2nd Floor Shopping

The food section houses the most exotic types of fruit and vegtables, seafood and other types of fish dried, dead or alive, poultry, meats and sausages in all shapes and sizes and smells. The range of produce is wonderful.

The smell of the durian fruit is the first thing that hit my senses. I didn't try it but tried some sweets made with it instead. How shall I describe the taste of them? It's like tasting something that has salt, sugar and garlic im it and it's not a bad taste but just very different to what I was expecting. I decided to forgo tasting the fruit when we came across them at the night market, the smell is off-putting.

I love how the cabbages and other leaves are sprayed by a fine mist, keeping them fresh and crispy.



These rough looking 'cucumbers' are bitter melon, a type of fruiting squash with a very bitter taste full of alkaloids. To ameliorate the bitterness, the dish requires something salty, and savoury usually helps too. In the past the bitter melon was cooked until soft, reducing the alkaloid bitterness by cooking, but in recent years there is the trend of having it just about crunch after boiling.


It's called Bai Ku Gua in Chinese. In English it's known as Balsam pear, Leprosy pear, Leprosy gourd, Bitter gourd, Bitter cucumber and in Dutch it's known as Balsampeer.