with less traffic and while everyone was still enjoying the holiday spirit, we went here….
Tina, Gabby and I with my in-laws — docBibs (my wife’s sister) and Daddy Larry (who’s on vacation here from San Leandro, Ca) roamed almost the entire Chinatown in search for good food and best buys. You might be thinking that my family was in the spending mode and I’ve already disregarded my annual wish to save, save and save (so help me, God!) as early as the second day of twenty ten but we just accompanied my dad-in-law to buy himself Chinese medicine for arthritis that he heard (not from me, definitely) from his friends who have been using such. He also had a taste of what Manila has been since he left it decades ago.
We got the snake-bone-in-capsules (read : I am not yet prescribing and am not aware of effects) in this drugstore across DONG BEI (where the freshest kuchay dumplings are and I am so recommending!) in Yuchengco Street, at the back of Binondo Church..
A walk through Binondo and Ongpin Streets in Manila is always amusing…
For a healthy start, here’s a cart full of veggies found usually in sidewalks…Cauliflower sells for PhP 40 per kilo, sarap sa chopsuey!
or fibrous and vitamin-rich, fresh fruits; they’re very round too! perfect to attract prosperity for New Year!
Are you fascinated with chestnuts roasting on an open fire ?
Tina and I asked the manong about cooking kastanyas. The small and black pebbles which are warmed in oil prevent the chestnuts to stick together during roasting and sugar is added to make everything sweeter. Entire roasting lasts for about half an hour before they sell it for PhP 120/kg. We bought 2 kilos. 
This altar of a cross with Chinese incense sticks and sampaguita leis with red ribbons (not the bakeshop but for good luck!) never fails to draw attention veneration. Imagine Catholicism and a bit Chinese beliefs unite to strengthen a community!
Gabby wasn’t complaining of our walk from Binondo all the way to Ongpin. He even managed to grin when my generous balikbayang-biyanan bought 2 boxes of tikoy or glutinous rice from a stall vendor who also sells dried seafoods. See those huge packs of hibe (dried shrimps)? It made me crave for ginisang monggo.
Among those Oriental charms and ornaments we saw in Ongpin…
I fell in love with this…
It’s a smiling-fiberglass-Buddha in jade color that stands more than 2 feet. I like it’s almost perfectly round stout belly that believed to bring best luck when rubbed. It’s affordable at PhP 4,800. And if only we have extra budget for unnecessary things, we’ve brought it home in a blink. 
Our Daddy Larry didn’t buy a Buddha statue but two cats and a tiger (2010 is a Tiger year). He also didn’t forget to buy my lovely mom-in-law who was left with their kids in Ca, a little surprise pasalubong…
Gold loop earrings as big as a peso coin that weigh almost 3 grams; I’m sure my mom-in-law will be delighted.
Now, what’s this blog a trip to Binondo and Ongpin without eating Chinese ?
–that will be on my next post!
What do you like best in Ongpin and Binondo?
Is there anything you hate about Manila Chinatown?
sings Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire haha! weee! binondo! dong bei, lumpia house and eng bee tin! saraaap!
ps: learned from a chinese friend. if you’ll buy a jade, find daw yung malamig. kasi pag malamig daw, genuine daw yun
hi dyanie. thanks for the tip about jade. i didn’t know that! but that buddha i like is just made of fiberglass but was winking at me when we were there
i have never tried kastanyas yet, makabili nga…
hello, sheng. we’re told there are 2 types of chestnuts (in ongpin) : the mandarin and the local one; we’ve sampled both and found mandarin chestnuts sweeter than the local ones.
It must be ages since the last time I stumbled into Manila’s Chinatown but thanks for bringing me back there Doc Gelo. Your mom-in-law, if she’s reading your blog now, knows what pasalubong she’s getting…so much for surprise he he he!
hey dennis. you should include a short visit to ongpin on your next trip back home.
no worries, my mom-in-law is too preoccupied with her work and household chores in their place in ca; can’t find time to read my blog, so those earrings will still surely amaze her, hahaha.
