Category Archives: PHILIPPINE PROVINCES

Bontoc to Sagada

Posted on by — Leave a reply

After our lunch at Tchayapan Restaurant, we again boarded our jeepney and traveled the remaining 19 kms. from Bontoc to Sagada.  Upon arrival at Sagada’s town proper, I was surprised at the huge volume of out-of-town vehicles parked along the town’s narrow roads.  We all checked in at the 2-storey Alapo’s View Inn & Cafe.   We were to stay 2 nights here.  The inn is located about 300 m. from the municipal road, along the now concreted road leading to the next town of Besao.

Check out “Hotel and Inn Review: Alapo’s View Inn and Cafe“

Alapo’s View Inn & Cafe


Upon arrival at our inn, we first took our baths.  Bathrooms here were shared and we often had to wait in line to do our morning or evening rituals.  The showers had no water heaters but, luckily, Jocie Dimaculangan, our tour coordinator, brought along a portable water heater.   After our bath, we rested for a while.  

It was now evening when Jandy, Jocie and I decided to have our first meal in Sagada so we hied off to the nearby, 2-storey Cafe St. Joe, just within the compound of the Episcopalian-owned St. Joseph Resthouse. This would be our second visit at this popular tourist hangout as Jandy and I had merienda, after a hike, here in 2010.

Check out “Restaurant Review: Cafe St. Joe“

Cafe St. Joe

It being the Holy Week break, the place was packed with tourists and, because of this, the staff were swamped with orders.  Jocie and Jandy both ordered the tasty lemon chicken (served with generous portions of stir fried vegetables) while I ordered sweet and sour pork.  Too bad it was nighttime as the cafe is set within a beautiful garden and, being located on a hill, also has great views of the town.

After dinner at St. Joe’s Cafe, Jandy, Jocie and I were still in the mood for dessert so we decided to walk, down the South Rd., to Sagada Lemon Pie House (first opened on March 21, 2008), home of the delicious lemon meringue pie.  The restaurant was quite a long way down the road, past the iconic Yoghurt House, but we did get to burn some calories along the way and work up an appetite for what’s ahead.

Check out “Restaurant Review: Lemon Pie House“

The author, Jandy and Jocie seated at regular tables and seats at Lemon Pie House

On the right were low wooden tables with woven mats and throw pillows for seats, a set-up that reminded me of the Japanese dining style.  Luckily for me and my weak knees, they did have regular tables and chairs.

At the counter, we each placed orders for slices of lemon pie (PhP30/slice). Jocie also ordered a slice of egg pie (also PhP30/slice) while Jandy and I each had a cup of Sagada’s famous brewed Arabica coffee (PhP30/cup).  I also placed an order for a whole pie (PhP200) that I would take home 2 days later (Jocie ordered 2).  Our other tour companions, I would find out later, also tried it and placed orders for pasalubong. 

The next day, we had our Filipino breakfast (choice of corned beef, longganisa or tocino  with rice and fried egg plus coffee) at the inn’s coffee shop where we could also watch cable TV.  At the grocery, we bought some of our basic necessities.

Breakfast at the coffee shop

When we felt like snacking, we just went down to the front desk where lemon or apple pie (PhP30/slice) and 3-in-1 coffee (PhP15/cup) where offered.  These we partook of while seated along the balcony where we had great views of the town and the surrounding pine-clad mountains.

Our view of the town from the balcony

Alapo’s View Inn & Cafe: Ato, Patay, Sagada, Mountain Province.  Mobile number (Ms. Juliet B. Medina): (0921) 327-9055 and (0918) 332-3331.

Cafe St. Joe: St. Joseph Resthouse, Sagada, Mountain Province.  Mobile number: (0928) 951-7156 (Ms. Julia Abad).

Sagada Lemon Pie House: South Rd., Atey, Daoangan, Sagada, Mountain Province.  Mobile number: (0907) 782-0360 (Mr. Joseph Daoas). Website: www.sagadalemonpiehouse.blogspot.com.

