Binondo Food Wok!

Last Saturday, along with Gina, my mom and her friends, I journeyed to an unknown land called Binondo.

After reading up on the Big Binondo Food Wok on a blog while I was still in Australia, I decided I wanted to do it. What could be more fun than exploring a new place and getting to eat everything it has to offer along the way? Thanks to my mom, who organized the whole thing, we finally went over the weekend.

We met up at the entrance of the Binondo Church, and that in itself was so cool. I vaguely remember going to that area for our History field trip when I was in college at Ateneo, but I probably wasn't really paying attention so for me, it was like a first time experience. I can't believe that it was only after 28 years of existence that I visited Binondo.
The Binondo Church also known as the Minor Basilica of St. Lorenzo Ruiz. Cool siguro to get married in a church like that.

Our first stop was one of the only remaining factories for tablea. I am a certified Filipino tsokolate addict so I stocked up on this. It wasn't really a factory, just a store. They were in the middle of moving to another location so it was pretty uneventful (aside from the rolls of chocolate w/c made up for it times a million)

Next stop was Cafe Mezzanine which is the volunteer fireman's cafe. On a side note, the firetrucks in Binondo are so cute. They are purple, because, and ok, I may be inventing some parts here but I'll say what I remember, the owner of Eng Bee Tin also owns this cafe. Back in the day when Chinese cuisine wasn't incorporated into the Filipio palate yet, no one wanted to eat hopia, until he discovered that Filipinos love UBE, so he invented ube hopia. It was so successful that he only ever wore purple, and now the volunteer firemen's trucks are also purple. Medyo malabo but I'm sure you get the idea!
Gina wanted a picture with this because it reminded her of Transformers hehe! Cute right!(the truck not Gina haha!)

Anyway, at Cafe Mezzanine, we had Kiampong rice which is essentially salted rice garnished with peanuts and toasted garlic and fishball soup. It was a good way to the start the walk because we were famished. It was 1:30 pm and we tried not to eat anything before leaving for Binondo. Anyway, that food was supposedly considered "Peasant Food" It was good, damnit!
Posing at the restaurant downstairs from Cafe Mezzanine (same owner I think)

Next, we made a run for Dong Bei Dumpling (because it was raining ack! And I was in slippers!) Ok, so this is the place I saw on a blog that made me REALLY want to go on this walking tour. It's a little 16-seater place owned by these Northern Chinese immigrants who just moved here 3 years ago. Apparently, it was what authentic Northern Chinese dumplings are supposed to be like. In the Philippines, the food we are used to is Cantonese so it was a nice change.
Dumplings are made fresh in front of you. The two kinds we tried were pork with chives (YUM) and pork with cabbage. The difference is these dumplings are boiled in water until it cooks instead of steamed. You can actually leave it to stand for however long and they won't dry up the way steamed dumplings are. We also tried this pan fried pancake like thing w/c was essentially a dumpling but flat and fried haha. Our freezer is now well stocked with Dong Bei dumplings. Thank You Mom hehe.

I wasn't allowed to take pictures at our next stop, but look for a sign that just says "SHANGHAI FRIED SIOPAO" I am useless because I don't know what street it was on but this was the last picture I took before we stopped at that place:
So it MAY be along either Ongpin or Salazar. Sorry I can't be more specific. I was too busy eating. It was really good though. I brought ten home hehe.Notice the dragons on the street signs. Cool, eh?
This place full of tongues was near it. Or was this the place where we had tea eggs. I'm sorry, I'm really confused haha! I suggest you do the tour yourself because I'm not being a good guide haha.

We went to this stall on the same street as the original Ma mon Luk (figure it out) that sells bicho-bicho. In Spain, this would be their churros, in the states maybe funnel cake (but not really) It's crispy fried bread that's chewy in the middle and covered in sugar. It was nice and hot and oh so so delicious. My stomach has been weird the past week or so so I was careful with my food intake but I stopped caring when we hit this spot. It was so yummmmmmmmmy.
Looks like Gina really liked bicho-bicho too hahaha!

If you want to know about the rest of this tour take it yourself. It's only P650 for a 4 hour (but most likely it will extend a bit longer) walking and eating tour. The guide, Ivan Dy is great, really knowledgable and funny! It is money well spent!
Gina and Aycs on the last leg of the tour. Sweaty, dirty, wet form the rain but happy!

PS Don't forget to swing by Eng Bee Tin before you head home. Their buko pandan hopia converted me from hopia hater to lover. Well, that flavor at least! :D

On other news, I started boxing at Elorde today and MAN, it was like boot camp for my unfit ass! I swear I felt like they were training me like I was going to be on the next Rocky movie-and it was only my first day!

I'll let you know how this goes after a couple of weeks. I love it though. Most of all because it's a great way to release pent up aggression-and yes I do have a lot of that still. I just hide it better now hehe.

My body is begging me to sleep but my mind is working like I'm on crack. What to do, what to do!

Work starts officially in a week but I already have some work-related events to attend to. Here we go. I'm ready!