Midvalley Southkey -- Does not invite motorcycle riders to go.

I tried going to this new mall for 3 times so far from the expressway off the causeway. There is a dedicated exit which has a nice ramp off the highway directly towards the mall, but the basement carpark does not allow motorcycles in, and there is a motorcycle parking area, but the barrier is closed and following the crumbling walls with water damage in this new building, it brings you out to the expressway again.

Yes, this is a new Megamall, and after a few tries, I decided to drive there, and managed to get parking easily. It cost RM$2 for the first 3 hours (even though it is very empty) and you can get a parking space if you drive. (For weekday afternoons. Expect evenings and weekends to be packed)

For motorcycles, sorry, you are not invited. Please avoid.

I was expecting this big mall to be interesting, however, it is more of the same. If you have been to KSL, City Square, this is more of the same... kind of new, with all the same stores.

This mall is however much bigger, filled with a lot of same stores you find in other malls and even when it is new, some of the sinks in the bathroom are not working.

Everything here feels expensive. If you are Singaporean, other than food, most of the things found here can be found in Singapore as well, no real reason to go. Yes, there is a Sogo, but I feel that Aeon is much cheaper and I'd rather go Bukit Indah or Terbrau.

Opened in April, this mall is still not fully occupied. Don't expect entertainment like Cinema...

If you are coming from CIQ by bus, just stay at City Square, you are not missing much. No point spending time and money to come to a similar mall, probably more crowded too, with empty shops.

Midvalley in KL on the other hand is much better, this Southkey seems to be sad looking for a new mall with rundown walls, water damage and not all the shops are opened despite being opened for 5 months?

Management seemed strict as I found several cars with clamps on. So do take note when you park.

So this mall, perhaps good for food selection (cheaper than Singapore) but everything else you can find in other malls in JB.

If you are riding a motorcycle, sorry, you can't park there.

-- Robin Low

Fancy Remodeling in Malaysia. Is it different?

I see a lot of new renovation and development in Malaysia, many of the malls are give a new facelift. Things look really nice giving them the clean Japanese retail look. Shopping and browsing seems quite nice.

I was recently in Terbrau Aeon and I really liked the new look of the mall. The layout of the mall was very interesting and they have a new food court with an interesting concept. The products sold there seemed to be of a wider variety and of a pretty good selection.

However, when I decided to purchase a product, the design of the cashiers are totally FAIL!

I waited 20 minutes for a small purchase, and I saw many customers walking off, and not completing their purchase. This is like going online, trying to buy a product, and after clicking through many pages, the checkout cart is still not completed.

There were 6 staff, but only 2 counters, the other staff seemed to be standing around and chatting for 30 minutes. When the queue grew, other shoppers were blocked from walking and there was a congestion created on a Thursday afternoon! When there is not even a lot of shoppers.

So the renovations:
Pretty (YES)
User Experience (BAD)

Going to the different levels, the mall looks really transformed. The design seemed really pretty and many of the products and display makes them attractive, however, the whole experience of buying is still very bad. Long queues, multiple queues, and inefficient staff.

Is this typical of shopping in Malaysia?

The food court. Looks really WOW and nice. The food choices seemed great, and they smell great. However when I tried buying food, it was again a miserable experience.

You queue to choose your food (with many people cutting queue), then you queue to pay for the food.

And what's worse, the food (friend food and BBQ food) seemed to be served in excessive plastic and there is no way of heating it. (A microwave was found and it was not turned on.)

When you buy a drink. You queue in one queue and collect in another queue. The queues are manned with only one person with 20 people in line, waiting for their orders which seemed to be made 2 at a time.

It was a pretty food court, but I WILL NEVER go back again. Seemed like a great layout, but much FAIL in user experience.

Perhaps they need a lesson in UX.

I hope someone goes in and work with them to fix the experience. I really like this mall, and the new design is better, but the experience is worse.

-- Robin Low