Walking Through Binondo, Manila

5/29/12 6:50AM

I was supposed to buy something from Binondo so I took a little side trip.

First stop is this building. It's not in Binondo but I wanted a picture of this building I liked before it rots to the ground. I think it would have been pretty, but in this area, who cares for such silly sentiments? I took photos then headed for Chinatown.

An old building I've been admiring

I've always been meaning to see Chinatown. A couple of friends and I once tried to take a trip there. Walked through a couple of streets and found ourselves right back where we started. We didn't really see anything, hehehe.

Lion at the gates

I was amazed that the place feels insulated from the rest of the city. Ads in Chinese with celebrities I've never heard of before. I even saw a guy loading boxes of goods into a grocery store. I took a peek and one box contained what looked like Nissin's Ramen- in Chinese! Even their McDonald's looks like it's from another country:

Sadly, the only thing that seems to stay the same wherever you go is poverty.

Streetkids at the Plaza

Virlanie Foundation doing some activity with streetchildren

One of the places I wanted to go to in Chinatown is the Binondo Church. The facade is pretty but the interior is fairly new. Not surprising because according to Wikipedia it's been bombed a few times. I was a little disappointed at the slabs on the entrance floor. According to tourist guide on a tv show a few years back, these slabs came from tombstones. I was disappointed because the markings on the slabs are pretty worn you can hardly make out anything written on it. Overall, I was still happy I saw it up close.

Binondo Church

Went to the popular hopia and pasalubong shop Eng Bee Tin.

Eng Bee Tin: Hopia Central

This isn't the only Eng Bee Tin shop in Chinatown. Like how many hopias do you need to buy?

Hopia? Hopia.

I see that the Korean invasion has reached Chinatown. Hehehe...

The Korean Wave: The Force is strong in this one

I'm impressed at the number and variety of shops I've seen as I walked the streets. The economy is clearly thriving and if for some reason (like a zombie apocalypse) they shut themselves off from the rest of the city they have everything they need to survive. From food to clothing, to electronics, to fancy chandeliers. Because who says you can't spend your last days in style?

But being this insulated, I did sometimes think that maybe I was an unwelcome outsider. At one point, I was hungry and found myself in front of a small cafe. I was going to walk in when I took a glance at the menu from the window and found that everything was in Chinese! I decided to go hungry instead.

Carriedo Fountain

The Sta. Cruz Church.

Sta. Cruz Church

Another cute old building. It says, "Monte de Piedad Savings Bank 1880". I wish there was a way to figure out how old these buildings actually are.

Monte de Piedad Savings Bank

Since I was already there, might as well ogle more old buildings in the area. I took a little walk down Escolta. Manila used to be the center of commerce in the days of old and Escolta was very popular then. Hardly any activity here but I liked looking at the buildings so I was fairly entertained.

Escolta Street

Regina Building

My grumbling stomach was telling me to have another look at the food shops along the street before I end up with a stomachache but this tongue-twisting one gave me a headache and a laugh instead.

Ha- Ha- Ano daw?