I GO through the stalls at Session Road in Bloom like a sleuth trying to look for the perfect find.
The drama that goes on before the opening of the famed trade fair prepares the excitement of what is in store, braving human traffic and the danger to get mugged and declaring it worth the hassle.
There is food all over, save for the common fare of hotdogs and fries, there is always the obscure store of treats which will promise to make even the skeptics happy.
It’s become a habit to try to find items in the maze of products scattered in the two lane road every festival season.
It was a letdown not to see a nacho stand with overflowing cheese which was there last year, so I tried to content myself with the different ice cream stalls which popped up. There was one selling charcoal ice cream which tasted weird, a local store selling a matcha flavored variant with a fish inspired bread–mold, it was a picture perfect, so the lines were long.
The bagnet store we bought food from was a letdown, with the cholesterol laden treat obviously re fried, the lines to the Alabanza store were never ending, prompting locals to just buy from their market store and cook at home.
For the longest time, I have planned to buy wooden furniture at that stall during Session Road in Bloom.
I start by scouting the stretch of the road for new finds and ending up stopping at the wooden furniture area, that space fronting pizza volante, it’s a corner store you won’t miss.
Year in and year out, they have a buy one take one offer as well as a three for a thousand promo for the wooden works which are simple yet beautiful.
So, every year, I ask about the pieces they sell, mulling if I will buy, by now, I know what they offer. The key holders, coat hangers, foldable tables and in my mind, all they will find a space in my home.
And year in and year out, that is where they stay, in my mind.
I love shawarma and despite the bashing every year during Session Road in Bloom, like to look and see if the Shawarma stalls are any good.
I have a favorite place to go to for the treat and since I hold it in high standards, all shawarma stalls are inferior to Ali’s shawarma place at Bonifacio Street.
Of course the Marikina stalls never disappoints as quality footwear are there for the taking, usually on a last day sale which lowers the price a wee bit.
The week closes in a frenzy of people wanting to partake of what the road offers, busting at its seams but with its passerby’s seemingly happy in the chaos of it all.
The weeklong closing of Session road in Bloom signals the end of the month-long festival for the city that struggles to give visitors a good show year in and year out, amid the bickering, snickering and jeers.
Till next year Panagbenga, we will all be watching.