Shopping Centres in Kuala Lumpur / Klang Valley.

Some people were asking me where are the best places to shop in Kuala Lumpur - I had to explain one by one on the different shopping centres and so on... hence, I have decided to put this up - a blog on 10 Prominent Shopping Centres in Kuala Lumpur / Klang Valley. =)

Suria KLCC.

Suria KLCC is Malaysia's premier shopping centre located at the base of the Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur City Centre based in Kuala Lumpur. It houses mostly luxury and fashionable shops such as Aigner, Louis Vuitton, Moschino, Prada, Brioni, Marc Jacobs, Hermes, Salvatore Ferragamo, Frank Muller, Bally, Coach, Hugo Boss, Karen Millen, Paul Smith, Fendi, Piaget, Miu Miu, Calvin Klein, Stuart Weitzman, Gucci, Chopard, Versace, Emilio Pucci, Burberry, Chanel, Tod's, Giorgio Armani, Emporio Armani, Ermenegildo Zegna, Rolex, Alfred Dunhill, DKNY, Jimmy Choo as well as cafes, restaurants, a 12 screen cinema, a concert hall, an art gallery, and a Science Discovery Centre, over 6 floors.

Pavilion

Pavilion Kuala Lumpur is a shopping mall situated along the Bukit Bintang district in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Opened on 20 September 2007, it consists of four major components; a retail mall, an office tower, two residential and a proposed hotel. Pavilion Kuala Lumpur contains over 450 retail shops that are spread across seven levels. There are a number of double-storey flagship stores, of which some are street-front fashion boutiques which constitute the shopping mall, such as Burberry, Esprit (occupies four floors), Gucci, Hermès, Hugo Boss, Aigner, Juicy Couture, Prada, Versace, Salvatore Ferragamo, Ermenegildo Zegna and others.

Mid Valley MegaMall

Mid Valley Megamall is a complex comprising a shopping mall, an office tower block, 30 signature offices and 2 hotels located near Bangsar area. It has about 430 shops on five and a half floors. It has five anchor tenants; Carrefour, Jusco, Golden Screen Cinemas, Metrojaya and Harvey Norman. It also houses an 18 screen Cinema. Then there is a state-of-the-art bowling centre, a One-Stop IT Centre, two mega food courts and also a mega bookstore called MPH.

Gardens Mid Valley

The Gardens (also known in full as The Gardens at Mid Valley City) is the second phase of Mid Valley City, which also houses the Mid Valley Megamall. High end stores are located in the Retail Gallery. Anchor tenants include Robinson and Isetan. Louis Vuitton, Coach, Kate Spade, Ted Baker, Karen Millen and Hugo Boss are among the tenants of this upmarket mall. Other brands include Club Monaco, Lacoste, Nine West, Banana Republic, Esprit, Aldo, Armani Exchange, Massimo Dutti, Gap, Guess, Miss Sixty, and BCBG Maxazria.

Starhill Gallery

Starhill Gallery is an upscale, luxury retail mall located on Kuala Lumpur's famed Bukit Bintang district. It features more than a hundred renowned luxury timepiece and jewellery brands and dozens of other contemporary luxury labels. Some of its more notable brands here include Armand Nicolet, Audemars Piguet, Bedat & Co, Blu, Bvlgari, Cortina Watch, Davidoff, Hublot, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Khronos-Unique Horlogerie, Korloff, Kwanpen, M Missoni, Maurice Lacroix, McQ by Alexander McQueen, Richard Mille, Roger Dubuis, Steinway Lyngdorf, Tag Heuer, The British Master, Ulysse Nardin & Reuge and Vertu.

Lot 10

Lot 10 is a shopping complex within central Kuala Lumpur's shopping and entertainment district, Bintang Walk. It serves the wealthy and it is the equivalent of other city's high-class shopping such as Fifth Avenue or Knightsbridge in the 1990s. The outlets are mixtures of high end and middle level products such as Timberland, Ed Hardy, Topshop, Nike, Esprit, and G2000. Other notable brands include Vincci and Tangoo.

Fahrenheit 88

Fahrenheit 88 is a shopping mall located in the Bukit Bintang shopping district. Fahrenheit 88 have 280 retail shops. The tenant mix includes fashion and tech gadgets, and food and beverage outlets, targeting the young and trendy urbanites. The anchor tenant for food and beverage is Celsius KL which is located on the lower ground floor (LG2-01) and is now open for business. Other tenants include Uniqlo, Pacific Coffee Company, QuikSilver and Afternoon.

