Shops – where to buy what

Kids’ clothes and Shoes

the Spring has lots of places that sell kids clothes and shoes.  Parkson alone has a good selection of both, and you can usually find at least one ‘score’ at FOS (Factory Outlet Shop) although you will probably never find the same thing twice.  Poppies has a small selection of babies and childrens’ clothes they also have Clarks shoes.  Lea Centre at Sarawak Plaza in town has a large range of childrens’ branded casual and sports shoes.  There are plenty of other places that sell childrens’ clothes, any department store is a good place to start.

A nice selection of children’s clothing at the Giant complex in Tabuan/Stutong.

Brands R Friends at the Giant complex in Tabuan Jaya/Stutong has some really cute clothes for babies and toddlers.  All of their clothes are branded, they don’t seem to be seconds, but maybe the products of factories over-producing.  Definately worth a look if you have a little one.

 

Toys

Toys R Us is in the Hills shopping mall (at the Pullman Hotel) they also have an outlet inside Parkson at the Spring.  Poppies and Wondertoys are also in the Spring.  Both have loyalty cards and its worth signing up if you plan to be here for a while.

Educational Toys

There are two main places to buy educational toys and supplies: Alpha Titan and Taffy.  These supply to Taska and Tadika and have toys, teaching aids, early childhood products, and furniture.  Alpha Titan is located near Secret Recipe at the intersection of Jalan Song and Jalan Tun Jugah.  Taffy is at Lorong Bulan, Green Road (access is from Green Road). 

I recently visited Taffy after not being there for a long time and found the owner incredibly helpful and their stock was of a greater variety than Alpha Titan, and a number of things were significantly cheaper.  They are open Monday to Saturday from 11am-5pm.  They are closed on Sundays and public holidays.  Their phone number is 082-230131.  I have not included any link to a website for them as their blog is very out of date.

Child-sized furniture

Alpha Titan, Taffy, Boulevard, Mummycare and Kiddycare all sell various types of furniture for kids.  Boulevard has a lot on the same floor as the playground, they also have Ikea tables and chair on the floor next to the food court.  They even had Ikea easels the other day!

Baby equipment

Poppies at the Spring, Parkson (both the Spring and the one in town), Mummycare (at Crown Square, Wisma Saberkas, One Jaya at Jalan Song), Kiddycare (at Crown Square) are probably the best places to start looking for baby equipment. Check out their facebook page here.  

If you can’t find what you want, Olivia at Poppies is really helpful and will try to order stuff in for you.  Access Poppies’ facebook page here.

There is a new shop in the Plaza Merdeka Mall called Bebe Haven.  They have some really cool organic and earth friendly products for children.  They also have a small selection of carseats and strollers.

Art supplies

Toys r us, Poppies, and Parkson carry Crayola products.  Paints, finger paints, washable markers etc.

Tempera paints are available in the ready mixed form at a number of places (I have not seen the tempera powder anywhere yet).  These water based paints are great for painting and I usually put a drop or two of dishwashing liquid in them to make them easier to wash out.  Alpha Titan has some and there is a great little stationary shop in Tabuan Jaya called Zhen Zhen (its on the same side of the pedestrian mall as the 100% discount store).  This is a great place to get all of your art supplies in the same place as they have pretty much everything.

Another great place for all sorts of art supplies is Techno Graphic at Stutong Baru (next to CMC Music Conservatory).  They have all sorts of interesting things for both professionals and for kids.  They are very helpful and if you can’t find what you want just ask as they may know where you can get it.  They do have another branch at Satok, Lorong 12 off Jalan Rubber, but this is much harder to find. 

Craft Supplies

Along with Techno-graphic who has lots of paints etc, there is Fah Company down along the waterfront (the far end past the Courthouse) who have a lot of fabric and accessories for craft. 

On a recent exploratory visit to Matang I stumbled across the fantastic Fabric Assessories House.  They had beads galore, sequins for Africa, loads of cool little boxes that can be decorated, lots of fabric, polystyrene shapes that would be perfect to decorate as Christmas decorations, and this was only downstairs…..(I didn’t get upstairs as kids and husband were getting impatient).  They probably have the best range and variety of supplies that I have seen in Kuching.  They are a bit hard to find as Matang (e-mart area) is a bit of a rabbit warren so I have included a photo of the store front to make it easier to spot.  I have also added a photo of some of their beads ( note I say some…there are loads more).

Store FrontageBeads, sequins, all things sparkly

Shopping online

Some of the goodies that Hephi currently has in stock

This morning I had the pleasure of meeting Hephi (pronounced Happy) who has a facebook site that sells all sorts of goodies for babies and young children.  I stumbled across her site while looking through a friends’ ‘likes’ on facebook.  She came with a big bag of stuff while I ferretted through and bought stuff for the multitudes of babies that are going to be born into my extended family soon (actually there are only 2, but hey, any excuse to shop!)

Hephi’s site is called Cupcakebabes and she has lots of other goodies available too.  She showed my photos of the gorgeous Nappy Cakes she can make up for customers if they give her a budget and let her know if the baby to be is a boy or a girl.  These nappy cakes are beautiful and a really special gift that are gaining popularity here.  Check out Hephi’s site here cupcakebabes.

Another Kuching based site is LoLLiPoPs Children’s Boutique.  Check out there facebook site here.  Note: I have not personally purchased anything from this site (yet), so cannot comment on service etc.

Want to buy or sell new or second hand goods/household appliances/toys etc.  This can be done at http://www.mudah.myMalaysia’s equivalent of e-bay.