Another Binondo restaurant I haven't been to in the last decade would be Tasty Dumplings. I thought Tasty Dumplings was no more since the only branches I knew were the ones in Wilson and along Ongpin, and both have already closed. So I was glad to see a branch on Norberto Ty Street, where we had our late lunch/snack. It was almost 3PM when we arrived there so we had no problem in getting a table. We were joined by two other friends by this time, Lo and J.
In addition to their dumplings, Tasty Dumplings is also famous for their huge pork chop that's tenderised and fried to perfection. L had her pork chop served with rice (P160), while H and I shared an order of it with tossed noodles (P169) and had a glass of wintermelon juice each (P60). The others ordered noodle bowls with either chicken leg (P169) or kuchay dumplings (P160). Of course we all shared a plate each of steamed (P120) and fried (P130) kuchay dumplings dipped in black vinegar.
I don't know if it's just me, but I hardly tasted anything since I ate too fast; most probably from working up such an appetite during our Chinatown Museum tour and then the walk from Lucky Chinatown back to the Binondo Church area. Even so, I loved the pork chop with the tossed noodles, which was as tasty as the restaurant's eponymous dumplings.
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| Yum-yum! |
Now, if there is a place in Binondo that I've visited many times over in the past decade or so, it would be Calvo Museum. It is located on the second floor of Calvo Building along Escolta. The first time I've gone to this place was in 2006, but unfortunately it was closed when my mum and I arrived. I had my next opportunity and many others not long after that.
A little bit of history: Designed by Fernando Ocampo in the beaux arts architecture style, Calvo Building was built in 1938 on land owned by Angel Calvo and his wife Emiliana Mortera. Escolta at this time was flourishing with countless businesses and stylish boutiques up until World War 2. According to the historical marker, the building was used by the Japanese Imperial Forces in 1944 and was damaged in the Battle of Manila in 1945. The building was restored the year after.
The museum itself was inaugurated in 1994 and it houses a small yet impressive collection of pre- and postwar memorabilia such as movie posters, music sheets, vintage bottles, photos, print ads in Spanish, English, and Tagalog, etc. It also includes a small display on GMA as Calvo Building was the original location of GMA's AM station DZBB from 1950-1957 until they moved to its present location.
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| Music sheets |
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| Glass negatives |
Another exhibit of importance is the set of photos taken at the aftermath of the Battle of Manila. Each photo shows the ruins of Manila, including Intramuros and several notable buildings such as the Manila Post Office, Legislative Building, and Manila City Hall.
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| Images from Intramuros. |
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| A levelled district in Manila. |
The Manila Carnival was a big thing during the American colonial period. Originally planned to be a freak show reminiscent of the St. Louis World's Fair in 1904, the two-week Manila Carnival was then set out to celebrate the progress of Filipino-American relations instead. This was showcased through parades, vaudeville shows, circuses, and theatrical shows by the great artists from that era. It also highlights the Manila Carnival Queen pageant which is said to be the precursor of beauty pageants here in the Philippines.
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| Assorted photos of Manila Carnival Queens and their escorts/courts |
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| Carnival Queens from the 1920s and 1930s. Natural beauties, all of them. |
L, H, and I got such a big kick out of the ads for the Manila Carnival on our visit back in 2014. The English of the people back then was so formal that if that particular style was used today, no one would even take heed of it. But nerds that we are, we love the lyrical note to the ads, such as this one from the 1922 Carnival:
"Biggest and Best
The Most Stupendous Program of Fun and Frolic, Thrills and Excitement, Ever Before Attempted in the History of Manila Carnivals!"
"A Nine-Day Furore of Frivolity!
A mammoth spectacle so beautiful, so replete with surprises, so animated, so thrilling, so generous in dispensing hospitality and providing for the entertainment of its guests that it will stand unique among Manila Carnivals--positively the biggest and best of them all!"
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| This one was taken in 2014. Good thing it's still on display today. I don't know about anyone else, but with ads like this, I could imagine what a spectacle of delights indeed the Carnivals had been. How I wish I'd known of this when my grandmothers were still alive. |
Of course, our trip to the museum this year was no different. This particular ad was a joy to read aloud that it made me want to buy a Grafonola of my own:
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| Just click on this and I dare you to read it out loud. Photo taken 2020. |
The movie poster below caught my eye upon reading the tagline. Ulilang Bituin is a 1956 film that tells the story of Rocky Flores, a Filipino soldier who fell in love with Fideliza 'Liza' Kim during the Korean war. Long story short, they married and in 1974 Liza opened Korea Garden Restaurant on Jupiter Street in Makati. Their love story is also featured on Korea Garden's Facebook page.
The tagline on the poster is another fine example of the writing style more than sixty years ago. Today, one can read that kind of style in romance paperbacks. Or maybe hardly anywhere anymore.
"He fought valiantly in battle...
But he had to fight the world to keep
the LOVE of his Korean war bride!"
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| Ulilang Bituin starring Mario Montenegro and Charito Solis. Taken 2020. |
A trip to this museum is definitely very much like travelling back in time. Seeing the collections reminds me so much of the stories my aunt had told me about her and her siblings' lives during the peacetime, the war, and liberation when I was growing up. Somehow they made the stories come more alive and with a touch more colour, which is why I keep on coming back. It also satisfies my weird yet unapologetic inclination towards Manila's past.
Calvo Museum is open Mondays to Fridays from 9am to 5pm. It's also open on Saturdays from 9am-12nn but for some reason we were allowed in at almost 4pm that day. Most probably because it's a holiday. Entrance fee is P50 (regular) while for students it's P20.
