binondo

DIY Walking Tour – Manila Chinatown

Posted on July 4, 2010

Location: Binondo, Manila Starting Point: Carriedo LRT End Point: Plaza San Lorenzo Ruiz Distance: 2 km Duration: 2 to 3 hours Covering an area of only a few square kilometers, Manila Chinatown is jam-packed with history, cultural quirks, bustling commerce and, of course, gastronomic delights. Since the Sung Dynasty (A.D. 960-1279) centuries before the arrival of Spanish conquistadores, this riverside area has long been a trading post between native Filipinos and visiting Chinese. Officially established in 1594 when the SpaniardsRead More→

Chow Down in Chinatown

Posted on May 14, 2010

The following article is a commissioned feature I wrote for the February-March issue of SMILE, the in-flight magazine of Cebu Pacific Air. You may browse the magazine online at http://www.cebusmile.com PHOTOS BY EDGAR ALAN ZETA-YAP HEAD TO THE THRIVING AREA OF BINONDO IN MANILA FOR A TRULY SUMPTUOUS FEED DURING CHINESE NEW YEAR, AS EDGAR ALAN ZETA-YAP SUGGESTS LAN ZHOU LAMIEN What it isThis authentic noodle house continues to grow in popularity especially among Chinese immigrants due to its freshlyRead More→

Manila Chinatown: The World’s Oldest

Posted on February 8, 2009

It’s Chinese New Year. Ongpin Street–the main thoroughfare of Manila Chinatown– is a traffic jam of shoppers weighed downed by their bags of tikoy (rice cake), ube hopia (taro pastry), and ma chang (meat-filled sticky rice).  Despite their heavy load, they continue to jostle, crane their necks and chirpily browse the sidewalks of trinket hawkers bargaining jade amulets, bracelets, and good luck charms in Fookien-accented Tagalog. Goldsmiths, vegetable vendors and traditional medicine sellers soon chime in. Beneath all the hullabaloo, atRead More→

Casa Vizantina (San Nicolas, Manila)

Posted on May 5, 2008

Much of the pomp and grandeur that was the Pearl of the Orient was carpet-bombed to bloody rubble during the Second World War. But whatever pitiful remains escaped the terror of Manila’s dark chapter suffers a sadder fate: the slow death of indifference and neglect. Such is the case of a magnificent house in San Nicolas. At the unpopular end of the once-affluent Chinese district, north of the Basilica de San Lorenzo Ruiz (Binondo Church), one can pick up the piecesRead More→