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.

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. =)

How much would you pay for a Home?

People today pay thousands for a Louis Vuitton or Gucci bag, and pay a few times that amount for something from Hermes. There are those who feel that the LVs and Guccis are not worth it as it is too expensive; some rather go for the Pradas and so on, and some go for the Le Sportsac and so on, or Coach for the matter, for the cheaper ranges.

Then there are people who would pay millions to buy a bungalow in a prime area; some pay millions to buy a luxury condominium in Mont Kiara or Hartamas and some complain about these high prices and go for the more affordable homes elsewhere.

SO... the question is... how much would you pay for a home of your choice?

Residence 8 @ Old Klang Road by Ong Chong Realty.

Launched in late 2010, the units are going from about RM 385k upwards - which translates to about RM320psf for the 1,229 sf units. For RM320psf, what do you get? The trendy infinity swimming pool, multipurpose halls, gymnasium, children's playground etc comes pretty standard today - and the Developer has even added a Tai Chi Deck & Yoga Lawn and a 3 tier security system too. In all - this price seems like a very ideal price for a development at Old Klang Road. The land prices at Old Klang Road, although it has rose a bit recently, it has not hit sky high prices yet - hence the Developer is able to sell it out to you at a competitive price of RM 320psf.

Next, lets look at The Oval at KLCC. =)

Units are going for about RM4.5million for its 3,750 sf units - making it just below RM1,200 psf. Sounds expensive? I think rather not. The units are completed already - so pay this amount and move in immediately - minimal interest costs. What do you get for RM 1,200 psf? You'll get a clear view of KLCC, a super large unit (which makes it more for families and super high net worth individuals) in a low density freehold property. It also features a private lift lobby, a floor-to-ceiling wraparound glass walls, column free interiors and a state-of-the-art security system.

Quality aside, the price of RM1,200psf would sound like a total bargain if you were to compare it to its neighbouring developments, such as Troika and The Binjai... but it is entirely your choice. You get your KLCC views... but how many of you KLCC condo owners stare out of the window and look at KLCC so often?

Next, we look at Verve Suites at Mont Kiara.

The price per square feet... goes from also just below RM 1,200psf. You might think... WHAT? RM1,200 in Mont Kiara? Siaooo.... How many people can afford these units? You'll be surprised that many many different young up and rising individuals who earns about 8-10k or with a household income of about RM12-15k can afford this easily. Why? Because of the quantum.

Although it is priced at RM1,200psf, units are going for RM550,000 upwards - why? Because units are sized at 462 sf upwards. An expensive unit... yes. But affordability.... also YES. Simple reason because the units are really small, ideal for a new family start-ups... or the city dwellers with a small family. But you may ask again... whats so special about Verve Suites that makes it sell for RM1,200 psf?

Check out its facilities... almost like a mini club already with its pool table, foosball area, a chillout area and bar, a jacuzzi, sauna, sky gym... not to mention the sky beach and sky lounge, a jet pool, sunken seater, grill terrace, a wet and dry reflexology path, and a cinema paradiso!!!

So... would this RM1,200psf be worth it? I would say... yes, but it is not for everyone. There are plenty of other choices going for almost half its price within the vicinity... so the Verve Suites is really for the niche. =)

_________________________

We have seen the cheaper ones and the expensive ones. If you were looking for a property, where would you put your money? And what would be the ones you'll pick? How much would you pay for a house you'll call a home?

With the constant rise in construction costs and escalation of land prices, I believe very soon we'll be looking at RM3,000psf condominium units in the heart of KLCC. A lot of properties at the fringe of KL, i.e. places like Bangsar, Bukit Damansara and Hartamas/Mont Kiara are testing the RM1,000psf threshold - which I believe would be broken easily very soon.

That being said, with condominiums priced at RM1,500psf upwards and selling for RM2-3million.... some may ask... why not buy a landed property? Landed... or high rise... the risks and luxuries are pretty different. The prices... ultimately could end up similar.

SO... the choice is really yours. How much would you pay for a Home?