Bontoc Museum (Mountain Province)

Posted on by — 3 Comments ↓

After our stopover at Bay-yo Rice Terraces, we all returned to our jeepney for the remaining 13-km. drive to Bontoc Central.  This time, Aldrin, Donald and I climbed up the luggage rack to have an unobstructed view of the great mountain scenery.  However, I wasn’t able to take photographs as I had to hang on to avoid falling off.  Upon arrival at the outskirts of the town, we alighted and returned to the cabin.

Aldrin, Donald and I on the jeepney’s luggage rack

Upon arrival at the town proper, we made a stopover at the Bontoc Village Museum, located within the Catholic ICM Sisters’ convent and the St. Vincent’s Elementary School.  Jandy and I also visited this museum during a short lunch stopover on our way to Banaue from Sagada.

Bontoc Museum
The museum 15 years ago

The museum, structured in a way to resemble an Igorot house, was established by Mother Basil Gekiere (a Bontoc resident for 56 years, she died in 1983) and run by the Belgian ICM missionaries.  It aims to preserve a varied collection of authentic artifacts and photos reflecting the culture of the mountain tribes.  Its exhibits present a good overview of the differences and similarities between the mountain tribes in 3 well-laid out and labeled rooms, one each for the Ifugao, Bontoc and Kalinga artifacts. It consists of a group of miniature traditional houses, a collection of rocks and fossils from different parts of the Cordilleras and old photos (including some of the Igorot headhunting days).  As before, photography is not allowed inside.

Museum Ethno-Cordillera Library and Souvenir Shop

The library (with a limited collection of books) and the museum shop (which sells postcards, carved wood items and other novelties), formerly located at the museum’s basement during my first visit, is now housed in a separate building (Museum Ethno-Cordillera Library and Souvenir Shop).  Here, we met up with Sister Marcela Agang0-Ang, the new museum curator who is native Ifugao.  During our previous visit, the curator was Sister Teresita Nieves Valdez who, according to Sister Marcel, died a few years ago in her 80s.

Sister Marcela Agang-Ang
With the late Sister Teresita Nieves Valdez

Besides the building is an outdoor museum with a replica of an traditional Ifugao village.  Here, we visited a model of a traditional Bontoc house with furnishings, a smithy and fish traps.

The outdoor museum
The outdoor museum 15 years ago

There’s also an ato (where the council of elders meet), a ulog (where unmarried women live and a pig pen with a real, live pig inside.  The museum is now under the care of the Bontoc Diocese.  After our tour of Bontoc Museum, we all returned to our jeepney and proceeded to Tchayapan Restaurant near the municipal hall.

Check out “Restaurant Review: Tchayapan Restaurant“

An ulog
An ato

Bontoc Museum: Gumaang Road, Bontoc, Ifugao.  Admission fee: Php60/person.  Open daily, 8 AM-5 PM.

Bay-yo Rice Terraces (Bontoc, Mountain Province)

Posted on by — 1 Comment ↓

Upon crossing the border to Mountain Province, we made a second and final stopover at the lush green, 10-hectare Bay-yo Rice Terraces, located 18 kms. along the Bontoc-Banaue Road and 13 kms. from Bontoc Central (a 45-min. drive).  Jandy and I also made a similar stopover here 15 years ago.  Located on the southern slope of Mt. Polis, on an impressive precipice with a backdrop of mountains, it has high, fortress-like rice terracing. 

Bay-yo Rice Terraces
The drought-ravaged terraces 15 years ago

Compared to other rice terraces in Banaue, this cluster is much smaller but it doesn’t have houses or any other unsightly structures in the middle of the terraces, making it much more appealing to me. Whatever houses there are are packed on one side of a cliff, to the left of the terraces.   We can’t help be mesmerized by its charm and scenic location.  Worth some photographs, it can be seen from a concrete view deck along the road.  Jeepney drivers usually stop here but, in our case, I had to request our driver to do so.  There are public toilets located nearby.

The concrete view point
 
A sign here indicates that  this is a part of the “Rice Terraces of the Philippine Cordilleras” as inscribed by UNESCO which showcases the engineering feat and ingenuity of the Igorots depicted here as master planners and astute agriculturists.
 

