Suria Sabah

Suria Sabah - The newest shopping mall in Kota Kinabalu opened its door early this month. Suria Sabah aspires to be the premier shopping mall in Kota Kinabalu city centre, with 700,000 square feet of retail space. I read that this is part of the project to turn Kota Kinabalu city seaside into a waterfront attraction for locals and tourists.

Where is Suria Sabah

Suria Sabah is along Jesselton Point jetty, where you board the boats to go to Tunku Abdul Rahman Parks. If you are returning from the islands, it is convenient to go to Suria Sabah for a meal, or to hang out for the rest of the day. Or you can pick up stuff like sun-screens, water, snacks on your way to the islands.

Suria Sabah is across the road from the first supermarket in Sabah, Tong Hing Supermarket. Tong Hing’s retail concept has always been different from being the lowest priced retailer. As far as I know, you can only find Ben & Jerry’s ice-cream here, which will cost you about RM30 for a small cup. Basically, more than 20 times what you pay for if you were buying Wall’s or Nestle ice-cream.

Suria Sabah is also close by to Wisma Merdeka, at one time the most popular mall in Kota Kinabalu. It is close by to the Sunday Street Fair at Gaya Street. Location-wise, Suria Sabah is in a prime spot, although locals would expect the traffic to be even worse than it is now. Within walking distance from hotels such as Hyatt International, or the numerous budget hotels and backpackers lodges in Kota Kinabalu city.

First Impressions

For now though, less than 10% of the retail outlets are opened. It looks beautiful, but a shopping mall without retailers and shoppers isn’t exactly a shopping destination yet. Aside from Metrojaya, there isn’t much to see.

If you want a place to eat, head to the lower ground floor. There is a Japanese-style shabu-shabu restaurant, Kenny Roger’s Roaster, Pizza Hut and KFC.