Binondo's Not-so-Hidden Secrets

(As published in the January 2016 issue of Hardware Zone PH Magazine) 

Better known as “Chinatown” of Manila, Binondo has so many things to offer, which may not be known to many, most especially to non-Chinese people. What you might not know is the fact that Binondo is the oldest Chinatown in the world, as it was established in 1594. Since then, it has been the center of trade and commerce for the Filipino-Chinese community.

I must admit that I am not really a Binondo person. Although I’ve had a couple of Filipino-Chinese friends from this district, I haven’t really gone around it and I still consider myself a Chinatown-newbie.  While I have visited Divisoria for a couple of times before, this is actually the first time I have explored Binondo. Let me share with you a couple of my discoveries in this quick tour.

1.     Lucky Chinatown Mall is both a good and bad idea. It’s good to finally have an upscale mall and a secure parking space in Chinatown; however, getting out of the parking building from the topmost floor could take up to 2 hours most especially during rush hour. Sometimes, taking public transportation could be a better idea.

2.     Chinatown Gold Center is like a gold mine! I’ve never seen that much authentic gold in my life, all in one place. There, they sell different karats of gold jewelries, which come from multiple countries – Saudi gold, Russian diamond, etc. – and they are selling it like a commodity. One can buy a simple 18K golden ring at around Php 3,500 or a small 18K golden pendant at Php 1,500. I have also learned that they have online sellers for those who cannot personally visit Chinatown; but I suggest you do because there are a lot of pretty items there to choose from.

3.     Authentic yet cheap Chinese food are just within the streets of Binondo. I have tried the Original Chicken Mami from the famous Masuki Mami House in Benavidez Street and it’s probably not the best mami I’ve tasted but it’s equally good. I actually like their siomai more. Don’t be surprised if it’s priced at Php 35 per piece because it is actually big and tasty. To satisfy my xiao long bao and hakaw cravings, I headed to Ongbin Golden Dimsum in Dasmariñas Street, as advised by a Fil-Chi friend. And good news, their food did not disappoint! I also passed by the oldest standing restaurant in Binondo, the New Toho Food Center, established in 1888, which can be found along T. Pinpin Street. I was too full to give it a try so you better go try it yourself to know why it has been there for more than 100 years already.

xiao long bao at Ongbin Golden Dimsum

huge siomai at Masuki

yummy Mami at Masuki

4.     Attract good luck with Binondo’s lucky charms. There are a couple of shops selling lucky charms, from small trinkets to huge Buddha statues. Their peak season is around January as people prepare for the Chinese New Year. They also share some forecasts for the incoming year so you would know which stuff to buy. 2016 is the Year of the Fire Monkey, and if you want to know which lucky charm would best fit you, visit these shops in Chinatown.

5.     Whatever you could think of buying can be found in Binondo. From gift items to furniture to clothing, you can all find them there, and at a way cheaper price. You can also avail of wholesale prices, and this would benefit you most especially if you plan to resell these items because people would usually pay for convenience. There are a lot of good finds in 168 Mall, 11/88 Mall, and 999 Mall, or just by the side walks and other shops within the streets of Binondo such as the Ongpin Street. Just don’t forget to haggle and enjoy shopping!

Just a few tips for you to be more comfortable and safe while touring Binondo: wear simple clothing and flat shoes, and do away with jewelries and branded accessories. Better to have someone with you and refrain from using your mobile phone.

And those have been my discoveries. Now it’s time for you to discover these “not-so-hidden” secrets of Binondo I have shared, and go find out more!

wasn't able to take much photos during this trip so I just took a selfie instead haha

Surviving Shanghai: Day 3

It's our last day in Shanghai and our itinerary as we planned actually covered People's Square, Shanghai Museum, and West Nanjing Road (for shopping). However, we got some kind of deviation from our originally itinerary.

We're supposed to start our day early but we ended up waking up late because our beds and sheets were too comfy! haha! So we had breakfast at Mcdo, which was two blocks away from our hotel. Then we walked to Baoshan Road station, passing buy a market of surplus goods. Well it looked like Divisoria of gadgets, kitchenwares, industrial stuff, etc. There were lots of people even in the streets so we didn't bother to take a look anymore.

 Double Cheeseburger and it's cheaper there than in the P.I.

We went off at People's Square station. Then we walked a couple of blocks to get to the Shanghai Museum. The museum is open from 8am to 5pm and admission is free. It's super worth our time because we got to know China even more. I've been familiar with Chinese dynasties since high school, and it's so cool to have images and artefacts to associate with  what I've learned those days about the Chinese history.

