After the din and squalor of Quiapo, Binondo presents a
respite. Although as densely urbanized, the Manila district, home of the
country’s Chinatown, is more orderly but can
get vibrant especially around the time of the Chinese Lunar New Year’s eve. The streets are festooned with
red lanterns, gently bobbing over traffic and rows of vendors selling the
plumpest and shiniest fruits and beribboned plant roots and stalks. An alleyway
is brimming with exotic items and fresh produce such as cherries and sea
cucumber. Venturing into Binondo is like stepping into another world, which
reminds many of busy Hong Kong, full of things both familiar and novel.
Many
consider Binondo as the world’s oldest Chinatown.
Before the coming of the Spaniards, the Chinese had made the place a bustling
center of trade with the locals. In 1594, the governor general of the Spanish
colonial government, Luis Pérez Dasmariñas, gave a piece of land for the
settlement of the Catholic Chinese, across the river from the walled city of
Intramuros, which is now Binondo. For numerous years, the Chinese immigrants,
mostly Hokkien and Cantonese peoples from southern China, has developed Binondo
to what it is today, bringing with them their age-old culture and traditions.
Binondo is an important part of the heritage of Manila.
And an
important part of the heritage is the food. Tourists as well as Metro Manilans
have recently discovered the wealth of the Binondo gastronomic landscape. This
place perhaps gave rise to the Philippines’
first dining places. Here, one finds the oldest restaurants and eateries, and
traces the origins of some of the country’s
popular dishes. Aside from the visual feast, Binondo offers a explosion of
smells and flavors. There are about a hundred dining places here, offering
Chinese cuisines, local fares and localized versions of Chinese foods or
Chinese-Tagalog-Hispanic fusions.
The recent
interest in the Binondo food scene is arguably spurred by the Binondo Food Wok
tours conducted by Binondo resident Ivan Man Dy, who operates the Old Manila
Walks tours. The three-and-a-half walking and tasting tour provides an
introduction to the interesting culinary finds of Chinatown, which tickles the
mind as well as tantalizes the taste buds.
Beribboned taro roots, believed to bring make luck “stick,” ready for the Chinese New Year |
The kuchay ah empanada and stir-fried noodles of Quik Snack |
The signature tofu dish of Quik Snack |
The pork and chives dumplings of Dong Bei Dumplings |
The meat-filled fried pancakes of Dong Bei Dumplings |
The steamed custard buns of President Tea House, on Salazar Street, is a delicious treat of pillow-soft buns and a filling made with the yolks of itlog maalat or salty duck eggs. |
All photos by Roel Hoang Manipon
The Sights and the Selfies
Microsoft Lumia 535 is equipped for the Binondo tour
Exploring
Binondo, a camera has become a travel essential to capture the intriguing
colors and shapes of Chinatown. For many, the smartphone replaces the camera.
With the camera function getting more and more sophisticated, the phone has
become a convenient all-in-one gadget. Aside from call, messaging and music
functions, the camera has become the most used feature, especially for taking
selfies and sharing them in social networking sites.
The new Microsoft Lumia 535 is equipped for taking pictures,
especially selfies, with five-inch screen, wide-angle lens and a five-megapixel
front-facing camera, aside from the five-megapixel main camera. The Lumia
camera enables users to manually adjust the ISO, exposure, white balance and
shutter speed. Additionally, there is the Lumia Creative Studio app for one to
create desired visual effects. But perhaps, the most interesting app of the
first Microsoft-branded Lumia is the Lumia Selfie.
Made for
taking self portrait, the app, already installed in the phone for easy access
to the front-facing camera, automatically enhances selfies with filters and
makes them easily shareable to OneDrive, Instagram and Twitter, etc. One can
also use a Treasure Tag accessory as a remote shutter in Lumia Selfie as well
as fine-tune selfie appearance with effects.
Another
important feature for travelers is the Here Maps, which helps users find
streets and locate destinations even offline.
The Lumia
535 has the latest version of the Windows Phone and other specifications such
as a quad-core processor; a built-in, eight-gigabyte internal storage; and 15
gigabytes of free OneDrive storage with an additional 128 gigabytes by adding a
microSD card.
Also, Microsoft Lumia 535 comes in the eye-catching colors of green, orange, white, cyan and
black, and sells for the suggested retail price of P5,990.