Kediri’s newest hip place: Kediri Town Square

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So, my cousins showed me another place in town. Kediri Town Square where Matahari Department Store—the first ever in Kediri—and Hypermart are located. This is quite a shocking piece since Kediri has actually had 5 malls already (though not that big, but I think 5 is enough for such a small town like Kediri). And..this so-called KATOS (Kediri Town Square)will only jeopardize the traffic and the pockets of Kediri people as well. Hehehe. 

But, some may see it as about time that Kediri has more than 4 since this is the first ever that one of the biggest retail and wholesale industries in Indonesia set up its foot in Kediri. The mall itself is only 2-storey tall, but it is quite impressive for the town. It will be the new hang-out place for people; be it young or old. Actually, a week before the opening of KATOS, the 4-storey mall called Ramayana & Robinson also officially opened its flagship store in town. Since I have never been there, I do not know how it is. But, judging from its façade when I was passing it by, it looks pretty big, too. Another shopping haven for people with more disposable income to get rid of , of course. Hmmm…

And what surprised me was that…more and more restaurants and chain stores are opening up their branches in Kediri. I guess it was because Kediri, the headquarter of the notoriously or famously…(I dunno) well-known cigarette factory “Gudang Garam” is in fact in Kediri. Not to mention, the spreading and sprung up medium-sized businesses that lurk into Kediri…..the town is lucrative for markets. So, I think it is attracting more investors to chip in the economy cake of Kediri town.

Back to KATOS: since it is newly opened, not many shops are yet open, but the big ones are. I guess ..I got to wait for another year to see how it will go.

Since it is new, we wanted to go there and see how it looked. Okey is the first impression. Not fancy. But, it is just an ordinary-looking hang-out place. That would be OK for this town. Then, we tried to go into the much talked-about and hyped Hypermart. It turned out to be quite huge. We managed to buy some food and just to have a rack (not window) and alley shopping.

One more thing….before shopping, we took the kids to Game Fantasia where kids could play to their heart content. It was an impressive place where kids and adults alike can explore basic sciences and how some things work in this life. They can experience it for free, except for the games. I did try to ride this one of the seemingly just so so and not that challenging ride….since I thought it was for kids. But, I was wrong. It knocked me out. It is a bit bumpy and made me dizzy. No wonder, Freya was a bit scared. But, on the other hand, her sister and cousin were so excited that they wanted to ride the ride twice. 

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