Shanghai Grand Theater

flowers!:)

inside the museum

ancient pottery

Chinese calligraphy

bad hair day lol

please excuse the kid behind me lol

panorama shot via iOS 6

I forgot the name of this road but it's a strip of restaurants and some boutiques

After a little over an hour inside the museum, we headed to West Nanjing Road, thinking of finding a bazaar in the street but there's none. We walked towards the East Nanjing Road until we found a building which looked like the Silk Market in Beijing or 168 in Divisoria. I got to practice my bargaining skills with a cute leather bag/clutch that we bought. The initial price offered was 620 RMB, and I was like...seriously?!? That wasn't even branded! She did a demo wherein she tried to burn the bag using a lighter and it didn't show any mark. So I haggled a lot of times and whenever the saleslady wouldn't agree, we were acting as if we're leaving, then she's been stopping us every time. Until we arrived at the price of 120 RMB. Imagine that?!? Well they speak good English so you can always negotiate with them without the charades haha! But I suggest, be kind when you haggle because it gets them guilty for overpricing that's why it's easier to haggle. (wasn't able to take a photo of the building)

Shopping there wasn't enough so we headed to the Super Brand Mall, a 13-storey shopping mall in century Avenue. We didn't have much time to shop because we had to catch our flight later that night. Surprisingly, we spent about an hour in H&M on the 1st floor of the building and we had to do a 15-minute grocery shopping for "pasalubong" in the supermarket at the ground floor. After that quick shopping, we took a cab back to the hotel, fixed our things, and left the hotel. The security guard of the hotel called a cab for us and we thought they already talked about where we're headed to. But apparently, they didn't. The taxi driver couldn't understand that we wanted him to take us to the East Nanjing Road station since that's the nearest Line 2 station from the hotel, and that's the metro line headed to the Pudong International Airport. The driver was too kind and resourceful that he used hi cellphone to call the Shanghai Translator call center. He passed his phone to us then the agent on the line said, "This is the Shanghai Translator. Where do you want to go? I will translate it to your driver." It's super cool! I suggest you search its number online because it will be useful if you don't want to do charades haha!

About our departure, I'll share it on my next post. I will also include a summary of our trip, some tips and a bit of an estimated expense to help you guys on planning your trip to Shanghai.

xoxo

Surviving Shanghai: Day 1 (Official)

Sept. 21 (Friday)

By "official" I meant, it's the real deal...those activities we sort of planned to do.

Since we started out late, we were not able to do everything in our itinerary for this day.  First thing we did upon leaving the hotel was to find a place to eat. We walked along North Sichuan Road, until we saw a mall with signages of food stores. There we tried Happy Lemon (it's cheaper there than here in the P.I.) and a Chinese restaurant. We order a roasted duck and a set meal like that of a shabu-shabu. Then we ordered "mi fan" (rice) but we were given a black rice that tasted sweet, which we felt was a dessert haha! There, you'll have to pay your food right after the waiter has gotten your order.

cute Hello Kitty cake! I want!

So after our late lunch, we took the Metro train to the West Nanjing Road. It's a long road of lots of boutiques! Truly a shopping haven! It reminded me of Shinjuku and Harajuku wherein all the brands are on the the both sides of the road.

From Nanjing Road, we took the Metro train to Century Ave. There we were on an elevated walkway and we got a perfect view of the best buildings and structures in Shanghai, most especially the Oriental Pearl TV Tower. We originally planned to have a dinner buffet at the tower but it costs around Php 2,500 when converted. So we opted to find something else to do. We wanted to go to The Bund, so we had to cross the Huangpu River. We went through The Bund Sightseeing Tunnel wherein we rode a see-through covered cart on a rail going to the other side of the river. The ride costs 90 RMB/pax. We didn't actually pay much attention to the voice over and the effects shown inside as we were passing through the tunnel, but for sure, it's not worth 90 RMB! haha

Jin Mao Tower

 Oriental Pearl TV Tower

 BFFs and the Oriental Pearl TV Tower

 I was surprised I can take a photo this nice!

it's very evident on this photo how tired I've been from walking the whole day

 that's our ride going to the other side of the river

That's the tunnel! Kinda scary haha!

Besides the Huangpu River, we also got a nice view of the French Concession on the opposite side. And to cap our night, we headed to The Apartment where we had our late dinner and some drinks. They serve sumptuous Italian dishes and good cocktails. Just like what its name suggests, it's a 3-storey apartment with a roof deck that somehow felt like Skye. One of its rooms was for house music and it felt a bit like Relik, while the other room was playing RNB and HipHop, which felt like Republiq. There were lots of expats and tourists at the place. We headed back to the hotel at 1:30am and it only took us around 36 RMB via cab.

I used the HDR effect of my Camera 360 app on iPhone 

 The ferry ride costs 2 RMB only. We should've taken this instead on the tunnel thing.

 So funny that this looks like the Empire State Building in New York haha!

 The French Concession

Felt like Paris over here!

Price Range: 70-200 RMB (drinks at 70+, food at 100+)

 the dining area (resto part)

 Roof Deck

 Shanghai party :)

 the room for "house music"

the room for "RNB and Hiphop" music

It's so cool because we found flyers/invites for Maroon5 Shanghai concert's after-party at The Apartment scheduled on the coming week.

Tip: Download the Wow Shanghai app because it's very useful in finding the perfect places for shopping, dining, partying, and more! It's complete...with directions!:)

So that's our 1st day in Shanghai! I got more to share about our second day. Stay tuned!:)


xoxo