The Salcedo Market

In my introductory blog, I mentioned that I live in the middle of the Central Business District of Makati. Everyone knows that I love the place - because it is conveniently located near my office and I can actually go to the mall or the supermarket with ease and not be bothered by the a long commute. There are actually two main Villages in this area - Salcedo and Legazpi. These two villages have their own advantages --- but I prefer Salcedo because it has a lot more residential feel to it. Moreover -- there are a lot nicer developments this part of the city than Legazpi. Others prefer Legazpi because it's closer to the Greenbelt shopping Mall.

One of the attractions of the Salcedo village was the very recent establishment of the Salcedo Market every Saturday at the Salcedo Park. It started at around the same time that I started to live in the Village. A year later - they created a similar weekend market in Legazpi. Now - I hear they have a similar setup in other parts of the city. The market provides a place for merchants to sell organic vegetables, meat, plants. There are also home made food items like the Quezo de Bola spread. There are also plenty of stalls for home-cooked meals. One of the attraction is the Dirty Ice Cream being peddled by a Caucasian expatriate.

So people will argue that it's a nice addition to the village. It is --- if you don't live near the place. You see, the House of Queens overlooks the park and when they setup the stalls on Friday afternoons, the temporary structure becomes an eyesore. They actually look like shanties when we look out from the Balcony.
I call the people who frequent the market coming from outside of the village as minions. It's the most negative term that we can think of for the people who come to the market from other places --- and take note they --- are actually richer than me --- they drive better cars and they are part of Manila's elite. The problem is the cars that they drive cause a traffic jam around the park when Saturdays and weekends are supposed to be a respite for the Salcedo Village residents from the weekday traffic.

Oh well --- I guess I'm really just being nasty about the market. As I said earlier - it does provide some character for the area. However - I do hope that they do something about the traffic and the shanty like tents or else - the Queendom will continue to view it in a not-so positive light.