Berjaya Times Square

Berjaya Times Square Kuala Lumpur is a twin tower complex containing a shopping centre and five star hotel. Currently, it has space for more than 1,000 retail shops, 1,200 luxury service suites, 65 food outlets to suit many tastes and entertainment attractions such as Asia's largest indoor theme park, Berjaya Times Square Theme Park (formerly Cosmo’s World Theme Park) and Malaysia's first-ever GSC MAXX (formerly IMAX) 2D & 3D theatre which is located on the 10th Floor. Berjaya Times Square Kuala Lumpur is currently the 5th largest building in the world by floor area (7.5 million square feet, or 700,000 square metres).

Sungei Wang Plaza

Sungei Wang Plaza is a popular shopping centre situated in the Bukit Bintang area of Kuala Lumpur. The mall is well known for gathering a variety of products under one roof, including clothes, soft toys, games, watches, bookstore, lifestyle items and entertainment. The sixth floor of the mall has been established as T-zone (aka. Trendy Zone on The Roof), which generally caters for teenager fashion clothes, shoes and other trinkets. A lot of local designer clothes and accessories can be found with affordable price.

Low Yat Plaza

Low Yat Plaza is an established commercial shopping centre specializing in electronics and IT products. The shopping centre offers a great variety of single products with its collection of inter-chained stores. This is in contrast with streamlined arrangements in other electronics malls. Therefore, Low Yat Plaza allows the consumer to have greater buying power and freedom in selecting the products or electronic parts they wish to purchase. Most parts that are sold here are bargainable and many stores also offer their services to assemble the parts a customer purchases.

There you go - the shopping centres. Next up - I shall blog about some street shopping. =)

Shopping Centres in Kuala Lumpur / Klang Valley.

Some people were asking me where are the best places to shop in Kuala Lumpur - I had to explain one by one on the different shopping centres and so on... hence, I have decided to put this up - a blog on 10 Prominent Shopping Centres in Kuala Lumpur / Klang Valley. =)

Suria KLCC.

Suria KLCC is Malaysia's premier shopping centre located at the base of the Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur City Centre based in Kuala Lumpur. It houses mostly luxury and fashionable shops such as Aigner, Louis Vuitton, Moschino, Prada, Brioni, Marc Jacobs, Hermes, Salvatore Ferragamo, Frank Muller, Bally, Coach, Hugo Boss, Karen Millen, Paul Smith, Fendi, Piaget, Miu Miu, Calvin Klein, Stuart Weitzman, Gucci, Chopard, Versace, Emilio Pucci, Burberry, Chanel, Tod's, Giorgio Armani, Emporio Armani, Ermenegildo Zegna, Rolex, Alfred Dunhill, DKNY, Jimmy Choo as well as cafes, restaurants, a 12 screen cinema, a concert hall, an art gallery, and a Science Discovery Centre, over 6 floors.

Pavilion

Pavilion Kuala Lumpur is a shopping mall situated along the Bukit Bintang district in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Opened on 20 September 2007, it consists of four major components; a retail mall, an office tower, two residential and a proposed hotel. Pavilion Kuala Lumpur contains over 450 retail shops that are spread across seven levels. There are a number of double-storey flagship stores, of which some are street-front fashion boutiques which constitute the shopping mall, such as Burberry, Esprit (occupies four floors), Gucci, Hermès, Hugo Boss, Aigner, Juicy Couture, Prada, Versace, Salvatore Ferragamo, Ermenegildo Zegna and others.

Mid Valley MegaMall

Mid Valley Megamall is a complex comprising a shopping mall, an office tower block, 30 signature offices and 2 hotels located near Bangsar area. It has about 430 shops on five and a half floors. It has five anchor tenants; Carrefour, Jusco, Golden Screen Cinemas, Metrojaya and Harvey Norman. It also houses an 18 screen Cinema. Then there is a state-of-the-art bowling centre, a One-Stop IT Centre, two mega food courts and also a mega bookstore called MPH.

Gardens Mid Valley

The Gardens (also known in full as The Gardens at Mid Valley City) is the second phase of Mid Valley City, which also houses the Mid Valley Megamall. High end stores are located in the Retail Gallery. Anchor tenants include Robinson and Isetan. Louis Vuitton, Coach, Kate Spade, Ted Baker, Karen Millen and Hugo Boss are among the tenants of this upmarket mall. Other brands include Club Monaco, Lacoste, Nine West, Banana Republic, Esprit, Aldo, Armani Exchange, Massimo Dutti, Gap, Guess, Miss Sixty, and BCBG Maxazria.

