BIG Binondo Food Wok

Eat your way around Binondo? If one knows where to look, Binondo can be the ultimate foodie adventure. The offerings can be as trendy as sipping caramel latte at Starbucks near Plaza Calderon de la Barca or as traditional as eating dimsum in one of Chinatown’s famous holes-in-the-wall. More than history and culture, a trip to Binondo is about food.

Old Manila Walks

Ivan Dy, Old Manila Walks’ celebrity tour guide and an authority of things about Manila introduced us to some of the eateries and delicacies in the district he knows and loves so well.

It was our second time to join Old Manila Walks. Two years ago, Ivan led us to an engaging Afternoon Stroll in the San Miguel District where we awed at the all-steel gothic marvel of San Sebastian Church and experienced a fine-dine merienda at the Legarda Mansion.

One of the things we like about walking tours with Ivan is that we learn well-researched trivia about the things we see, smell, hear, touch and taste while in the trip. This time we experienced nibbling around Manila’s Chinatown through the wildly popular BIG Binondo Food WOK.

Tsinoy Cooking

Food tells much of a place’s history, geography and peculiarities. In Manila’s Chinatown, the cuisine has all the multi-cultural features of Tsinoy cooking –basically, Chinese with Spanish and Filipino underlay.

According to Ivan, most of the Filipino-Chinese or Tsinoys were descendants of the early Hokkien (or Fookien) immigrants from the Fujian province in China. It was in Isla de Binondo, a tract of land across Intramuros where most of the Chinese immigrants settled during the Spanish rule.

The Tsinoys introduced an exhilarating mix of Asian ingredients and variations in food preparation that influenced the Filipino food taste. Peculiarities rooted in tradition created a unique food culture that has become synonymous to Binondo. 

Binondo Flagship Dishes

Binondo has developed a reputation for certain flagship dishes like the hopia and the siopao. These are not new to our taste but tasting them straight from the streets of Binondo was part of our discovery process.

When one goes to Binondo, he is expected to bring home packs of sweet Hopia as pasalubong. This delicious pastry to die for consists of thin, flaky layers of smooth dough with monggo (mung beans) paste or mashed ube (purple yam) as filling.

We’ve learned from Ivan that in the olden days, mongo and baboy (lard) were the only hopia varieties available. Today, the hopia comes in langka, pastillas, quezo, and macapuno flavors.

Another Binondo flagship dish is the siopao or steamed pork buns. Ivan guided us along a labyrinth to a stall that caters to over 100 siopao lovers a day. This little stall served us fried siopao that was swiftly heated in a frying pan. What makes this siopao special and worth the hunt were the soft, silky soft bun and the succulent meat filling. 

Old Binondo Dining Nostalgia

Dining in Binondo is nostalgic of old Manila. During this culinary tour, we experienced dining into a themed-café, a cozy restaurant and an unassuming hole-in-the-wall joint.

Firemen hats hang on the wall of Café Mezzanine as it pays tribute to centuries of volunteer Fire-Fighting in Old Manila. We’ve learned from Ivan that a portion of the customer’s bill goes to a foundation supporting the volunteer fire-fighters.

Northern style dumplings are freshly made before the customer’s eye at Dong Bei Dimsum. In this hole-in-the-wall joint, we sampled tasty dumplings while Ivan educates us about its origin and how it got to the Philippines from Northern China.

New Po Heng Lumpia is set amid a homey ambiance in the Art Deco-inspired Uy Su Bin Building along old Calle Rosario. Here we were served with Hokkien style lumpia or spring rolls made up of slivers of carrots, lettuce leaves, dried seaweed and a pinch of crush peanuts bundled together in lumpia wrapper with a compliment of sweet sauce.

Fear Factor Challenge: BIG Binondo Food Wok Edition

People from the Canton were known to eat everything in their midst especially when it moves. What others may find exotic was a common fare in this Chinese province today known as Guangdong.

In our culinary tour of Binondo, Ivan dared us to try a Cantonese delicacy that looked like a chocolate flavored dessert. Everyone in the group had their own reactions after taking the first bite.

For us, sampling the familiar and not so familiar taste is what the Big Binondo Food Wok adventure was all about. But for those who are less adventurous about trying unfamiliar food, McDonald’s has several branches in Binondo.

