Kota Kinabalu Night Market

Text and photos:Le Bich

The night market is located on the beachfront and only operates from 5 PM until late at night. It's a diverse food market, most notably for its fresh seafood stalls. Customers buy by weight at very reasonable prices, and the vendors will grill or deep-fry the seafood for them to eat on the spot. Besides offering many local specialties, the market also features various Filipino and Indonesian culinary styles such as grilled chicken wings, satay chicken, mixed fried rice, and various kinds of desserts.

Borneo Island is one of the most fertile, unspoiled, and natural places in the world. Therefore, the fruits at the market are more diverse, fresher, and sweeter, with the most unique being the red durian.

After your meal, you can go shopping. Just walk across the street and you'll find a souvenir area with plenty of goods to buy as gifts for family and friends. Pearls here are inexpensive and beautiful; for just 30 RM (210,000 VND) to 250 RM (2,000,000 VND), you can buy pearl bracelets or necklaces in various colors. Or for just 70,000 VND, you can buy a small bottle of perfume made from natural flower extracts with a pleasant scent. If you're not a shopaholic, you can simply wander around, admire the goods, and listen to street singers playing soothing music.

With its friendly vendors always happy to serve tourists and the fresh sea air, Kota Kinabalu Night Market is sure to leave a memorable impression on anyone.

Below are some images the author captured while visiting and experiencing the Kota Kinabalu night market:

For just 70,000 VND, you can buy a small bottle of perfume made from natural flower extracts, with many scents to choose from.

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This place is a bustling food market, most notably for its stalls selling fresh seafood. Customers buy by weight, and the vendors grill the seafood over charcoal for them to eat on the spot. Prices are also very reasonable; for example, a 300-gram shrimp costs 200,000 VND, and a skewer of grilled squid costs 50,000 VND.

Here, pearls are also affordable and beautiful; for just 300,000 to 2 million VND, you can buy pearl bracelets or necklaces in various colors to suit your taste.