By I.Cañete Demain

EVERY Sunday, my younger son and I wake up at daybreak, dress in a rush, and then we drive over to the Sidcor flea market on the grounds of the Lung Center in Quezon City. The early rising and the rush-rush are chiefly for securing parking space and a seat at our favorite food stall which serves a fine bowl of goto and lumpia.

Sidcor is a once-a-week happening, just like Market Day in Filipino towns. Except that it offers way, way more. Gathered under on the grounds for you to explore are: a wet market of fresh seafood and meat, a vegetable and fruit market, food stalls serving varied  dishes for takeout or dining in, a clothes and dry goods section and an area for plants and flowers for sale.

Our mission at Sidcor is to do the weekly marketing for our household, a welcome task that seeped into my bones from my father and apparently is flowing now to my younger son. There are few things in life he would wake up early for, but this is one of them.

What’s special about Sidcor is its capacity to surprise you—seafood that you haven’t seen in years, dishes that are different and special, fruits you thought were out of season, or some native sweets you won’t find anywhere else. Doing your marketing here is not a chore but a picnic. You will likely run into friends and relatives here.

When I first came to Manila for my studies decades ago, I was acutely conscious and shy of being country. At Sidcor, you wear it like a medal of honor.