Mt. Polis (Ifugao)

Posted on by — Leave a reply

From the Grand Viewpoint, we proceeded on our way to the provincial capital of Bontoc and made a short stopover at the Mt. Polis Viewpont, along Mountain Province-Ifugao border, a regular peeing and supply stopover for bus and jeepney passengers.  Here, you can find a huge 30-ft. high statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary which ironically stands between 2 giant cellular communication towers.  

Statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary

The statue was said to have been erected to provide divine protection for the towers by dissuading NPA rebels from lobbing grenades at the facility.  For added protection, there’s also a police detachment that watches over these towers.  

An unusual sign

An unusual sign that I found here reads “DPWH Gender & Development Park.”Gender and Development (GAD) is a program that aims to address the physical needs of motorists along our national road network. Gender-responsive roads have beautified road and road lines, public toilets, visible road signages, informative and directional signs and warning signs (which include reflectorized stickers and paints on guard rails), and concrete pavements to give motorists early reaction time thereby preventing the occurrence of vehicular accidents due to lack of road signs.

Vegetable terraces with Mt. Polis as backdrop

On the south side of the highest point of the road (1,920 m.) is the 2,255 m. summit of Mt. Polis, a birdwatcher’s paradise and home to a tropical, mossy forest.  This should not be confused with the 1,829 m. high Mt. Polis in Sagada, a popular trekking site.  Fresh, really cheap organic vegetables, straight from the farm below us, are sold along the road.  Cheap, freshly brewed but bland upland coffee is also sold at coffee shops (Hannah’s Store, Coffee Hop & Restaurant; Mt. Polis Rolling Coffee Shop; etc.) along the road.  Thick fog usually engulfs the place during the early morning.

Mountain Province boundary marker
Straddling the boundary of two provinces

Banaue Grand Terrace Viewpoint (Ifugao)

Posted on by — Leave a reply

After breakfast at Halfway Lodge, we all returned to our jeepney and traveled 3 to 4 kms. (25-mins.) uphill from the town, along the Banaue-Bontoc Rd., to the Banaue Grand Terrace Viewpoint, one of three viewpoints in the town.  The other 2 viewpoints are the NFA Viewpoint and the Dayanara Viewpont, named after 1994 Ms. Universe and former Aga Muhlach girlfriend Dayanara Torres (who later married singer Marc Anthony but has since been divorced).  This would be my first visit to the place as, during my first 2 visits , I just used the town as a jump-off point to Batad Rice Terraces. Besides, the town’s undulating tin roof tops and overhead, tangled electrical wires, weren’t exactly an endearing sight for me.

This popular photo spot, situated on top of a plateau at the outskirts of the town, affords a perfect view of the 2,000 year old, man-made and iconic Banaue Rice Terraces (the one we see in books, magazines, postcards and the PhP1,000 bill) and the magnificent valley to the poblacion. 

Though not included in the UNESCO World Heritage Site inscription, due to the presence of numerous modern structures around the area (making it score low in the integrity criterion of UNESCO), these rice terraces are still a National Cultural Treasure under the Ifugao Rice Terraces.  The early morning cast an extra dimension to the rice terraces. The terraces, on a rather steep incline, occupy a narrow, high spur in the mountain. The best time to see these rice terraces is from February to May when it is least likely that the views will be obscured by fog or clouds. 

View of the town proper from the viewpoint

Elderly, smiling Ifugaos often come here in full tribal regalia and tourists can pose for the camera with them, for a fee or donation of course, or you can be dressed in partial tribal regalia (headgear and shawl) then leave a small donation for its use.  

Dressed up in tribal gear

At the viewpoint are a number of roadside souvenir shops crowded in a small area. They sell a variety of handcarved woodwork, from the iconic bul-ol (rice gods placed in village huts and granaries), spears, canes to Chinese dragons.  They also sell food (strawberry jams and preserves, peanut brittle, wine, etc.), textiles (sweaters, caps, T-shirts, shawls, etc.), ref magnets, trinkets, furniture and basketry.

