Can you believe this is my 500th post on Marketmanila.com? It surprises even me. When I started this website eighteen months ago, who would have thought I would get to this point??? If I only spent 2-3 hours on each post on average, assuming market time, research, recipe testing, writing, editing, photographing, answering emails, etc., then I have already “invested” about 1,500 man hours on this website or roughly 2 whole months of my life assuming no sleep or rest in between. If each post is treated as a page in a novel, I would have a 500 page book by now!
I have stuck pretty close to my original objectives for the site. I have covered markets, food stores, produce, ingredients, equipment, and most of all, recipes of local and international favorites alike. In the past 18 months I have had approximately 1,000,000 (one million!) page views and about 130,000 unique visitors to the site. However, I was pleasantly surprised by the number of readers (over 60%) who are not residents of the Philippines. It was not my original intention, but I am glad that it has had this effect, that Marketmanila.com “brings home” so many fellow Filipinos who now call many other countries their temporary or permanent homes. The number of comments, heartwarming emails, pleas for childhood favorites was a real eye opener and sometimes a poignant double edged sword.
I am truly grateful for the nearly 6,000 comments readers have posted (though 95-97% of my regular readers remain firmly entrenched lurkers!) and the hundreds of emails that you have sent my way. I have learned so much from all of you and this has been thus far one of the best things I have ever done. I have struggled to write about things of interest, gotten my photographs stolen, “attacked” by cyber lunatics, was featured in the mainstream and online press, raised hundreds of books for elementary school children, gained 15 pounds, hosted an eyeball and explored several pinoy favorites such as ensaimada with far greater depth than I would ever have imagined. I have also, for the most part, maintained my anonymity…
Why the photo of the green lawn up above? Because I realize that the grass isn’t always greener on the other side of the road. The grass is greener where you choose to make it greener. In this case, our back yard. There is something incredibly satisfying about the smell of freshly hewn grass. But even better, is to wake up early the morning after the grass has been cut and go out to the yard, say good morning to your pet labrador, and look out at the dappled sunlight on the incredibly verdant green lawn. Sometimes it is the simplest things in life that are the most satisfying.
Whoa!!! Rewind, where did that come from? Actually, the lawn needed serious fertilizers, a gardener twice a week, lots of water, a dog who spread her “stuff” around and the summer sun to achieve this “perfection in green…” At any rate, hopefully Marketman & Family are careening back from Europe (broke, laden with foodstuff and craving sinigang and adobo) as this post is published and I hope to be back soon with tales of the trip. In the meantime, thank you for visiting my blog and being a part of Marketmanila.com. Hmm, maybe it’s time to retire from blogging…just kidding!
Please pass this website on to friends and family if you think they would be interested in its content. Again, thank you for for being a part of Marketmanila.com!!! Actually, this is about my 506th post as I hadn’t planned on posting any European entries until after I had returned…
55 Responses
Whoa! Congrats! I actually just stumbled into your site recently and have found myself coming back almost daily eversince, so keep ’em coming! :)
Congratulations! Your blog inspires me to enjoy life more by enhancing my life with good food! Keep it coming!
MM,
This site is the first one I visit, everyday before I leave my home for work- my laptop is turned on at 640 am -Texas time and I look forward seeing new post from you. Nawawala ang homesickness ko since I have been away for a long time. Your site brings me back home and I thank you for what you do. God Bless you and family.
Mr.MM,
this site is also the first one i visited everyday, not necessarily leaving a post but i enjoyed reading it and learned a lot so far…keep it up and hope to read more interesting ideas…Congrats!!!
Cheers, MM. This is also part of my morning habit, I log on while I’m checking my e-mail. When there’s no new post, I keep checking the rest of the day…hahaha, obsessed ba, MM? Thanks for helping me with my menus,and for rekindling my tastebud’s memory. Everything tastes good in our memories, so your posts always bring happy thoughts, or new adventures with new dishes. Padayon,MM, and enjoy the rest of your vacation and have a great trip back. Am reserving the drool for the post-vacation stories….
Keep it up, don’t stop! co’z I really need a daily dose of your blog MM.
Congrats MM! Same here, logging on to MarketManila is also part of my morning habit. Thank you for all the work you have put in it and for sharing so generously. God bless you and your family. Enjoy your vacation. We will kee on waiting for new posts.
congratulations Marketman! Keep it up & God bless!
Can’t thank you enough,MM but don’t even think of doing a Seinfeld at this time! Your site is the greatest!
congratulations, mm! thanks for all the great posts…
Congrats, MarketMan!
Thank you so much for this awesome blog!
Keep up the excellent work!
Congratulations MM! You have given your readers so much info about so many subjects that probably we never heard about, some clarifications that were needed and Smiles with your funny quips and your humility to laugh at yourself. I hope you will continue sharing with us. Thank you for your generosity.But do take care of your health too.
More power…
Congratulations! Thank you for all 500 posts. Looking forward to the next 500!
Wow. Happy 500th post. Ay, more than 500 na pala.
=)
Keep on blogging, MM!
The very first MM post I read was your post on Legazpi Sunday Market :D and I was hooked since :)
Keep blogging, you inspire so many people!
congrats,mm!visiting ur site is a nice habit i picked up more than half a year ago. i’ve also spread the word to friends and kin and they are all just as eager to log on to the site daily as i am. more posts,more power, less weight to the both of us!
Thank you for 500 very well written posts. I enjoyed reading each one of them. They were informative and entertaining and sometimes exciting, like the “Wah! I am an elitist” post. That was a classic.
