I’m in the Philippines now.

A few days ago, I visited a supermarket. If you didn’t know, I love visiting markets when I travel. Typically, I visit “open air”/”local” or “wet markets.” But this time, I stopped at a supermarket in a mall.

I asked myself, Who are the people who shop at this mall? What’s their life like? And, what food things do they demand and want to eat?

I noticed lots of greens — beans, squashes, and cucumber-like melons. There were meats - mostly chicken and pork. The cuts of meat were interesting — I wanted to know how I could get similar cuts back home. I saw fruits, but not as much as I might imagine. I noticed lots of packaged goods — soups, noodles, and sweets. Fish and rice (a staple) also present. Lots of sweets.

I imagined the food I tasted that day may be a sweet, perhaps porky, and heavier on long green beans or squashes.

The food I tasted that day, even the roasted chicken, was quite sweet. Not as heavy on the green beans or squashes. Lots of rice and noodles. All around, sweeter than expected.

What does this imply? Not much at a base level. Filipino food tends to be sweeter and vegetable dishes are often beans or squashed boiled. What I enjoyed most was looking at the market and imagining how my food might taste and then seeing the result.