Kota Kinabalu Shopping Malls and Market

Planning to go shopping in KK? Let us show you some of the malls around Sabah, Malaysia - Kota Kinabalu city in particular. We did this all in one whole day. Yes, it can be done, but be ready for some serious walking.

Chinatown Arch in Kota Kinabalu

Our day 3 was a Sunday. I didn't schedule any activities for the day and we decided to make it our shopping day since the Gaya street market is only open during Sundays. Gaya Street Sunday market is open from 6am to 1pm.


Walking 2 blocks away from where we are staying, we reached the Gaya Sunday street market. They sell all sorts of stuff -- souvenirs, plants, vegetables, herbal medicines, pets, toys, hardware stuff and more!

Crowded Gaya Street Sunday Market

If you plan to go to the Sunday market, I suggest that you go early. We reached there around 930am and it was sooooo hot! At first, I was wondering why some of the people leaving the market has soaking wet shirts. Later on, I discovered that the sun, the crowd and the heat was slowly becoming unbearable. If you have low heat tolerance, I suggest that you go here early. Less crowd and lesser heat.

Prices of the items here are fair enough. We weren't able to buy anything though because it was so uncomfortably hot that we are rushing through each stall. Here are some of the items available in the market:

Live turtles

Fruits & Veggies

Cute Pets

Ice Cream Truck

Plants

Antiques

...and more pets!

Gaya Street Sunday Market
Gaya St, Kota Kinbalu
6am to 1pm (Only open on Sundays)
Other reviews - Trip Advisor

Other places to shop in Kota Kinabalu

4th level, Centre Point Sabah Mall

Centre Point Sabah

We decided to walk to Centerpoint shopping mall. It's a few blocks down from Gaya St. Here's a tip. If you can walk under the sun, you can walk to the Centre Point mall from the Gaya St Sunday Market. If not, take the taxi. It will only cost you 10RM and the cab can accommodate up to a maximum of 4 persons.

Center point shopping mall is one of the biggest malls in Kota Kinabalu. It has around 5-6 floors and a cinema. It also has a food court, department store and grocery. You can also buy souvenirs here and your apparel needs. We had lunch at the food court located in the 4th floor (If I'm not mistaken) and per meal was just around RM5.00. Not bad!

Although branded products are more expensive here than in the Philippines, their local brands and sale items are really cheap. You can buy a nice polo shirt for only RM 19 to RM 29! Grocery is in the basement and there's a souvenir shop near the grocery. For branded items, go directly to level 4. There's also Starbucks there.

For more information about Centre Point Sabah mall, visit their website at: http://www.centrepointsabah.com

Warisan Square Shopping Complex

Warisan Square Shopping Mall
After Centre Point, we walked across the street and Warisan Square shopping mall was already there. Not as many shops in there though. There are some branded boutique shops including Quicksilver, Converse and some sporting goods shop. For the restaurants, I remember seeing Fish and Co and Secret Recipe there.

For more information about Warisan Square, visit their website at:
http://www.warisansquare.com.my/public/default.asp

Filipino Market/ Handicraft Center
We continued our shopping journey and off we went to the Filipino market. It was very disappointing! The clearance of the ceiling was low. The stall attendants were also rude that I didn't bother finishing the entire market. Also, the walkways were very narrow because of the items that are hanging around EVERYWHERE for sale. Not to mention that the price of the south sea pearls are very high here (compared to some of the places here in Manila selling pearls) and the hot and humid air inside makes it uncomfortable. I don't recommend you guys to go here. Besides, even the souvenirs here cost twice compared to the souvenirs at Centre Point. Not worth going. Waste of time and energy.

Suriya Sabah Shopping Mall

Suriya Sabah
After the Filipino market, we hailed a cab to visit Suriya Sabah mall. Also 10RM, we reached the mall in comfort. It's money well spent since our legs were nearly broken from all the walking. This was our 5th mall for the day and there's one more mall left near our hotel.

Suriya Sabah is the mall selling the most number of branded items here in Kota Kinabalu. This is the mall where we found the greatest deals too. Where will you find a nice, casual polo shirt for men, for 12RM?! That's just around 168 pesos!  You just need to know where to look! Other than that, I bought 3 other shirts here and a pair of Crocs :) I'm so happy with this mall and this is the mall I will recommend to you guys. This is considered a high end mall in Kota Kinabalu but again, you should know where to find the good deals.

Gadgets, apparels, department stores, specialty stores, those low cost Japanese stores and more! They almost have it all here! No grocery yet though. There's one just across the mall.

For more information, visit their website at:
http://www.suriasabah.com.my/

Wisma Merdeka
The mall where we are most familiar with. This mall is right across Best Western Kinabalu Daya Hotel. It has a wide range of stores too from novelty items, to the famous Tong's Department store to branded stuff like Nike. They also has several Milk Tea shops here that became our favorite in our 6-day stay here in Kota Kinabalu.

This is the Milk Tea shop we tried there...

Eggie Ball!

Tea Presso  stall inside Wisma Merdeka

Our bill -- We got a free drink! :)

For more information, visit their website at:
http://www.wismamerdeka.com/home.php

Recommendations and Conclusion
There are other malls in Kota Kinabalu but we decided to visit majority of them in one day. Check out the map first and plan your trip so your route will be on-the-way to the your next destination.

If you want to buy souvenirs, go to Centre Point Sabah mall or better, buy your souvenirs at Gerai Pekan Nabalu. If you are in search for branded stuff, go to Suriya Sabah mall. If you want to buy pearls and you have the patience, check out Filipino market but, it's not cheap. Be warned. If you want to eat, try out their local food courts in the malls. For milk tea, almost all of the milk teas here are good. Average milk tea cost is 3.40 RM.

Phone booth with no handset 

Walking around Kota Kinabalu is generally safe. Sad to know though that according to our driver there, there are a lot of Filipinos who are staying there committing crimes. Just be alert and be aware and you'll be fine.

--> All about Kota Kinabalu:Shangri-La Rasa Ria Nature Reserve
Proboscis Monkey and Firefly tour
Island Hopping: Manukan Island and Mamutik Island
Little Italy Restaurant - Kota Kinabalu
Kota Kinabalu Shopping Malls and Market
Kinabalu Park and Wild Boar Experience
Poring Hot Springs
Best Western Kinabalu Daya Hotel
Pekan Nabalu Lookout Point

Cheftonio
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