kiddycare are located on the 2nd and 3rd floor with a total area of 6000sq ft and 5000 sq ft.

• Hock Lee Centre, Jln. Abang Abdul Rahim. The place to find and buy cheap clothes and fashion accessories for the young females. There are electronics and a supermarket in the basement and Home & Living on the ground and 1st floor. One of the major bookstores in Kuching, Smart Bookshop is under the same roof. A Hock Lee Music Centre is also available on the 3rd floor(previously was on the 2nd floor) which sells a wide variety of musical instruments(be warned that these are not traditional instruments).

• Wisma Satok, off Jln Satok, just a pedestrian bridge away from the location of the Sunday Market. One of the older malls in Kuching. Cheap items can be found here. There's a departmental store and supermarket. A high concentration of mediocre cyber cafe is at the fourth floor. CIMB Bank is located beside Wisma Satok.

• Wisma Hopoh, Jalan P. Ramlee, near Syaria Court. Just a walk away from Sarawak Museum. A small and old shopping centre yet still frequented by shoppers. Its tenant includes Lea Sports Centre, Jee Kwong Optics and the fast food restaurant franchise, Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC).