After the wonderful climb that we had at Sachiko's Little Kyoto as featured in my last blog on my trip to Cebu City, I suddenly received a call from the daughter who asked if I could bring some apples and a hula hoop for her Physical Education class.
Thinking of granting her little wish, I thought of dropping by a market downtown that sells wholesale or retail products including wet and dry goods at a much cheaper price than those sold in the local market in the hometown. I'm talking about"Carbon Public Market" and this is what I'm going to share today.
On Our Joyful Walk Towards Carbon Market
As it was about half past 4 in the afternoon, hailing a jeepney that would take us right in front of Carbon Public Market was quite difficult. Public utility vehicles like jeepneys usually take a detour at these hours to give way to transport vehicles delivering and unloading fresh produce from the countryside to be displayed in this downtown market.
That's why Carbon Market is also called Bagsakan in the local dialect which means drop-off point in English. This is where goods or products from the many different parts of the province of Cebu are shipped, delivered, and unloaded.
So together with a good friend, we just managed to take a joyful walk towards the market from where the jeepney we took dropped us off!
Market Along the Street
Passing by one of the oldest churches in the Philippines, the Basilica Minore del Santo Nińo, I was amazed at how much the area had improved. The road had become much wider and cleaner with food stalls more organized than before.
Street vendors selling images of saints, some pasalubong or souvenirs either food or accessories, and flowers lined up just across the entrance of the church to cater to the devotees' needs coming in and out of the religious place.
Walking further, this man selling face towels while sitting just outside a famous fast-food chain in the Philippines caught my attention as I also thought of buying some for myself. It cost me about ₱100.00 or $1.81 for buying 3 pieces of this item.
The Government-Initiated Market
Moving toward the area in front of the City Hall, the friend who lived in the city led me towards this little market she called the KADIWA. KADIWA is a marketing initiative of the Department of Agriculture (DA), implemented through the Agribusiness and Marketing Assistance (AMAS), which seeks to empower the farming community by providing a direct and effective farm-to-consumer food supply chain. Source
Hearing the news about this KADIWA program, I knew the prices of the goods sold in this market should be a lot cheaper for Filipino consumers as well as enable local farmers to sell their crops.
Inquiring about the price of the fruits displayed, my tight budget held my urge to buy the apple the daughter wished for, and thought I could still find a much cheaper fruit price at Carbon Public Market. So we decided to just go there anyways as we were just a few blocks away from where we were standing.
Being a plant lover, my eyes are drawn to this display of lovely plants in the KADIWA market. One plant here that especially caught my eye is the Prince of Orange. Even though I already have it in my collection, this charming little creature never fails to attract my attention.
The Busy Friday at Carbon Public Market
The busy and noisy road with transporters of different farm products shouting "Daplini! Daplini!" which meant "Clear the way!" was our cue we were already at our target destination, the Carbon Public Market.
As we continued on our way, we were greeted by a lot of these newly delivered vegetables displayed at the roadside.
Some were placed on tables made of bamboo while others were just literally on the road. These products are mostly purchased in large quantities by local small-scale businessmen in smaller local markets in far-flung areas that do not grow these crops.
Some farm produce was still in their plastic containers not yet unpacked for display.
As time passed, more and more people started to crowd at the market buying the items they need in small and large quantities.
Of course, I should not forget why I was there- to buy apples and oranges for the kids!
At ₱15.00 or $0.27 per piece, I bought 10 Fuji apples which would usually cost me about ₱25.00 or $0.45 in my hometown's local market. I also had 1/2 kilo of pipino or cucumber for ₱50.00 or $0.91.
While the friend bought some veggies and corn for her family's consumption for the week.
Walking a little further finding a hula hoop for the daughter, I was driven to these food stalls that sold delicious smelling and mouth-watering street foods and snacks.
As we started to go thirsty and a bit hungry from our Friday market, we decided to get some snacks and refreshments before heading home!
Hearing from the friend that there's a newly opened bar and restaurant on the rooftop of this New Carbon Market *** where one could experience a breathtaking view of Cebu-Cordova Link Expressway (CCLEX), I thought why not stop by for a few minutes and explore this lovely place ourselves!
And our experience up there, I'm going to share in my next blog!
This is all for today's Market Friday dear Hive friends. Thank you for reaching this far. See you again in my upcoming blogs! Until then......