Postcards from Binondo 1

The festive air during the Chinese New Year draws hundreds of visitors to Binondo each year. People are treated to a wonderful cultural experience, from the lion and dragon dances, colourful lanterns that line the streets, to the balloons and bubbles that give a whimsical note to the atmosphere; to the Chinese traditional music that blares from most of the stores really sets the tone for the holiday.

Of course, one should also know that a trip to Binondo during CNY also equals gastronomical delights times ten. Mouthwatering Chinese food that’s been enjoyed for generations overflows from the restaurants down to the food stalls. Street hawkers also make a killing selling all kinds of what most people fondly call as tusok-tusok: fish balls, squid balls, kikiam, and hot dogs, to name a few. 

Quite notable is the fact that there were fewer revellers compared to last year due to the corona virus threat. Most of those who did come, including me and my friends, wore masks. At any rate, it was definitely easier navigating Ongpin St. compared to the crushing crowds the previous years.   

My friends H, L, K, M, and I planned to meet up at Café Mezzanine on Ongpin Street for brunch. I soaked up the sights on the street before heading there. In last year’s CNY celebration, I saw some street kids with makeshift lions of boxes, crates, and blankets doing their own versions of the lion dance. This year there they were again and it was a delight to watch them.

Resourceful kids

Café Mezzanine

Café Mezzanine’s menu for the day was just one page as compared to its usual menu. Upon inquiring, we were told that the menu was modified just for Chinese New Year. Good thinking on their part especially since the line to the restaurant hardly shortened. Even with few specialties for the day, their guests are still well-fed.

These two dishes are enough to fill all four of us. The little plate of hakaw was for M, who doesn't eat pork.

Kiampong, xiao long bao, hakaw, beef kamto, and beef brisket noodle soup were what my friends and I ordered. It’s been years since I’ve eaten in Café Mezzanine so everything was like new to me. Loved the Kiampong. At P280 a platter, it’s already good for 4-5 people. We didn’t eat that much because we were expecting to eat a lot as the day went by.

Kuang Kong Temple

Even though I’ve been to Binondo many times already, I haven’t been able to memorise the street names past Salazar Street. I’d just rake up my memory for a particular destination’s general location. So that’s what I did when we decided to go to Kuang Kong Temple on Kipuja Street.

The only clear photo I was able to take inside the temple.

Kipuja Street is actually a narrow alleyway just off Teodora Alonzo Street coming from Ongpin. The most recognisable landmark would be Ling Nam Restaurant at the corner of Kipuja and Teodora Alonzo. The temple is quite difficult to find as it’s located on the second floor in one of the ordinary-looking buildings there but in any case, the residents there can point you to it.

Chinatown Museum

Our venture into Chinatown Museum was unplanned. It was during a bathroom break in Lucky Chinatown Mall that we saw an ad for the museum so we decided to check it out.


We haven’t even gotten to the fourth floor of Annex A and my nerdy sensibilities were tingling already. Right above the escalators hang the world’s largest display of origami lanterns that form a dragon’s head, and upon reaching the top, visitors are greeted by a street sign that points to different famous Binondo landmarks and streets. It was quite dark however as the walls are painted black. But then again, the entrance is reminiscent of my visit to HongKong Heritage Centre that my inner nerd danced a jig.

This street sign greets visitors at the foyer.

Dragon!

Guinness World Records Certificate

And it danced for the next two hours or so, from the entrance, to the moment I spied a post box in the gift shop while getting my wristband at the ticket office, to the… and I’m getting ahead of myself as usual.

Beautiful prelude for what's in store inside the museum.

Ultra-quick introduction: Established in 1594 by the Spaniards for the Chinese immigrants, Binondo is known as the world's oldest Chinatown. It was the centre of commerce and trade even before the Spanish colonial period and throughout the centuries it has seen several occupations, revolts, and calamities to the thriving district it still is today.  

Chinatown Museum showcases permanent exhibitions that represent what built and made up Binondo all throughout its history: from its people, the key industries, and notable locations. It's hard to have a few favourites since I enjoyed each and every one of them. There is also a special exhibit for the 120th anniversary of Tiong Se Academy, formerly known as the Anglo Chinese School, in the Meisic and Unionpay galleries.

I love how each exhibit is wonderfully presented. Instagrammable, as the kids of today would say. Well-curated, richly informative and most especially interactive, I could say that Chinatown Museum is at par with other museums from abroad. My friends and I had so much fun learning more about the world's oldest Chinatown in the two hours that we were there.

All I could think about was how similar this is to Hong Kong Heritage Centre's display.

Would have to try these fan techniques sometime. hehe.

A 'self portrait' on publication reprints. Yes, this screams HK Heritage Centre so much. 

Panaderia

Banking. The illustrations on the white squares feature each popular building in Binondo. El Hogar is one of them. Oh, my heart. 

Tranvia Runner. A game similar to Temple Run. The player can move the tranvia around the streets to collect coins, avoid barriers, and get bonus items. It's just a little hard to move the tranvia but it's fun.

Two things that got my inner nerd really going: the post box, as aforementioned, and the stamps that introduced most of the exhibits. Now H’s and my obsession about the stamps was so hilarious that it deserves a mention here. I hereby call it…

The Tale of the Two Silly Stamp-collecting Girls

H got excited when she saw a stamp and archival ink pad on a small table for the Binondo Church display. She explained that its kind can also be found around tourist spots in Taiwan, Korea, and Japan. But having no notebook of our own on hand, we got a bit jealous when K was able to stamp the Binondo Church in her notebook. So before going further into the museum, we went back to the gift shop and purchased the last two little notebooks we deemed perfect for 
stamping.

Funny how our obsession with the stamps had gone quite out of proportion. Upon comparing stamps, I had to retrace my steps after comparing stamps with H and finding out that I missed three from the Flavours of Binondo exhibit.

And it was there that I found out the painful truth through another girl stamping away in that particular exhibit. She was holding this booklet with each page containing a box and what suspiciously looked like the descriptions I painstakingly took photos of to remember what each stamp was about. Speaking with the girl confirmed my suspicions, and I had to hold back my bitter laughter until I returned to the tranvia exhibit.

I say it's the post box's fault that I wasn't able to take notice of this in the freakin' ticket booth right by the freakin' entrance. LOL

Our notebooks cost 45 pesos apiece. The historian's passport cost 50 pesos. We joked that the descriptions for each area cost 5 pesos, which is why our notebooks were cheaper.

All of us got a good laugh out of it; H and I laughing at ourselves for being too excited, and L and M at our expense. Thank you, friends. 

The end.

Entrance fees to the museum are as follows:

P150 – Regular

P120 – Senior Citizen

P100 – Student

Guided tours are also offered.

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The gift shop right beside the ticket office carried wonderful souvenirs of Binondo, postcards included. And since the post box right in the shop is active, I also bought some postcards to mail. Snail mail aficionados would definitely love this feature.

K had left at some point during our museum tour so at least she'd only hear from H our silly adventure. All in all, I rate this museum five stars out of five.  

Our adventure doesn't stop here, though. Oh, no. 






part 2 coming soon. (: