If you find yourself in Kota Kinabalu one day after dark, you should head over to the night market. In the shadows of the Meridien hotel and on the flight path for the airport, you’ll find a market that’s been going on for ages.
Vendors from around the region come to sell virtually indistinguishable produce, spices, meat and cooked foods (my inner economist thinks this is one of the few examples I’ve seen of “perfect competition”). The sights are salivating and the smells are delicious.
Make sure that you go hungry as you can stop at one of the countless stalls and watch your dinner get freshly cooked for about $1. I had a fantastic mee goreng (fried noodles) and it came with a delicious soto ayam (spiced chicken broth soup):
The market runs every night – rain or shine – from about 6:30pm to 11:00pm.