Also with the area was an inn (the 3-storey Viewpoint Valley Inn) and a restaurant (Banaue Heritage Cafe & Restaurant).

Viewpoint Valley Inn
Banaue Heritage Cafe & Restaurant

There were also wooden scooters on display.  One in particular, with the ornate dragon design, caught our fancy.  We each took poses (at PhP10 per shot) on this scooter.  Also, if we wanted to, we could have taken it on a test drive (for PhP50) down the road but the absence of a built-in brake held me back.

Trying out the dragon scooter

Arrival in Banaue (Ifugao)

Posted on by — 1 Comment ↓

Our bus arrived arrived at Banaue town proper by 7:30 AM, a full hour past the normal 9-hr. trip it would take from Manila. This would be my third visit to the town and the second for Jandy who first visited it last April 11, 1998, nearly 15 years ago (he was just 12 years old at the time). Upon alighting from our bus, we boarded a chartered jeepney that took us to the nearby 2-storey Halfway Lodge where we were to have breakfast at its big, ground floor restaurant.

Jandy and I with (L-R) Jessica, Joy. Desiree and Jasmin

Breakfast was nothing out of the ordinary: an omelet, pork tocino and fried fish plus 3-in-1 coffee but what was unusual, at least to the first timers in this part of the country, was the aromatic tasty and healthy native kintuman (called tinawon in Kalinga) the red rice grown at rice terraces.  This same rice is fermented to produce tapuy (rice wine).  A kilo of this rice sells for PhP85-90.

Halfway Lodge Restaurant

The lodge also has two single rooms and 13 double rooms with ensuite bath or common bath, all capable of accommodating various-sized groups (PhP500 for single person, PhP800 for 2 people and PhP250/head for groups).  Their rooms are said to have no outlets though and you have to charge your electronic gadgets (cellular phones, laptops, etc.) for a fee.  The restaurant balcony had a great view of the town, rice terraces and the Ibulao River (crossed by a hanging bridge).

Kintuman
Pork tocino
Fried fish
Omelette

Halfway Lodge and Restaurant: Poblacion, Banaue, Ifugao. Tel: (074) 386-4082.  Mobile number: (0915) 465-8921 and (0919) 614-2266.  Website: www.banauehalfwaylodge.com.

Enroute to Banaue (Ifugao)

Posted on by — Leave a reply

Jandy and I were supposed to go on a beach camping and island hopping tour in Pagbilao (Quezon) but, at the last minute, my companions backed out and we were left with the possibility of, for the first time in a long while, of spending Holy Week at home.  While on Facebook come Wednesday morning, Ms, Violeta Imperial of Nature Awareness and Conservation Club appeared on chat and ask me where I was spending the holidays and, of course, I answered “nowhere.”  She offered her Sorsogon whale shark watching tour but, wanting to escape the oppressive heat of the city, inquired, instead, about her Sagada/Banaue tour.  There was only one slot left but Violet offered to check if there were Ohayami Bus (the only bus company plying the Manila-Banawe route) seats still on offer.    After about an hour, she told me I was in luck as the bus company had some “chance passenger” seats.

Our tour group

I returned to my usual packing, this time replacing beach wear with cold weather attire (jackets, woolen caps, etc.).  With our backpacks and a take-out Jollibee dinner and half a dozen Krispy Kreme doughnuts, Jandy and I were  brought to the bus terminal by my daughter Cheska and her boyfriend Marve by 8 PM.  Here, we met up with Ms. Jocie Dimaculangan, our tour coordinator, who also had, in her care, sisters Jessica and Jasmin Bez, Ms. Joy J. Tenedero, Ms. Desiree R. Benitez, Ms. Long R. Garcia, Ms. Eureka Joy Bueno, Ms. Diosa Diaz, married couple Lilia Kristina and Aldrin Tejada; and Mr. Donald Jesus G. Danao.

