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 Traveller's Tales: Shopping suggestions in Sarawak, Malaysia
Get the best advice on shopping in Sarawak, Malaysia. You may read about shopping malls, souvenir items and best buys in the area. Also, you might want to read our
Kuala Lumpur city guide,
Langkawi city guide,
Melaka city guide,
and Penang city guide.
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| M Yap |
12 May 2005 |
Stayed at Telang Usan Hotel - Sarawak, Malaysia.
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The Sarawak Cultural Village is worth every ringgit you spend to get there and to see it. the Matang Wildlife Sanctuary was a rather rundown compared to the last time I was there several years ago, with several signboards missing or broken. The river is still lovely and clean, though.... Downtown Kuching is a pleasure to explore. Make sure you do beyond the front row of river-facing shops, and you will find much better prices for some souvenir items. Oh, and if you want to buy Sarawak's famous pepper, don't buy those expensive little 'Sarah Spices' packets. There's a little old lady at a pepper dealer called 'Yeo Hong Chuang' somewhere along that front row of shops. There you can find peppercorns in huge sacks, sold by weight at a fraction of the price of those little SS packets.
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| H Ishak |
30 January 2005 |
Stayed at Holiday Inn Kuching - Sarawak, Malaysia.
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A long bazaar opposite the waterfront were the only place we spent most, as our main purpose were to shop for Sarawakian crafts...they have so many choices of items here. TopSpot was a great place to dine on a range of seafood at reasonable price.
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| L Wei kang |
28 March 2004 |
Stayed at Somerset Gateway Kuching - Sarawak, Malaysia.
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Kuching's a comfortable place to walk around especially for tourists (with maps & clear road signs around the city). Most attractions are within walking distance from my apartment (Somerset Gateway Kuching).
Managed to see most of the places on foot: Waterfront, Chinese Museum, Tua Pek Kong Temple, Main Bazaar, Square Tower, Court House, and Sarawak Museum being the furthest destination (the museum has an interesting exhibition on birds nest, titled "the most expensive saliva").
Also tried out the river crossing at the Sarawak River on their yellow sampan (yellow coz it's Lipton Tea's advertisment). It's only 30 sen/pax per ride, and its the way to see Fort Margherita (about 10 mins walk after alighting from the sampan). Another way to get around the city is by the free city tram. It operates on an hourly basis, and stops at certain locations (remember to look for the bus stop sign for this tram, once we've waited in vain for the tram opposite the Court House, as mentioned on the tram schedule, instead it turns out to be just beside the Court House). Stickers for the tram ride can be obtain from the hotel itself.
Main bazaar's a must place to visit, with many shops selling Sarawak handicrafts & souvenirs. Carpenter Street & Indian Street also worth a visit. Also visited Sarawak Plaza, Riverside Shopping Centre, & Tun Jungah, being the most modern complex.
You can't go hungry in Kuching, as there are many food centres & coffeeshops around. Try out the Chinese food centre opposite a temple at Carpenter Street. It has a variety of food like laksa, noodles, etc. The Open Air Market (opposite the entrance to Indian Street) also has stalls selling chinese/malay food & seafood, and the price is very cheap. At the basement of Sarawak Plaza, there's this buffet chicken restaurant at RM14/pax, with a variety of chickens, salads, desserts, etc. It's "eat all you can", quite worth the try, but you could only stay inside for max of 2hrs (by the way, KFC is just beside it). The Waterfront also has numerous individual food stalls along the pavement selling snacks, ice-cream, etc. You can just order a cup of drink and sit by the river to enjoy the scenery.
You could get some local snacks like Sago snacks & pepper sweets (at this souvenir shop called Sriwijaya, on the 1st floor inside Tun Jugah complex). The price is cheaper than the shops at the airport. Managed to catch a show at Star Cineplex in Medan Pelita (somewhere near to Tua Pek Kong temple). It has far more and up-to-date shows compared to the Riverside Cineplex, which only screen 4 shows (some are local shows). 7-Eleven can be found at RiverBank Suites (the only one I've seen throughout the city). For pub, try Soho, at Padungan Road. It's quite a hip & fashionable bar nested in a chinese shophouse.
