Publika Shopping Gallery — Local services in Kuala Lumpur

It only take us under 25 minutes drive from PJ, via Penchala Link to Publika. Which is rather convenient.

Publika is an upscale neighbourhood shopping mall located in Solaris Dutamas, Sri Hartamas, a sprawling up-and-coming residential development. Aimed at a young expatriate clientele, the creative and artsy complex has a number of high-end clothing boutiques, novelty stores and F&B venues.

It has a very modern look with steel and glass art pieces hanging from the ceiling, a skylight that lets in plenty of natural light, geometric, wire benches and small stores with high-quality merchandise. The mall also plays host to a variety of entertainment offerings such as art galleries (like Galeri Chandan and Segaris Art Centre on the fourth floor), a park, several spas (such as Hammam Spa on the fourth floor) and more.

The layout of the four-storey Publika is pretty simple and follows an H-shape: a lot of the ground floor boutiques are pretty small but sport plenty of colourful flair. Big name brands include MPH, B.I.G. Ben's Independent Grocer, ACE Hardware, British India, Just B, and more.

Publika differs greatly from other strip malls because it is so uniquely designed. Though you will not find international brands here, the upscale local boutiques have more than enough to keep you occupied. The main entrance is flanked by the beautiful Journal by Plan B and Wondermilk plus there is a sprawling MPH bookstore right beside it.

Publika is about building a vibrant urban sanctuary made up of interesting destinations and activities as well as a strong sense of community. It aims to offer a fresh retail experience. Art, cultural, and social activities will form the soul of Publika and will be augmented by 'creative retail' such as fashion, accessories, gifts and trend setting retail experiences. Publika will be a lively incubator of creativity and thought, where producers and shoppers actively engage with arts, culture, current issues and concerns of our time.

We also love the fact they host quite a number of events...

Finding a parking spot around here has been a big headache for a whole year. It's so frustrating and annoying. Every time I need to park, I feel stressed out because of the problems.

Firstly, there are hardly any parking spaces during work hours. It's like the parking lot turns into a "no parking" zone just when I need it the most. Looking for a free spot is a daily struggle, making my already busy day even harder.

And it gets worse. They won't let me pay with my Debit Mastercard, which is crazy. Nowadays, everyone uses cards for everything, but the parking place insists on only taking cash or some other weird way. It's really old-fashioned and makes life more difficult, having to carry cash all the time.

Then there's this Touch 'n Go thing that's supposed to make paying easier, but it's not free. They charge extra, like a toll booth on the road to convenience. So much for making things simple; it just adds more money trouble.

The parking machines are like ancient guardians, only accepting old and crumpled cash. In a world where everyone uses digital money, this feels like going back in time. Searching for old bills in my wallet is just silly in this day and age.

Even the ATMs, which are supposed to help, sometimes stop working. Imagine needing old money and not being able to get it from the ATM. It's like they're playing a trick on us, making an already annoying situation even more stressful.

And when I finally get the right money, leaving the parking area is another challenge. The exit machines seem to act up, especially at the worst times. Waiting for over an hour because the machine won't cooperate is...

UPDATE: Turns out this is worse than I initially thought. I went back to Publika today to pick up some things for work and checked the valet parking signage board. It's capped at RM25 per entry however on my last visit, I enquired if staying longer will incur more fees and he said YES. Nearly got conned.

Publika enjoys the benefits of having signage that is NON user friendly. If you are not familiar with the area, you can easily fall into trap of: going into premium parking (the very first parking entrance you see). Signage is not obvious until you are too far in to get out of it. There is of course the usual 15 mins leeway but the feeling of being trapped is not a good one. 2: if you thought you lucked out by finding a parking spot next to a shop and wonder if it's a free parking spot, let me save you the heartbreak: it's not. There is ZERO signage about parking rates, the usual signs of paid parking by presence of a parking attendant is also dubious at best. I walked past my car multiple times during the day and never saw a parking attendant only to have them mushrooming up at twilight "accusing" me of parking there when he was on break, so it will be RM25 thank you very much. Maybe extra directories in the alcoves wouldn't hurt either. You'd either have to travel in one direction to finally be able to locate a directory for it to tell you that it's at the other side. In this day and age, for sustainability sake, a QR code map would suffice.

The lack of user friendliness greatly impacts a trip. I implore malls...