Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur

like what i've said, at the periphery of the main shopping and dining areas of Bukit Bintang lies the various factory outlets of various souvenir items that sells mostly to tourists on day long Kuala Lumpur tours and beyond.

Dong-A Batik Factory is one of them and is located along the factory souvenir shop rows near Jalan Imbi,at Jalan Utama and Jalan Melati and Jalan Barat areas. This factory specializes in making handwoven batik fabrics into sarongs, beach wear, skirts, t-shirts, scarves, pashminas and a lot more. since the batik fabric is handwoven instead of mass produced, the prices are higher. they also have batik making demonstrations and they also sell the famous Malaysian Potent Virility Herb, Tongkat Ali, at a separate section inside the stores.

Opens: 9:00 am to 9:00 pm everyday

What to buy: all the handwoven batik fabrics that you can think of like scarves (30 RM and up), sarongs (40 RM and up), polo shirts (150 RM and up) and a lot more.

tonkat ali capsules or instant teas at RM 50 and up a pack

What to pay: way more expensive than buying at regular souvenir shops

Plaza Low Yat is a shopping centre specializing in electronics and IT products in Malaysia.

It is located at Lot 7, Jalan 1/77, off Jalan Bukit Bintang behind the Melia Kuala Lumpur Hotel opposite Berjaya Times Square.

Each floor within the complex has its own speciality like computers, laptops, mobile phones, cameras and accessories.

Plaza Low Yat is the place to go if your are shopping for IT products in KL. It is the biggest computers and electronics retail outlet in Malaysia. Located at the Bukit Bintang shopping district, the plaza is a house for about 500 retail outlets spread on 7 floors. Each floor has a different theme to help shoppers identify with the IT products they are interested in.

What to buy: Gadgets, Cameras, Digital Games, Telecommunication products and of course computers.

The most amazing shopping center I've ever been too! its beautiful :)

You can get to Bukit Bintang by Monorail (the station name is Bukit Bintang) very easily.

If i recall, on the 5th is the very interesting Fish Feet Massage - where little fish nibble on your feet, its suppose to be relaxing - but its awkward - but something i recommend you try for something different. If i recall, the price was about 48MYR for 30mins.

You will find every brand you could imagine. It is a more upmarket mall, but some great bargins as well. It's really just lovely to stroll around.

What to buy: Great mostly for clothes and shoes!

low yat plaza is best known for its electronics and computer shops. you have to be patient and try to search all stalls, haggle and compare prices before deciding on what to purchase. also, dont forget to ask for a product warranty and if the warranty is accepted worldwide.

What to buy: ipods, cameras, laptops, pc and other electronic gadgets.

What to pay: the camera (see photo) i bought was originally priced at 1000myr (that's roughly 13,000php), i haggled and asked for discount. i bought it for 870myr, i upgraded the memory card to 4 gig and bought a screen protector for the cam, total price is 910myr. not bad, back in the manila, it costs 19,950php (1500myr) memory card not included.

many shops in KL sell IPODS - there are authorised Apple resellers & also other shops.
The malls like Sungei Wang, Bukit Bintang and Plaza Low Yat (famous for as an IT mall) in KL downtown and Amcorp Mall or 1 Utama should have authorised Apple resellers.
As far as I know, they are the real thing. As for bartering, it is common to ask for a discount, but it will depend on each shop owner as to the discount possible-sometimes the price would be fixed but they may have some add-ons.
I can't be sure, but after travelling in Europe, Sg, Australia & home in KL, I've found the price here to be very competitive for most electrical items. The only place cheaper was HK and Tokyo for some cameras & IPOD.

This place has around 4 malls.Please do not buy from Hwang sueng mall as most of the products are chinese fakes.Shopkeepers will offer exotic discounts prices vary from shop to shop.

What to buy: However you can change your currency here as they give the best rates.

What to pay: try times square mall where you should get reasonable products.

The ambience and the service is great. Prices very reasonable

What to buy: If you're looking for glasses, trust me this is the place you should go..

What to pay: I did a pair of glasses for less than AUD800, i would have to fork out AUD1200 at home for the same pair

Bukit Bintang Area is the perfect place to go shopping in KL. With at least 6 shopping malls, you will find all you need, at all prices.

* THE LUXURIOUS "STAR HILL": Star Hill is the translation of "Bukit Bintang" in Bahasa. Located at the beginning of Jalan Bukit Bintang, next to the Marriott and the Westin Hotels, the prestigious Star Hill displays all the luxurious brands such as Gucci, Vuitton, Prada... and some quite good but expensive restaurants in the basement.

* THE UP MARKET "LOT 10": Located at the corner of Jalan BB and Jalan Sultan Ismail, Lot 10 displays some brands such as Guess, Top Shop, Starbuck, etc. and also the Japanese department store Isetan with its upper class supermarket. Most of the brands are foreign brands.