The only places we had missed is the Sunday Market at Satok Road coz of heavy rain (I believe it's worth a visit too), and Cat Museum as it's quite a distance away from the city.
Airport to city is about half an hour's journey, with taxi fare at around RM18. But try not to be at the airport too early for your departure, it's sort of a boring place, unless you're keen to see airplanes take-off & landing, at the viewing mall. As compared to other more notorious cities like KL or JB, Kuching is quite a friendly & peaceful city, comfortable to go around. Good experience!!!
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| M Basiron |
21 March 2004 |
Stayed at Telang Usan Hotel - Sarawak, Malaysia.
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Excellent and clean city. Main Bazaar was a good place for craft hunting. Don't bargain too much as the price is kinda standard, but look for what you really like with good quality.
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| E Wright |
14 March 2004 |
Stayed at Telang Usan Hotel - Sarawak, Malaysia.
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Only visited the city which must be the loveliest in Malaysia. Bargain at the Main Bazaar at least 50% below the selling price. Watch your bags for snatch thieves on motorbikes as they are prevalent.
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| P Harwood |
19 July 2003 |
Stayed at Telang Usan Hotel - Sarawak, Malaysia.
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Give Kuching a chance - it grows on you. Definitely one of the nicer S.E. Asian cities - incredibly clean, feels safe & a fair bit to see.
Best restaurant: James Brooke cafe & bistro. Best cafe: The Asia Ice Shop (Main Bazaar). Best shopping: Jalan India for fabrics, the market for fruit & spices and Edric Ong (Main Bazaar) for high quality souvenirs. Best museum: Chinese History museum - and take in the glorious temple opposite whilst you're at it
Best nearby attractions: Bako National Park & Semmengok Wildlife Rehabilitiation Centre (& visit attached Botanical Gardens whilst you're there). Tours to both are readily available in Kuching but are overpriced. Both are quite easily reached by public transport - check at the excellent tourist information office for full details.
Top tips: try to do your sight-seeing early (7.30ish) or late: Kuching is roasting in the middle of the day. And wear lots of insect repellent!
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| C Saari |
16 July 2003 |
Stayed at Holiday Inn Kuching - Sarawak, Malaysia.
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We went there for three days two nights. In fact we went there for attending the conference, but we took the opportunity to visit the town and a litte bit of shopping. As we lacked time, because a larger time was spent in the conference, we just had a visit to the museums, and also a visit and shopping at the jar/pot factory and also bought some of salted fishes in the market. Some of my friends bought the bamboo, bamboo mats and also chairs. Another famous thing bought by my friends were the T-shirts designed with the local marks. Our hotel is located just nearby the shops which sell the local products. At the evening we just spend our time wandering there to buy some local products. We also spend our time viewing the river side. My family and I watched the long boat contest, which I'll never forget, as that was the first time I saw it with my real eyes. My daughter was also very happy. We just lacked time to visit other places there and if we have time surely my family and I will come again to Sarawak, place full of valuable things.
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| S Wong |
22 March 2003 |
Stayed at Holiday Inn Kuching - Sarawak, Malaysia.
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Sarawak is a very nice place. I like the waterfront area at nice cause I can spend my time there loafing around. Besides, I also love shops around the waterfront where I can find all sorts of souvenirs.
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| A Yusoff |
04 February 2003 |
Stayed at Holiday Inn Kuching - Sarawak, Malaysia.
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Sarawak is a nice place to visit with thier multi culture. A good place to shop is at main bazaar which is just walking distance from the Holiday Inn.
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| H Ismail |
10 February 2002 |
Stayed at Holiday Inn Kuching - Sarawak, Malaysia.
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The location of the hotel is superb. It is close the Top Spot food court, Tun Jugah mall, waterfront, and main bazaar. Everything is within walking distance. Good pair of walking shoes is recommended as you will be doing a lot of walking.
Satok weekend market is not that impressive unless you are looking for terubok salted fish. It is just like an ordinary pasar malam in Semenanjung.
Taxi is difficult to get from Satok area. Get the phine number from the driver so that you can call them up when you are done with your shopping.
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