KSL City Mall is a famous shopping mall in Johor Bahru, Malaysia that is a 10-minute drive from Johor customs. It is home to a tidy sprawl of retail shops, massage parlours, restaurants, a cinema, KTV joint, supermarket, and other amenities. There is also a 4-star hotel above the mall if you wish to stay over the weekend. Based on my own visits, I have created a list of ten great things to do here.
1. Thai Odyssey
Thai Odyssey is a Malaysian massage parlour chain with plenty of outlets across Malaysia.
I was impressed by the elegant and peaceful ambience of the KSL branch. It is quite large with many rooms and massage chairs inside.
The wife and I both had a 90-minute Thai massage (RM146.30) inside a clean and cozy couple room.
My masseuse was really good at massaging my sore muscles; it almost felt as good as my massages in Bangkok.
In comparison, the wife’s masseuse was quite sloppy; it was only after the wife requested for her to use more strength that she started to use more force in her strokes.
KSL is chock-full of other massage parlours with cheaper rates, but most of them have pretty bad online reviews so we decided to just stick to Thai Odyssey.
Note that the branch is extremely popular so it’s best to make reservations a few days in advance. I tried booking a weekend 3pm slot two days in advance, but was given a 12.30pm slot instead because it was fully booked for the rest of the day.
All the Thai Odyssey therapists are females.
How to Book
1. First I went to the Thai Odyssey reservations page and filled in the relevant details.
2. A few hours later, Thai Odyssey sent me an email confirmation. They will suggest another timing if your requested time slot is not available.
Location: L2-01
Opening Hours: Daily 10am to 10pm
Phone: +607 2893693
2. MBO Cinemas
MBO Cinemas is the third largest cinema chain in Malaysia. The MBO movie halls in KSL are clean, modern and spacious. They also have decent sound systems.
The ticket prices are extremely affordable compared to Singapore, costing around RM15 on weekends and RM12 on weekdays. Popcorns and beverages are cheap too, and there is even a “gourmet counter” offering finger food and pizzas.
Location: L2-128
3. Tesco
Tesco is a large supermarket chain in Malaysia. The KSL branch is clean and brightly lit with a good variety of groceries.
The prices are much cheaper compared to Singapore, which is why we like making weekend grocery runs here.
If you spend more than RM50, you can use the receipt to redeem free two-hour parking at the customer service counter. Location: LG-26
4. Claw Machines
We saw plenty of claw machines in the mall’s basement (level LG), with many plushies up for grabs.
Each token only costs RM1, with the price going lower if you buy more. This is three times cheaper than Singapore’s claw machines.
The wife and I bought 25 tokens for RM20. We left empty-handed but it was definitely a fun experience.
We also saw a pink-themed claw machine shop called Superstar (L1-93) that had a life-size pink colour Rilakkuma for photo taking.
5. Food Hunting
No visit to Johor Bahru would be complete without indulging in delicious food. We saw several famous eateries inside KSL mall, such as Liang Sandwich Bar, Emack and Bolio’s, Meng Meng Roasted Duck, D’Shanghai, You Kee XO, and more. And of course there were bubble tea shops as well (Gong Cha, Tiger Sugar and The Alley).
We had a sumptuous lunch at Meng Meng Roasted Duck. Our favourite dish was the meat platter, which consists of roast duck, char siew and roast pork. The meats were delicious and satisfying. After that, we indulged in The Alley’s milk tea. Click here to see the full list of restaurants.
6. Studio M KSL Hair Salon
Click to enlarge
Studio M KSL is a popular hair salon in KSL mall known for its high-quality hair services and friendly staff. The prices are quite affordable too, you can see the full price list above.
Location: G-08
Opening Hours: Daily 10am to 9.30pm
Phone: +607 2890058
7. I’m A Singer Family Karaoke
I’m A Singer Family Karaoke is a KTV joint located on level 2. It offers clean and spacious rooms with decent sound systems at very affordable prices: a small room (two to three persons) costs just RM60 for two hours.
Location: L2-89
Opening Hours: Daily 10.30am to 3am
Phone: +607 3391008
8. Bargain Fashion
There are no luxury fashion boutiques in KSL, but we did see quite a few bargain fashion shops. Spend some time looking around and you might find decent clothes at great prices.
9. Mobile Accessories
There are plenty of mobile accessories shops on level LG outside Tesco, where you can buy trendy handphone cases at low prices.
10. Popular Bookstore
This is a good place to buy some books and stationeries at lower prices than Popular branches in Singapore.
Location: L1-96
Opening Hours: Daily 10am to 10pm
KSL City Mall
Directions: 10-minute car ride from Johor customs (we took a Grab ride from the customs for just RM5)
Address: 33, Jalan Seladang, Taman Abad, 80250 Johor Bahru
Opening Hours: Daily 10am to 10pm
Mall Directory: www.kslcity.com.my/store/view