Place: Lung Center of the Philippines Weekend Market (Quezon Ave. cor Elliptical Road, Quezon City)
Date: 08 June 2008

As I have said in my post last Friday, I am such a big fan of markets, and if there’s a favorite in my list, it would have to be this, the weekend market located at the open grounds of the Lung Center of the Philippines.

I first learned about this place from an article published in one of my brother’s copies of Food Magazine. Because we already visited the other popular weekend market in Salcedo Village, Makati City, brother and I were excited to check out the place. All the more we got excited when we read a newspaper article packed with lots of pictures raving about the place. We first visited the place January this year, but back then, I didn’t really like this place, maybe because I expected too much, and that I compared it to the one in Makati and since the other weekend market was more sophisticated, I didn’t rave about this place that much.

Five months after, my sister and I went back to the place mainly because I wanted to buy a pair of Crocs slippers and she wanted to buy a pair of closed shoes she could use in going to school. The Crocs slippers being sold here are very cheap compared to the ones being sold in high-end malls, but I don’t know if the Crocs slippers sold here were original or maybe it was bought off the factory and were sold at a cheap price. But because the newspaper article recommended this product, I decided to buy a pair. The packaging was okay, and the slippers looked 100% like the ones sold in the malls, so I didn’t doubt anymore. Sister was also able to buy a pair of shoes, but shoes aren’t the only things you can buy from here. Let me provide a little catalog for you (there are so many pictures, so just click on each to see a much bigger size):

Meat and Seafoods. I wasn’t able to take that much pictures from this section, but aside from pork, you can also buy beef. There’s a stall here that sells beef from Batangas, which is a place known for great tasting beef meat. As for the seafoods, you can also find other seafoods like crabs, lobsters, different kinds of fish, and lots more.

Vegetables and Fruits. Of course, some dishes will never be complete without vegetables to add flavor to it, and just across the wet section of the market is the vegetables and fruits. Fruits for sale varies on the season, while some of the vegetables were mainly from Benguet Province. Compared to the typical markets in nearby residential areas, this market place boasts a wide variety of vegetables for sale, and should your recipe require fresh herbs, this is where you can find it all.

Cooked Foods. If you got hungry from roaming around the market place, you can also get a tummy fix in this market. Located in the middle of the market lies rows of dishes ready to eat. If you’re also lazy to cook foods for your family, you may also opt to take home the dishes. No worries, all the dishes you take home are packed in microwaveable wares so reheating would be easy. You can choose between different Filipino dishes, but there are also foreign inspired dishes, waiting for your palates to feast on. If you’re a bit hesitant about the dishes, some vendors allow customers to taste the dishes. They will give you a plate and spoon and they would put bite size piece of the dish. This allows you to choose which among the dishes you’ve tasted would you buy.

Clothes and Shoes. Foods aren’t the only things you can buy here, you can also buy new clothes here. Of course, the ones sold here are much cheaper compared to the ones sold in malls. I personally love the stall that sells blouses from Thailand. The fabric is nice and the designs are so unique! There are also stalls that sell other fabrics — from house clothes, to curtains, to blankets… you can even buy uniforms for your maids (if you’re that rich person who requires maids and other servants to wear uniform)! To complete your get up, you can also buy accessories and bags in this market.

Toys, Ceramic Wares and Home Decorations. Whether you’re a kid at heart or you’re seriously into toys, you might like the several stalls selling toys. The toys they were selling were impressive, you might want to start collecting! =) As for the ceramic wares, there are people who prefer serving dishes on white ceramic plates to make the dishes’ colors stand out. And of course, if you’ve bought the serving platter, why not complete the collection? This stall is where I bought a set of small jars perfect to put coffee, cream, and sugar (complete with platter and spoons). I bought it because not only is it perfect to serve those three items, I could also use the jars to put different dips for other dishes. The platter is also a nice way to serve loaf bread. Versatile, eh? You can also see sellers of different house decorations (from vases to the religious decorations) to give more pizazz to your house!

Plants. You’ve taken care of the insides of your house, why not take care the outside, too? In the far left part of the market, you can see lots (and I mean lots) of plants for sale. Whether you want to buy ornamental plants, or orchids, or flowering plants, you can find it all here. You can also buy seedlings of different fruit bearing trees, as well as fresh herbs to help you start having your own urban herb garden.

Pets. Whether you prefer water pets, or land pets, even “air” pets (read: birds), you can definitely buy some here. The dogs and cats being sold here are mostly pets that don’t have shots (vaccinations) yet, but there are several who sell their pets with complete papers. Of course, prices depend on the breed. This beautiful beagle puppy is priced at 10 thousand pesos (approximately 200 US Dollars).

Imported Stuffs. If you’re a person who fancies stuffs from other countries, you might be happy to see quite a lot of imported items for you to feast on. There are some brand new bags, but there are also second hand bags, which are still good, if you ask me. Actually, I saw a DKNY bag that cost only 600 pesos, but sadly, I cannot buy it because funds were already drained. =)

From the looks of it, this weekend market really is a one stop shop! Not as sophisticated as the other weekend markets, but definitely gives you that “at home” feeling. Actually, this trip made me feel so much at home, I wasn’t able to take care of myself in the sense that I walked and walked, not minding the heat and I wasn’t drinking enough water, and when I saw some mango shake, I bought a cup and the heat plus the ice in the shake cause a commotion in my body that I got sick when we got home. Well, this wasn’t my last time here, so I already made a pact with myself that I will not neglect the hydration thing when I come back.

Hope you enjoyed the trip! This weekend market is open every Sunday at the grounds of the hospital (you can take the gate from Quezon Avenue — it’s much closer). See you there some other time!

*** Jenn ***