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On Monday, which was a replacement holiday for the Festival of Lights that fell on the previous day in Malaysia, my parents and I were looking to spend some time somewhere close by since we were in the city – right after attending a Deepavali open house that’s not too far from where we were planning to go to. My parents were almost certain about their decision to go over to a more popular mall in Kuala Lumpur. After all, it’s not unusual to want to stick to somewhere more familiar than venture out into the unknown, right? Well, after some searching on my smartphone while in the car (fortunately, my mobile data wasn’t acting up like it often does), I eventually managed to convince my parents to visit this new mall, located opposite the Tung Shin Hospital. Here are a few reasons why I think you should head over to the mall, even if you don’t quite fancy its purpose or concept.

It isn’t as crowded… yet.

Due to the rather niche concept of being arts-centric, first-time visitors/shoppers may feel confused. On the one hand, it’s a good idea for the artistic ones to come together, collaborate and showcase their talents. On the other, one can only wonder how much effort is needed to sustain this mall. Besides, with an acronym-like name, and one that doesn’t immediately register – until you find out its history and background – it’s no wonder this mall is not as crowded. Well, perhaps after you’re done reading this, you might want to check out this new building.

Yay to well-designed washrooms!

Very rarely do you find a washroom that’s large, well-designed, and really clean in Malaysia (May I also add that there’s clear signage)?  So when I went into the one that I was most comfortable with (even though I don’t really need a wheelchair while in Malaysia, I’d appreciate spacious, high-tech and friendly bathrooms), I was pleased to find out that someone heard me. I wish to point out, though, that I had slight difficulty with the doorknob in the washroom I was in. But otherwise, the washroom is well-maintained: it was incredibly clean, its floor kept dry, and had everything in working order. Let’s see if I can say the same in one year’s time.

It has this craft shop that sells locally-made, generally hard-to-get products/items.

If you only have the time to cover the ground floor, and you’re from outside of Penang, you might want to step into this craft shop that has the majority of its items made in Penang. While some of the items that I saw were quite okay in terms of their pricing, the others had me gasp. I bought a card pouch, batik– and songket-vowen bookmarks, as well as a packet of orange pala tea (nutmeg tea). (Do note that buah pala/nutmeg is famous in Penang). I would have bought more items. In fact, I was going to place this cute and colourful ‘Nyonya Diaries’ I found, on the (checkout) counter when I decided (at the last minute) to look for the price tag, which was on the back cover.  Boy, was I terperanjat! As I half-expected, their flagship store is in Penang.

It has a café that serves some good tea-time treats and has quite comfortable furniture.

If you happen to be at the mall around tea-time and you’re on the ground floor, why not give this café a chance. Be sure not to miss out on the lemon cake and the chocolate brownie (they both come with whipped cream in separate dishwares). I was initially hesitant to order their cakes because I had assumed they were overly-sweet. Well, luckily, I can tell you that they’re not too sweet. Oh, and their teas come in loose leaf form! How about that? Of course, they also serve other savoury food and something heavier, if you’re really hungry. Even if the café is not spacious, I realised that it had comfortable chairs – something I think is overlooked by many businesses.