My Weekly Market Experience

Going to the market is part of my weekly routine. I need to stack on food items and grocery items for a week's consumption.

Off to our humble small town market, I'd love to take you around and maybe find some items you might be interested in.

So first things first I need cash. The first thing I did was go to an ATM to withdraw some cash. The ATM was a little distant from the busy market and during that time the weather was hot so I took a "𝙥𝙤𝙩𝙥𝙤𝙩" ride to get there. If you ever wondered what is a popot, this is how it looks.

It is a bicycle converted into a three-wheeled public utility vehicle. This is common in our town. Its routes are short distances around the town proper.

As I was riding on the potpot, I passed by the only gasoline station in our town and I wondered if there will ever come a time when people will no longer be dependent on oil. I hate how the prices of oil affect our daily spending as inflation kicks in. Our 1000 Php (20$) has lesser buying power now because of inflation. If the oil price hikes up, all other product prices follow.

With cash on hand, I was ready to go shopping. I went to my favorite grocery store. It is a small rural family-owned store but maybe the biggest in our town. I love to shop here because I would just choose, pick and pay for the items I need. Unlike in other stores, I need to instruct the salesperson on what products I need and they will be the ones to get the items for me.
I am glad that they improved their store. It is cleaner, cooler, lighter, and more organized now.

As I looked around to find the items I needed I found some interesting products.

𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙇𝙪𝙘𝙠𝙮 𝙈𝙚 𝙋𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙞𝙩 𝘾𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙤𝙤𝙣

Recently in the news 𝘑𝘜𝘚𝘛𝘐𝘕 (𝘢 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘑𝘜𝘚𝘛 𝘐𝘕 𝘸𝘦 𝘶𝘴𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘰f 𝘢 𝘯𝘦𝘸𝘴 𝘱𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘬 𝘢 𝘯𝘦𝘸𝘴) broke this unfortunate news to us that Lucky Me Pancit Cantoon had been recalled in 10 EU countries—Ireland, France, Germany, Denmark, Belgium, The Netherlands, Croatia, Greenland, Faeroe Islands and Malta due to the presence of ethylene oxide, an antimicrobial pesticide. When I read the news, I was eating pancit cantoon. I was dazed for a moment. Torn between throwing it away or just finishing eating it, I choose the latter 😅. I didn't care anymore, I was hungry. I searched for news if the Philippines was affected by the recall too. But according to FDA, there was nothing to worry about. So this was still on my list. My ever favorite Lucky Me Pancit Canton Kalamansi Flavor.

𝗖𝗼𝗰𝗼 𝗠𝗮𝗺𝗮

This product is coconut milk processed and packed. I have tried this kind of product before. I guess it was in 2014. After that, I haven't seen this product in the market anymore. This was my second time seeing this in-store again. Gata or coconut milk is used as an ingredient in cooking some Filipino dishes. I was thinking of buying but maybe next time. I still prefer the freshly grated coconut coz it's natural.

𝗦𝗼𝗷𝘂

Soju is a Korean alcoholic drink typically made from rice or sweet potatoes. If you are a k-drama lover you are probably familiar with this product. This is what you see in Korean dramas they drink when the protagonist is heartbroken. Filipinos are known drama lovers and seeing this product having a stable space in the arrays of alcoholic drinks, I must say Korean culture has slowly made its way into Filipino culture. I have tried soju out of curiosity and it is not bad. It's bitter-sweet like the dramas I watched. 😁

𝗔𝗹𝗹 𝗶𝗻 𝗢𝗻𝗲 𝗦𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗼𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗠𝗦𝗚

The secret to Filipino dishes - all-in-one seasoning and MSG. It adds a magical taste to every Filipino dish. I am not a good cook so I made sure I stacked on this product. It will do the magic. 😁

After shopping for grocery items, I was on my way to the wet market. I passed by my friend's fruit shake stall and stopped by to have a little chit-chat. I ordered buko (coconut) shake. It was so good! The best buko shake I tasted. The perks of being in a tropical country are the variety of fruits and course, buko.

I then went to the wet market to buy fish. I always buy from my suki because I am sure the fish I bought is fresh and she would sometimes give me discounts. Suki is a buyer or seller involved in an arrangement in which a customer regularly purchases products or services from the same provider in exchange for favorable treatment.

And this is my favorite fish. We call it Tamarong.

𝘐 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘺 𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘴 𝘸𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘣𝘪𝘳𝘢𝘯. 𝘖𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘰𝘯 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘶𝘮𝘮𝘺. 😂

𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘶𝘵 𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘬 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘩. 𝘐 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘢𝘺 𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘢 𝘥𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘶𝘵.

All the products bought cost me around 30$. It is enough for a week since we have only a small family.

Till next Market Friday... Happy shopping dear hivers.