Ladies Market (Tung Choi Street), Hong Kong

Hong Kong is known to be a shopping haven. While you could get your real expensive/luxury items at Tsim Sha Tsui, you could also get plenty of the cheaper market-type range nearby here too. =)

One of these places is Hong Kong's famous Tung Choi Street - for the Ladies Market. =)

Tung Choi Street is a street situated between Boundary Street and Dundas Street in Mong Kok, Kowloon, Hong Kong. Its southern section, popularly known as Ladies' Market or Ladies' Street, is one of the most well-known street markets in Hong Kong, where various kinds of products are available for cheap prices (not just for women, as its name suggests).

Some random stuffs for the ladies...

Its packed here - but it is slightly more spacious than our KL's Petaling Street.

Jerseys, anyone?

Plenty of teddy bears and soft toys to choose from.

Anyways.... How to Get There to Tung Choi Street?

Just take the MTR to Mong Kok station. Come out... follow Tung Choi Street exit, and you'll see it already! =P

Got a few of these for some friends... ahahhaha the bling bling iPhone 4 covers! =)

波鞋街, Sneakers Street. (Fa Yuen Street)

Just off Tung Choi Street (Ladies Market) and the Sai Yeung Choi Street (Digital/Gadget Street), is this street by the name of FA YUEN STREET. It is also known as the 'Bo Hai Kai' (波鞋街) - or Sneakers/Shoes Street.

Fa Yuen Street is a street between Boundary Street and Dundas Street in Mong Kok, Kowloon, Hong Kong. With over fifty stores selling sport shoes, the street is famous for selling sport gears and is known as Sport Shoes Street or Sneaker Street (波鞋街). Fa Yuen (花園) means "garden" in Cantonese. Fa Yuen Street is full of shops selling bargain-priced trendy fashion and casual wear for men, women and children and they usually open between 10:30 a.m. and 10:30 p.m. daily.

There you go... the FA YUEN STREET.

At another intersection lies one of the many many many ADIDAS stores.

Just opposite it - is also one of the many many many NIKE stores here.

Next to this NIKE Store, is YET another NIKE store.

The whole long street is just filled with shoes shoes shoes and more shoes!

Here's one for PUMA. =)

Klang Valley MRT: So many unanswered questions.

Today, I read an article on MalaysiaKini written by Moaz Yusuf Ahmad with regards to the Klang Valley MRT - and in particular, the so many unanswered questions.

"It has been approximately 1 year since MMC-Gamuda presented their unsolicited MRT proposal to the cabinet. More importantly, it has been one month since the public display for the Sg. Buloh-Kajang line of the Klang Valley MRT project. In this past month, we have learned a great deal about the plans for the MRT - including the proposed route, station locations (including detailed drawings), station & train designs, and even the feeder bus system.

If we compare the amount of information for the MRT project with the LRT extensions - and one can do this easily by visiting both websites, kvmrt.com.my and lrtextension.com - we would see that the government and regulators have been far more open and shared more information about the MRT project than rail projects of the past. And judging by the number of letters, articles, and questions raised, it seems that Malaysians, especially residents of the Klang Valley, are certainly more interested in the MRT than they ever were for the LRT extensions.

Unfortunately, it is also clear to us that many of the questions that have been raised about the MRT project have not been answered well enough by the Land Public Transport Commission (LPTC or SPAD - the government regulator for the project) - or MMC-Gamuda (the Project Delivery Partner) and other government stakeholders. One example is the question of why we need an MRT network. We are told that we need to have a rail network because, on the international & macroeconomic level, other cities in Asia have more kilometres of rail than we do.

In other words, we need a rail network because other cities have a rail network and we need to expand our rail network because other cities are expanding their networks. While this is certainly a legitimate argument, it is hard to avoid the idea that this 'need' may just because of ego - as if Malaysia needs to have an MRT network or the people of Thailand, Singapore, Taiwan, Korea and China will laugh at us. Or worse, we need shiny new MRT toys for the Klang Valley because other cities have shiny new MRT toys.

If we look at things regionally, we are told that millions more people will move to the Greater Klang Valley by 2020 and our roads will not be able to cope with the demand. Hence, we need an MRT network to move these people. The government through Pemandu have even made it clear that we need MRT lines with a carrying capacity of 40,000 passengers per hour per direction and that LRT, upgraded Komuter, Bus Rapid Transit, monorail, rapid trams, and even a reliable bus network are simply not good enough.

