Melo Villareal
About two weeks ago, I was invited by Zest Air along with other bloggers for their Kota Kinabalu Inaugural Flight. Being one of the nearest travel destination in Malaysia from the Philippines, Sabah is becoming one of the top tourist destinations by Filipinos.
Karamunsing Complex
Kota Kinabalu, the capital of Sabah, is not only a tourist destination but also a shopping destination. This beautiful state of Malaysia is literally a State inside the forest yet there is a lot to discover in Sabah. All the shopping centres in this city are within walkable distance. Suria Sabah shopping centre, Wisma Merdeka, KK Plaza, and Segama Complex, are to mention a few. TunRazak Road is the centre for all shopping malls in Kota Kinabalu.
Much like in Manila, most of the shopping centres here present a diverse range of retail outlets, with its own distinctiveness. The widespread choices being offered will leave you spellbound. The shopping malls at Sabah offer everything ranging from antiques, mementoes, books, designer clothes, fresh food, camping equipment, electronic goods and computers. The shopping malls also have recreational facilities, food courts, hairdressers, pharmacy, photo labs, moneychangers, and facilities for therapeutic massages including foot massage.
Inside Suria Sabah
Experience Shopping at Suria Sabah
Situated at the heart of Kota Kinabalu, you will find Suria Sabah – one of the biggest mall in the city. It is placed opposite to the Standard Charter Bank alongside Wisma Sabah Building. An airborne view of the building shows that it is L shaped. Kinabalu Mall and Jesselton Mall are the two segments of the mall. Though the Suria Sabah mall has not yet been finished, the retailing section has customers flooding into it.
Metrojaya is the leading departmental store in Malaysia. It stands 8th in the whole of Malaysia. Metrojaya is a full-fledged department store that houses beauty products, fashion accessories, perfumes, household items sport wear, children wear, etc. The different brands hosted by Metrojaya include East India Company, Living Quarters, and Somerset Bay. Other prominent retailers at Suria Sabah are Bata, Elianto, Reject Shop, Habib, L’occitane, Voir, and GNC. Popular fast food retailers like KFC, Kenny Roger, and Pizza Huts also serve customers at this place.
Karamunsing Complex
The Karamunsing Complex is the largest and central focal point for IT and electronic products in Sabah. It is one of oldest shopping centres at Kota Kinabalu. Ten years ago, the place did not attract many visitors. But today it has transformed into the best complex for the shopping of electronic goods. More and more retailers are opening up stores here.
The advent of national retailer store SenQ has brought a wide range of choices for TV, home theater system, projector, washing machine, refrigerator, and other domestic appliances. The major brands of laptops and PCs on display include Sony, HP, Toshiba, Acer, Asus, Twinhead, and Samsung. There are many hair salons and fashion shops for women too within the complex.
Shopping at Suria Sabah
1 Borneois, the biggest and largest lifestyle shopping mall in Borneo Island in East Malaysia, is the perfect shopping destination for quality and branded clothing. Nike, Espirit, Adidas, and Quicksilvers are some of the major brands that have their stores in 1 Borneo mall. For foodies the mall showcases many food courts and restaurants to eat and dine. The mall has the biggest cineplex in Kota Kinabalu.
The mall also has furniture outlets as part of its shopping experience. Shoppers will always discover something novel at 1Borneo Hypermall, as exhibitions and events are conducted weekly for shoppers. 1Borneo Hypermall is at a distance of 7 km from Kota Kinabalu City and 13 km from the International Airport of Kota Kinabalu.
Today lifestyle shopping has become a prime activity for occupants in any city. As weekends and holidays arrive, families and friends go shopping and visit shopping malls to spend some time. These malls offer a number of activities that they will be interested in.
To take advantage of the shopping done by consumers, shopping malls have evolved into the increasingly high-tech hyper malls. Today malls possess retailing outlets, fitness and spa centres, food courts and eateries as well as entertainment centres that encourage consumer crowds like never before. The Kota Kinabalu shopping mall offers you all this under one roof.
With the recent strategic partnership of Zest Air with AirAsia (www.airasia.com), Zest Air flight tickets can now be booked online via Air Asia website. Now everyone can fly Zest Air (www.flyzest.com) to Kota Kinabalu using the reliable technology of AirAsia. Zest Air now offers daily flights to Kota Kinabalu at 9:35am from NAIA Terminal 4 (Old Domestic Airport) in Pasay City.
