One of my favourite things to do when travelling to some place new, is to check out the local supermarket and see what's the same and what's different. Every country has its own aesthetic and style. The pictures and labels on the products are different, sometimes the packaging is too - in South America you can buy fresh milk in sealed plastic bags! Luckily for me, the very first thing I did on my first proper day in Sri Lanka was to visit a local supermarket with my Dad and my cousin who drove us from our villa to the village shops.

There were so many different kinds of fruit I'd never seen or heard of before. Grains in bins that could be bought by weight. Lots of fresh fish waiting to be fried. And more brands of coconut oil than I'd ever seen in one place. It's obvious what the oil of choice is around here! The green mangoes we bought were incredible! My second favourite find was the onion flavoured chips made from rice and chickpea flour.

After the supermarket, Perera & Daughter went to the Perera & Sons bakery to buy some short eats for lunch. They've been baking for the locals for 117 years! I  bought chicken rotti and vegetable pan rolls for the girls for lunch. Miss 16 is usually a chilli queen like her dad but even she found the chicken rotti too spicy! As my cousin used to say, 'If there's no chilli, where's the flavour?'