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6 Experiences you will enjoy when you go there

A travel magazine of the Chinatown in Manila, Philippine

inondoSeptember 2010

Food Centers at

Ongpin Street

sizzles: TOHO

What a Chinese

businesswoman

knows that might

interest you

How to cook :Chinese Chow Mein


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I went to Chinatown for the first timebecause we had to make a documentary for atravel magazine as an assignment in class. Thecrowd, noise and traffic was deadening, because itwas different from the usual experience in any ofthe crowded streets in Manila. Chinatown breezeswith businessmen selling their wares, tourists go-ing around looking for fancy but colorful trinketsand gift items in the numerous shops around,devotees going in and out of the old yet elegantBinondo Church.

Various wares and jewelries are foundmostly in Ongpin Street where you find tour-ists and buy-and-sell traders flock to go buyitems to display in their own shops anywherein Manila and other cities or provinces.

What most attracted me is the colorfuldesigns that speak truly of Chinese art and de-sign - red, blue and orange dominate the colorswith designs of dragons, snakes and scallops oflanterns on chandeliers and lampshades.

Going

aroundChinatown

Binondo Church-it is one of the oldest places of Christian Wor-ship in Manila. The Church is home to the OurLady of China and in front of the church is thePlaza San Lorenzo Ruiz .

Jewelry shops and commercial centers arebedecked with trinkets, fancy jewelries, giftitems and colorful decors that tell stories ofChinese art and design.

By Angel Luke Bagano

After visiting the Chinese district, Iam sure these experiences will makeyou always want to go back.


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Exotic foods are served in restau-rants and diners, the first time I saw them inthe menu book I almost puked but then I sawa group of Chinese eating with gusto at a ta-ble opposite where we sat.

In this instant, I felt respect for other

peoples tastes and culture. I wanted to trytheir dish of innards fried to a crisp and filledwith garlic oil. I realized that the taste is notas disgusting as the taste.

Other exotic foods are snakes, pi-geons, rabbits, frogs cooked in deliciousways as meat or soup and crisp fries.

Besides the exotic foods are the famil-iar dumplings, sio-pao, sio-mai and lots ofnoodles and soups.

The Chinese are said to be the bestcooks in the world. This exotic food is from the innards of animals,cooked to a crisp with garlic oil, or barbecued.

Tricycles, calesas, taxi, jeepney - the mode of transportationaround.

Going around the Chinese district is not aproblem. While anyone can go there on his owncar, tricycles, jeepneys, taxis and calezas are eve-rywhere. I love riding the caleza because you aregiven the chance to maneuver the horse, if youask the driver. For P150.00 to any destinationaround Chinatown, you can go through narrowstreets and alleys and to anywhere you want to

go to.The tricycle drivers charge P25 for a mini-

mum of two passengers. It can also take youaround the district wherever you want to go to.

Other places you might want to enjoy atthis Chinese District is he Buddhist temple;Kuang Kongis open to the public and is worthvisiting as it shows the roots of the Chinese-

Filipino, you can burnincense sticks and utter yourprayers. There is also thesered wooden half moonsyou can use to have yourfortunes told. Kuang Kong isthe patron of Scholars andMartial arts as well as theGod of War; it is known asthe protector of Quan Yin;

the Goddess of Mercy.The old art deco style

buildings are found inEscolta Street, this used tobe the home of manyluxurious fashion brandsand slowly declined in the70's after the growth ofmalls.


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How to get there

Chinatown in the Binondodistrict has a lot of narrow and smallstreets. It stretches from Santa CruzChurch in the east all the way to

Binondo Church in the west. It isovercrowded with buildings as wellas people. Getting there is easybecause you have a lot of choices onhow to go there.

Taxis are abundant in Manila.They are the fastest mode of trans-portation of getting to Binondo. But,always be aware of abusive taxi driv-

ers who would always take advan-tage of you being new in the place.

Jeepneys also pass by thestreets of Chinatown. The fares areaffordable and you get to see a lot ofplaces for they make a lot of stop-overs when they pick up or drop offpassengers. You can ride the jeepsheading to Divisoria and get off as

far as the driver would go and thenget down and ride a tricycle.

The Manila LRT (Yellow Line)is also an affordable mode of trans-portation. Just take the LRT-1 and getdown at Carriedo Station. Calesas,taxis and jeepneys stop at and aroundthe station.

When you plan to go to China-town, try to wear simple clothes toavoid standing out. Enjoy exploringthe Chinese community since the ear-liest days of the Old Manila.

Angel Luke Bagano

The Chinese are famous for their

cuisine. siopao, siomai, yang

chow fried rice these are only

some of the timeless favorites. And what better

place to have a taste of these Chinese dishes

than in Chinatown? Here and there are food

stalls selling Chinese delicacies with a modern

twist like the now-famous fried siopao. Still, the

best sellers in Chinatown are the traditional

dishes served with authentic flair.

Built on 1888, the New Toho Food Center is listed

as the oldest restaurant in Manila1. The restaurant was

established by five friends who originally named it as

Toho Antigua Panciteria. However, four of them had

to return to China and left the restaurant in the care of

their dear friend Tai Tang. Since then, Tai Tangs family

has been managing the restaurant passed on from gen-

erations to generations.

For a restaurant to be this old and to still be this famous,

there has to be some sort of secret right? According to

the current owner of Toho, they only have one secret.

