Return to The Mall

Or should I say, the newly renamed Sunway Putra Mall.

Yes, the place looked different to what I remembered. Gone were the huge glass canopy over the main atrium, replaced by column of shop floors and a central foyer. The old cinema and indoor theme park was also gone, replaced with more shops although the famous eatery on the top floor remained, although there were new restaurants there.

The old Yaohan was replaced with Uniqlo, and still plenty of shops under renovation or practically empty. The parking lots were the same as before. Cramp and damp, but now with the option of valet parking at the main entrance. Access was much better now with LRT attached to the main building.

The place was still yet officially opened, and was still empty even for a Sunday lunch time. Not all the restaurants were opened, but we had a nice lunch at Lorong Seratus Tahun, a Penang-themed food outlet. 

Going there with Anita brought back many memories of the late 80's and early 90's. Sweet ones. I remember going to have lunch there on the days I was due to fly back to the UK and doing last minute shopping. That also seemed to be THE place for meetups when friends come in from out of town during school breaks. The hippest place before KLCC and Pavilion or even One Utama were the rage.

Oh, time has changed. One of the girls at the shop corrected us when we said that "The Mall" looked different. She said, there is no "The Mall", there is only "Sunway Putra Mall". Hipster!!!

Kueh-mueh at Fahrenheit

During one of the evening taking Anita for shopping, I had the chance to stop at Fahrenheit just across the road from Pavilion. The Raya decorations were being set up at most of the malls and the theme at Fahrenheit was rather unique. It was on Malay cookies, or in Malay Kuih Raya.

Lemming of course ...Ketupat ....

But they were giant sized. Not edible I was sure. But there were plenty of them and on the whole I thought they were pretty neat.

Berjaya Times Square Again

I thought the increasing number of shops at the BTS during the CNY period was only short-lived. But I was wrong. The place was buzzing this Sunday afternoon when I went there with Anita.

Most of the shops on the lower floors were occupied and the restaurants were full. The bazaar on the third - called Central Park - floor was in full flow, where Anita did a bit of shopping. While she was there, I surveyed the upper floors and was surprised to learn what they were selling there.

Second-hand luxury items! Handbags and watches among others and they were going at some surprising rate. LV handbags for RM30K! Some Panerai watches going for around RM10K which I though was well below the market price. Worth having a look although I was sure I would get conned since I don't know much about them.

But certainly fun to look at.

Next stop was at the famous indoor amusement park. It was pretty quite. Guess folks were not into these anymore these days .... But the cinema was full though.

This huge shopping complex was certainly making a move forward. There was also some shows going on at the main entrance being televised from the looks of things. Would definitely be doing more reading about those watches ....

Semua House

I was sure that I have written about this place before. It used to be the heartbeat of Masjid India and Jalan Bunus in the 80s. This, plus the Campbell Complex not far behind were the place to be, before walking further down towards Pertama Complex. Those were the time before SOGO and Maju Junction been built.

There were also only the locals and Indian Moslems running the business there. Nowadays, Semua House and the surrounding area were filled up by Indonesian, and I was sure that before long, maybe the Bangladeshis and Nepalis. They far outnumbered the locals nowadays. The business might be owned by the locals, but certainly the sales staff weren't from around here.

Not many shops were running at full speedLooking down towards the entrancePlenty of the lots left vacantA sad state

The main tenants there seemed to be specialty shops for Malay wedding. Plenty of tepak sirih, stuff for the pelamin as well as wardrobes were on the second floor. Other than that, there were nothing special. Plenty of shop lots were closed for rent, and there were not much activities going on in the inside. There were more things happening in the surrounding area.

I reckoned the business had been siphoned away to the nearby bigger malls - SOGO and Jakel Mall included. I think the days of Semua House were numbered.

Nu Sentral

As mentioned, I had some for lunch today. I had always wondered what does Nu Sentral looked like as I passed through it a few months back. It was before the opening hours then when I joined a few fellow photographers venturing around Brickfields. So, I decided to have lunch there today.

I was surprised at how big the place was. Quite easily 8 floors of shops and each floor took some walking to cover. Not as big as Berjaya Time Square in terms of square footage but just as dizzyingly big. Bear in mind that not all the shops were opened yet.

Loving the curves and anglesAnd also at the outside courtyardGetting into the mall could be tricky if rounders not familiar with Brickfields. I drove from the centre of Brickfields towards the town centre with the mall being on my left. I then entered the parking lot from here, an easy drive as KL was still quiet after the Raya celebration. And the parking lot was practically empty.

As Deepavali was around the corner, the main foyer was filled with kolam, the colourful rice decoration on the floor. A competition was being held and the patterns looked very impressive.

And then the climbing started. I was sure that Anita would've been pleased if she were to come along. Most of the major outlets were there, including Godiva Cafe - Idlan's favourite. The outlet at Pavilion doesn't have any seating any more. Uni Glo, H&M, even Burton was there. The food court were located on the upper floors. The anchor tenant was Parkson.

Nice cafe ...Must say that the architecture did not reflect the surrounding neighbourhoodColourful kolam as part of the competition. Deepavali round the corner.From one of the upper floorsLooking downStaring at the ceilingIn the coming months, there would be a bowling alley and multiplex opening. By then the place would be impressive.

But what struck me about the place was the architecture. Impressive. Not just the inside. The outside walkway was also as impressive. The mall was linked to KL Sentral and Monorail, hence transport should not be an issue.

After walking around the place close to one and a half hour, I then settled in for some fast food before heading back to my apartment 10 minutes away for more reading.

Would definitely be visiting again, this time with Anita and the boys.