salcedo weekend market

yesterday morning, my brother brought me to the weekend market along salcedo street. he has been raving about the place for quite sometime now and regularly frequents the place on saturdays, the only day it is open.

the market is actually like a flea market of sorts wherein vendors from the neighborhood, as well as other entrepreneurs elsewhere wish to showcase their products. the market mostly sells home made foodstuff with a bit on non-food items sprinkled about. what i particularly liked about this market is that it's all comfort food they sell, with a twist! where else can you find suman (sticky rice, steamed in leaves) that's mango or ube-langka flavored?! much more, oven baked CHICHARON!!!

ready-to-eat thai specialties anyone?

or would you prefer japanese?

or dried fish, for the ultimate pinoy meal?

for a bit of luxury, why not lechong baka, rosasted on the spot?

for added festiveness, christmas carolers!

and flowers, fresh from baguio.

and what market would be complete without produce from all over the world.

another thing that got me quite tickled about the market is that there's an "upscale atmosphere" about it. it is still basically a market, yet you don't feel as repulsed as when you would venture into you local talipapa. don't get me wrong, it's not that i'm being snooty, it's just that i believe, especially with regards to food that image is everything! presentation and packaging is now as important to consumers as quality and value for money. you still hear barkers but instead of your "bili na, bili na, murnang mura!", you hear "good morning sir, ma'am, would you like to try our home-made hungarian sausages?". ODB? you wish you'd hear that from your suki next time you venture to the palengke!

of course, what adds to the upscale feel is also the people who goes to market. the area is dead in the weekends except when the market is open. you see cars parked at every sidewalk within the immediate periphery. inside, you would be rubbing elbows with expats and celebrities and multi-millionaires, all there with the same intention as you, to see what the market has in store. come to think of it, i do sound snooty. but then, to be among such a crowd, even if just for a day, is a good reprieve from the environment that i live in everyday. a direct antithesis from the market... clean, orderly, bustling.

i jested to my brother, if this is how the rich and educated go to market, i wouldn't mind working as the help.

it sounded funnier yesterday.