The "Daily life" on local markets and other outlets

Meet the people
One of the possible locations to meet the people of the Philippines and to discover parts of the daily life of many Filipinos, is the market. The local markets in a big city or regional town are most of the time crowded and colourful. The sellers, young or older, will welcome foreigners in their stall. They are always prepared for a friendly talk, even if you don't buy. The Philippines is one of the developing countries where the sellers don't molest a foreigner in an attempt to sell. Most of the Filipinos speak English rather good, so, communication is not a problem.

Fish Market in Ormoc City
Ormoc City is one of the two bigger regional cities on the island of Leyte in the center part of the Philippines (the Visayas). If you don't want to buy a fish, no problem. Do you want to take a picture, of course! "Mabuhay", your welcome!

Just an outlet in Cebu City
Cebu City on the island Cebu, is one of the few big cities in the Philippines. The urban area of Cebu City counts many sections, each with their own markets. Most known is the Carbon Market, the colorful and crowded market in the old, downtown part of Cebu City.

Cheap fish
For very cheap fish products, there are always possibilities on fish markets. Very little anchovy (gray colored), with a lot of salt and in their own juice, is sold for 10 pesos per little can/glass. Hipon, tiny shrimps (grinded) together with a lot of salt and some coloring material, is sold for the same price as the anchovy.

Fruits and vegetables
On the fruit-, vegetable- and meat-markets there are a lot of activities. Most of the local people will visit the markets frequently. Reasons are clear. Buying in the supermarkets or in the smaller food selling shops is rather expensive, for many people too expensive. The markets offer the fresh products for much lower prices. Every market-stall has different vegetables to offer. Many market-women will come every day to the markets, even to the bigger cities, to try to sell the products. Foreigners who visit the markets, will not only see a colorful scenery of all the products, they will also be able to see a part of the (almost) daily activities of the market sellers and the people who come to buy.