Here is a video (if you don't want to read the post :D) that I made about this year's IMPAKABSAT with the theme of "Only the best from the Cordilleras" held at one of the malls here in Baguio City.
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It would be interesting to see @dswigle in this Benguet traditional attire. Before anything else, please check out #MarketFriday hosted by @dswigle. You can check out her latest blog Market Friday: Wading the Salt Marshes of Chincoteague Island to know more about the guidelines in posting in the #MarketFriday Community.
IMPAKABSAT 2022: Only the best from the Cordilleras is a trade fair held at SM City Baguio which showcases the different products that are made from different regions. IMPAKABSAT stands for Ifugao, Mountain Province, Abra, Kalinga/Apayao and Benguet - the regions that comprises Cordillera. The word "SAT" was derived from the word "kabsat" (Ilocano language) or sibling or better yet brotherhood/sisterhood.
The trade fair is already on its third week. I only came to know about it the other day when I happened to come across a different post online and the author of that has shared a post about this trade fair. July 16-22 had shown products from Abra (recently hit by a 7-magnitude earthquake last July 27). July 23-29 saw the products from Kalinga and Apayao Provinces.
This week are the products from Baguio and Benguet.
I have mentioned above that a strong earthquake hit Abra the most at a magnitude of 7 which was felt here in the northern part of the Philippines. Our city experience magnitude 6. A lot of us are reminded by the killer earthquake that hit the city on July 16, 1990.
This is giving me chills now as IMPAKABSAT was the idea of the local government and the reason for this was to help rebuild the region and to help the people recover from the damages caused by the 1990 earthquake. Thus, a year later, this trade fair was born.
Now that we are recovering from the pandemic, this trade fair is timely not just to showcase the products of the region but, again, to help the region recover.
Shaking all the bad vibes aside, let's delve in to what Baguio and Benguet has in store for us.
The items above are displayed at the center of the area where stalls of different products are displayed. These products come from the participants of the said trade fair.
Of course, I checked my friend's stall right away. Good thing they participated this year. They are really artistic with their wood carvings, engravings, etc. One day, I'll be buying from them. I still don't have the need to buy any of their stuff but one thing I'm targeting is a clock.
One of the clocks displayed. I'm eyeing another one though but I forgot to picture. It was the one on the bottom left of the photo before this one.
This is perfect for beer drinkers.
They also make accessories.
They also make notebooks with wooden covers like this engraved with inspiring quote complete with pen.
Moving on to other stalls. By this time, I was just going around taking photos and videos.
Woodcraft is one of the skills that Cordillera is known for.
Then we have weaving. This lady can be seen working on a fabric. These fabrics can be made into clothing, bags, face masks, household accessories, displays, accents and many more.
This reminds me of my late grandmother who weaves blankets. She has gifted us a lot of her works and they have lasted so many years. If not of the fire that burned our house down, we would still have those save for one that I have here in our apartment.
Other products sold there are veggies, coffee, chips, cookies, artisan meat products, etc.
My favorite local chocolate brand.
Here in this stall we bought mizuna (Brassica rapa var. nipposinica) or also called Japanese mustard greens and we also bought smoked meat from them.
This is where we bought coffee from.
This is where we bought smoked meat last time from a different trade fair.
Other handicrafts that you we saw there include decorations, displays, accessories, scented candles, etc.
The middle necklace costs around PHP800.00 (USD14.45). I forgot the exact amount that the lady mentioned when I asked her about it. A cousin of mine is fond of such accessory. The other two costs almost the same.
Here are #alwaysaflower for you although fake but they sure lasts longer.
We bought a small scented soy candle. I chose citronella. The other one that I smelled is the bamboo but I don't like that. I didn't try smelling the other candles though.
Funny thing is that the lady tried to upsell a comb and this hair piece on the right of the photo when she saw my long hair. We had good laugh about that. That's good sales talk right there.
So there goes our visit to the trade fair.
Since we were at the mall, we tried to check out the hardware store for lubricant for the door hinges and windows for they creak and are rusty and also a clip for toilet seat cover and lid.
I saw these butane gas but and checked their prices. They are more expensive that the other brand that we buy.
This costs PHP144.00 (USD2.60).
This is the brand that I was looking for but I saw this one which is just the right size and need for now.
So these are the items that we bought today.
Smoked meat costs PHP190.00 (USD3.43).
Drip coffee is PHP250.00 (USD4.52). I didn't realize that my partner bought drip coffee. I was expecting ground coffee and jus the Atok Arabica not this blend. Still, I'm going to give it a try.
My favorite flavor of chocolate from this brand costs PHP120.00 (USD2.17).
Citronella scented candle costs PHP300.00 (USD 5.42).
Mizuna costs PHP35.00 (USD0.63).
We bought a box of masks from the shop where he ate our lunch the face masks costs PHP100.00 (USD1.81) and the Chicharon (chips) costs PHP85.00 (1.54).
We didn't find clip for the toilet seat and lid. I hope we have better luck from other shops. If not, I might resort buying online.
So that goes our market day for this weekend. I'm looking forward to checking out next week's IMPAKABSAT 2022: Only the best from the Cordilleras featured province which is Ifugao.