#269 ~ The Filipino Market

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There is only one place (at least that I know of) to get what Sera and I consider the best Filipino food evarr, the Tocino. This place is popularly known as The Filipino Market, but among Filipinos, it's just called Sarawat (because that's its name).



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My parents tell me that this mall used to be the hottest, most popular mall in Jeddah back in the 70s and 80s. I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say that was probably because it was the only mall back then?


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The Disco Ball in the waiting area.



Now, the mall is a hub for Filipino expatriates. It's also a popular place to get your camera and electronic needs. 

Comments

  1. JhieSeptember 26, 2011 at 3:30 PM

    Ness, I miss Sarawat.But from the pictures it looks more like balad now. Hahaha. So excited to see Jeddah again. :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Fruitful FusionSeptember 26, 2011 at 7:15 PM

    So funny! Even in the early 90s it was one of the only malls here. And it hasn't changed much at all!

    Now, what is a Tocino? Spicy?

    ReplyDelete
  3. nessreenSeptember 27, 2011 at 5:25 AM

    No, not spicy. Sweet! It's very strangely sweet and goes so well with steamed white rice and chili sauce. I think it's marinaded in sugar. It's a popular breakfast item. You must try it!

    ReplyDelete
  4. AliaSeptember 27, 2011 at 8:25 AM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  5. AliaSeptember 27, 2011 at 8:32 AM

    Your pictures remind me of how it used to smell there.

    We had an almost-fixed route, my family as a twenty-limbed pushcart-unit, and it involved the toy shop in front of Sarawat, Baskin Robins (on really good days), the swirly ice-cream in front of Tihama bookstore (on less good days), a stop at the gold shop window for mom, and sometimes a walk beyond the threshold resulting in fyunka earrings, and the rides up-and-down the huge elevators to the parking lot at the roof of JEDDAH DAWLI, the only one I could remember to hold an elderly Sudani or Pakistani operator (and later handsome Philipinos), some of the few strangers in Saudi whom my father had the confidence to chat up with his accented Arabic for the duration of the ride.

    We seem to have had so much when we had so little, you know?

    ReplyDelete
  6. HishMajSeptember 27, 2011 at 12:57 PM

    Not only the 70s or 80s, even the 90s, because I remember it used to be the only supermarket in New Jeddah, the area north of Falasteen, when the airport had just moved to the current location, and there were hardly any residential areas in the north. Memories!

    Do they still have the artist selling his paintings in one corner of the market? And the turtles swimming in the water? Aaaahhh... I have to go there next time I am in Jeddah!!!

    ReplyDelete
  7. nessreenSeptember 27, 2011 at 7:10 PM

    Yes, yes!

    Hning, there was a Shakey's pizza right across from Baskin Robbins. Going there was a treat for me, because my parents didn't really use to take us out with them (we were 7 kids at the time), and I loved to go to the Stallions record store, and the 747 record store on the other side. I was 9 and didn't wear an 3abaya so I was allowed in (males only!), while my dad went to the dry-cleaners because it was the ONLY place back then that had dry-cleaners.

    And HishMaj, first of all, where have you been? We hardly see you anywhere online now! And yes, they still have the artist. My father, who is also a painter, once struck a conversation with the old man, asking him why he doesn't just make his own paintings instead of re-creating originals, and the old man said "I have no passion for art left in me. I just need cash." Art is not so romantic. </3

    ReplyDelete

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