Dangwa Flower Market

Empty pockets again, splurge on one stem or a bunch of roses (Just a disclaimer, I am not complaining). Flowers are most costly on days nearing Valentine’s Day, competing with prices during All Saint’s Day and Mother’s Day.

So where else to find fresh flowers for bargain but at the several flower shops near the Dangwa Bus Terminal located between Dimasalang and Dos Castillas streets in Sampaloc Manila.

Popularly referred to as the Dangwa Flower Market because of its proximity to the bus terminal, floral produce mostly from Davao and Baguio City are unloaded here where stalls upon stalls sell and provide floral arrangement services for their patrons.

Every stall has roses of different shades and sizes. Malaysian mum-varieties stood in plastic pails while delicate violent dendrobium orchids are wrapped in clear plastic.

Although flowers in Dangwa Flower Market are twice or thrice higher from their off-peak price during Valentine’s week, it’s still practical to buy flowers there since most flower shops located in malls as well as those high end floral arrangers get their floral supplies from their favorite Dangwa flower vendor.

Caracol Festival

Caracol Festival as it is celebrated every third Sunday of January in Makati’s central business district is close to becoming a lot like a MGM grand extravaganza. But underneath the glitter and spectacle, the festival is in a way unique among Philippine fiestas since it honors Mother Nature and urges for preservation of her bountiful gifts.

Makati’s Official Festival

Unlike other traditional festivals that have begun centuries ago, the Caracol sa Makati was recently conceived. It started as a Fiesta Island program of the Department of Tourism in 1989 until on January 21, 1991, when the city government of Makati made it as its official city festival.

Caracol is a Spanish word for snail. The city of Makati has viewed the  shell of a snail as symbol of protection from the harshness of life and adapted the idea for its annual festival.

Tribal Competition

The Caracol Festival is held as a tribal competition among hundreds of students from participating Makati public schools. Representing different divisions and levels, each group consists of 30 to 50 performers.

Since the theme is about protecting nature and preserving Mother Earth, participants dress-up as colorful flowers, exotic plants, insects, aquatic creatures and forest animals. Judging categories include originality of costumes, choreography and overall performance. The main events are the street dancing contest and best in costume competition.

We arrived early for the main event. On Sunday at 3:00 P.M. a number of participants have assembled in the Gabriela Silang Car Park at the corner of Ayala and Makati Avenues preparing for the grand parade.

The assembly area was packed with revelers, media people, photographers and participants in loincloths and floral headdresses, bodies covered in body paint and gold dust and children in elaborate costumes.

The Grand Parade Along Ayala Avenue

About 4:00 P.M., the participants began moving to their formation along Makati Avenue and turning at corner towards Ayala Avenue. The first part of the parade consisted of various business organizations sponsoring the event.

After the parade of sponsors, one by one the tribes burst into the street. Each group went through a series of chants and ethnic to modern dance steps. 

The grand parade ended at the corners of Paseo de Roxas corner Ayala Avenue where the participants jumped, stomped, wiggled, swung and draw out the rhythm from the beat of the drums while the audience cheered intensely and the judges watched to their delight.

Quiapo Candle Lighting Ritual

While in Quiapo, we lit colored candles in one of the several candle lighting (melting) kiosks around the perimeter of the Minor Basilica of the Black Nazarene. The ritual of burning or melting colored candles is believed to be offerings in exchange for heaven’s blessings or divine intervention for someone’s desires.

Purifying Month of February

According to the great Nick Joaquin, the tradition of lighting candles as an offering to the gods dates back to the Roman times. “Februus was the Roman god of purification and februa were the means or rites with which one was expiated and purified.”

The name of the month of February came from these rites which used to be the last year of the Roman calendar. “The februa or ceremonies special to the month were intended to purify the environment after the long dark dead of winter.” 

La Candelaria

The custom survives in Christianity as a feast of lights. On February 2, forty days after the Nativity, the church celebrates the Purification of Our Lady as well as the Presentation of Child Jesus at the Temple. 

The Purification or Presentation is the last of the Nativity feasts. In the olden days, the mass on this day used to be sung to Christmas music, with castanet and pandereta. The feast is also known as the Candlemas because of the blessing of the candles on this day and the procession of lights in honor of Our Lady of the Candle, or La Candelaria.

