Manila: Binondo

Fountain at Plaza Ruiz in front of the Binondo Church;

and Tea at Ying Ying restaurant

The famous violet fire trucks of Binondo

Inside Eng Bee Tin (makers of Binondo's Ube Hopia)

If there's a list of places you can easily get lost in, on the list should be Binondo. I went there last Saturday and I had a map with me but I still got lost (mostly because I didn't really read the map because I was too busy worrying where the heck we were and too busy taking pictures). If you visit and you have a car, then good for you because it will spare you the inconvenience of tiring feet and the heat. Too bad though, the streets are no less the hassle as the one way streets make driving (as I would imagine it) confusing and mentally draining than compared to the stress of walking (not to mention heavy traffic---but in some parts only).

Heedless to say, the place is still worth seeing: Chinatown, Basilica de San Lorenzo Ruiz, restaurants, specialty shops and many more.

Here are some reminders to remember when you visit:

1. If you go there to eat, remember to keep your mind open to the authentic & traditional and the overly exotic.

2. If you go there to shop for new finds, be sure to ask what you're buying before you pay: you don't want eating something unhumanly spicy or use charms you don't know what it's for.

3. You don't have to learn chinese to get by touring Binondo or Chinatown!

4. Horses in Kalesa can just pop out of nowhere.

5. If you ask a pedicab driver how far your destination is and says " 'Dun pa.", he really means "5 minute walk away."

6. Beware of consecutive weddings at the Binondo church during Saturdays.

7. Binondo and Chinatown are good places to do food trips.

Carvajal street


Mcdonald's in English and Chinese (honestly, I wouldn't know if it really is McDonald's in chinese but it's safe to assume that it is). They also have Starbucks in Chinese.