Our Ohayami bus

We soon boarded our bus and Jandy took his assigned seat while I waited for my “chance passenger seat” which turned out to be a plastic monobloc chair placed at the center aisle (there were 6 of us seated that way).  Truly, a first for me.  Our supposed-to-be 9 PM bus left the terminal by 9:30 PM and it had to negotiate holiday traffic to make it to the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX).  It was lights out by then and everybody on the regular seats were soon asleep.  It was a different case for us “chance passengers” as we had to stay awake in case the bus suddenly speeds up or stops.  How I envied the others. Jandy and I were soon wrapped up in our jackets and woolen caps as the bus airconditioning was set to high.

Save Oil Gas and Restaurant

Our bus had a long traffic spell somewhere in Baliwag (Bulacan).  Past that, we made our first stopover for peeing and meals at Sevilla Sweets and Restaurant at San Miguel (Bulacan) by 11 PM.  Afterwards, I somehow was able to get some shuteye until I was rudely awaken by the swaying of the bus as it negotiated the winding Dalton Pass in Nueva Vizcaya.  Now I had to hang on for dear life as my chair moved with each turn.  We made our second and final rest stop, by 4 AM, at the Save Oil Gas and Restaurant in Aritao (Nueva Vizcaya) where I had a cup of chocolate. Peeing at its clean restroom set us off by PhP5 each.

Nature Awareness and Conservation Club, Inc.: 18 Pioneer St., Moonwalk Village, Las Pinas City, Metro Manila.  Tel: (632) 801-1720. Mobile numbers: (0932) 243-9478 and (0915) 510-1600.  E-mail: Mother_Nature888@hotmail.com.

Ohayami Trans: cor. Lacson Ave. and J. Fajardo St., Sampaloc Manila.  Tel: (632) 516-0501. Mobile number: (0917) 561-7344.  E-mail: ohayami@ohayamitrans.com. Website: www.ohayamitrans.com.

A Walking Tour of Escolta (Manila)

Posted on by

I have been dying to do a walking tour of Escolta , Manila’s historic version of High Street. During the Spanish era, this short (less than a kilometer long) stretch was linedwith rows of camarines (1-storey Chinese shops). On his way to his office in Intramuros from Malacanang, the Spanish governor-general would usually pass here with his escolta (official escorts), hence the derivation of its name (from the Spanish word escortar meaning “to escort”).  Later, these camarines along Calle Escolta were replaced by bahay-na-bato  (stone houses) adorned with Neo-Classical elements such as Greek columns and caryatids and, towards the end of the Spanish regime, by European establishments, the only ones permitted to do business along the cobblestones (imported from Hong Kong) of this narrow, historic thoroughfare.

Escolta – A shadow of its former self

From the early 1900’s to the 1960s, Escolta was the country’s premier shopping mecca, with high-end stores such as La Estrella del Norte and Puerta del Sol, which marked the east and west entrances of Escolta.  It is also home to H.E. Heacocks and Oceanic (for fine household items);  Berg’s (for fashionable clothes);  Hamilton Brown and Walk-Over Shoe Store (for quality leather shoes); 2 high-class cinema theaters (Capitol and Lyric) which brought the glitz and glamour of Hollywood to Manila; restaurants (Henry’s Donuts, Max’s Fried Chicken, Dencia’s Pansit Malabon, Savory Restaurant, etc.); and Botica Boie (for mixed potent medicines).  Founded in 1830, the latter also served the best ice cream sodas, brewed coffee and clubhouse sandwiches in its glass-in mezzanine overlooking the street.  With the emergence of commercial and business districts of Makati City and Quezon City, the prestige of Escolta gradually faded.

The First United and Regina Buildings

Needing to buy some lighting fixtures along nearby Soler St., I decided to include a visit to Escolta  in my itinerary.  From Gil Puyat Ave., I took the LRT and dropped off at Carriedo Station.  The first notable piece of architecture I encountered was the Neo-Classical-style Don Roman R. Santos Building, fronting Plaza Lacson (formerly Plaza Goiti).  When the Japanese bombed the city during World War II, only 3 of its 5 floors were finished.  Luckily, it survived and the building was finished in 1957.  The building once housed the headquarters of Monte de Piedad and Prudential Bank and, later, a shopping mall (South Super Mart).  When the mall closed, Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) took over the building. Its entrance has Ionic columns with a triangular pediment, within which is a big clock flanked by bas-relief sculptures.

