Chinese Ho-land in Manila

If you ever find yourself in Binondo, Manila's Chinatown, and see this sign for Ho-land Chinese Delicacies, run inside and grab a pack of freshly-baked hopia, flaky puff pastry filled with a sweet mung bean paste. It's delicious.

Painstaking

The next time you eat Chinese dim sum dumplings, slow down and savor every bite. A lot of effort goes into making each small piece—from the finely minced filling to the delicate, translucent wrapper.

Ride me

THEME DAY: ANIMALS • Even when fully mature, the little brown horses of our kalesas, which are still used as public transportation in some parts of Manila, rarely grow taller than the average Filipino male (around 5'4" or 163 cm). This patient beast, and his colorful burden, was waiting for commuters in front of the Binondo Church.

Kahol! Miaow! Kokak! Taktalaok! See more animals from City Daily Photo bloggers around the world.

Pink

Pink Patio is a Chinese restaurant in Binondo, Manila. The food is good but the furniture is nondescript and not particularly comfortable, but I do love the atrium in the middle of the building (even when the sky is overcast). The atrium and the building's pink paint give the place its name.

In case anyone has heard of it and is wondering, the beach resort with the same name on the island of Boracay is owned by the same family, although the restaurant is the original Pink Patio. The resort's name has been changed already, though, and is now called Patio Pacific Boracay.

Hidden in plain sight

Because of the district's hustle and bustle, and the inadequacy of Philippine rules about building signs, it is easy to miss the pre-war architectural gems of Binondo, Manila's Chinatown. The Uy-Chaco Building, which houses the Binondo branch of Philtrust Bank, stands right behind the Filipino-Chinese Friendship Arch. I've featured the arch in the past, but it wasn't until several years later—and a relatively long wait for the people I was meeting with—that I noticed the building. Information about it on the web is contradictory; it was either built in 1914 and designed by Samuel C. Rowell or built in 1930 and designed by Andres Luna de San Pedro.

Mind the gap

Not all of the kalesas remaining in Metro Manila are for tourist use only. Some districts of the City of Manila still allow them as public transportation, most notably in Binondo, Manila's Chinatown. In fact, one must take care when walking in its streets—look where you're stepping!




Unfortunately, just like our people, the horses also suffer terribly from the effects of poverty.

Chinese pastry

Probably the best Chinese bakery in the metro is Ho-land in Binondo, Manila's Chinatown. Their specialty is hopia, flaky puff pastry filled with a sweet mung bean paste—delicious, especially when freshly-baked. They also have mooncakes, tikoy (a glutinous rice cake), peanut cakes, and other Chinese delicacies. They've also expanded the hopia line by introducing new fillings. I think their original hopia is still the best, however.

Amidst the bustle

A street-side shrine in Binondo, Manila's Chinatown. I can't figure out what religion it serves though, since it has both incense sticks and a crucifix, and the sign on the right was announcing a Mass. Are incense sticks used instead of candles in Chinese Catholic churches? If anyone knows, I'd appreciate a little cultural lesson.

Narrow opening

THEME DAY: OPEN AIR MARKET • Alright, I'm cheating a bit for the City Daily Photo theme day today. Metro Manila has several well-organized upscale weekend markets nowadays (markets where rich people don't mind being seen at), but I was too lazy to go out on a Sunday morning just to take pictures since it's the one day in the week when I don't have to wake up early for work. So here is a view of a quite unintentional open-air market: an alley in Manila's Chinatown in Binondo. Contrary to what its narrow, busy streets look like, Binondo has one of the highest land values in the metro. So it is hardly surprising that stores and vendors use every available space to set up their merchandise, and that includes alleys and sidewalks.




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Old and new

The facade and bell tower of the Minor Basilica of San Lorenzo Ruiz, better known as Binondo Church after the district in the City of Manila where it is located, date back from 1852 and are the only parts of the church, built by Spanish Dominicans for Chinese immigrants who converted to Christianity, which survived WWII. The roof over the driveway is definitely part of the 1946 to 1984 restoration, as you can tell from the smoothness of the stone.

Fancy feet

Traditional, handcrafted products still abound in the Philippines, including Metro Manila. I saw these hand-beaded slippers in Binondo, Manila's Chinatown, and they were selling for only 285 pesos (just a little more than six U.S. dollars).

More Filipino than…

Roman Ongpin (1847–1912) was a Chinese-Filipino businessman, nationalist, civic leader, patron of the arts and philanthropist. He was born in Binondo, Manila's Chinatown, of immigrant parents. He secretly supported the Philippine Revolution against the Spanish colonial government and, when the Philippine-American War broke out, Ongpin again secretly supported the revolutionaries against the U.S. But the Americans found out and he was imprisoned from 1900–1901. Binondo's most famous street—the one with the funny street sign—is named after him.




CDP bloggers! There are only three days left to vote for the August theme and to prepare your photo for the July 1 theme day: Reflections. Why do I have the feeling that James was the inspiration for this one?

Jam-packed

The district of Binondo is Manila's Chinatown. It is a densely populated area, with more than twelve thousand people crammed into its .66 square kilometer (.26 square mile) land, according to the 2007 Philippine population census. Despite its narrow, crowded and oft-dirty streets, Binondo has one of the highest land values in the metro. No houses here, just cheek by jowl office and apartment buildings which are all at least three stories high. No matter what the building is, the street level spaces are all eateries, retail stores and commercial enterprises.




About the only thing that distinguishes an office building from an apartment building in Binondo is the laundry drying in the balconies of the latter.

Don't blame the rains

Because of the long and wide Pasig River, which connects Manila Bay on the west and Laguna de Bay in the northeast, many cities in Metro Manila are crisscrossed by its numerous estuaries and tributaries. Unfortunately, with the fast and uncontrolled growth of this largest of the Philippines' urban centers during the sixties and seventies, the river system was completely neglected. The esteros of the cities of Manila, Makati, San Juan, Mandaluyong, Pasig, Taguig and Marikina are little more than open sewers. This particular garbage-choked estuary is in Binondo, Manila. It will take much more discipline and political will than we have shown so far to rehabilitate this very important resource. And people wonder why we always get floods during the rainy season.

First Filipino Saint

Lorenzo Ruiz (c. 1600–1637) was a Chinese Filipino layman with two sons and a daughter who lived in Binondo, Manila's Chinatown. Falsely accused of killing a Spaniard, he was granted asylum on a ship with three Dominican priests. When the ship landed in Japan, the group was arrested for their Christian faith and tortured. Lorenzo refused to recant his faith and was finally subjected to the horrendous form of torture called tsurushi. After two days hanging upside down in an enclosed pit, he died from bleeding and suffocation. He was beatified by Pope John Paul II during his visit to Manila in 1981 and canonized in 1987. This statue of him stands in the small Plaza San Lorenzo Ruiz in front of the Binondo Church, which is formally titled the Minor Basilica of San Lorenzo Ruiz.

Repaired

Only the facade and the Chinese-influenced octagonal bell tower of the 1852 Minor Basilica of San Lorenzo Ruiz, better known as the Binondo Church, survived the flattening of the City of Manila during WWII. It is easy to see which the oldest parts are, with their damaged reliefs and cracked pillars, but it is also quite easy to see where they are repaired and reinforced with new concrete.