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

Face off

All the stressing over looking for something to do in Majayjay during the holy week gave me one of those internal blemishes that never seem to want to go away no matter how much ointment, astringent, or pimple busting drug you apply on it. It conveniently planted itself almost in the middle of my forehead making me look as if I was cultivating a third eye that could open up any minute. My only relief was, it wasn't inflamed so it didn't look like I was sporting a bindi. In my vain attempt to eradicate it off the face of my uhm, face I sped to Mercury this morning to buy whatever product that proves to be the quickest to kiss the styyyuuupid blemish goodbye. I ended up getting two Maxi-Peel products - one that acts as a concealer and another that well, zaps the zit out and will make you have kutis artista. Anyway, i applied both every now and then but it didn't feel like it was working so I made an appointment at Belo for a facial. Now I feel and look much better. I'm glad Rochelle, the girl who treated me, wasn't sales talking me into having other treatments done. The last time I went to have a facial, the girl was telling me I should do this and do that. It was kind of a turn off so I didn't go back to that branch for a couple of months.

Why not donut?

Guess what's opening near my office?

When I saw the sign last week, I suddenly had a craving for glazed donuts. My sister must have sensed it because when I got home, there was a box of assorted donuts waiting to be chomped. Last year, they set up a kiosk in the BPI lobby probably to test the demand in the area. It so happened that I was extremely stressed out then so I bought a box of 12's of original glazed, chocolate dipped, and raspberry filled (my faovurite!).

i love stress eating

According to the grapevine, the first customer of the Ayala Ave branch will get a year's supply of donuts, the 10th gets six month's worth, and the 30th and 300th get a month's worth.

thanks to Southbound for the donut pics!

That's a whole lotta sugar. Scary.

Blast from the past

There are some things from the past that I wish they'd bring back like the original Bar None (the ones they make now are too wafer thin!), Selecta's Chocolate Almond Fudge, Squid Rings, Vita, Jo-nis chocolate roll, Hi-C, Milk Duds, Tarzan gum, and Munchees. Last week, my sister found this in the grocery. I remember hogging cans of this when it used to be everywhere. I'd stuff a lot in my mouth and attempt to chew them all. The 2008 version doesn't taste the same as before but it's still good!

The holy-day

I woke up really late and made a mad dash to the airport to catch my flight only to find out that I wasn't late at all. After checking in, I settled in the lounge and enjoyed a really hot bowl of PAL's arroz caldo. The flight was pleasant and I slept the entire time. When I woke up, it was already time to disembark. The guy from the hotel was already waiting for me when I stepped out of immigration. I fell asleep again on the way to Admiralty. I guess that half a tab of dormi does go a long, long way. After I dumped my things in my room, I went down and took the MTR to Central and ate in Yung Kee. I inhaled plates of frog's legs, crispy roasted pigeon, egg fu yong with shrimps, and fried rice. With a full stomach, I walked over to Goyard and asked about the Ambassade bag I've always wanted but they didn't have it in the Central store so they told me that they'll have it sent over from their other store at The Peninsula. Yey. It was already early evening when I went back to the hotel. I took a really long and hot shower, popped in the Scrubs DVD set and watched all night till I drifted off to la la land. Then I woke up. And I realized I wasn't in Hong Kong. Or at Island Shangri-La. I didn't have my laptop nor DVDs scattered all over my bed nor did I feel like I feasted on Chinese food the day before. I was in Majayjay. If it weren't for our resident chickens that were making parinig to us humans that we are unproductive and lazy species unlike them that wake up super early and start doing what they do, I'd probably be sporting my new Goyard bag now. Even if in my dreams. I've been vegging it out in Majayjay since late Thursday morning. My mom, our US-based relatives, and the sort of deaf maid left early (too early actually) and took the alternate route from Antipolo to the south because the usual was packed solid with people who had the same idea of spending the long weekend away from home. \ If you're into farmland, trees, and zigzags, then this route to Laguna is for you. It's longer than taking SLEX but it beats having to experience stop-go-stop-go for about 2 hours. You'll end up somewhere in Paete, which will eventually lead you to Caliraya (if you make a U turn) or Pagsanjan. When we finally got to Surga, the rest of my mom's side of the family was already there. For the entire duration of our stay, all we did was eat, swim (they did), look for something to do, buy shoes at Liliw, eat a surprisingly good plate of P20 palabok at a tiny restaurant that I'd never imagine myself eating in,

God loves you. And the palabok too.

photograph the church in Nagcarlan and Liliw, and observe whoever was assigned to prepare the meal cook it.

