I was told that when I am in Medan, Sun Plaza is the mall that I should visit at least once. It was opened in the year 2004 and it is still the largest and most luxurious mall in Medan. I took a cab to this mall from my hotel and arrived at about 10 a.m. Surprisingly many shops were not even opened yet at this hour. So I took the opportunity to browse around the empty shops, noting that the walkaway was spacious. Sogo is the anchor tenant for this shopping mall. You can enter into Sogo department store from almost any level in this shopping mall. The other anchor tenant is Hypermarket which is a well known supermarket chain in Indonesia.

It seems that there are an abundant of food outlets in Sun Plaza. There is the food court, A&W, KFC, Pizza Hut, Nelayan, Ayam Penyet Ria ( one of my favorite), Es Teler 77 ( delicious noodles), Red Mango frozen yogurt ( nice but too expensive) and many coffee joints. I liked the food court because it is spacious and clean. Food variety are plentiful because there are many individual food stalls operating there. The best way to enjoy is to buy one small portion of food from different food stalls and try it out. During lunch hour, the food court was crowded; as many office workers would be here to take their lunch.

 

Sogo at Sun Plaza occupies the most retail space in the Sun Plaza Mall. In fact, Sogo is located almost on every floor and it provides a one stop shopping concept for the whole family (except food items ).  But I find the the prices of certain clothes and shoes in Sogo were rather steep as compared to similar merchandise that I can buy in Singapore. Many of the branded products that I saw in Sogo, I can find it too in Singapore and Malaysia – and they are less expensive in these 2 countries. So hopefully Sogo could readjust its pricing policy on the products, if they are keen in attracting more tourists here for shopping in their store.

The Hypermarket is located in the upper floor of Sun Plaza and it is a nice supermarket. However the size of this supermarket is smaller than their other branches in other parts of Indonesia where I have been. The selection and variety of food and sundry items here are sufficient to satisfy the average household family. One thing I noticed was that certain areas in this supermarket was rather warm – so was the air -conditioning faulty or was it not turn on? I came to this supermarket twice during my stay in Medan and I felt warm and stuffy in some areas of this store. This is a good place to stock up on your food, drink, toiletries if you are staying in Medan for a few days.

For those who are seeking some entertainment, there is a cinema, Time Zone and Himalayan games centers for young adults and kids. There is also a popular book store called Gramedia, where you can buy books, computer accessories, stationery, gifts, etc. One of the nice feature about this shopping mall is that there are benches located on every floor for the shoppers to sit and rest their feet. The Sun Plaza is a spacious mall and you could easily spend half a day here without feeling bore or hungry.

I read some comments in the travel forums that there is no taxi stand in this mall. This is not correct. There is in fact a taxi stand right outside the main entrance of this mall. Just outside the glass door of the main entrance, there is a small signage for Taxi and you can see a guy standing there with a walkie-talkie ( handheld transceiver) who can help you in getting a cab. The condition is that once the booking is made for a cab, the minimum charge would be Rp25,000 irregardless of the distance. For example, if the meter in the taxi states Rp15,000 upon arrival at my hotel, I still have to pay the drive Rp25,000. But if the meter states Rp50,000, then of course I have to pay the cab driver Rp50,000. I would also normally tip the taxi drivers because most of them are helpful and courteous. My view is that if I am going for holiday, I am not going to fuss or waste my time hunting for a cab outside the mall just to save a couple of dollars – whatever it is, it is an individual choice; as there is no right or wrong way on how you want to spend your money.

Do visit Sun Plaza Mall when you are in Medan. It is a refreshing change after visiting so many old malls and old buildings around this city. It is also a good place to recharge and get away from the smoke, dust and congested roads. Most of the shops should be opened by 11.00 a.m and it is a good place to get a sumptuous lunch – the variety and choices of food here is really amazing.

I will be adding more photos of Sun Plaza Medan in the Image Gallery of my website at – Indonesiapics.com