JPO - My review

It was not a planned trip. There was a talk about going there after a wedding in Simpang Renggam, but no firm decision was made. And since dah dekat benar (as compare to the distance from KL lah kan), we decided to just go there. It took us probably about half an hour kot from Simpang Renggam.

The drive was okay and it’s not difficult to find the way there. Enough of road signs, if you get into the correct exit in the first place. It’s Senai Utara exit or just follow the one with Desaru on it. Easy pheasy.

When we got there, it’s probably during peak time, or the time when people like us who were just done with kenduri kawen and headed to JPO. So there’s a bit of queue at the entrance – cars taking parking tickets. But lucky us since Wan followed his instinct, we didn’t queue there instead we headed straight and there was another entrance. Parking was abundance but that didn’t stop many to park outside. I don’t know why. The entrance fee per entry is only RM3 daily. I don’t see why you have to be stingy when you are already going to JPO. If walking is an issue, then don’t bother going at all since there will be a lot of walking there for sure. Anyway, we got a good spot. As I said, parking was aplenty and it was on a public holiday.

The first thing I did was to change from my baju kurung to t-shirt and jeans. Heh. Dalam pada tak plan, Wan dah suruh bawak je baju persalinan. Biasaklah laki aku tu.. selalu sedia. There were a lot of people, of course. But because the place is spacious, crowd is not an issue. It is made to cater the crowd.

Altogether, this is the third Premium Outlets that I have been to – the other two are in the States. JPO is actually a branch of the same Premium Outlet. In Malaysia, Genting brought it as a joint venture with the company from the States. As with other Premium Outlets, you can expect the same layout. The only difference is the weather. Oh and the people. This is the only outlet that I have been to, that’s hot. And surrounded by Asians... muahahahahhaha..

Okay now.. my first impression when I knew that Premium Outlet was coming to town was happylah of course. I enjoyed shopping at the outlets in the States and it’s unbelievable that they were going to open up a branch in Malaysia. And the list of the stores that they have, gave me adrenalin rush. Tuu diaaa nampak sangat duniawi! Most of them are the stores that I like to visit. But then from what I heard from those who have been there, the excitement was just not the same as those who visited the store in the States. Kenapa ek? And so I have to find out..

One of the things Wan said when we were there was.. ‘nape tak banyak orang bawak beg banyak-banyak’... which is so true. Other Outlets that I have visited and Wan has visited, people will shop with bags load of stuff. Over in JPO, there was not much. There were more people that didn’t carry anything as compare to those who actually carry something. Even then, the quantity was small. Interesting.

So I went and checked out the stores..

I think the first store that we went into was Oroton. Oroton is a brand from Australia if I am not mistaken. I have not seen the store in outlets that I have visited in US. Price is okay... Errr... please take note that ‘okay’ here means that it’s ‘reasonably cheap’ for the brand. Ekekekeke.. But it doesn’t mean that it’s cheap for me. It’s cheap for the brand. Ada beza tu. Oh I didn’t mention that we went there with my parents – straight from kenduri kawen, remember? Abah and Mak are two very wise spender. They won’t spend on brands, they won’t spend unnecessarily, they would only buy what’s needed. Unlike me. Totally opposite. So kat dalam Oroton ni lagi Abah Mak dah sosek-sosek berdua dok goss pasal harga. I know that. Then later dalam kedai Tumi rasanya, Abah said to me.. harga beg tu boleh beli kete dia.. Ekekekeke.. Adoiiii!!! Camana nak shopping nih??!! Hahahaha.. Sabo je le.. Anyway, Oroton didn’t have anything that I really like. And Tumi, only carry very limited items, I think. Not interesting.

