Pets, plants, Asian Marts, bikes, athletic shoes and yes, a market at Cartimar

For people of my generation, Cartimar Shopping Center in Pasay City is more than just a destination for its market, Asian stores, pet shops, plant nurseries, athletic shoes and bicycles. To visit Cartimar is to travel down memory lane and remember a shopping landscape that Gen Z would find unrecognizable. It’s pure nostalgia, and not just because I lived a street away and accompanied my mom to the wet market when I was a child, watching live seafood wriggle about. Nor is it because my lolo Pablo Antonio built Cartimar for the Oppen family in 1956.

Cartimar belongs to a bygone era that included rotary phones, black and white television and calculators. In the ‘70s, when I was a teenager, we looked forward to visiting Cartimar for its PX goods. What on earth are PX goods? These were imported products mainly from the US that included toiletries like shampoos and makeup, brand-name chips and snacks, chocolates and even fruits like apples. Believe it or not, these ubiquitous items weren’t as readily available back then as they are today, where you can find them in any supermarket, department store, convenience store, or online. Back then, these required a trip to Cartimar or Dau in Pampanga. 

While shopping for PX is a thing of the past, Cartimar has more than enough attractions to draw people from all over the metro. This shopping center consists of three main rectangular structures divided by streets where you can park. Facing the entrance from Taft Avenue, let’s turn right and start with the furthest building, which houses Aqualand Alley and the Greenland Plants and Orchids Center.

As its name implies, Aqualand is home to stalls selling myriad underwater creatures. There is a current trend for neon-colored fish in candy shades of lime green, strawberry pink and lemon yellow because you can find these “neon glow tetras” and “pink glow tetras” all over the place. You may like the red, heart-shaped parrot fish as a possible Valentine’s gift. There are fresh-water stingrays, starfish, angelfish and, apart from fish, there are even underwater bonsai trees. Several years ago, we bought our snapping turtle Gucci here in Cartimar when he was just an inch across in width. Now, he’s a scary-looking, two-foot-long monster with massive claws.

Next to Aqualand are several stalls comprising Greenland, where the plants look healthy, lush, and verdant. There is a wide range of flowering plants, from roses to candlesticks, bougainvillea to hydrangeas, and elegant phalaenopsis orchids in varying shades of pink and lavender. Some stalls are carpeted in delicious-looking herbs, fat leaves of sweet basil, tarragon with tiny yellow flowers, dill, mint, cilantro, and fragrant rosemary. There are sili plants, small fruit trees, succulents, and plants for ponds. There are fountains to brighten up your garden with the sound of tinkling water.

Proceeding around the corner past Aqualand, you will find more pet shops, and beyond those is the Bike Center with a range of bicycles for all ages and tricycles for kids. If you turn instead to the left from Aqualand, the first half of the middle building of Cartimar is where you will find the Pet Center and furry creatures like rabbits, cats, and puppies for sale, as well as amphibians and reptiles. Those with a penchant for cold-blooded, scaly things will find not just lizards, frogs, and snakes but even “sunning platforms” and proper feed for these creatures.

Leaving this fascinating animal world behind and proceeding to the second half of the middle building, you will find very good Japanese and Korean groceries. This is where I envy those who live closer to Cartimar. Kor Asian, Darumaya, and a branch of New Hatchin can be found here, and some of them also serve food. But if you are hungry, head in the direction of the palengke. Right beside the fruit section is a building housing Oden House, a Japanese restaurant that opens at 6 a.m. to satisfy the cravings of early morning shoppers. Just passing by this building on your way to the palengke section will make you hungry because delicious smells emanate from the ramen supply store and other eateries in the area.

Now we come to the palengke proper, in a relatively “new” building that wasn’t there when I was a child. This is a smallish market with wide, clean, brightly lit aisles. Cartimar is located near a “bagsakan” of veggies from the north and elsewhere, which is why a long stretch of Taft Avenue from Libertad almost till Protacio Street is a market from the wee hours of the morning that restaurateurs frequent.

Cartimar’s veggie selection is concentrated on upland varieties like broccoli, carrots, leeks, huge potatoes and onions, lettuces, and herbs like basil, cilantro, mint, and thyme. The fruit section carries many imported items like cherries and peaches. If you must buy those, they are way fresher and cheaper here than in the groceries. As for me, I am very happy with our local dalandan when it’s in season. This green citrus is sweet at its peak and needs no sugar to make a delicious juice. You can enjoy pure juice by itself or squeeze a couple of dalandans into a glass of water for a refreshing and healthy drink.

Past the veggies is the seafood section, my favorite of all market sections because even as an adult, I never tire of being squirted at with water by those live clams, or gazing at varieties of fish I’d never seen before. Huge, fresh salmon glistens, waiting to be sliced up. Fat bangus are yours at such a good price, and, unlike in other markets, you won’t find them already deboned. Rather, you choose your fat bangus and it will be deboned deftly in front of you, a fascinating performance to watch. Beyond the seafood is the poultry section, where my mom buys her chicken thighs from her favorite suki.

The building across this wet market is the first structure of Cartimar. Entering from Taft Avenue, it would be the building to your left, but you need to turn right and follow the flow designed to ease the traffic. At any time of the day, parking is relatively easy to find because people are always coming and going, plus there are many parking attendants to help you. In fact, all of Cartimar feels very safe because of the prevalence of these attendants plus uniformed policemen. Oh, and the pay bathrooms here are immaculate, almost like those in a mall.

This first building of Cartimar, a long time ago, was where the wet market was located on the side of Leveriza Street. Now in its stead, you find stalls selling rice, eggs, tofu, and all the other condiments and ingredients you need for cooking. Go past these shops heading towards the main entrance of Cartimar, and you find yourself in the world of Cartimar Shoe Center. The focus here is on colorful, affordable rubber shoes and all manner of athletic-inspired footwear. This is exactly the section of Cartimar where the PX goods used to be sold. 

Walking past candy-colored sneakers, joggers, and those ubiquitous slippers and clogs, it’s not footwear I see. It’s myself as a teenager, browsing through PX goods, looking for the imported shampoo and conditioner that will hopefully tame my unruly curls, or the makeup that promises to improve the appearance of my adolescent skin. It’s the ‘70s all over again, and for my generation, we’re fortunate to have Cartimar, where memories can bring a smile as we recall those days when we chatted all day on the telephone, and believed an Ace bag, or Bang Bang jeans, or Jelly Bean shoes were all we needed to feel “with it.” An innocent time, and its spirit lingers along the corridors of Cartimar.