* THE POPULAR "BB PLAZA" AND "SUNGEI WANG": Located in the middle of Jalan Bukit Bintang, these are 2 shopping malls in 1. Sometimes, you don't even notice that you go from one to another. These 2 shopping malls are so big that you can find everything there at normal local prices: Taylor made suits, clothes alteration (last floor in Sungei Wang), travel agencies, hair dressers, manicure, pedicure, clothes for everyone with local brands and the 2 department stores, Parkson and Metrojaya. These 2 shopping malls are very popular and often very crowded and very noisy (loud music everywhere).

* "LOW YAT" FOR IT AND ELECTRONICS: This shopping center is very popular for the electronics as every floor is specialized: 1 floor for mobile phones, 1 for laptops, and 1 for software...

* "IMBI" FOR IT AND ELECTRONICS: Located behind Sungei Wang, this is another shopping mall for electronics.

Shopping malls are open everyday of the week, sunday included, from 10am to 10pm.


What to buy: Some example of cheap things in Malaysia:
* Women shoes, first price around RM 25 (5 €).
* Glasses
* Contact lenses
* Underwear

Some of the local brands:
* Body Glove for sportwear
* Soda
* Seed
* Padini

This area of KL just outside of the city has many very large shopping centres and souvenier type shops as well as IT and cloths.

What to buy: I found a very big IT centre here plus many department type shops bars and restaurants and coffee shops.

What to pay: Up to you

Bukit Bintang is the place to be. First of all if you are traveling with children make sure you are extra careful crossing bukit bintang and Jalan Sultan Ismail as there is bound to be heavy traffic. Berjaya times square: This building is in the shape of a u and has a 11 level shopping mall a theme park and a hotel. In the shopping centre there is an IT level. Down the bottom floors (G LG LLG) is more of a western part of the shopping centre. Most of the other levels are more eastern. The theme park is situated on level 7+8. But there are still shops there to. The anchor stores are metrojaya and cold storage (supermarket)
Sungei Wang Plaza: Sungei wang is a large pink building with the shopping very eastern on most levels. If you are with kids make sure you dont loose sight of them because the place is huge. The anchor store is Parkson BB plaza: BB plaza is joint to Sungei wang which is also very eastern. Beetween sungei wang and bb plaza is a aerobridge that you can cross to go to lot 10
Lot 10: Lot 10 is a big green building and has about 6 levels. The food court is on the bottom. This is a more expensive shopping centre. The anchor store is Isetan.
KL plaza: KL plaza is the smaller version of Berjaya times square. About 5 levels.
Starhill Gallery: Starhill is VERY upmarket which has all the real designer things like gucci prada Calvien Klein and more.
KLCC: Situated beetween the petronas twin towers you could shop here while waiting for your time to come for the skywalk. KLCC ground floor has a lot of designer things when you go up in levels the things start to get cheaper. The food court is on the top level. The anchor store is Isetan.
Low Yat + Imbi Plaza: Low Yat Plaza and Imbi plaza are electronic malls. Low Yat plaza is hidden in between sungai wang and Imbi plaza. You go down the road and you will see the shopping centre to your right. The phones are cheaper in Malaysia but other electronics are not that much cheaper at all.

What to buy: In clothing, if you are small, this is the place for you.

If you want cheap clothes, shoes, everything - go to Sungei Wang/BB Plaza. You can reach it via Bukit Bintang Monorail station. However, be warned - caters mostly to local fashion trends, which may not be everyone's style. Stripes anyone? There is, however, a local designer corner - quite nice clothes. It's at a corner on the 3rd or 4th floor, beside a chinese style cafe.

It is indeed a shopping paradise for crazy shopper like me. They have Berjaya Times Square, Lot 10, KL Plaza, Low Yat Plaza, BB Plaza, Sungei Wang etc. And the best place for shopping of course is the BB Plaza/Sungei Wang (They are linked). It is the most happening shopping centres among all.

What to buy: You can find everything from Clothes, Shoes, Accessories, Electrical Applicances, Handphone, Salon, etc.

What to pay: Less than SGD40 for a top and sometimes bottom. A pair of leather shoe for men cost less than SGD100.

The name of the Optical Shop is "NO EYE LOOK". (unique name right? especially if you convert the word into Cantonese)

It's a new shop in Sg Wang Complex. The shop consist of a wide range of new and trendy frame of glasses. Very unique and modern too but suits the medium age and elderly as well.
You wouldn't be disappointed.

What to buy: Bifocal Glasses or Normal Glasses.

They give good quality glasses.

Professional Service.

What to pay: For a good bifocal glasses - just the lens alone is in the range of RM700 (where in Australia etc you have to pay an approximate AUD$800. The frame range from RM128 to RM198 with one year warranty from discolouration.
Other range of glasses exclude bifocal - the provide package price based on the price of frame you choose, it range from RM98 to RM198.
Sunglasses will be charged differently though as the lens will be colour, which requires extra charges.

I found this street (Bukit Bintang) to have many great shopping malls. One of the best times to visit is at night when all of the lights and big TV screens make for a great atmosphere. There are also a lot of places to eat along here and its worth checking out a few side streets where there are some hidden malls.