Every time I visit Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, I stay at a hotel in the Bukit Bintang area of the city. Known for its enormous cheap shopping malls, discount malls and specialty stores, if you want to do some shopping while you’re in KL and like to shop on the cheap, Bukit Bintang is the place to go.
With so many huge cheap shopping malls, discount malls and specialty stores, visitors to KL often miss the best places. But, no worries, if you make sure you head for these three places, you’ve covered the best of what Bukit Bintang has to offer.
Berjaya Times Square – The largest shopping mall in Kuala Lumpur as well as the fifth largest building in the world, Berjaya Times Square is so big it’s a bit overwhelming when you first walk through its doors. With 10 enormous floors and over 1,000 shops and restaurants, Berjaya Times Square is the first place you should go for cheap shopping in KL.
Of course, like most malls in Kuala Lumpur, Berjaya Times Square has designer stores, specialty shops, wonderful boutiques and premium shops. But, where it manages to offer more than just about anywhere else is in its discount shops. Floor after floor of discount clothing, shoes, accessories, children’s stores, stationary shops, jewelry stores, DVD, CD and computer game shops – if you are looking for ‘cheap’, you will find it here.
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Look for fashion t shirts starting at $4 a shirt, shorts at $5 and cool fashion jewelry and accessories for only $1. Buy your kids a fun toy or a Disney t shirt, and don’t forget the stores stuffed with teddy bears, Hello Kitty and action toys.
Berjaya Times Square is not only a great place to shop it’s also one of the places in the city to eat, which is why you can spend the whole day here. Shop a bit, have lunch at a kopi tiam, one of Malaysia’s traditional coffee shops.
Shop some more then have a drink at Starbucks, and before you go home don’t forget to pick up some delicious pastries at one of the many cake shops in the mall.
Berjaya Times Square is next to the Imbi Monorail Station.
Sungei Wang Plaza and Bukit Bintang Plaza – My favorite place to shop, eat and even get my hair cut is at Sungei Wang Plaza and Bukit Bintang Plaza, two large shopping malls that are linked by a myriad of corridors and escalators. Just around the corner from Berjaya Times Square, Sungei Wang and Bukit Bintang Plaza were one of the first discount malls in Kuala Lumpur and they have kept their popularity ever since.
Sungei Wang and Bukit Bintang Plaza together have around 1,000 stores, stalls and restaurants and specialize in clothing, trendy fashion items, beauty products, candy and snacks, CDs, DVDs and computer games, and counterfeit items.
Check out boutiques like Cherry One, Kimono or MBK Apparel. Shop for jewelry at Caoncento or Blink Jewelry, or get your haircut at Snips.
If you have teens, don’t miss hitting the malls’ top floor, completely dedicated to fashionable and trendy teenage clothing and accessories. Specialty shops include mobile phone sellers, imported chocolate shops, pottery, art and skateboarding stores.
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Restaurants too abound here, with everything from American chain places like McDonalds to traditional Malaysian coffee shops, Chinese noodle stores, Indian restaurants and ice cream shops.
You’ll find both Sungei Wang and Bukit Bintang Plazas next to the Bukit Bintang monorail station. There’s even a sky bridge right into them.
Plaza Low Yat – For cheap electronics shopping in the Bukit Bintang area, you can’t go wrong with Plaza Low Yat. Kuala Lumpur’s biggest electronics and IT mall, it’s also the cheapest place in the city if you want to buy a camera, computer, computer peripherals or an iPod.
At Plaza Low Yat, check out the ground floor for some great deals on laptops and tablets. On the second, third and fourth floors, you’ll find cameras, iPods, cell phones and more computers – but be aware, each floor is themed, meaning they sell only certain kinds of items on each floor which, if you’re shopping for a specific thing, makes it extremely easy to find.
Plaza Low Yat has a huge food court and restaurant area in the basement, if you want to take a break from shopping, and it’s also surrounded by some of Bukit Bintang’s best cafes and eateries.
Plaza Low Yat is right next to Sungei Wang Plaza and Bukit Bintang Plaza, and a two minute walk from Berjaya Times Square – meaning you can hit all four malls in one day and still have time left over. Get to it from the Imbi monorail station.