I never tried kastanyas. What does it taste like? hehehe.
roasted chestnuts tastes like sweet potatoes, jeanny.
try it some time; it reminds me always of holiday season
Wow… Day Walktrip in Binondo..
Eng Bee Tin!!!! 
And Presidents. 
Sarap!
hi cza. you won’t believe but there was nothing that my relatives in new zealand wanted as our pasalubong when we visited them few years ago but eng bee tin hopia! tina and i with then 5 month old gabby had to carry those hopia boxes from manila to brunei to brisbane airport and finally to auckland for 2 looong days of air travel with city tour in between; even had to explain what mung bean breads are to the auckland airport authorities
bow! btw, i love eng bee tin tikoy too!
got to buy them on valentine’s day = chinese new year!
ENg Bee Tin– love their hopia, tikoy rolls!
I love the FOOD here… yummmmm!!
Amen to that, u8mypinkcookies!
When we were in high school, my best friend and I used to go to Ongpin because we get the feeling that we were in a foreign country LOL. Has Ongpin changed much?
ridiculous it may sound, but like you, tina and i always feel like we’re in hong kong whenever we stroll along manila chinatown! i can’t compare ongpin now with your time (no pun intended, bert!) but i think the pinoy-chinese community and authorities have kept most things intact in binondo-ongpin area…
wow natakam na naman ako sa chestnuts, meron din ditong chestnuts pero hilaw nilang tinitinda kaya one time bumili ako nilagay ko lang sa oven di masarap lasang kamote hehehe iba talaga pag niroroast…si Gabby at si Tina mukhang pagod at pawis na pawis mukhang pinagod mo kakalakad…yun kaibigan kong intsik (classmate ko rin ng college) dinala ako sa Ongpin, first time ko in my whole life kasi alam ko lang noon Cubao hehehe…pero di ko matandaan saan kami kumain eh. Yun 2nd time sa El Presidente yata (not sure the name) siya rin ang nagdala kakatakot kasi sa Ongpin baka ako maholdap hehehe (pero d ako takot sa Cubao LOL).
natawa din ako sardz sa analogy mo ng kastanyas at kamote.
the obvious difference is the aroma of a roasted chestnuts! it smells christmas! …naku, kahit naman saaan, maynila o cubao madaming luko-lukong holdaper! at saan po kami kumain ? abangan! hehe.
Wow you guys have amazing energy. I miss Ongpin. My father used to bring us there when we were little. Brings back memories. Thanks for sharing!
your welcome, apples. happy new year to you!
my sister-in-law parked her car at the street beside binondo church, so we really enjoyed strolling the stretch of chinatown! actually, i like it that way. i always like going to ongpin on foot
can’t wait for the upcoming post! I hope there’s Wai Ying! Nagutom tuloy ako.
)
happy holidays doc!
thanks, jp. happy twenty ten too! how’s your med school? swing back again for the food post.
i really don’t know how to get there by car, so i take the LRT purple line from santolan to recto, and from recto, i walk the busy street of avenida towards sta. cruz church and then cross the street to binondo until i reach the arc after the bridge. From there i start my Chinese food journey! For the love of those 14pcs for 100php dumpling! I’d walk for that, for sure
whether on wheels or just a commuter, you can also take a route to binondo/ongpin/juan luna via taft. if you’re commuting, from legarda you can take a g-liner bus, get off manila city hall or near lawton and take a cab or a jeepney ride to divisoria and get off by binondo church. or i also take your route via lrt line 2 from our place in qc directly to recto; then take a jeepney ride up to sta cruz church where the gates of ongpin awaits!
love the food at Binondo. I joined the binondo walk-chinese new year edition of ivan man dy (old manila walk) and i really enjoyed everything that he showed us. Love the dong bei dumplings and the fresh lumpia at new po heng inside the art deco. oh you can try the Masuki Mami House along Benavides st.