Hello hive!
What I love about the town of Hilongos, Leyte which is a neighboring town woth ours is that it has a bigger and wider market especially the dry goods market. Everytime we need something not commonly availabe in our town, our go to market that is nearest to us is in the town of Hilongos.
Last week I happened to walk around their dry goods market where stalls for a variety of products can be found. I don't usually shop from this area since department stores in town is my go to place if I needed something and I can always find there what I need. I was delighted to such variety of products, some I thought are no longer available on the market and some I are those products I will be needing someday that I did not think I could find here. I can say these are some amazing finds.
First stop are the fruit stalls. How about a fruitylicious walk along this area with a variety of fruits like oranges, apples, bananas, watermelon, mangoes and some rootcrops. Seeing these displays reminded me to take a dose of my vitamin C specially now that the weather has changed. From the rainy months of January and February, now we are like in a hot oven as the dry and hot season has started. And the change of weather is activating certain diseases caused by viruses and bacterias. We should boost our immune system and a natural vitamin C from fruits is perfect.
Oranges and apples are staple. I guess because these are imported, there is constant supply. Root crops are also staple since these are usual ingredients in many Filipino dishes.
Watermelons are the summer fruit. During the dry season, there are more supply of these and they usually are more juicy and sweet.
Nothing goes wrong with bananas all year round. In the country bananas are everywhere and they come in different, shapes, sizes and colors. There are green, yellow, small or big bananas. There are bananas that has a certain aroma but still tastes good. There are bananas you cannot cook and there are variety especially for bananacues, turon or boiled bananas.
The kakanin stalls stimulates my taste buds for some sticky rice goodness. How these goodnes are wrapped in banana leaf indicates what is inside.
This is what we call budbod. It is purely boiled sticky rice. You can tell it is budbod if it is rolled in banana leaf in a long and slender manner and angled edges.
This one is called ira-id. Its main ingredient is cassava. It is usually rolled in banana leaf in a shorter and wider manner and angled edges.
This one is called Magsaysay. It is sticky rice with chocolate filling. It is usually rolled in a long and tube-like manner with rounded edges. In this photo there is also peanuts and the black one on the side is calamay. It's like a sticky jam and tastes better with some bread.
Going further inside the market...
I found this clay pots and clay stove. I smiled as I remembered the late 1980's to early 90's, the years in my vivid memory that this simple technology was used by the family. Brings back delicious memories. 🤤 I thought people nowadays do not use this anymore so seeing this in the market is a "really?" moment for me.
Lately, I have been thinking of buying a long, sharp bolo so I could use them in cutting logs, sticks or grasses in the yard. I haven't seen any display of it in our town market, so now I know where to get one.
This one is a traditional coconut grater. Seeing such old and simple technology which I grow up with always makes me smile because I thought this is obsolete. People are adapting to newer and more high tech technology and even today, ready to cook coconut milk in a pack is already available in the market.
I also found what we call sarok, a traditional hat. Usually farmer use this kind of hat specially when they are in the field. But this one, the materials are already changed to a type of fabric we call trapal instead of nipa leaves as materials but the design is still the same.
I always have eyes on things made with indigenous materials like these baskets, broomsticks, clay pots, hats and more.
I also passed by a flower shop. For me, what makes flowers more beautiful is how they are arranged in a beautiful flower basket. Here I have a blast of flower baskets made from indigenous materials that I like very much. How about a basket of flowers for myself? Maybe next time. 😄
I continued with my stroll around the area and found manong (a respectful way to call an older person I do not know) who repairs shoes and umbrellas. I should go back here with my sandals that just needs a little repair from a skilled repair man. It would be a waste to just throw it when it's repairable.
I continued walking and found manong selling lomboy cigarettes. In this world of vapes and commercial cigarette sticks, can this be better for smokers? Lomboy (Java Plum) cigarettes sure is cheaper but I am not sure if there is benefit to any form of smoking.
And to wrap up my walk in this such an interesting market, I'll leave this funny quote. Well, I found this funny coz I couldn't find the coherence of the statement... Or maybe it is just me with the low IQ 😅😅. It goes...
No parking, naay oling!
translation
No parking, there is charcoal!
Perhaps it's a warning that you might get charred if you happen to get in contact with the charcoal. Would you dare? 😅😅 But I like the rhyme there.
I really had fun for today's #MarketFriday initiated by @dswigle. I hope you too find what you are looking for in the market.