Don Roman R. Santos Building

Both ends of Escolta open into impressive open spaces  (Plaza Sta. Cruz and Plaza Moraga).  Though no longer the premier shopping district it used to be, strolling along Escolta is still a rewarding experience as one could still find traces of its glorious past.  Upon crossing the little Visita Bridge spanning Estero de la Reina, at the Sta. Cruz entrance of Escolta, I was attracted by 2 impressive, eye-catching (though marred by entangled electrical cables) buildings facing each other – the fancy, Art Deco-style First United Building and the elegant Beaux Arts-style Regina Building.

First United Building

The pink and white First United Building, formerly the Perez-Samanillo Building, is one of the few surviving examples of the Art Deco architectural style in Manila. Built in 1928 by Andres Luna de San Pedro (Juan Luna’s son), it’s awesome façade has a large amount of architectural and decorative elements.  Its central bay rises towards a crowning block rendered with a bas-relief of the Creation. Once described as Manila’s foremost business address, it prides itself with providing maximized space, abundant lighting and ventilation to its tenants.

Check out “First United Building“

Regina Building

The graceful, white Neo-Classical-style Regina Building, built in 1934, its design (with traces of Renaissance Revival) also attributed to Andres Luna de San Pedro, was originally designed as a 3-storey commercial building. A fourth floor was added by Arch. Fernando H. Ocampo (founder of the UST College of Architecture and designer of the UST Central Seminary and the 8th Manila Cathedral) when the de Leon family bought the building from the Roxases. The staff of the late Sen. Vicente Madrigal (grandfather of Sen. Jamby Madrigal) rented a suite in this building.  Also on the same floor, across the hall, was the office of Madrigal Shipping, then the world’s largest tramp steamship company.

Burke Building

Further out was the Burke Building, with its simple balance lines.  Built in 1919, it was named after the cardiologist William J. Burke who introduced and installed the first electrocardiograph in the country.  Also a philanthropist, he donated the land for the street (Calle David, renamed W. Burke St. in 1990).  The first Otis elevator in the Philippines was installed in this building.

Natividad Building

The charming, Beaux Arts-style Natividad Building, one of the most beautiful landmarks in the area, is one of the oldest buildings along Escolta.  It was burned during the 1945 Battle of Manila (leaving only its exterior shell) and was later restored.  In the 1950s, this building housed the office of the Insurance Commission.  Its alluring, ivory and white-colored facade, evocative of a French café in a Parisian neighborhood, has four levels alternately decorated with arched and square windows with cornices with tooth-like dentils underneath it.

Calvo Building

The stunning, Beaux Arts-style Calvo Building, built in 1938, was also designed by Arch. Fernando Ocampo.   This 4-storey building, with its  richly-decorated facade, once housed the Philippine Bank of Commerce, the popular MV Villar Records Store and the original radio station of Robert “Uncle Bob” Stewart’s Channel 7. On its roof deck was Luisa, a popular soda fountain. Today, Mercury Drug and Tropical Hut flank the entrance to the building, with Wah Yuen Hot Pot and Seafood Restaurant in its Calle Soda side. Its mezzanine  is home to the little-known Escolta Museum.

Check out “Escolta Museum” and “Calvo Building“

Across the street from the Calvo Building is the decaying and dilapidated shell of the majestic, Mesopotanian-inspired Art Deco-style Capitol Theater. Built in the 1935, this theater, designed by National Artist Arch. Juan Nakpil, had a seating capacity of 800 and an unusual double balcony.  Its lobby once mounted a beautiful wall mural by the late Filipino modernist and National Artist Victorio C. Edades. Now abandoned, it ceased operations in the late 1980s.

Capitol Theater

On the face of its western tower were bas-reliefs, evocative of Art Deco lines and curves, showing Filipinas (one holding a mask and another holding a lyre) in traje de mestiza frame and set in a tropical landscape, attributed to the Italian atelier of Francesco Ricardo Monti. The bigger, 1600-pax Lyric Theater, another Art Deco masterpiece designed by Modernist Arch. Pablo S. Antonio, was demolished in the early 1980s.