Starhill Gallery

Starhill Gallery is an upscale, luxury retail mall located on Kuala Lumpur's famed Bukit Bintang district. It features more than a hundred renowned luxury timepiece and jewellery brands and dozens of other contemporary luxury labels. Some of its more notable brands here include Armand Nicolet, Audemars Piguet, Bedat & Co, Blu, Bvlgari, Cortina Watch, Davidoff, Hublot, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Khronos-Unique Horlogerie, Korloff, Kwanpen, M Missoni, Maurice Lacroix, McQ by Alexander McQueen, Richard Mille, Roger Dubuis, Steinway Lyngdorf, Tag Heuer, The British Master, Ulysse Nardin & Reuge and Vertu.

Lot 10

Lot 10 is a shopping complex within central Kuala Lumpur's shopping and entertainment district, Bintang Walk. It serves the wealthy and it is the equivalent of other city's high-class shopping such as Fifth Avenue or Knightsbridge in the 1990s. The outlets are mixtures of high end and middle level products such as Timberland, Ed Hardy, Topshop, Nike, Esprit, and G2000. Other notable brands include Vincci and Tangoo.

Fahrenheit 88

Fahrenheit 88 is a shopping mall located in the Bukit Bintang shopping district. Fahrenheit 88 have 280 retail shops. The tenant mix includes fashion and tech gadgets, and food and beverage outlets, targeting the young and trendy urbanites. The anchor tenant for food and beverage is Celsius KL which is located on the lower ground floor (LG2-01) and is now open for business. Other tenants include Uniqlo, Pacific Coffee Company, QuikSilver and Afternoon.

Berjaya Times Square

Berjaya Times Square Kuala Lumpur is a twin tower complex containing a shopping centre and five star hotel. Currently, it has space for more than 1,000 retail shops, 1,200 luxury service suites, 65 food outlets to suit many tastes and entertainment attractions such as Asia's largest indoor theme park, Berjaya Times Square Theme Park (formerly Cosmo’s World Theme Park) and Malaysia's first-ever GSC MAXX (formerly IMAX) 2D & 3D theatre which is located on the 10th Floor. Berjaya Times Square Kuala Lumpur is currently the 5th largest building in the world by floor area (7.5 million square feet, or 700,000 square metres).

Sungei Wang Plaza

Sungei Wang Plaza is a popular shopping centre situated in the Bukit Bintang area of Kuala Lumpur. The mall is well known for gathering a variety of products under one roof, including clothes, soft toys, games, watches, bookstore, lifestyle items and entertainment. The sixth floor of the mall has been established as T-zone (aka. Trendy Zone on The Roof), which generally caters for teenager fashion clothes, shoes and other trinkets. A lot of local designer clothes and accessories can be found with affordable price.

Low Yat Plaza

Low Yat Plaza is an established commercial shopping centre specializing in electronics and IT products. The shopping centre offers a great variety of single products with its collection of inter-chained stores. This is in contrast with streamlined arrangements in other electronics malls. Therefore, Low Yat Plaza allows the consumer to have greater buying power and freedom in selecting the products or electronic parts they wish to purchase. Most parts that are sold here are bargainable and many stores also offer their services to assemble the parts a customer purchases.

There you go - the shopping centres. Next up - I shall blog about some street shopping. =)

The Biggest Errors People Make When Investing in Properties.

I read this article on The Star Property by Michael Tan - on the Three biggest errors people make when investing in properties. He spoke about whether the property was for keeping, or to sell... and then not understanding the mindset of the locals, as well as not getting to know the area well. I somewhat agree with what he said - and I would have some extra points to add on as well.

Condominiums in Penang.

If you ask me - understanding the locals would be amongst the toughest criteria to cover. It is tough to know what the local mindset is; but then again, sometimes the majority of the community can be quite predictable as most of us all are trend followers, arent we? LOL.

If you compare properties with food joints... the lower end properties are like your Chinese kopitiams, where you have your chicken rice, char kuey teow and so on for like RM6-8 and below. The higher end properties are like going to a proper restaurant like Oriental Pavilion or Ah Yat etc, and your meals are averagely RM40++ per person. The medium end... to me, are likened to bak kut teh joints, whereby your meals range from RM20+ per person.

Bak kut teh for lunch, anyone?

Say you're in the financial district of the city... i.e. KLCC area, or Jalan Raja Chulan for instance. On a bad day for the stock market, the high rollers go for a slightly cheaper meal at the bak kut teh joints, and the bak kut teh goers go to the kopitiams. On a good day, the kopitiam goers upgrade and end up at the bak kut teh shops, whereas the bak kut teh goers end up going for their abalones and shark fin's soup elsewhere. This is the same with properties. In my opinion, if you are going for the medium-end properties, which ranges from RM500k-RM700k, your investment is pretty safe, and there would be plenty of upgraders as well as downgraders - the in-between, the bridge...

