After Art in Island, we made our way to the Palengke. This is the second installment in our Art in Island Post, found here. Part 2 of 2.
After finishing at Art in Island, we decided to go hunt down some food. It was nearly 2pm at this point, and we were pretty hungry. So, with Logan asleep in the stroller, and Juju in Jonathan’s arms we decided to walk to the nearby downtown area. And on the way there, we passed through some pretty cool areas:
And we saw SOOOOO many Jeepneys. We walked along a road that was travelled, almost exclusively, by Jeepneys. Can I just say I love Jeepneys? Every one of them is unique. Sadly, they don’t operate right in our area, so we haven’t ridden in one yet. But it is high on the priority list. We just need to figure out the Jeepney pick up and drop off points near us.
After we walked through some older sections of town, we hit Araneta center which contains much newer and much taller buildings. It was incredibly beautiful. I loved all the pastel colors they used on the buildings. And there was greenery everywhere. It just had a really nice effect. This area was also, blessedly, much more stroller friendly.
As we had already put our kids through the wringer a little bit, (especially poor Clara, she walked the entire time in the museum and then the 1/2 mile to the downtown area) we went with familiar/well-loved food, Pizza Hut. And may I just say, that was the classiest Pizza Hut hut I have ever encountered. There was a cut glass chandelier!!!
Juju fell asleep in Jonathan’s arms at some point while we walked from Art in Island, and he stayed asleep. Apparently he was a little worn out. And honestly, that was the best thing that could’ve happened. He gets tangry (tired/angry). He slept until the pizza arrived.
….
Jonathan here. I just stole Jill’s computer while she was typing this post up and decided that I needed to chime in.
I wanted to take a moment to sing the praises of my lovely wife. Jill is a force of nature, if you haven’t already noticed. This outing that you’re in the middle of reading about happened because Jill found this Art in Island place and decided that we should get out of our shells and go explore. I’ve been super busy with working the nightshift and so Jill has had to shoulder pretty much all of the challenges associated with our busy little family since we’ve arrived in Manila. And she has been amazing. Anyway, with everything else going on (Jet-lag! Cockroaches! No car! No pantry! Small apartment! Teething! Potty training! Tantrums! Gah!), Jill has still found time to find amazing things for us to do in Manila. And also blog about it. I can’t sing her praises enough. Okay, back to our regularly scheduled post.
…Well that was embarrassing… Let’s pretend it didn’t happen… But thanks, Lover Boy. Let’s be honest, the whole night shift thing is pretty crappy… Ok. Didn’t happen. Ready, go.
After lunch, we went to the Palengke (the Farmer’s market). We had passed it as we were making our way to the museum, and knew we wanted to visit it later. It is located in what is basically a big warehouse with stalls. It is not air-conditioned. The only cooling is from fans. And it was 90+ degrees. The meat section smelled a little ripe…. Some of the meat looked like…. well, it had been sitting in a hot warehouse all day. But, man, it was awesome! Seriously! What an experience!! We saw barrels of crabs (no water) scuttling over each other. And de-feathered chickens with their heads and feet still attached. And…all sorts of things.
We then walked up a ramp into the produce area. The produce was everything the meat was not: fresh and beautiful and mouth-watering. We bought some vegetables, and just enjoyed looking around. Look at how they had cut up the pineapples!! Seriously, this place was amazing. Clara even asked if we could go back. I’m with her!
Outside of the warehouse area, was Clara’s favorite spot. The flower section. She was in heaven. So many flowers! And so many different kinds of flowers. And a fella at one of the stalls handed Clara a pink rose and told her that she could have it. This pretty much made her day. She kept insisting that we needed to put her flower in water as soon as we got home. And was concerned when the taxi driver had to stop in traffic, because her flower was thirsty. There were some INCREDIBLE flower arrangements. Those crazy, tall orange flowers are called Birds of Paradise.
Then we came across the nurseries. Mom, you would have loved this place!! There were so many plants I had never seen before. It was awesome. I would have liked to look around a little longer, (and maybe found a small green friend to bring home) but we were getting pretty overheated. And we ran out of bottled water….
Plus, we figured it was good to end on a high note. No one had thrown a tantrum…. So, we got a taxi and headed home. Dinner and bed for the kids. Then Jonathan and I ended the day with some delicious chicken, rice and Halo Halo from Mang Inasal. It was amazing.
Today really was a great day. We had a lovely time together. I’m so grateful for divine intervention.
