KUALA LUMPUR - Thousands of city folk thronged Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman and Jalan Masjid India for last-minute Hari Raya Aidilfitri shopping.

Management and Science University accounting student, Zahidah Saidin, 20, said last-minute shopping never failed to bring out the festive mood in everyone.

"In today's hectic lifestyle, people rarely find time to shop for festivities and last-minute shopping helps bring out the spirit of Raya."

Forty-year-old housewife, Hasniah Jamiah, made a last-minute dash to buy clothes for her husband and children.

"We get the best deals and discounts when making last-minute purchases. I wouldn't want to miss this opportunity for anything," said Hasniah, who will return to her Malacca hometown today.

Government servant Najwa Shuhaida Omar, 28, only managed to do her shopping yesterday due to her busy workload.

"My Raya holidays started on Thursday and I had to prepare at home before rushing to do last-minute purchases," said Najwa, who will join her family in Seremban for the festivities.

Hasnah Mat Ali, 65, accompanied by her husband and daughter, said she could not shop earlier because of time constraints.

"Everyone is busy, so we came just to grab whatever is necessary," said the mother of five.

Irwan Jamil, 25, who is working in Sarawak, stopped here for shopping before heading home to Johor Baru.

"There are many varieties of fashion attires and accessories in Kuala Lumpur compared with other parts of the country.

"My fiancee and I would always stop in KL to buy clothes and gifts for our families before going back every year."

The Hari Raya Aidilfitri shopping rush also saw many non-Muslims taking opportunity to hunt for bargains and discounts.

Housewife Indra Devi, 60, said she was overwhelmed by rock-bottom prices.

"I have already started to stock up clothes and necessary items for my family for Deepavali in November."

Dr Karthiaini Rajagopal, 27, who used her two-hour lunch break to shop, said this year's sales and bargains were the best.

With their shopping done, some city dwellers packed their bags and began making the annual journey to their hometowns.

Projek Lebuhraya Utara-Selatan is providing real-time updates of the traffic situation via its twitter @plustrafik.

Traffic heading north began to build up around mid-morning.

Stretches along Slim River to Sungkai, Tapah to Gopeng, Sungai Bakap rest area to Bukit Tambun and Seberang Jaya to Juru were reported to be congested.

South-bound traffic in the morning was smooth throughout the day, with the exception of the stretch between Seremban rest area and the Seremban exit.

By evening, the number of vehicles on highways had multiplied.

Traffic at the Penang Bridge had slowed down significantly.

East coast-bound traffic at the Karak and East Coast Expressway were also reportedly slow-moving between Gombak and Bukit Tinggi.

Johor Causeway also saw increased traffic in both directions.