I saw people queuing outside Coach, so I didn’t bother queuing. Instead, we went to Michael Kors next door to Coach. I saw a handbag that I wanted to buy last year in US. The price is the same. Almost. Erk. Takpe. Tunggu dulu. The rest of the stuff are ‘reasonably’ priced as well. We got out of the shop to check out the rest first before decided on buying the bag. We went to Fossils. The range of things that they carry are okay but it was too crowded. Ramai gila orang dalam Fossils. Kata Wan, the range that they have in US are much better but still not bad. The watches sold there have very limited designs and the price is not all that cheap. In US, the watches sold in Fossils outlets are from USD30 which is about RM90 but those in JPO ranged from RM150, as what they claimed. Tu pun I didn’t find the watch. The cheapest I saw was RM220. Idak le murah.

Ada Vincci. Ada Padini. Bukan nak menyombong, but I think I can go to Vincci and Padini in KL ni. Melambak. They even have their concept stores in KL which is like the outlet as well. Idak le susah-susah nak ke JPO kalau nak ke Vincci or Padini kan. Errr.. that’s my honest comment. But I am not belittling those yang nak pegi. Dah alang-alang ke sana, why not jengok gak kalau ada yang interested, ye dak? Aku tak interested mostly sebab saiz takde.. Ekekekeke..

Polo Ralph Lauren tak bukak lagi. The store is still being decorated. I didn’t go to Burberry because I am not interested in the brand. Gap pun tak berapa menarik. Well to be fair, I didn’t really go and look at things displayed there. I saw a pair of jeans at RM259 or something like that and I think that’s expensive to be sold in an outlet. Kat KLCC boleh dapat kot that price? Unlike those in US. And in US, Gap Outlets sell perfumes and colognes. I was hoping that they have it here but they don’t. Baju pun macam leh dapat kat KLCC store je. Disappointing.

Adidas, Nike, Puma pun sama gak. Barang macam kat KL gak. Harga sama gak. Takde beza sangat pun. I saw the same baju in Adidas that I saw in KLCC a couple of months back and the price I think is exactly the same as the one in KLCC. How? Same thing with Timberland. They don’t have much stuff that can be called ‘factory outlet’. They probably sold things that you can get in KLCC because I saw the shoes that they sold are the same as those in KLCC. The shirts are not cheap either.

Clarks was okay. They carry old stocks but with lower price. Slightly lower which is okay. But the selection was limited. Wan got a pair for himself. Oklah tu setelah berpenat lelah berjalan.

Besides the stores, they have food court, kedai kopi mahal, kedai aiskrim mahal etc. So don’t worry about food. There are seats for those who want to relax as well. So it’s not bad.

Oh back to my Michael Kors... Muehehehe... After we had toured the area, we went back to Michael Kors. And we went to Coach since by then we didn’t have to queue anymore. I liked a bag, but the price is not much difference that those for clearance in KLCC. Slightly lower, but if you come from KL, taking into consideration the toll and the fuel and the food and the tiredness and accommodation if needed, might as well just buy in KLCC. Or Pavillion. Tak banyak ‘factory outlets’ stuff in the store. In US, I can get a wristlet at USD27 which is cheap for a Coach. It doesn’t matter that they are from the last year’s collection or even earlier. But not in JPO. Suma berantai mahal! Seriously macam tengok kat dalam KLCC. Besides, as I was walking around JPO, I saw plenty of people using Coach handbags. Banyak gila it’s like Coach tu cheap gila punya brand. It’s such a turn off for lak for me. Macam dah takde exclusivity dah. Errr.. but I still own Coach bags lah kan.. Hahahaha.. can’t deny that the designs are good. I also asked Mak which one was better – the Michael Kors or Coach and Mak chose Michael Kors. Wan pun. And so I bought the Michael Kors. With that bag, I have completed the shopping for handbag for this year! Ekekekeke.. Patutnya completed shopping for handbag for many more years to come, hokeh! Aku tak rasa akan reput beg-beg yang aku ada tu..

Wokeh. I guess cukup dah review of JPO. I saw in online news that there’s a plan to open Premium Outlets in Melaka and Selangor. So there you go peeps.. no need to go all the way to Johor anymore. Tapi bila nak bukak tu tak taulah kan.

Angah