Culture culture and city of Manila
Is it really a trip to Manila if you don't spend time in /actual/ Manila?
City of Manila. I don't think we'd gone before last week and it was time to turn that around. We'd been short of culture/history activities and I'd wanted to find some nice Filipiniana things to bring back to DC. Some stops:
1. The dolomite beach. We caught a view of the infamous dolomite beach from the pedestrian walkway to/from the US embassy last Wednesday. The 'beach' is very sad trombone-y, only made funny by the guard obviously stationed on the walkway to prevent people from taking photos.
2. Shawarma Snack Center in Ermita. Saw a stray recommendation for this online and decided to give it a shot with friend Keller, who lives on Roxas overlooking the bay. The restaurant is supposed to be a favorite with the local Arab, especially Lebanese, community. Pretty cool how they offered Saudi, Lebanese, Persian, etc., versions of the same dishes so that you could try the variants side by side. Nice stop and would go again.
3. Quiapo-Binondo walk. Having heard about the handicraft shopping in Quiapo, Aaron and I ventured out on Saturday to see for ourselves. We got to Quiapo church in time to see a wedding (at the 'major basilica'! how grand) kick off, which was cool to see. I was surprised they let the bridal walk into Thousand Years/the Twilight Song, but I suppose the church is less traditionalist than I thought.
After we made our way through Quiapo market, got to the famous 'Ilalim ng Tulay' handcrafts section or 'Ile de Tuls'. Prices were rock bottom, though, and they accepted my minor haggling. Having gone to the major stores in Makati I had an idea of the going prices. My main reference was an 8" acacia wood plate - P100/plate at Quiapo, P175 at Tesoro's, P250 at Kultura, and P350 at Balikbayan handicrafts. For single piece purchases (1 lamp, 1 mat...that sort of thing), it's probably not worth the hassle. If you're buying enough for a dinner party though, maybe a trip to Quiapo is in order.
Walked down Escolta toward Binondo (Chinatown) and appreciated the beautiful old buildings. Would really be nice if someone bought them as heritage sites and restored them to their former glory. There must be 5-6 really pretty old buildings to save. Reminds me a bit of the effort to save the MiMo buildings in Miami. The buildings near South Beach became tourist spots in their own right.
A final couple of stops at Dong Bei for chive dumplings and Eng Bee Tin (they've expanded so much!) for hopia. Highly recommend the Mongo Supreme Salted Egg hopia. A top 5 hopia.
4. On Sunday went to Seascape on Macapagal with the Chans for seafood paluto -- you buy seafood from the nearby market stalls and bring them choices to the nearby restaurants for cooking. So much shrimp (regular steamed, salt/pepper, and sweet chilli) as well as crab (sotanghon), clams (tofu soup), and squid (adobo). Two thumbs up for this. The area has been totally improved since our last visit and the bayfront al fresco experience is really nice.
5. Less literally 'city of Manila' but in line with the cultural experiences I got a delivery today of inabel (northern weaving) from pal+textile/cultural preservationist BJ. He came down from Paoay this week with some blankets for me and Paoay longganisa (sausages). I am on an inabel upswing after our other friend, Patrick, gifted me some woven placemats. Really happy to start learning about Philippine textiles in more depth.
Long story this week! Probably will have one last before this trip ends!