Sunday Morning at Sidcor

Yuri's been wanting to go to the Sidcor Sunday market (now at Eton Centris) for over a month now. You're probably wondering why this is even an issue. Thing is, it's particularly hard for us... erm... err for me that is, to wake up earlier than 10:00 AM on Sundays. LOL. It's my designated sleep-in day since we usually have catering events on Saturday evenings.

Yep that's my excuse and I'm sticking with it.  Now that I'm married and free from my parents' constant lectures on the merits of waking up early, I figured I had a right to my Sunday mornings.  I can and WILL waste it as I please.  *ahem*  Right Yuri? Teehee.

This morning though, we managed to get ourselves ready by 9:00 AM.  Indeed, that was no small feat, what with the chilly-curl-under-the-covers weather. But a promise was a promise. So I put on my most believable cheerful smile and trudged off to the car where Yuri was impatiently waiting for me.

It was an easy 20-minute drive from our house to Eton Centris.  Gotta love Metro Manila on Sundays.  By the time we got there, I was genuinely looking forward to our little outing and my usual morning sullenness was long gone.

The place was brimming with people despite the overcast skies and wet weather.

There's a separate section for fresh produce, meat, and seafoods, another for clothes and accessories, one for cooked food featuring mostly Filipino delicacies, and one for plants and all things green.  On this particular trip, Yuri and I were just there for herbs.  It was high time that our other herbs at home had some company.

I immediately homed in on Mang Narcisso's stall.  I didn't think we had to look any further.  He had a pretty neat selection of herbs, and it was awesome that he had all the ones we were looking for.  We ended up buying six seedlings and it took us roughly ten minutes to finalize our choices. The seedlings were only Php 25.00 pesos each.  Amazing.  You can't get a better price than that.

What I loved about Mang Narcisso is that he gave us a lot of practical tips on how to prolong the lives of our herbs.  Plus he was really nice and easy to talk to.  In fact, I had so much fun comparing notes with him with regards to our herb preferences for certain dishes, that I forgot about my slightly muddy feet and that I was awkwardly squished under an umbrella that barely covered Yuri and I.  He even let me take his picture! :) 

Yuri took his new babies straight to the garden as soon as we got home.  They have now been replanted into their own individual pots.  Mang Narcisso told us that we should make sure that we till the soil of each plant at least once a week.  He says that it's vital that the soil is always loose so that water seeps into the roots of the herbs really easily.  We were supposed to buy 7 herbs, but he vetoed our chocolate mint option.  He told us that his chocolate mint was looking wilted and that he'd bring us a nice and lively one next weekend.  He had my loyalty right then and there!

Now I'd like to introduce y'all to our new herbs!

Curly Leaf Parsley

Spring Onion

Italian / Flat Leaf Parsley

Arugula

Dill

Vietnamese Cilantro / Hot Mint

I can't wait to use them in my dishes!  The possibilities are endless. :-)



Address: Eton Centris Parking Lot, EDSA cor. Quezon Avenue, QC
Hours:  6:00 AM - 2:00 PM; Sundays