SO... the next question is... to keep or to flip?

Like what Mr Michael said, properties for flipping are usually the ones with has the highest capital appreciation in the shortest amount of time. These are usually the landed properties. A simple formula to calculate capital returns would look like this...

The returns will be the total returns you would get. Assuming you achieved 30% returns in 3 years, the next thing you need to do is to divide that to determine your simple returns per year (as compared to compounded returns)

Properties for keeping are the ones that fetch rental returns higher than 6%. These are usually high-rise in nature. Here’s the formula for rental returns...

It is the main criteria to look into before you decide what strategy to adopt before deciding what type of property to invest into. Also, it’s crucial to estimate the returns of investment you desire and the timeline of which to exit. Having exit strategies prior to starting is critical to your success.

Once again, the question comes back to the same item. Rental Returns.

I had mentioned this before - and once again, my stand remains. It has come to my attention that a lot of properties in Klang Valley are not fetching yields of 8% like how they were previously. Here's my reply to that... YOU ARE RIGHT! If you could get a property that fetches you a 8% yield, by all means, dont ever sell it - at least not yet.

Based on the recent research and feedback from various agents, it seems like a lot of properties in Mont Kiara and KL area are fetching yields of 5-6%, which in my honest opinion, is very good.

TTDI Plaza.

Today, Malaysian banks are offering between 2.6% up to about 3% in interest rate returns for Fixed Deposits, a far difference from the 5-6% years ago - which had prompted property returns to about 8%. Today, at 3%, I believe that the proper adjusted property yields should hover at 4-5%. I believe that a lot of people may not agree with me - but I believe this is the scenario that we are facing now in Kuala Lumpur.

If you are hoping for capital gains, then expect your rental returns/yields to drop. =P

Centrestage, a new development in Section 13, PJ.

The Biggest Errors People Make When Investing in Properties.

I read this article on The Star Property by Michael Tan - on the Three biggest errors people make when investing in properties. He spoke about whether the property was for keeping, or to sell... and then not understanding the mindset of the locals, as well as not getting to know the area well. I somewhat agree with what he said - and I would have some extra points to add on as well.

Condominiums in Penang.

If you ask me - understanding the locals would be amongst the toughest criteria to cover. It is tough to know what the local mindset is; but then again, sometimes the majority of the community can be quite predictable as most of us all are trend followers, arent we? LOL.

If you compare properties with food joints... the lower end properties are like your Chinese kopitiams, where you have your chicken rice, char kuey teow and so on for like RM6-8 and below. The higher end properties are like going to a proper restaurant like Oriental Pavilion or Ah Yat etc, and your meals are averagely RM40++ per person. The medium end... to me, are likened to bak kut teh joints, whereby your meals range from RM20+ per person.

Bak kut teh for lunch, anyone?

Say you're in the financial district of the city... i.e. KLCC area, or Jalan Raja Chulan for instance. On a bad day for the stock market, the high rollers go for a slightly cheaper meal at the bak kut teh joints, and the bak kut teh goers go to the kopitiams. On a good day, the kopitiam goers upgrade and end up at the bak kut teh shops, whereas the bak kut teh goers end up going for their abalones and shark fin's soup elsewhere. This is the same with properties. In my opinion, if you are going for the medium-end properties, which ranges from RM500k-RM700k, your investment is pretty safe, and there would be plenty of upgraders as well as downgraders - the in-between, the bridge...

SO... the next question is... to keep or to flip?

Like what Mr Michael said, properties for flipping are usually the ones with has the highest capital appreciation in the shortest amount of time. These are usually the landed properties. A simple formula to calculate capital returns would look like this...

The returns will be the total returns you would get. Assuming you achieved 30% returns in 3 years, the next thing you need to do is to divide that to determine your simple returns per year (as compared to compounded returns)

Properties for keeping are the ones that fetch rental returns higher than 6%. These are usually high-rise in nature. Here’s the formula for rental returns...

It is the main criteria to look into before you decide what strategy to adopt before deciding what type of property to invest into. Also, it’s crucial to estimate the returns of investment you desire and the timeline of which to exit. Having exit strategies prior to starting is critical to your success.

Once again, the question comes back to the same item. Rental Returns.

I had mentioned this before - and once again, my stand remains. It has come to my attention that a lot of properties in Klang Valley are not fetching yields of 8% like how they were previously. Here's my reply to that... YOU ARE RIGHT! If you could get a property that fetches you a 8% yield, by all means, dont ever sell it - at least not yet.

