Lorong Kulit Flea Market, Penang

Formerly known as Thieves Market, the Lorong Kulit flea market is one of the must-see places when you are in Penang. Located near the city stadium, it operates daily in the morning. And no, it’s not a market full of thieves or selling stolen stuff nor is it just an ordinary flea market, it’s actually a vintage bazaar.

To get to Lorong Kulit, you can ride a bus at Komtar or simply take a cab.

Whatever you are looking for, food, drinks, vegetables, clothes, books, electrical appliances, accessories, antique stuff and even live animals like chickens you can probably find it here. But the most interesting part will be the antiques, one of the reasons why Lorong Kulit is famous. Old iron, old coins, old stamps, porcelain, the kris (Malay’s traditional weapon), grandfather clocks, swords etc. are among the things that antique collectors will look for at cheap prices for bargaining. Seriously cheap, you can’t even compare it to eBay. I’ve read this one person’s travel journal and he said that he bought an old record for RM3 and managed to sell in on eBay for more than a hundred dollars.

I once found a vintage Yashica and asked the seller the price and his reply was, “How much would you want to pay?” I was shocked and certainly I have no idea what would be the appropriate price to say. Then he said, RM150 and I just nodded silently. But after that he said, “How about RM80? Want it?” Oh that was way cheaper than I’ve expected. I hesitated at first and later decided to pass on it. And when I was already back in Kuala Lumpur, I can’t keep my mind off that Yashica.

There are many classic analogue cameras there and you just have to know where to search for it. I definitely will go there again and search high and low for a rare analogue camera.

written by nea on 2011-08-19 #places #travel #tourism #flea-market #holiday #analogue #malaysia #uws #vintage #cameras #penang #lomolocation #antiques #location #journey #superheadz #bazaar #daily #news #provia-100f #classics #lorong-kulit