Wazzup Pilipinas!
A fellow travel and foodie blogger once told me that whenever you visit a certain place, may it be a city or a province, especially outside the country, you have to take a peek at its local market place and see what they are mostly selling. It will give you a good overview of what the people are like in many factors based on what they trade or sell.
That may be quite accurate as we would somehow know what's in popular demand in that particular place. We would get a good idea of what they patronize and would likely use, eat, drink, wear, etc. It's usually the center of most transactions "where forces of demand and supply operate, and where buyers and sellers interact (directly or through intermediaries) to trade goods, services, or contracts or instruments, for money or barter."
You would know how superstitious, religious, health-conscious, budget-conscious, and even how conservative or liberal most of the residents are just by touring their local market place. Somehow, the market place allows you to get a glimpse of its people, and for some, opens a window to what they will soon be like in the near future, unless struck by another mania or fad, a surprising unpredictable turn-of-events, or a disaster so threatening, it alters the normal progression of things.