Anyway, after he left, I decided to walk around and explore Binondo, the Chinatown of Manila. Although I had my Binondo Map with me, I still got lost several times! At times, I was just too lazy to refer to the map and actually enjoying losing myself in the streets.
This is the Filipino - Chinese Friendship Arch that greets you as you enter Binondo at the bottom of Jones Bridge at Quintin Paredes Street.
![](http://i902.photobucket.com/albums/ac228/jesselton88/Binondo%20Manila/WelcometoChinatown4R.jpg)
Walking further ahead, you would come across Binondo Church located at the heart of Manila's Chinatown along Ongpin Street. It would be quite impossible to miss this famous landmark.
![](http://i902.photobucket.com/albums/ac228/jesselton88/Binondo%20Manila/BinondoChurchRR.jpg)
I did not take many pictures as I thought the ugly looking electrical wiring hanging all over the streets would spoil my photos! I really think they should do something about all these unsightly wires!
![](http://i902.photobucket.com/albums/ac228/jesselton88/Binondo%20Manila/scarywiresR.jpg)
But I took this picture below as I thought the streetlights were quite unique and interesting.
![](http://i902.photobucket.com/albums/ac228/jesselton88/Binondo%20Manila/lamps2R.jpg)
You can see these beautiful lantern streetlights hanging along Ongpin Street.
![](http://i902.photobucket.com/albums/ac228/jesselton88/Binondo%20Manila/lampsR.jpg)
Ooh! I saw my company - Panda Travel outlet here! Haha!
![](http://i902.photobucket.com/albums/ac228/jesselton88/Binondo%20Manila/PandaTravelR.jpg)
Another arch welcoming visitors to Manila Chinatown, though I could not remember which street this is! Though I suspect it is along Ongpin Street. Notice the BDO lantern on the top left of the photo?
![](http://i902.photobucket.com/albums/ac228/jesselton88/Binondo%20Manila/WelcometoChinatown2R.jpg)
BDO stands for Banco De Oro, one of the largest banks in the Philippines owned by a Filipino Chinese Henry Sy who also owns the famous SM chain of malls. During my trip in Manila, I came across many BDO banks there! By the way, his SM Mall Of Asia is the 6th largest mall in the world.
![](http://i902.photobucket.com/albums/ac228/jesselton88/Binondo%20Manila/inChinatownR.jpg)
I was told that there were more than a dozen banks in Quintin Paredes Street alone, probably making Binondo one of the most "banked" districts in the Philippines - a reflection of the Chinese Filipino people's accomplishments perhaps?
I think most of the good restaurants and shops are centred along Ongpin Street. It was too bad that I had a late lunch and was too full to try other eateries in the area. But I made sure I did not miss buying some hopia and tikoy at the infamous Eng Bee Tin.
![](http://i902.photobucket.com/albums/ac228/jesselton88/Binondo%20Manila/EngBeeTinshopR.jpg)
For the uninitiated, hopia is a popular Filipino bean filled pastry whereas tikoy is a sweet dessert made from glutinous rice and is more popularly known as nian gao in Malaysia.
![](http://i902.photobucket.com/albums/ac228/jesselton88/Binondo%20Manila/EngBeeTinshop2R.jpg)
I bought a Tikoy Roll in ube (purple yam) flavour.
![](http://i902.photobucket.com/albums/ac228/jesselton88/Binondo%20Manila/TikoyRollUbe.jpg)
This is how it looks like after I unwrapped the packet.
![](http://i902.photobucket.com/albums/ac228/jesselton88/Binondo%20Manila/TikoyRollUbe3.jpg)
I brought it back to my hotel where I ate it for supper. It did not taste like the nian gao that I was accustomed to, but it was still quite tasty. Look! I ate it with a pair of chopsticks! Haha!!
![](http://i902.photobucket.com/albums/ac228/jesselton88/Binondo%20Manila/TikoyRollUbe2.jpg)
I also bought the hopia from Eng Bee Tin, but it was somewhat a combination of mochi and hopia, thus the name Mochipia.
![](http://i902.photobucket.com/albums/ac228/jesselton88/Binondo%20Manila/Mochipia.jpg)
I did not know why I also chose the ube flavour for this Mochipia, perhaps because I like the taste of purple yam!
![](http://i902.photobucket.com/albums/ac228/jesselton88/Binondo%20Manila/Mochipia2.jpg)
Anyway, I like this Mochipia! Really quite yummy! Well, better than the tikoy in my opinion.
![](http://i902.photobucket.com/albums/ac228/jesselton88/Binondo%20Manila/Mochipia3.jpg)
According to the sales assistant, the Mochipia must be refrigerated after purchase or it would only last a few days. I was thinking of returning to Eng Bee Tin on my last day in Manila to purchase some hopia as pasalubongs (Tagalog word meaning presents or gifts bought from a trip) but it was not to be.
![](http://i902.photobucket.com/albums/ac228/jesselton88/Binondo%20Manila/TikoyRollUbepacketback.jpg)
Oh well, there will always be a next time, I guess.
I had wondered around Binondo for only two hours, but the sky was beginning to get dark. Manila gets dark early which is not good for a tourist like me. 6pm in Manila is like 8pm in Kuala Lumpur.
![](http://i902.photobucket.com/albums/ac228/jesselton88/Binondo%20Manila/WelcometoChinatown5R.jpg)
I did not have much time to visit every nook and corner of this Chinatown for this trip, but it would have to do. Perhaps I will return here next time to explore further.
Coming Up Next : My Dinner At Red Ribbon In Binondo
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