Innocent Wild: Adventures in Old Manila

8 February - Friday

Binondo, Manila

Trying not to stick to the reviews section of my class' magazine (which we decided to call "Spectrum"), I joined our team of Chinese New Year correspondents - if you could call them that - to break free from my writing comfort zone and, also to go explore one of Old Manila's biggest prides: Manila Chinatown.

Established in the 1590's by the Spanish for Catholic Chinese inhabitants, Manila Chinatown is the oldest in the world, and is named one of the best by CNN in 2012.

It was around 12 noon when we arrived in Binondo, and the heat was intense! The sun was incredibly hot, the car exhausts were suffocating, and making our way through the sea of people in the packed side streets (without getting hit by a motorcycle or a car) was quite a task.

With all the pre-Chinese New Year preparations being made, Manila Chinatown was, indeed, one of the busiest places in the country at the time. Vendors selling round fruits and lucky charms lined the streets; bakeries and delis overfilled with customers; and tourists were everywhere!

We had lunch at President Grand Palace Restaurant, courtesy of Jinger and her Auntie, who kindly spared our wallets' lives. The food was extremely yummy - I'll leave it like that, cos we have to write a separate article for that.

After buying some pasalubong for our folks at home (yep, tikoy, hopia, pansit - you name it!), we dropped by the ancient 400-plus-year-old Binondo Church to say some prayers.

Street signs have never been this interesting

A street vendor selling round fruits, which are believed to
bring luck

A young girl selling lucky charms by the busy
pre-Chinese New Year street

A salesman of the famous Eng Bee Tin shop
assisting customers with their tikoy and hopia
needs

Some lucky charms arranged and displayed on a table along
Ongpin Street

A lucky charms shop overfilling with customers

The Salazar Bakery

Shoppers doing their noontime bakery runs

Incense sticks and prayers

The façade of President Grand Palace Restaurant

My Chinese New Year Section buddies :)
Jinger, Daniel, Yna, and PL

And then that would be me, Charry, Kai, and Jica

9 February - Saturday

Intramuros, Manila

My adventure in Old Manila didn't stop in Binondo. The next day, I headed to Intramuros to meet with my Stargirls, Felis and Lanie, who I terribly miss.

We usually hang out at the mall (eat out or something), but this time, we wanted a change, so we took a historical walk trip around Intramuros with nothing but a map in our hands.

I went to Intramuros a lot as a kid, since it's where my parents used to work. But when my mum started teaching and my pa earned a scholarship to study in the UK, my visits to the Walled City were cut short, until I just stopped going there, so it was really nice to see the place again.

We began our walk trip in Fort Santiago, and then made our way to the Manila Cathedral - which is under renovation - church-hopped to San Agustin Church, and then crossed the road to Casa Manila.

My God, Intramuros has changed a lot since the last time I saw it! If there's a word to describe it, I would say lovely. The people were lovely, the sights to see were lovely, and everything else was lovely!

I especially liked Casa Manila, which I never got to see before. It's definitely not my dream house, but just going around the Casa was like taking a step back in time. The antiques were simply exquisite!

There were also a lot of foreign tourists - some coming from India, Taiwan, and even from Russia! Apart from Boracay, I've never been to a place in the Philippines with so many foreigners!

Just before twilight, after having our merienda at Barbara's, we finally took the pedicab (our legs got really tired from walking for hours and hours) to Puerta de Parian, so we could chill on the walls of Intramuros.

I'll tell you what, I'm not really afraid of heights, but the sloped walls we had to sit on (and eventually lie on) really got my innards flipping a bit. Anyhow, the place was really nice. Students from the neighbouring universities and just regulars were seated on the walls, playing music, chatting, and all that.

I wish I could write this post better, but words can't simply tell how wonderful my time was in Intramuros with my Stargirls.