slothis · English

Gaya Street Sunday Market in Kota Kinabalu

2017-09-16 · Updated: 2026-08-11 · Original (Korean)

This article was translated from the original Korean post with AI assistance. Read the original Korean post →

Around 11 AM, I arrived at the Sunday Market, the highlight of my "aimless wandering" trip. It's a traditional weekly market in Kota Kinabalu that only opens on Sunday mornings why not all day?!. Held on Gaya Street—a name that feels familiar since it shares its name with the ancient Korean Gaya confederacy—this market is widely known as a great place to buy cheap souvenirs. Thanks to that, I ended up souvenir shopping less than 24 hours after arriving in Kota Kinabalu.

My shopping list for the market today: one pair of long pants to wear when visiting the mosque you can't enter in shorts and sleeveless shirts, and two pairs of pants as a gift for my older sister.

White car passing in front of a street market lined with blue and white tents.
There are entrances in several places. In my case, I just followed my feet without thinking and ended up at the Sunday Market.
People browsing colorfully patterned clothes and goods under a blue tent.
Back of a person wearing a blue brimmed hat and a crowded market scene under the tents.
This woman is not part of my group.
Busy market street with a large crowd of people gathered under blue and red tents.

While typical weekly markets are for locals, this one caters much more to tourists, as expected of a popular destination. Most vendors can speak at least a little English, and their Chinese is much better than their English. Maybe that's why I heard "Nihao blah blah~" so much today. But honestly, everywhere I went after this, people only tried talking to me in Chinese or Japanese. Guess I don't look Korean.

It feels a bit like Namdaemun Market (a massive traditional market in Seoul), but without much aggressive touting, and the starting prices are set so low you could just buy things right away. I hesitated a bit because I thought buying too quickly would make browsing the rest of the market boring, but the vendor mistakenly thought I was hesitating over the price and lowered it first. It's a fascinating market. At almost any other local market, you have to play tug-of-war two or three times just to knock off 1,000 to 2,000 won, but here they wave the white flag and drop the price before you even start. Korean and Chinese aunties who love the thrill of haggling would be so disappointed to hear this. Even so, the Chinese aunties who still manage to haggle fiercely are amazing!

Green multi-tiered fountain in the center of a square surrounded by market tents and people.
The fountain in the middle of the market. It doesn't look like much, but it's the centerpiece of the Sunday Market, so people take a lot of photos here.
People sitting or standing on the street playing traditional instruments like gongs and drums.
I'm not sure if they were selling things or just performing, but they put on a great show.
Plink plonk plink~

Compared to the Sunday Market in Chiang Mai or Osu Kannon in Nagoya (though that one isn't a weekly market) that I've visited before, this market is on the smaller side. There are surprisingly few food stalls, and the goods are heavily focused on clothes and souvenirs. You might be a little disappointed if you only look at the variety or scale, but decent clothes cost around 10,000 won, and flowy, pajama-like clothes can be bought for 3,000 to 4,000 won, so it's definitely worth a look around.

Also, they sell durian everywhere for the Chinese tourists, so you can try it if you're curious. I wouldn't eat it, though.

Tents lined up under a traditional-style gate with a red tile roof and a signboard with Chinese characters.
Stall with brightly colored clothes hanging and a person passing by holding a parasol.
You can see all over the streets that the ethnic Chinese population plays a very important role in Malaysia.
White arched structure with a sign reading Malaysia Monument standing behind a market lined with blue tents.
Flower bed decorated with white bird statues under the arch of the Malaysia Monument.
Tent selling fresh juice and various shops lined up in an outdoor market with Malaysian flags hanging.
Places to eat and drink appear outside the market. There might be a specific rule preventing them from setting up inside.
Vendor wearing a hijab standing behind a container of yellow drink at a stall selling corn juice.
Holding a clear plastic cup filled with an orange iced drink against the background of an outdoor market lined with blue tents.
Imir

I bought three pieces of clothing from the cheapest stall, and among the drink vendors right in front of it, I noticed one selling an unusually colored drink, so I went over. I asked what it was, and they called it "Imir." I was so curious that I bought one to try. It's a drink made by finely crushing corn and mixing it with water. At first, I thought, 'What is this? It's just corn water.' But halfway through, the sweetness of the corn really blended well, and I was impressed, thinking, 'Oh~ this is actually pretty good~' By the end, however, I had the bizarre experience of my throat burning with thirst despite having just drunk a beverage, and I eventually had to buy water to drink. The portion is too big for one person to finish alone; it would be perfect for three people to just have a taste.

Expenses (calculated conservatively, multiply by 300 won to get the equivalent in Korean currency)