Happy New Week, Hive Family especially to #MarketFriday Community by 
Today, I started my week early doing my 50-page to-do-list. My first errand was to go market (wet market) or in tagalog "Palengke". Although it is only Monday today, our market days here fall on Mondays and Fridays so here I am.
Wet Market (Palengke Ni Juan)
Juan refers to a random/anonymous Filipino, pretty much the same of the American John Doe or Uncle Sam.
Why wet market? Well, derived from the word "wet" itself, vendors and other market workers clean the entire area by regularly spraying or pouring water on the the market floors to keep it clean. Vendors do sell fresh vegetables, fruits, eggs, seafoods and meat (chicken, pork, beef, goat) in an outdoor open-air setting. They also sell other dry goods like clothing, kitchenware, house and garden tools, other housewares, toys, even plants and flowers and many others. There are many wet markets here in the Philippines and very corner of the nation has one at least.
In my town, the wet market has specific market days like I've I've mentioned (Mondays and Fridays) where meat vendors from different towns come all together. Although the market opens daily, there are only a few meat stalls during the non-market days. It is best to go to a wet market very early in the morning - before sunrise is the best time because the veggies and fruits are still fresh (newly harvest) and lots to choose from. I often go to market around 8am-9am because it you go beyond that, it's going to be so crowded.
Here in the Philippines, "Palengke" or "wet/outdoor markets" are very important especially for people in the countryside or rural areas like where I live. You can find here a wide assortment of fresh and nutritious food that can be bought at reasonable costs compared to groceries. Most food sold in wet markets are freshy harvested from the farm or from the local people's backyard gardens.
To be honest, wet market is one of my favorite hangouts. I am not a mall kind of a person, and I'd rather shop outdoors because it is not an intimidating place haha. You can likewise haggle and ask discounts from vendors. Can't do that at the malls.
I remember when I was a little, my parents would bring to to wet market with them and I've learned a lot from just observing. I learned how to haggle like big time lol. My late dad was a super haggler. Take for an example, if an avocado fruit would cost $5 a kilo, he would go below up to $1. I swear, he was very good at it haha. And oh, they were selling exotic animals too (which I rarely see these days) like live frogs and ills. One of my favorite exotic food is frog dish lol. My dad used to buy them every Sunday when I was a little.
So anyway, I thought I'd share something special that happened here in town's wet market. It 4 years ago when my late mother-in-law came to visit the Philippines for the first time (and her last because she already passed away last year). She is from Las Vegas, Nevada USA. She was literally surprised and amused of what she saw. It's totally a culture shock for her, but ended up enjoying it.
Here are some of the photos.
Location: San Juan, La Union Philippines
(My late mother-in-law visiting the Philippines for the first time)
That day, she wanted some bananas so my husband and I took her to the veggies and fruit section. You can see the bananas hanging and swinging from a bamboo wood and attached with a rope. Isn't that cute?
Mom was a lil confused. Converting US Dollar to Philippine Peso hehe.
While mother mom-in-law was picking bananas and doing the math, I went to get some broccoli, cabbage, potatoes and bitter gourd for our dinner. Well, the bitter gourd was for me and my daughter haha.
Then we headed to the meat section.
Disclaimer:
This is a traditional Philippine wet market and not intended to disrespect anyone, anything or any cultures. If you find the photos offensive, please ignore and go to the next post. Thank you.
The photo above are chicken feet or what we call here "adidas". Most Filipinos love adidas and typically one of our comfort foods. They are being sold as street food (bbq chicken feet on stick) and also served at some Chinese restaurants as dimsum. But of course, you have to thoroughly clean the feet with warm water or boil until a little tender before preparing as a dish. By the way, we did not but chicken feet. Mom-in-law and husband just wanted some photos of it.
Next stop, Fish Section
These were freshly caught from the ocean. We have here milk fish, mackerel scad or GG in tagalog, yellowtail fusilier, catfish, salmon and some of the tilapia fish were still jumping. Fresh fish are the best!
We roamed around a bit until mom-in-law headed over to the RTW section and wanted to get some dresses for my daughter. And when she got tired walking, we headed back home.
I just thought I'd share. Some good memories worth keeping. Do you have Market Friday stories?
Okay, everyone! It's past midnight here and I'll go ahead get some sleep. Catch y'all in the morning. Xoxo.
You can also find me here:
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April 19, 2022
Philippines
(All photos and videos posted on Hive are my own and all taken by me unless stated otherwise)