Kuching = Shopping Paradise?

I can't control my shopaholic desire anymore!!!

I can't wait for the new shopping malls to open!

I can't wait for Boulevard, The Spring & Plaza Merdeka to open!!

Hehe...I sound so childish. Too bad by the time those malls open, who knows where the heck I'd be. Perhaps back in Ulu Sungai Petani. -.-' Anyways, three of the upcoming malls promises 'new shopping experiences' with upscale retailers.

Sounds interesting eh?

Among the rest, I'm really looking forward to The Spring to open its doors. Hoping the rule the shopping empire here in Kuching, The Spring is a new mall now currently under construction located near the Simpang Tiga flyover.


Presently at 70% to completion, it was designed by New Zealand architects focusing on creating a centre that truly fits the market by giving shoppers the things they desire and retailers the sales they wants. There is a huge need for a bigger and better mall here in Kuching, with the public constantly looking for something new. The Spring is therefore designed to cater these needs.


In fact, the developers also studied the market and behavior patterns of shoppers, which revealed suprising facts! Take a look at this:

• Kuching ranks second in the country in average household income. OMG!!!
• Yet, Kuching has only 886,000 sf of retail space (equivalent to only half of a mega-mall in KL). Half !!!!!!!
  
• Average spending is half of what it could be. Again half!!!

Shocking? Consider the table below and see for yourself:

Click to enlarge

Even our sister city on Borneo, Kota Kinabalu has 1.85millon sq feet of shopping centre space compared to ours even though the average household income there is nearly half of ours!

We are sooooo far behind in terms of shopping. So hopefully, The Spring could change all this.

By the way, here are the few confirmed tenants in The Spring.
Anakku Apple Centre Bausch K The Body Shop Boulevard Computer & Telecommunications Candy & Snacks City Chain Copal D&D Fashion Esprit Eyesight Optic THEFACESHOP FOS (Factory Outlet Store) Giordano GNC The Travel Store Habib Jewels HSL Electrical Hush Puppies Apparel Hush Puppies Shoes	LEE Limited Edition MNG MPH Bookstores Mr. Magic My Diamond Nicole Optical 88 OSIM Padini concept store Parkson Poppies Quiksilver Secret Recipe Sony Starbucks Summer Dream Hair & Beauty Salon Ta Kiong supermarket Teabox Urban & Co

Oooo!!!! I can't wait for Esprit, FOS, MNG, MPH, Padini and Quiksilver to open here!!! And I heard either GSC, TGV, or Cathay cineplex is opening here too. Finally, all those cherry molly retailers at KL has arrived at our shores! Well, nearly...


Anyways, check our their website here for more details!!!

Talking about brands, Wee Lee, Brendan & I went to one of the notable eateries, Secret Recipe for tea this afternoon.


Secret Recipe just opened its branch here recently. Back in SP, I had occasionally indulged in its famous cheesecakes, but it was my first time at its branch here in Kuching.


My first experience here was pretty unsatisfying however. The cakes weren't that tasty and service was poor. We each had our own 'Secret Recipe Disaster'. The famous marble cheesecake I had didn't really live up to it's name. The cookie base was too crumbled up.


Wee Lee's Oreo cheesecake looks delicious.


But it was his awkwardly foamy cappuccino macchiato which puzzled us. Looks so soapy! =p


Brendan had the caramel cheesecake...


And ended up pretty much like I did, a burnt taste, crumpled up base.


Besides the outcome of the cakes which were pretty bad, the service was terrible too. The staff seriously lacked experience. Took our order late with bad serving expertise. They gave us unequal forks and only 1 piece of tissue!


Sadly, the Secret Recipe here didn't look promising enough...