Shopping at the small grocery store is always a good day. I checked the Oriental Market in Maligaya, a Philippine grocery store. At their new location in North Prospect, the store moved to March of this year. 

where is it? Maligaya's is located in North Prospect on Anthony Drive near Rural King. There are plenty of free parking spaces in front of the store. When I visited, there was another shopper who was very different from our large grocery store. I really enjoyed my visit-I took the time to look at the things sold here.

The first aisle of the store has personal hygiene products, herbal soaps, cleaning supplies, pots and containers and other kitchen utensils, as well as beverages.

There are canned juice, bubble tea, coconut juice and glass jelly drinks. My son is fascinated by pineapple juice, so I had to grab one of them.

On the far right, there is a freezer with various cold drinks and fresh produce, as well as a freezer full of frozen food. There, I found noodles, tofu, Hopia kundol (Philippine pastries), kimchi, balut, ensaymada, dumplings, Eden cheese, various cuts of pork, cocktail hot dogs, etc.

Why am I only getting to know yam for the first time now? From a brand called Tasty Joy? This shop has everything I don't know I need.

There is also a snack aisle filled with bread, French fries, biscuits and other snacks. I saw spicy shrimp-flavored French fries, crispy skin, potato chips, egg crisps, puffed sweet corn and various nuts. 

I spent some time looking at the various candies on the Maligaya shelves. There are chocolate sandwich biscuits, chocolate marshmallows, fruity candies and matcha snacks.

There is a colorful noodle package: fried noodles, angel hair, Cantonese noodles and so on.

At the end, through a small selection of fresh produce, the final aisle is sauces, flour and baked goods. A bottle of sugar palm fruit, banana sauce, Ginataang Tulingan (a Filipino curry made with tuna), sesame oil, ube (a purple yam native to the Philippines) extract, sardines, dried herring, smoked shrimp, etc. , Full of shelves. If you want a sauce to spice up your cooking, you can find Filipino-style pasta sauce, jerky marinade, Menudo sauce, Galdereta sauce and Afritada sauce. In addition, Maligaya also sells dried banana flowers, dried mushrooms, fufu mixtures, flour, dried spices, lye and large bags of semolina.

What did I buy?

I bought a pack of Shanghainese food (the cashier said it tastes like cabbage), pineapple juice, Yanyan chocolate (biscuits dipped in chocolate cream sauce), dingdong spicy mixed nuts, a can of fried onions, and a bottle of Thai sauce.

I got all of these for only $12, which makes me question why I can try some of these cool things at this small grocery store and just pick up things from Meijer's shelves to spice up my cooking.

Maligaya's Oriental Store 1006 W Anthony Dr Champaign M-Sa 10 am to 5 pm

Alyssa Barkley's top picture.

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