I decided to take a little trip to the Palengke this week. Palengke is the Tagalog word, in Bisaya it is the Merkado. In English it is the Public Market! The market in the Philippines is the life blood of many towns. You go there to buy just about anything you might need in your household! In a large city like Davao, where I live, the market is not as important as it is in a small town, because we have malls here, grocery stores and such. But, in a small town, the Palengke might be the only place where you can buy what you need for your family!
I enjoy going to the Market, and I go on a fairly regular basis. It is like a study in Philippine Culture, and I find it to be a learning experience every time I go.
I had actually intended to go to the Bankerohan Market for this video, but another place where I needed to go in the area was closed that day, so I decided to go to the Matina Market instead. The Matina Market is actually pretty close to where I live, but this market is much smaller than the one in Bankerohan, probably only about 1% of the size of the main market in Bankerohan.
This week, I am still practicing and learning on the video, so bear with me. I think this one is actually a bit worse than last week, but it is just that it is a new skill that I am trying to learn! I hope you understand.
Come along with me and see what you can find in the Market! I actually saw a couple things there that surprised me! I had fun meeting and talking with some new people, because I have actually only gone to the Matina Market a few times. I go to Bankerohan a lot, so this was a bit of a new experience for me!
Thank you for the tour Bob I miss shopping in the market with my wife .and I really miss being in the Philippines this winter as well…still waiting for my Wifes P R papers and her Visa and Passport to Canada ..But looking forward to returning again to Alaminos and shopping once again in the market there . your video tour got me a bit homesick ..Thanks for sharing
You’re welcome, Wayne, thank you for watching! I usually go to the market alone, not with my wife. It gives me a better chance to interact with the people there!
I love going shopping with my wife She speaks Tagalog and she does the purchasing and I get to carry it back to the apartment ..really miss all the friendly people and smiling faces
Oh, I love doing stuff with my wife, don’t take me wrong. But, if she goes with me, the vendors tend to shy away from talking with me. Since I speak the local language, I like being able to interact with them more instead of having her do all of the talking. 😉
lami kay tanawon !
Salamat gyud, amigo nako.
Cool, Bob.
Thank you Gerardo!
Wow! I miss all that fresh pure organic veggies, fruits and other foods especially on winter time.
Yeah, everything so fresh! Not a bunch of chemical additivies and such!
Nothing like that here in the US, mostly are loaded with chemicals or pesticides, I’ve been to Bangkerohan in Davao may be year 1987 or 1988, my goodness that place is huge! And Im sure much nicer and bigger now.
Yeah, that is so true, Nilda. Yes, Bankerohan Market is huge! Many city blocks! It is not a “nice” place in that it is dirty and in need of repair, but you can sure find just about anything there!
Hi Bob and Nilda,
Although there is a general interest and future push to produce more organic fruits and vegetables in the Philippines, there is still a widespread use of fertilizers and pesticides in the country. I think it’s important to wash all fruits and vegetables from all market places for health and safety reasons, unless certain farms designate that they are registered organic.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/276280143_Pesticide_use_among_farmers_in_Mindanao_Southern_Philippines
Queenie
Hi Queenie – I agree with you. Not only is growing organic veggies a relatively small thing here, for those who do claim their items are “organic” I would still wonder, because there really is no regulation on that.
That said, though, I feel that there is a lot less chemical used in day to day operation than in the USA.
Love going to palengke 🙂 The big one in our city has a lot of very fun vendors and great deals….
I also enjoy going there a lot. It is fun, and a great experience.
Still no Pako to be found at palengke in this city 🙁
You can find it here, Rease. Not always easy to find, but it can often be found.
I still need to get to Davao. One day….. Available most every day in Koronadal and even in Taguig, Manila. Just never ever available in Iloilo. Not quite sure why. Most Ilonggo’s don’t even know what it is, so maybe that is why. I’m sure it grows in the foothills here.
Maybe it has a different name in Ilonggo! 🙂
Same word, just less known. Koronadal is mostly Ilonggo speaking. I also frequent the palengke here and would spot it immediatly.
Going to market twice a week (by tricycle), not to buy but to sell some of our produce. These days it’s wholesale selling tomatoes for the next three months.
It’s only about 15 kilos per week sold when combined with other vegetables.
Good weeks are 30 kg of produce sold whole sale.
