Foodie weekend: the BIG Binondo Food WOK!

Kiong Hee Huat Tsai!

Grabbed the chance to go on Old Manila Walks' Chinese New Year edition of their famous Chinatown walking (and eating) tour. My mom and I were walking before the tour began, making our way from Recto LRT3 station to Binondo Church on foot. It took us half an hour because we made a wrong turn towards Divisoria. Although she's a real Manila girl (born in Tondo, schooled in Binondo), ma is human after all.

Looks familiar?

Follow the Chinoy with the flag

Streetwalker Ivan Man Dy (not a practitioner of the world's oldest profession) reminded me of Sandeman tour guides: makulit, irreverent and well-versed with the culture, history and gossip of the area.

It was great to meet like-minded people keen on discovering new things and eating good food, including bloggers Aian, Ivy, and Crystal, who has an excellent post on the tour. We had our share of uzis and freebie-hunting hangers-on. And like a reality show (without the pace), we were captured on video for ANC shows.


The climate, the pollution, and the lack of sidewalks and pedestrian crossings. These factors make walking tours in the Philippines tricky, but the crop of walking tour guides that emerged in recent years seem to have worked around this quite well. In this case, we all left the "wok" with a better understanding of the Chinese settlers in the Philippines and best of all, very full stomachs.