Without much more than a cursory look at the other options, the consultant responsible for the detailed Environmental Impact Assessment Report has stated that MRT, with its wider and longer trains, is far and away the best choice for the Klang Valley. It seems that size does matter when it comes to public transport planning.

But let's be realistic here - our current bus routes carry perhaps 1000 passengers per direction per hour. There is a huge gap between 1000 and 40,000. Where will these 39000 passengers per direction per hour come from? Another interesting detail is that the proposed Sg. Buloh - Kajang MRT has a theoretical maximum carrying capacity of 39,600 passengers per hour per direction.

However, with only 58 trains the actual carrying capacity for the whole line will be closer to 20,000 passengers per hour per direction - putting our new MRT line squarely within the capacity ranges for LRT. In fact, to operate at an average capacity of 38000 passengers per hour per direction along the entire Sg. Buloh - Kajang line we would need nearly 100 trains.

In other words, the actual numbers for the MRT line do not match up with the expectations - and the expectations themselves do not seem to have any clear justification. As we move down to a more local level, there are questions about the routing of the MRT and the location of particular stations. There are also questions about the interchanges, park & ride facilities, pick-up and drop-off lanes, and at the bottom of the list, the feeder bus network.

One common thread in these questions is about the integrated public transport network that the government is promising (and indeed, has been promising for decades). People are asking questions such as "how can we talk about an integrated public transport network but only introduce one line at a time?" as well as "how can we talk about an integrated public transport network without considering the integration?" and "how can we talk about an integrated transport network without talking about other modes of public transport?" The reasons for this can be found in the laws that govern public transport - laws which are inadequate and wholly out of date - but that is a subject for another letter.

Let me finish by saying this: Many people have argued that the rail network is necessary to serve as the backbone of the public transport system. Although this is a good analogy, they fail to understand the full implications of that backbone. The backbone exists to provide strength and protection to the central nervous system. The central nervous system exists because thousands of vital messages need to be moved from place to place in the body very quickly. But the backbone (indeed, the body itself) and the central nervous system cannot function properly without a strong, healthy nervous system to take messages all the way from the core, through the limbs and out to the extremities.

To finish the analogy, we can have a rail backbone, but it is more important to have a complete and healthy public transport as the nervous system first. And we have a long way to go before that happens."

For a start, I would like to give full credits to the Government and PEMANDU for the good amount of information on the MRT project that is available to the public. I think as a consumer, the rakyat deserves to know more of the project, its alignment, hazards and so on. I think Moaz had covered that in his article as well.

Anyways, I think I would have some valid opinions, and perhaps answers to Moaz's unanswered questions. He had mentioned on the need to have an MRT network - yes I do agree that the reason given may sound a little funny, but in my opinion, I think the MRT network is essential to the growth of the country, and Klang Valley in particular. The development in Klang Valley in the past 15-20 years have been somewhat scattered - we have opened up so many new areas for development - which to me, seems a little too far out from the KL City Centre. Today, we have tons of people commuting and driving close to 100km to get to work, from places like Seremban and Rawang and perhaps many other places. This phenomena had happened because properties are getting too expensive. This seems like a valid reason - but do note, these people have cars - what about those without? They would then have to take the public buses or taxi and try to stay close enough to where they are working. Having the MRT network eases the travelling hassles of the public - and that itself is a good reason.

I am not sure if PEMANDU actually said they are targetting 40,000 passengers per hour per direction, but I am pretty sure they want to achieve a good figure like that. Perhaps it was a misquote - but I am not sure. As for the current buses, I am pretty sure that it is moving more than 1,000 passengers per hour with the number of buses. However, a lot is to be questioned on the buses' punctuality and consistency.

Lastly - the integrated public transport network. I believe the Government is doing their own in-depth study on the integration part, but they are introducing one line at a time so that there isnt a major information overload to the mass public. Do note - there will be plenty forms of profiteering out there if the Government introduces all at one go. We are trying to introduce and implement a system that will ease the public transportation system, not to create an artificial demand for properties within the affected areas.