Burke Building: 321 W. Burke St., cor, Escolta St., Binondo, Manila

Calvo Building: 266 Escolta St. cor. Calle Soda, Binondo, Manila.  Tel: (632) 241-4762.

First United Building: 413 Escolta cor. David St., Binondo, Manila.

Natividad Building: Escolta cor. Tomas Pinpin St., Binondo Manila

Regina Building: W. Burke St., cor, Escolta St., Binondo, Manila

Roman S. Santos Building: Escolta cor. Yuchengco St., Binondo, Manila

A Walk Through Manila’s Chinatown

Posted on by — 1 Comment ↓

After canvassing for lighting fixtures along Soler Street, I decided to explore Manila Chinatown via  the Arch of Goodwill Arch, a  Chinese archway (paifang) which marks the east end of Ongpin Street, named after Don Ramon Ongpin, a Chinese businessman who supported the Katipunan movement in 1896. The Arch of Goodwill, one of several which acts as a spatial marker to welcome visitors into a different cultural sphere, commemorates the friendship between the Filipino people and Chinese immigrants.

The Arch of Goodwill

The Arch of Goodwill

Manila’s 66-hectare Chinatown, located just across the Pasig River, opposite  the walled city of Intramuros, was originally for  Chinese Catholic converts only. In 1790, non-Christian Chinese were allowed to move into Chinatown. Our first Filipino saint, San Lorenzo Ruiz, was born in Binondo.

Ongpin Street

The terribly congested but colorful Ongpin Street, home to many gold and silver jewelry stores, herb-scented Chinese medicine shops, spacious restaurants, little teahouses and well-stocked groceries, is flanked at each end by the Minor Basilica of San Lorenzo Ruiz (Binondo Church) in the west and the Baroque-style National Shrine of the Perpetual Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament (Sta. Cruz Church) in the east.

A Chinese drugstore

A Chinese drugstore

Manila’s Chinatown, the oldest in the world (established in 1594), is known to the Filipinos as Binondo (derived from the Tagalog word binundok meaning “mountainous”), to the Filipino-Chinese community as Chi Lai (市内), a Hokkien term for “inner city,” and by tourists simply as Chinatown, a common reference to an area where there are a lots of Chinese and Chinese businesses. Most of the people in this district are of Hokkien ancestry as most of their ancestors are from Fujian province. My ancestor, Sing Lok, also from Fujian, arrived in the country in 1750. He later changed his surname to Locsin and adopted the Christian name of Agustin.

An Eng Bee Tin Chinese Deli branch

An Eng Bee Tin Chinese Deli branch

Chinese heritage and traditional Chinese institutions are very evident in Manila’s Chinatown and, once I passed the Arch of Goodwill, I began to find icons, institutions and features typical of most Chinatowns. Unlike in other parts of the city, the horse-drawn calesa is still alive and well here.Unlike the Chinatowns I have visited in other Southeast Asian cities, this one in Manila is really very busy on Sundays.

A sidewalk fruit stall

A sidewalk fruit stall

The street signs in Chinatown, some decorated with dragons, are also often bilingual and sometimes trilingual. with Filipino, English and Traditional Chinese script.  Even signages are bilingual, as businesses here cater to the cultural and religious needs of the Filipino-Chinese population. Restaurants offer a wide range of Chinese food while other shops offer the latest CDs VCDs from China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, religious goods and festive fruits that are in season.

A Chinese gift shop

A Chinese gift shop

A long time (since 1912) fixture in Chinatown is Eng Bee Tin Chinese Deli, reputed to be the home of the best-tasting hopia (a popular Filipino bean filled pastry) in country.  It has a number of stores in Chinatown, selling 22 variants of hopia, including ube, nangka, buco pandan (my favorite) and cheese variations.  Some bakeshops even carry their hopia products. They also sell other traditional Chinese delicacies such as tikoy, glutinous balls and ube pao.