And that is drum roll pleasethe use of all-natural

ingredients. He said that using artificial flavorings and

TOHO :

Best food center

This food center leaves a traveler spellbound

By Mary Uy

Continued on page 5


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TOHO...

(continued from page 4)

food colorings will not only make the dishes

lose its authenticity and its true flavor, but

will alsochange the very tradition in making

these dishes. To date, the recipes used in mak-

ing their dishes havent changed from the day

Toho was established!

The must-try dishes in Toho are their

delectable platters of Pork Asado, Lumpiang

Shanghai, Pancit Canton and Ampalaya

(served with beef, pork, seafood, fish orchicken). Of course, for those dont have much

in their pockets, money wont be a problem

because their food is sold at very affordable

prices. (And yes, they do accept credit cards!).

Delicious food and affordable prices, no won-

der people keep coming back for more.

Lets Cook Chinese Food Ingredients:Fried noodles2 whole chicken breasts8 ounces (225 g) boneless lean pork3 tsp (15 mL) cornstarch, divided21/2 tbsp (37mL) dry sherry, divided2 tbsp (30 mL) soy sauce, divided1/2 cup (125mL) water2 tsp (10 mL) instant chicken bouil-longranules2 tbsp (30 mL) vegetable oil

1 pc fresh ginger, peeled and finelychopped1 clove garlic, minced8 ounces (225 g) deveined shelledshrimp2 medium size yellow onions,chopped1 red or green pepper, thinly sliced2 ribs celery, diagonally cut into 1inch slices8 green onions with tops, chopped4 ounces (112 g) cabbage, shredded

Chicken Chow Mein1. Prepare fried noodles, set aside2. Remove skin and bones from chicken breasts3. Cut chicken and pork into 1 inch (2.5 cm) pcs4. Combine 1 tsp (5 mL) cornstarch, 11/2 tsp (7 mL) sherry, 1/2 tsp (7

mL) soy sauce in large bowl. Add chicken and pork; toss to coatwell. Cover and refrigerate 1 hour.

5. Combine remaining 2 tsp (10 mL) cornstarch, 2 tbsp (30 mL)sherry, 2 tbsp sherry, 1 1/2 tbsp (22 mL) soy sauce, water andbouillon granules in small bowl, set aside

6. Heat oil in wok or large skillet over high heat. Add ginger andgarlic; stir fry 1 min. Add chicken and pork; stir fry until nolonger pink in center, about 5 minutes. Add shrimp, stir fry untilshrimp turns pink, about 3 minutes.

7. Add vegetables to wok, stit fry until crisp tender, 3-5 minutes.Add bouillon soy sauce mixture. Cook and stir until sauce boilsand thickens; cook and stir an additional minute.

8. Arrange Fried Noodles on serving plate, top with chicken mixture

Makes 6 servings


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It was exactly 11:21 in the morning when all five of us alighted the

trainat the Recto L.R.T. station. We all decided to squeeze ourselves inside a small tricycle go-

ing to Chinatown. After 5 minutes of travel inside the tricycle, one of us asked, is this China-

town already? I replied, I

doubt it, I dont think were in

Chinatown already. I havent

seen those red Chinese lanterns

yet nor do I smell incense in the

air. However, to my surprise,

the tricycle driver parked by the

pavement after a couple of min-

utes and told us, nandito na po tayo.

Chinatown in Manila was established in 1594 which makes it the oldest Chinatown in the

world. Being the oldest, I expected it to be a glimpse of China but to no avail, it did not turn out

to be what I thought it would be. Though there were red street lamps and lots of stores selling

authentic Chinese medicine, food, and furniture on both sides of the street, it still lacked that

ambience that would make you feel as if youre actually in China. There were even a lot of

kalesas in this part of Manila that would make you think that youre in Intramuros rather than

in Chinatown. If it were not for the Chinese arch located at the entrance to Chinatown or the

Chinese characters found on different store signs one would not be able to differentiate this

street from other streets found in Manila.

All in all, I can say that our

local version of Chinatown is

quite far from the other China-

towns I have seen. I have been

to a Chinatown in Singapore

and in an instant, it is as if you

magically teleported into China.

Though the Chinatown found in

Manila would not give you a

sneak peek into what China

looks like, it is still a good place

to have a first hand experience

of Chinese culture and see the

fusion of Filipino and Chinese

cultures.

Are We There Yet?By Kevin Udasco

A first timer loses his direction in Chinatown


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By: BJ Yao

A Womans

Business

in

Chinatown

In the bustling streets of Chinatown with the horse-drawnkalesas and busy people going about, a store opened by a Chinese national doesnt

seem to be out of the ordinary. However, what makes this store so different is that it

was founded by a Chinese woman, named Lolita Co.

When I interviewed Dr. Lolita T. Co, founder of the

Omega Optical branch in Ongpin St., Manila, about

what is was like to start a business in a place like Chinatown, the first thing she said was, it was really hard,

starting a business all on my own, especially one in a

Chinese community such as China town. But with Gods

grace and the help of family and friends, Omega Op-

tical has flourished. She faced the difficulties of starting

a business from scratch and the hardships of living in a

community that looks down on women. With deter-mination and strength she worked hard to make

Omega Optical a success.

Omega Optical started in 1994, inside the teeming streets of Chinatown and since

then, it has prospered. Even today, many residents of Chinatown depend on the store

for their visual needs, such as glasses and contact lenses.

It was really hard,

starting a business

all on my own,

especially one in a

Chinese

community


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