THERE ARE several of these weekend markets in or near the plosh villages in Metro Manila so I suppose they are somewhat similar to each other. But I haven’t been to many of them so I can’t say for sure.
Where I’ve been to recently and which I find to be a very interesting and unique experience for me is the one at Salcedo Park in Salcedo Village, Bel Air, Makati City. I believe it is known as “Salcedo Market.”
I’ve seen and passed by these particular weekend market for quite a number of weekends past, but it never crossed my usually curious mind to drop by and snoop around. Until sometime in February, that is, when my ex-girlfriend and I brought my one and only formal barong and her new evening gown to a laundromat along Leviste Street. Wait I remember it now. It was on Valentines Day!
The laundry shop happens to be almost just across the street from Salcedo Park, also known as the “Jaime C. Velasquez Park,” and my ex-girlfriend got curious with the unusual comings and goings of people of mixed nationalities in the park.
We had time to kill so we decided to check out what all the excitement is about. It must be the biggest concentration of people of different nationalities I’ve seen in such a small place for quite a long time.
The ‘market’ looks like a typical “tiangge” at first sight. There are fruit and vegetable stalls, stores selling a wide variety of novelty items, RTWs, gift ideas, and so on and so forth. But mostly, the goods offered for sale are food stuff — snacks, meals,”eat here,” “take away,” local and foreign delicacies, various beverages, etc. By the time we left the place my ex-girlfriend must have spent at least two thousand pesos on various food stuff that tickled her curiosity. I have forgotten all of them by now with the exception of the Paella Negra which we consumed inside our car right after leaving the place. (That’s our idea of a Valentine’s date. Romantic, isn’t it? LOL!)
There are, however, several things distinctively different with this tiangge. For one, the goods for sale are not cheap, and nobody is making tawad (haggle).
The vendors, except for a few, are not your regular tiangge or sari-sari store hired hands. A good number of them are foreigners donning chef attire — French, Italian, Moroccan, Arab, Indian, etc. The others are rich businesswomen and/or homemakers who perhaps fancy selling odds and ends on weekend markets as a stress-relieving hobby. A friendly advice: It is good to be prepared before going to this weekend market by practicing your conversational English. While at it you might as well mind your enunciation. Ignore this warning and you risk getting a bad case of nosebleed. LOL! Of course “Coño Taglish” may work as well, especially with the vendors (take note that it can’t be simply Taglish, but Coño Taglish.). “Is this good ba talaga?” ”OMG, I love this bibingka. Can I make tikim, please?” “Grabe, I’ve been long searching for this bakya, it is here lang pala. Please make balot naman a dozen for me.”
What else is there? Of course there is also entertainment. And of course it is entertainment that would appeal to the “A” crowd which appears to make up the regular and frequent clientele of this weekend market. During our visit the featured artist-entertainer was a saxophonist who goes by the name Vince Lahorra. He must have carved a name in the local Jazz scene for his weekend market gig was even announced by a tarpaulin banner facing Leviste street.
Oh by the way, if you are lucky you may even see some showbiz and other well-known personalities. We saw Edu Manzano and fiancee, Pinky Webb. Too bad both my ex-girlfriend and I were too shy to ask Doods and Pinky to pose with us for a photo-opp.
Maybe next time. 
