The pleasure of discovery

Discovery #1: There is virtually no place among the thousand sari-sari stores at our local hub of commerce and activity where you can buy red cane vinegar — although I have proven that each one will carry a variety of Datu Puti suka packaging. If you need red cane vinegar, go straight to the hole-in-the-wall mini-grocery run by a Chinese family next to the biggest ukay-ukay stall. The bottles will be a bit dusty and some might even have a nibble or two on the label. You might want to watch out for that.

Discovery #2: We have an overwhelming number of drugstores along the street from my house to the main road. But only the big one at the end of the road will carry things like Orahex and Streptuss lozenges. Believe me.

Discovery #3: The store along the road next to ours, beside the small canteen that comes alive every lunch time with videoke songs rendered for our listening pleasure by a seeming group of regulars, has a wall full of pirated DVDs on display, but it does not sell DVDs. Janice, the proprietress, rents it out for P15 (new titles) and P10 (old titles) for two days. Finally! I mean, if you buy the DVD it will cost you P60 or so at Metrowalk, and that's a good price, but sometimes you don't need to own it, you just want to watch it. So I tried renting Fantastic Four (Rise of the Silver Surfer) and it was a clear DVD copy, no jumps or stalls. Janice is a genius!