Based on the recent research and feedback from various agents, it seems like a lot of properties in Mont Kiara and KL area are fetching yields of 5-6%, which in my honest opinion, is very good.

TTDI Plaza.

Today, Malaysian banks are offering between 2.6% up to about 3% in interest rate returns for Fixed Deposits, a far difference from the 5-6% years ago - which had prompted property returns to about 8%. Today, at 3%, I believe that the proper adjusted property yields should hover at 4-5%. I believe that a lot of people may not agree with me - but I believe this is the scenario that we are facing now in Kuala Lumpur.

If you are hoping for capital gains, then expect your rental returns/yields to drop. =P

Centrestage, a new development in Section 13, PJ.

Bronx is NOW in Malaysia's Sunway Pyramid!!! =)

The Bronx is here in Malaysia! For a taste of New York in the valley, Bronx the international sneaker and streetwear brand has opened its first flagship store at Sunway Pyramid. The 1,000 sq ft store showcases a wide variety of sneakers displayed on a custom made ‘X’ shelve in the centre. On one side of the room, clothing, bags and accessories are displayed nicely and neatly. Artist collaborations such as those from the 123Klan X Bronx collection fill the other side of the wall.

Their sneakers are front and center when you enter the store; it's everywhere. It's easy to see why they're proud of their kicks.

BRONX has its heart and soul nestled deep in the infamous borough of New York City (where it takes its name from), with its arms simultaneously reaching out to contemporary Asian youth culture. BRONX street spirit manifests from the bubbling cauldron of art, music, fashion and culture of today’s urban generation. At the same time, hip hop–the era-defining musical movement that has its rebellious roots in The Bronx and boasts of forefathers such as Kool Herc, Afrika Bambaataa and Grandmaster Flash–completes BRONX inspirational trifecta, further playing a fundamental role in the brand’s inspiration and ethos.

Have you got your pair of BRONX sneakers yet?

Bronx is NOW in Malaysia's Sunway Pyramid!!! =)

The Bronx is here in Malaysia! For a taste of New York in the valley, Bronx the international sneaker and streetwear brand has opened its first flagship store at Sunway Pyramid. The 1,000 sq ft store showcases a wide variety of sneakers displayed on a custom made ‘X’ shelve in the centre. On one side of the room, clothing, bags and accessories are displayed nicely and neatly. Artist collaborations such as those from the 123Klan X Bronx collection fill the other side of the wall.

Their sneakers are front and center when you enter the store; it's everywhere. It's easy to see why they're proud of their kicks.

BRONX has its heart and soul nestled deep in the infamous borough of New York City (where it takes its name from), with its arms simultaneously reaching out to contemporary Asian youth culture. BRONX street spirit manifests from the bubbling cauldron of art, music, fashion and culture of today’s urban generation. At the same time, hip hop–the era-defining musical movement that has its rebellious roots in The Bronx and boasts of forefathers such as Kool Herc, Afrika Bambaataa and Grandmaster Flash–completes BRONX inspirational trifecta, further playing a fundamental role in the brand’s inspiration and ethos.

Have you got your pair of BRONX sneakers yet?

The SS Two Mall, Petaling Jaya.

Strategically located along SS2/72 and also accessible through Jalan Harapan and the Damansara-Puchong highway (LDP). SStwo mall aims to become a community enclave and a lifestyle neighbourhood shopping complex that will bring comfort and convenience to its shoppers.

Spread across five retail levels and measuring almost 700,000 square feet, the mall houses approximately 200 tenants including Dynasty Dragon Chinese Restaurant, Home-Fix, TBM, Pet Lovers Center, Times Bookstore and Secret Recipe, just to name a few. A hybrid concept that combines a retail mall with an outdoor alfresco dining area set in a lush sunken plaza, the mall will offer shoppers a variety of F&B choices, supermarket, IT & gadget, entertainment, beauty and other services.

One of the key attractions in SStwo Mall is ‘Haven@2’ - an outdoor alfresco dining area that is also a space for entertainment and social interaction among the shoppers and community. The open plaza at Haven@2 hosts performances, shows and a host of other activities where the audience will be encouraged to participate and create an unforgettable experience for their families and themselves.

True to its tagline “It’s Almost Home”, SStwo Mall will not only bring to the SS2 community a convenient stop for all their daily shopping and dining needs, but will also strive to become a “mall that cares“ about all aspects of social and community living to grow with the neighbourhood and all its neighbours in the long term.

Just continue scrolling down and see the rest of the pictures ok...

The retail markets will never be the same again. =)