Quiapo Colored Candles

In Quiapo, the color of each candle used in the ritual is believed to have an effect in someone’s life. Red candles when burned invoke a prayer for the good luck or suerte while green promises prosperity and success in business.

Melting a pink candle has positive effects in one’s love life while blue promotes career advancement and more travels. Orange is for good health. White is for peace of mind while black is used to “knock on someone’s conscience.” Red votive candles molded into human form were said to be used for voodoo. 

After reciting a short prayer provided to us by the candle vendor, we lit five pre-bundled candles and sent our desires to heaven.

Bantayan Island in the Rain

Our trip to the island-world began as we boarded a bus at the North Bus Terminal in Mandaue City. First we’ve traveled for three hours along the glittering northern coast of Cebu. Passing the towns and cities of Li-loan, Danao City, Carmen, Catmon, Sogod, and Bogo City, we admired at the beautiful churches and manicured town plazas from the bus window. 

From Hagnaya Port in San Remigio, we then sailed for an hour across a channel on board a fast ferry. As we approached the port of Sta. Fe, the tropical scene became more vivid as we get closer to Bantayan Island. 

Beaching in the Rain 

Bantayan Island has more than a dozen of white sand beaches skirting its coastline. But beyond the tropical paradise are its busy fish markets, interesting caves, a centuries-old church, and the ruins of a Spanish fort. 

L-shaped Bantayan Island is composed of three towns namely, Sta. Fe, Bantayan and Madridejos. While Bantayan and Madridejos are known to be the centers of fishing and commerce in the island, Sta. Fe is the resort town. 

At the port, we immediately identified Randy among the crowd welcoming the newly arrived because of the placard his holding up with our names on it. He drove us to our suite in Sta. Fe. 

It was not sunny as we expected it to be when we arrived at the resort. But the dark clouds that continued to gather over the beach and occasional rains did not stop us to appreciate the pristine white sand set against a background of lush green coconut trees.

While walking by the wide beachfront that stretched nearly half a kilometer, the gentle drizzle suddenly turned into a wall of rain once more.

Bantayan Church 

The rain kept us indoors most of the time. The better part of our stay in the island was spent touring the towns of Bantayan and Madridejos.

The next day, we went to the town of Bantayan to see the old Church of Saints Peter and Paul. The church was the first parish to be established in Cebu by the Augustnians in 1580.

Although the current structure could be the fifth to be erected on the site, the green moss on the thick coral stone walls and its earthquake baroque architecture suggest its antiquity. 

Bantayan Fish Market

Blessed with the sea’s bounty, the Visayan Seas yield tons of short-bodied mackerel, herring, snapper and other fish and squid varieties. In Bantayan Market, we found different varieties of dried fish and squid being sold all over the marketplace. 

Bantayan sa Hari in Madridejos

Being surrounded by an open sea, several forts and watchtowers called Bantayan sa Hari were built all over the island during the Spanish period to serve as lookouts for the raiding Moors. In time, the local named the entire island using such long phrase.

Perhaps the locals eventually became tired of saying the entire phrase that they decided to just call island as Bantayan. One of the ruins of Bantayan sa Hari is in Madridejos –the farthest of the three towns in Bantayan Island.

Although I am not sure of its purpose, part of the attraction in Madridejos is the bridge way by the beach that is protruding towards the sea.   

Ogtong Cave and more

On our way back to Sta. Fe, we stopped at Ogtong Cave Resort for brunch. Within the resort’s landscaped grounds is the underground cavern called the Ogtong Cave.  

There are more interesting caves in Bantayan, says Randy over brunch. The one in Barangay Atop-atop became a favorite hang out of the guerillas during World War II. The Juagat Cave in Barangay Silion was said to be the anchorage of an elegant warship of the legendary Capitan Tiwi. Today, fossilized table and table wares are the only surviving proof of its former used.

And only if its not raining, we can visit the other islands and marine sanctuaries. Randy enthusiastically implied to us on our next visit.

There are more places to explore in Bantayan, we told Randy. We just found another reason to go back to Bantayan, whichever, whatever the weather may be.