My visit at the oldest Chinatown in the world were celebrated with a lot firsts. It was my first time at Binondo, the first mini photowalk of our company's photography club and my first time to experience the celebration of the Chinese New Year.
We started our trek at the Ongpin friendship arc near the Carriedo fountain. As we entered the arc, the sidewalks were filled with vendors selling fruits, little Chinese ornaments, jewelries, hopia, tikoy and so much more. I told myself that the place was promising and it looks exactly the way I have it on my mind.
We continued our trek inside the Ongpin street and stopped every time we got curious on the items sold by the street vendors. Until, we heard a loud drumbeat. We paused for a while and look at each other. In our eyes you will see that everyone knew that the sound was the signal of a dragon dance performance. So we hastened our walk and followed the beat. As we approached the show the drumbeats got louder and louder and it was in T. Alonzo that we stopped and saw the dragon dance performers.
We gathered our selves and took our spots were we can have good angles of the show. The spectators pile up anticipating and watching as if it was the first dragon dance of the morning.
The performance ended with a long and loud sound of fire crackers with dragons dancing and running all over the street. It was a great start of our adventure, we already saw a dragon dance and we haven't finish walking the long Ongpin street yet.
So, we walked up until the end of the street and saw a lot of the stores that made famous the "Binondo Food Stop". We continued taking pictures at vendors and stopping at famous stores in Chinatown. We also stopped on every drumbeat and every firecracker we heard.
It was nearing noon when we decided to take our lunch. We went to T. Pinpin street to look for the famous New Toho Food Center (one of the oldest restaurants in Metro Manila). I used the GPS built in my phone and we were able to find the resto. We immediately picked our orders and we ate yang chow fried rice, beef with broccoli, chop suey and Toho's famous pork asado like hunters. :)
We culminated our adventure by taking a photo with a dragon and buying at the best-selling shanghai fried siopao.
Overall, it was a very fun experience for me and my wife. We've meet new friends and we were able to enjoy the festivities and good food! I can't wait to go back to Binondo next year for another Chinese New Year experience or better yet explore the different restaurants here even if it is not a new year's celebration.
