Marikina City: Our new home in Metro-Manila!

The Philippines…well the parts of Manila (a sprawling and mish-mashed cityscape) as I know it so far is a place in love with malls and food courts. Food courts in Southeast Asia (as anyone who has visited Taiwan can tell you) aren’t the same food courts we might know in the U.S. No Orange Julius here. Although the Malls of Manila do have some similar shops and offerings that reminded me a little bit of suburban America. And perhaps not in a good way.

That said, the food options at the supermarket and the “Wet Market” (which for us in Marikina City is an incredibly large outdoor market set up arcade style along and across several stretches of city blocks) vary widely to reflect the diversity of Filipino taste. Indigenous and Spanish influences survive and sometimes are re-inscribed through newer American-style cuisine. So it’s not actually that difficult to find a “taste of home” here, I mean I got a hold of peanut butter in the first supermarket I found. True enough it has sugar added, but you can find a “light” variety without sugar. In our local market I bought Libby’s brand because it had cane sugar as opposed to corn syrup and it tastes pretty good, not too sweet after all. We also went to a local bakery and bought some sugar free whole wheat (freshly baked!) sliced bread. Again, super awesome and delicious for breakfast! Yes, I am food-obsessed.

So where are all the rice and noodles? This is a country that can produce its own rice (and we’re hoping to visit the rice terraces in the north soon) and yet they are a relatively major importer of rice and instead are an exporter of “parts” of electronics. I keep thinking about why there is this trend towards building these mega malls and how the economy of the Philippines, especially Manila, really works. I know a newer development are a number of “call centers” who employ people hoping to compete with India in terms of helping U.S. companies offer 24-hr telephone support. But these jobs require only a bit of training and in terms of advancement there is little to offer there, so what is the future of the Philippines in the world marketplace? It remains unclear to me, although I’m sure Colleen has more to say about this topic. So, let me return to the food. Spaghetti as fast food? Sure. Anything you can imagine seems to be sold at a stand in the mall. They have: waffles, baked potatoes, five different types of ice cream, and even a place that specializes in cereal called “cerealicious.”

It’s definitely carnivalesque here, but in an air-conditioned and highly manicured space, which is patrolled and supervised by security guards carrying guns; they cheerfully inspect your bags upon entry and the more “mega” the mall the greater the metal detector devices at the entrance. A mall bombing in 2007 seems justification enough for such precautions, right? What I have found so far that makes me feel all the more excited about living here, is that despite extremes in wealth and poverty (and climate, wet and dry seasons, and typhoons that can devastate even the ritzy areas of Manila) the majority of Filipino people I’ve encountered have been extremely friendly. A smile goes a long way. Perhaps this idea is a truism for travelers all over the world. For now, all I know is that in our little corner of Marikina City, a neighborhood “barangay” called Santo Nino, has folks who don’t seem to find us too strange, and so perhaps we won’t be strangers for too long. Fingers crossed.