A few weeks ago Rene and I discovered a new grocery store half a mile from our house called Seafood City.   It replaced the crappy Vons store, the one that never recovered after the union workers went on strike.  It was so bad that I used to drive to Albertsons a mile away or the other Vons two miles away to get food.  Now it’s been replaced by a flashy new sign and streamers across the top of the parking lot.

What I didn’t realize until I stepped inside is that it is a Filipino grocery store.  So how does it differ from a regular grocery store?  I think it’s the little things.  For instance, there’s two take-out restaurants and a bakery on the side, and a little food court area littered with tables and chairs.  Right next to the mini-food court is a remittance center that people use to send money overseas.

The food is a little different too.  Instead of having an abundance of apples and berries at the produce section there are mangoes and Asian pears.  There’s lettuce and spinach too but also kang kong (I don’t know its proper name) that is used in many Filipino dishes, and is one of my favorite vegetables.  Across the store there’s a large variety of fish to choose from, and the store fries them for you at no cost.

My favorite things to buy are the snacks.  Sweet or salty, there is a large variety of snacks from Asia.  My favorites include Clover Chips, Shrimp Flavored Chips (sounds gross but it is very good), White Rabbit Candy, Curly Top chocolates, and the ultimate sweet: Chocolate Mallows.  Chocolate Mallows is marshmallow with a graham cracker base covered in chocolate.  It’s my favorite sweet from childhood, and I always get a box or two whenever I visit.  I have been visiting often, so you do the math.  (Luckily I have been training for a race, and some of the calories burn off during my workouts.)

The most unusual part of going to the market is seeing my neighbors discover it for the first time: perusing aisles of food with brands they don’t recognize,  sniffing fruits they’ve never seen before, and trying to find the items they usually buy during their grocery trips.  I think it’s great that they are visiting the store and expanding their palettes.  There are so many interesting things at that store, things that I can’t find at typical American markets, that makes every trip so satisfying.

For some reason, coming to this grocery store feels a little bit like home to me.  Most people speak Tagalog (national Philippine language), and I can understand exactly what they’re saying.  It also gives me a chance to practice my pitiful Tagalog with the clerks.  I don’t attempt serious conversation – I mostly ask where things are, and how much things cost.  But it’s nice to do all these things in another language, no?

I can’t wait to visit again and buy some green mangoes and bagoong.  My mouth is watering just thinking about it.