AFK

So like every Filipino who turns a blind eye during Holy Week as being a time of prayer, deep reflection, and sacrifice, I will be joining my family in the country where I will reflect on whether or not I should chow down on several slabs of ribs or have the grilled fish instead, pray that I will still have space for merienda two hours after a big meal, and sacrifice from not checking my email, Facebook, Friendster, or Multiply. or THAT blog, even if it's starting to be redundant already. Well, the last is a no-choice situation since there isn't any internet access where I will be in for the weekend. Blogging, bickering, and all that blah will resume when I get back on Saturday. And just in case you're wondering, no, that is not a bible. That's one of my favourite books that I'm reading again. Last time I went to Fully Booked, they only had one left on the shelf. Better make a mad dash to get it. It's a very good, light, and entertaining read. You'll thank me after.

Chill

Why is it that when Holy Week is announced, it suddenly becomes sweltering hot? It's like the universe knows everyone will be out of town, enjoying the holiday, swimming in their infinity pools, relaxing by the beach, sporting the summer's latest suits and lounge wear, and sipping margaritas. So what it does to tick everyone off by cranking up the heat to wreck everyone's holiday. This afternoon, I walked like a geriatric (read: very, very slow) to avoid sweating to Chowking where I wanted to try their halo halo. I was never really fond of halo halo. When it's served, I just hog the gulaman, sago, a few langka bits, and pinpig then drown it all in lots of milk and crushed ice. But Chowking's halo halo is different. It isn't overflowing with sweet condiments, milk, or ice but it's still a perfect measurement of chilled goodness enough for one sitting. I thought it was going to be bitin but it was just right. There are three sizes to choose from: Anorexic, Average, and Hog.

Face it

"You're so dark again!" "How many times do I have to tell you not to stay out under the sun too long? You're going to have wrinkles when you get older." That's what my mom always tells me when she notices that I've baked too long. Mothers really know best. They know that staying out under the sun for hours and hours will eventually give you skin problems as you get older. But being the hard headed middle child that I am, I hardly listen and continue laying out in the sun with my iPod plugged into my ears. I'd rather have a nice and reddish brown tan than have no tan at all. I normally don't apply anything when I sunbathe, which is bad. I've always had this notion that if I apply sunblock or tan amplifier, I'd end up looking like a Pacific Islander. Not that it's bad. I just prefer not to have that skin tone. There was a time when I was obsessed with maintaining my Boracay-made tan that I'd lounge by the village pool every weekend to get another coating of uhm, tan. I don't recall the last time I had a sunburn nor peeled like a snake. But when I do start showing signs of flaking, I apply globs of moisturizer all over my face and body. When I washed my face this morning and wiped it using my white hanky, I noticed small flakes of skin. An hour later, I was in Kiehl's buying moisturizer. I normally use Clinique's M Lotion but I didn't want to go all the way to Rustans in this heat! The guy said that this product helps boost the elastic quality of the skin and improves skin's firmness and gives it a more unified look. Nobody likes looking like a quilt.

Cebu weekend

Aside from avoiding my client's boss (aka GM) who seemed to be wherever I was, my weekend in Cebu was consisted of: Basking in the sun by the beach, absorbing harmful UV rays ... ... while chugging down many, many glasses of coconut slush and wolfing down a big plate of Spaghetti Bolognese (which I forgot to take a photo of) ... .. then transplanted my almost-burnt self by the pool ... ... and after doing two laps in the pool, I had pochero and mushroom soup for merienda... .. then when it turned 5, rushed back to my room to get ready for the event I came to Cebu for ... ... went back to my room around 1130 and dropped dead after taking a long, hot shower. The following morning, I attacked the yummy buffet breakfast at Tides and finally had crispy danggit! ... .. after eating, I headed back to the beach to, this time, bask under the good type of sun. I wanted to feed the fish but they ran out of bread ... ... I fled after an hour when GM appeared and lounged on the chairs in front of mine, plus there were two young girls who kept on annoying each other which, in turn, annoyed me so much that I wanted to grab the coloring book they were fighting over and throw it into the water ... ... I didn't bother lingering around anymore because I had to pack and I hate being late to check in for a flight.