Congratulations! I look forward to the next 500. :P
wow 500 posts and going on strong! no wonder I need another eye refraction :) jesting aside, i’ve been a fan since 2004 and I just wanted to say thank you for dedicating such a huge part of your time, effort and resources to blogging, it has brought so much information, enjoyment, entertainment and warm fuzzy feelings over food from long lost childhoods to so much people! more power MM!
Congrats MM and here’s to 500 more posts!
You do such a swell job! I can’t wait to read the next 500 posts. Congratulations Market Man! :)
Congratulations, may Marketmanila see 500, nay, 500,000 more posts :)
Well done, MM!!!! Keep up the good blog!!!!
Congratulations Marketman!
Im one of you’re avid readers outside Philippines, and you have certainly made me feel at home.By the way I am coming home next month for my son’s first bday! I would really love to have your recipe/instructions for the gingerbread house.
Thank you so much and more power to you!
wow you’re amazing MM! thank you so much for your wonderful blog…my day is never complete without visiting it. God bless you! :-)
Congratulations!!! Your blog is an amazing resource and I am constantly impressed with your generosity — not so much financially (though I don’t discount that at all), but with your time, knowledge, energy and humor. You also serve as an inspiration to me personally, MarketMan, for how I would like to live my life. It has been a true privilege and pleasure to be a part of this blog’s community, and most especially, to have met you and your gracious wife.
Congrats MM! Thanks for sharing your wonderful ideas! GOD bless you and your family!
Thanks MM for all the wonderful posts!
i found this website by accident while my kapwa pinoy co-worker and i were looking for some filipino dish recipe online. and since that first day whenever there was a lull in our unit i would go visit your website and see whats new. i know that each time i would come and visit i’d find something new and interesting. it brings me closer to home too, with the pinoy dishes and fruits and marketplaces. keep up the good work MM. cheers!
i also found your site just recently but never fail to come and have a look at your latest gastronomical adventure. most of them though, brings pure delight (and hunger pangs!) that they are authentically Filipino and it brings me a bit closer to home.
Congratulations, MarketMan, and keep up the good work!
congrats MM, just like everybody here, daily habit ko ng basahin ang posts mo…..before starting work, and the rest of the day eh visit pa rin ng visit, i just love reading the comments…..it connects me to home and the rest of the filipino global community……keep up the good work …and maraming salamat!…..
congratulations MM!! your post on the dangwa flower row got me hooked on your blog! your blog is saved on my bookmarks bar–on the rss feed. i gotta have my daily dose of market manila! :) was about to type “keep up the good work” pero dami na nagsabi non. so i’ll say, more posts please!!! congrats again.
Congratulations! Looking forward to more posts in the future! (and your kuwentos from Europe!)
congratulations MM! will be looking forward to more of your interesting posts … keep it coming… and thanks too for sharing…
Congratulations and more power!
Keep em comming!
we’ll never get tired to read and comment to your posts. . . looking forward to your future feats. . .
I’m glad I found your site! Do more markets! We of course have the same fave- Market Market!
WOW!CONGRATULATIONS MM! I can’t imagine cyberspace without a person like you,MM. Your posts have always been very exciting,interesting,heartwarming,delightful,humorous and informative! If you had written a book, it could even be a potential best-seller!
Thank you so much MM for sharing your knowledge plus all those hours you spent writing and researching and presenting it to us. We love you and wishing more success!
Congratulations!
Congratulations and thank you very much! Visiting this blog is my #1 form of procrastination, and among my best sources of food knowledge and entertainment, and my favorite outlet when there’s no one around to talk to about food. Thanks for putting in the hours. Just imagine if you got paid $15 per hour on this job… :-)
Congratulations! I’m looking forward to your next 500 posts. You got a truly impressive site! MM, you rock! Thank you for the gift of sharing with us a part of yourself. Mabuhay ka!
Congratulations Marketman! May there be 500 and more pages to come…
Btw, i cooked the Spaghetti Vongole and my mum loved it. Thanks for the recipe. I actually posted it linking your recipe etc but i accidentally deleted the post [which i worked on for hours!]. I was too upset to even face re-writing it. Shame you didn’t see it.
had fried palad or flatfish for dinner (see marketmanila post dated: nov 11 2004) also made santol juice (see marketmanila post dated: aug 14 2005). yeah!
Congratulations! And here’s wishing you many more posts to come!!!
Maria
Marketman,
Thank you for the pleasure of reading your blog and here’s to 500 more! Congratulations!
Jeff
Congrats! Please do not get tired of writing and keeping all of us happy.
Congratulations, MM! Thank you for sharing us your food life. I really learn a lot from you.
Greetings from Colorado! We’re keeping in touch with our roots through your site marketman. Thank you for making our transition into our new lives easier! Here’s to the next 500!
Congratulations and hoping to get/give more tips and advise.
you have a terrific blog, market man and here’s to the next 500 (times 500)!! here’s to life, a good meal and to you!
AMEN TO THAT! :) you really have one of the coolest sites. i already raved about your blog to my friends, family and even my sukis at the sidcor market.
it’s a nice, warm, fuzzy feeling whenever that realization… that affirmation…that life is good…hits you with a million YES’s from a million people. sarap ng feeling ‘noh? :) blessed be
congratulations, marketman!!! more posts, please!!! hehehe
marketman, you have opened *my* eyes to the wonders of food in the Philippines. I can’t wait to make my first visit to your home later this year. Thank you!
gud.pm gusto po sana nming mag order ng inyong produkto na
chicharon hingi din po sana kmi ng inyong mga presyo.
nasa GENERAL SANTOS CITY PO ang aming location…
salamat po
Chinky Rose, I don’t sell anything. Just write about it. Salamat sa pagdalaw sa marketmanila.com.