Poor weeks are 5 kg sold.
A drop in the bucket when compared to big whole sellers.
I have never made money at the palengke, but good for you! I hope it continues to be a success for you!
Your brief introduction to the language hints that Spanish might have influenced Bisayan just a little.
Thanks for your video and article!
Well, my friend.. you are wrong on that! The amount of Spanish influence in Bisaya is a LOT, not a little! ha ha…
Nice video Bob and thanks for the tour. Here is a Filipino Music Video that has been out for a while on Youtube, that compliments yours.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAi4B9LQmlU
” I Go To Palengke ” by Mikey Bustos
Enjoy !
Hi Bob. Thanks for sharing.
I live in middle Luzon. Every small town has a public market. I go almost daily to the one here in Dap-Dap Tarlac province. It is awesome.. even though it is pretty small.. many of the vendors have gotten to know me by name and always let me know when they will have fresh melons or corn. The meat vendor that I go to always tells me even if I am just passing by when they will have fresh beef or carabao. I probably get 85% of my food from the public market. I really like it because unlike the USA I can pick what I want.. and it is not pre-packaged.
Hi Ricardo. Yep every town no matter how small has a market. When those vendors tell you about it when they gave good or special products that is called a SUKI relationship.
Hi Bob, love going to those markets in the province everything fresh, here in Manila we
Go to our local market in pasig which is huge and very busy you just can’t move for people, parking is a problem even with multi storey car park got memories from Mindanao
Koronadal market first time I’ve seen them selling I think grasshoppers and stuff to eat,
It sure is different in the Philippines, Derek in pasig.
Yeah I have seen fried grasshoppers or crickets for sale. Ha ha. Never tried them!
Are the Vegetables as fresh as they look?
In Tagbilaran the vegetables, especially the lettuce, does look that fresh.
Yes they are super fresh!
Bob! I just love your site, I told my filipina girlfriend about you and your post about finding an Internet provider. She likes it as well. This video satisfied my curiosity as i never made it to the marketplace, my girlfriend goes on about how geeat it is. I plan to move to davao next year and marry so everything you post and provide is just so helpful. So thank you for all your hard work, God bless!
Thanks, Phil! Glad that you enjoyed the site and also found it useful!
Hi Bob,
Enjoyed your video! The vegetables looked very fresh, but the fish all appeared to be already dead. By Asian standards fresh fish is alive when you buy it. At the Manga Market near Mama’s house a lot of the fish sold is still alive. Here in Raleigh, we have been to an Asian Market where they have 7 or 8 lb. live Stripe Bass swimming in tanks. If you buy one they scoop it out with a net, hit it with a mallet to stun it and give it to you.
On fish heads, I was with my wife once and she bought a bag of fish heads. The only problem I have with fish heads are there is not much meat and these were actually expensive. IDK. I was expecting maybe $0.25/lb. but I think they were like $8/lb. Anyway nice video!
Peace,
Jay
Thanks, Jay. Glad you enjoyed the video.
As for the fish… in this part of the Philippines it is very rare to see live fish in the markets, except for a few varieties. Most of the fish in Mindanao markets is tuna, swordfish and such, and those fish are caught mostly down around Indonesia or Papua New Guinea. Not possible to bring those fish back alive, it is simply too far. 🙂
Thanks again!
Hi Jay,
We used to buy fish heads in Boston’s Chinatown and they were about the same price! My husband still loves to buy fish heads because he says that they make the most rich and delicious soup. They run about 200 pesos a kilo here in Cebu province.
Queenie
Hi Queenie,
I think the Asian Supermarket, a very large one for the Raleigh area, is run by Chinese. I enjoy my wife’s Fish Head Stew, but I save my Fish Eyes for her. Ain’t I a peach. She says the eyes are the best part, but so far I have decided to just take her word on that.
I think your husband is probably correct on the flavor thing. I think fish cooked with the head taste better than beheaded fish. My youngest boy used to not like seeing the heads though. He thought when he was younger that if the fish had a head it was still alive.
Peace
Jay
Haha Jay–my husband loves the eyes too! I like you, gladly give them over to him! I never was never used to the whole fish in the States, but now it’s very appealing to me. I’ve gotten used to the many fish bones too and they don’t bother me at all now.
Hope you get back to your town soon!
Queenie