All Summer Long

I felt shopping deserved its own blog post due to the vast amount of shops there are in Singapore and Malaysia. 

From high end malls to flea markets, both countries have it all from the big designer names in the malls to the knock off versions at the markets. Not only are both ends of the spectrum covered, you also have your typical high street shops like H&M and Topshop and we even saw a Marks and Spencer which we didn’t expect! 

I’ll start off with the high end malls. These are huge. Like ridiculously huge. It’d take a couple of days to get round one properly and most of the day would be spent window shopping by me as everything is obviously out of my price range. Even the coffee wasn’t cheap! Also, from what I could tell, the price tags were similar to them of the UK so don’t go thinking you’ll get a bargain from Gucci because it won’t happen. That said though, the malls are still worth a look at for all their worth and grandeur and the air conditioning is top notch. 

The next type of mall is your high street mall. Again, massive in size and good to walk around if you need a break from the humidity or a thundery shower. The food courts here are also really good and have various food for sale where you can normally find a slightly younger crowd spending their time hanging out. In Berjaya Times Square in Kuala Lumpur, there is a theme park on the 7th floor with a rollercoaster! There are also cinemas, bowling alleys and escape rooms so something for everybody.

Finally, the markets. These are where the real fun is to be had in my eyes. Take Bugis Street in Singapore for example. It was extremely busy but it had character and not only that, cheap price tags!! I managed to pick up a dress (which surprisingly fit me and my British curves) and it cost £5 which compared to dresses in the malls is a real bargain. You could also pick up cheap snacks on sticks and fresh fruit juice if you got peckish or thirsty. Shopping is tiring after all!! In Kuala Lumpur, the Petaling Street Flea Market was a highlight for us. Here it’s all about the haggling and trying to get the best bargain you can. It is not for the faint hearted though because the second you dare to look at an item, you will have somebody offering you a price and encouraging you to buy it, or mithering you to buy it depending on which way you look at it. We absolutely loved the hustle and bustle of the place though and managed to get a bag down from RM125 to RM40 so we were rather pleased with our teamwork on the matter as it wasn’t easy! Again, snacks and drinks galore along the way as well as a man pushing a small wooden cart filled with ice and cans of pop for you to buy if you can’t be bothered to stop at a stall and be upsold to buying a pack of cans rather than just the one you actually wanted.

My verdict is Kuala Lumpur and Singapore are an absolute paradise for people who love shopping and there are countless things to do for people who don’t like shopping so what’s there not to love?