Malaysia - Sungei Wang Plaza, KL

There is a place in Kuala Lumpur that can be considered as haven for budget shoppers or tourists. Some of you might think of Petaling Street (Chinatown) but unfortunately it is not unless you are willing to consume time and effort to haggle for each item which can be sometimes frustrating, if I may say so.

If you are a serious shopper then I suggest you pay a visit to Sungei Wang Plaza

At SWP, you'll find variety of products and services under one roof including bags, garments, toys, IT products, money changers and so on and so forth. You can dine also at several fast-food joints or restaurants such as Nandos and Old Town.

The place is around 15 minutes walk from Berjaya Times Square and Imbi monorail station. Actually, you can squeeze both Berjaya Times Square and SWP in half-day tour.

My wife loved this place and in fact, we visited it on two consecutive days. Since our hotel was near KL Sentral, it was pretty convenient go there even by teksi. However, going there by teksi is not advisable due to traffic which normally starts at Imbi monorail station until Bukit Bintang station because of several shopping malls such as Berjaya Times Square, Imbi and KL Plaza.

SWP can be confusing for the first timers. I suggest you refer to the floor directory to save time and effort in locating the shops you want to visit.

colorful sands at the entrance of Sungei Wang Plaza due to Diwali celebration

Atrium Shots

Parkson

Sungei Wang Plaza's biggest tenant is Parkson. It is a classy shopping area compared to other SWP tenants. It occupies several floors of SWP left wing.

On our first visit, we dined at famous Pak Hailam Kopitiam, an authentic Malay fast-food / coffee house.

For foodie, I highly recommend this place otherwise better dine at Nandos or Old Town. The noodles here is more on the dry side while the local dishes normally come with curry sauce which my wife unfortunately ordered. Additionally, in KL you usually write your order on a list provided on the table and give it to the server once you have completed your selection.

SOME SHOTS INSIDE SUNGEI WANG PLAZA

One of the advantages of Sungei Wang compared to Petaling Street shops is the posted price. No need to haggle since most of them are actually competitively priced. Likewise, you'll find at SWP various products which are not available at Petaling Street. However, when it comes to dining, I prefer Petaling Street due to local ambiance unlike the fast-food setup in SWP. For souvenir items, better check Central Market.

On level 3 where the IT (computer) shops are located, this concept restaurant caught our attention. T-Bowl. I would like to dine here but it seems their menu wasn't interesting and my kid might not be able to eat inside.

Wife and kid agreed to dine in another local and famous restaurant. The Pontian Wanton Noddles. 

Again, we filled-up the order list and gave it to the server. The stir-fried noddles though tasty is again on the dry side. However, I love their dumpling and wanton soup.

Going back to our hotel was a breeze. To avoid the traffic we decided to go back to KL Sentral by monorail. We boarded the monorail from its Bukit Bintang station. We alighted at Tun Sambanthan station which is around 5 minutes walk to our hotel. Beware of pickpockets because sometimes the train is full to the brim.

Visit to Sungei Wang Plaza is a must if you intend to shop at KL. It is recipient of KL Mayor's Tourism Award of Excellence 2011 (Shopping Mall Category). On top of this, you can also have a taste of local cuisine comfortably. All sales persons we have encountered during our shopping were all polite and approachable.

MALAYSIA TRIP:

Petronas Towers

Food Trip

Batu Caves

Roaming Around KL

Petaling Street (Chinatown)
Genting Highlands

KL Sentral

Berjaya Times Square Mall
Old Town White Coffee