Walk this way

I have no idea why when balikbayans come home, relatives take them to the mall or to some shopping destination when they obviously have better stuff and wider choices abroad. Unless they live in some fourth world country where there isn't a mall. So to make the trip of my US-based relatives more interesting, I decided to take them on a walking food tour of Binondo. I scheduled our private tour at 10am (which was originally set at 9 friggin am!). We met our guide, Ivan, in front of the Binondo Church where he gave us a brief history about China Town. - It's been around for a little more than 400 years - There were two China Towns - one in the San Miguel district for the non-Christian Chinese and another in its current location for the Christian Chinese - Majority of the Chinese are from Fookien province - The Chinese were invited to migrate so someone can do the dirty work

The facade is the only original part of the church with the rest blasted away in WW2. The rest is just around 30-40 years old.

Other interesting Church info:

- Andres Bonifacio, despite being proletariat, said his "I do's" here and was also where San Lorenzo Ruiz served as altar boy - If you replace the dome of the 8-sided bell tower, it will look like a pagoda.

After, we were brought to: First food stop - chocolate stall. We could have seen the factory had we booked the tour 3 months ago. The original store was in a building that had to be torn down. They're now located beside a Tasty Dumplings restaurant near the church.

Chocolate Eh = excellent/ espresso chocolate Chocolate Ah = hot chocolate for the achay (help), diluted chocolate Only around P500 for 10 big rolls (obviously in tablet form)

Second food stop - Eng Bee Tin restaurant

We were served traditional Chinese fried rice with peanuts, a light vegetable broth with cabbage and a golf ball sized fishball, and iced brewed coffee

On the way to our next food stop, we swung by a traditional Chinese drug store.

Ivan showed us a dried lizard which he said is used to cure asthma. It was then revealed by my Tito that he actually grilled a house lizard, ground it to powder, and forced my brother to take it when he was very young and very prone to asthma.

Third food stop: Dong Bei Dumplings.

Freshly made and boiled dumplings every day! We had boiled dumplings stuffed with chives and pepper and fried dumplings of the same stuffing. It was extremely yummy!

You can order 30 pieces for about P300. Or P200. I forget.

Fourth food stop: Hard boiled eggs boiled in tea for three days.

It kinda tasted like Pata Tim minus the pata. He made us eat it first before he told us from where the egg came from. You'll have to take the tour to find THAT out. hehe

Fifth food stop: Fried siopao.

It wasn't really fried, only the bottom part was. It wasn't stuffed with cat's meat. It was one juicy hot bun. Sixth food stop: New Po-Heng Lumpia House

Normally served during New Year aka Spring Festival. It was stuffed with all sorts of veggies and nuts. It was as big as a baby's arm but very light to eat. Best with the sweet peanut sauce.

The restaurant was located inside an art deco-designed building. You even wouldn't know that there's an eatery inside unless you walked further in.

You can swing by Ho-Land which is nearby for freshly made monggo, pork, or pineapple hopia.

Old Manila Walking Tours also offers tours of Intramuros, the Chinese Cemetery, the San Miguel/ Malacanang area, and FEU (yes, the university) Private tours cost P5,000 for a group of 6 and P850/ additional person. For schedules, details, directions, call 711 3823 or 0917 329 1622 Look for Ivan or Cherry You can also email them at oldmanilawalks@gmail.com