I have a childhood friend who's lived pretty much his entire life here, and he responded with, "Are you crazy?!" when we mentioned we were gonna check out the city's night market. What can I say. I'm all about finding a bargain even if it means doing a little "ukay-ukay." And it'll be an experience, for sure. So, Big Bro, GodNiece and I came through a tad bit early. (Every vendor was still setting up when we got there) so we got to kinda walk around (what I was told was) Session road and did a little exploring. (We even discovered a store that had these beautiful giant pythons! Whoa!) And then: opening hour. The entire area was simply bustling once their prearranged opening hours began. Boy was it crowded. We started on one end of the street where one can find a spread of Filipino street food: fish balls, chicharron, dim sum, porridge, soup, etc... we had a few to start us off prior to our bargain hunting. I found a SF 49ers sweater for P300PHP (around $6.) It was a must have because it wasn't a fake. (I would know. I already have something similar.) GodNiece found a sweater jacket worth $85US (her boyfriend who is in the US just got one) for the bargain price of P350PHP ($7.) It was a steal. (FUN FACT: Most clothing items hail from abroad. If you have an eye for it AND some patience, you will find some good buys here in this night market!) We walked through the entire thing and found even more good eats on the other end. (No, childhood friend refused to come.) It could use better lighting and spacing out between vendors. Otherwise, it was fun! I'd do it again given the chance! read more

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During the day, traffic takes over this busy street where visitors flock Burnham Park at this mountain city. At night most of the traffic is rerouted and this street turns into a night market! I've been to Bangkok's and Bali's night markets, but this is the first one I have been to in The Philippines. There were plenty of vendors selling clothes, electronics, and accessories! Some of the stuff here are much better in quality than some of the things I got in Bangkok and it was cheaper as well. We only did a little bit of shopping because we wanted to check out the food vendors which were all located towards the end of the market. The street foods were so good and cheap! skewers for 40 cents USD each and fresh coconut juice for 30 cents USD! I also saw several international street food choices as well (Chinese, Thai, American, Mexican, and Middle Eastern) as we walked through the market. Cheap delicious foods and bargain shopping are always a plus in my book! read more

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