The calesa is alive and well here

The calesa is alive and well here

Chinatown is known for the having the best volunteer fire-fighting unit in the city, the residents’ response to the frequent fires that strike their community. Their fire engines, often sponsored by individuals or organizations, are highly visible all over the district. Eng Bee Tin has also set up Txtfire, the largest volunteer firefighting organization in the Philippines (with more than 4,500 affiliate firefighters nationwide), and have donated 10 ube (violet)-colored fire trucks, one of which I saw parked beside Binondo Church.

An ube-colored fire truck donated by Eng Bee Tin

An ube-colored fire truck donated by Eng Bee Tin

A street-side temple with an altar was also built along Tomas Pinpin Street. Here, people come to light at least 3 joss or incense sticks (hui), make offerings or donations, recite a prayer to the venerated image of Sto. Cristo de Longos (a miraculous crucifix found by a deaf and mute Chinese in an old well in Longos), make a prayer request, then take two crescent-shaped jiaobei blocks (or moon blocks) and throw it to answer a yes (identical faces) or no ((opposing figures) question.  Truly an intriguing fusion of Roman Catholicism and Buddhism.

A roadside shrine dedicated to Sto. Cristo de Longos

A roadside shrine dedicated to Sto. Cristo de Longos

As I strolled and enjoy the proverbial sights, sounds and smell of Chinatown, I knew that I have reached the district’s boundaries as I saw another Chinese archway at Ongpin North Bridge.

Ongin North Bridge Arch

Ongin North Bridge Arch

Carriedo Fountain (Manila)

Posted on by — Leave a reply

Carriedo Fountain

The National Shrine of the Perpetual Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, more popularly known as Sta. Cruz Church, is surrounded by three open spaces which, in the 1900s, came to be known as downtown Manila – Plaza Sta. Cruz in front, Plaza Goiti at the rear, and a wide street on the right leading to Calle Escolta. The centerpiece of the 1-hectare Plaza Sta. Cruz is the 19th century the Spanish-era Carriedo Fountain (Fuente Carriedo).

Check out “National Shrine of the Perpetual Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament“

Built in May 1882 (at a cost of 745,590 pesos) as part of the Carriedo water works system, it was inaugurated by Governor-General Fernando Primo de Rivera on July 24, 1882. The fountain was built in honor of Don Francisco Carriedo y Peredo (November 7, 1690 – September 1743), 18th-century Capitán General of Manila, who conceived of and eventually funded Manila’s pipe water system.

The centerpiece of the fountain

A Basque from Santander, Spain and general of the Santa Familia galleon, Carriedo raised funds for the construction of the water system of Manila and donated 10,000 pesos drawn from his fortune from the Manila- Acapulco trade. However, he did not live to see his resolve of creating a water system in Manila take fruit.

The lower pedestal and vasque

The fountain was moved three times before its current location at Plaza Santa Cruz, right in front of the Santa Cruz Church. Since Don Francisco resided in Santa Mesa, the fountain was first located at the Rotonda de Sampaloc, the intersection between Legarda, Lacson and Magsaysay streets which today forms the  Nagtahan Interchange that separates Sampaloc from Santa Mesa.

The upper pedestal and vasque

In 1976, due to traffic concerns, the roundabout was cleared and the fountain was then transferred to the Balara Filters Park, in front of the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) Building right after MWSS moved from their office in Arroceros, Manila, in the latter part of the 1970s.

Seated female figure holding a harp

In the 1990s, then-Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim convinced MWSS administrator Mr. Luis E. V. Sison to bring back the Carriedo Fountain to Manila. A replica of the original fountain, using plaster as the primary material, was built by National Artist Napoleon Abueva.

Cherub sitting on an urn

Two bas reliefs of cherubs, sitting on a shell-like basin, holding tridents. The water spout is between them

During our visit, the fountain wasn’t operating and the stagnant water in the basin was littered with floating garbage and green with algae.

AUTHOR’S NOTES:

This Classical-style fountain features a large circular basin to hold the water at the center of which is a pedestal with statues of four cherubs holding urns. The pedestal is also decorated by bas reliefs of 4 pairs of cherubs, seated on shell-like basins, holding tridents.

The words “A Carriedo” (the letter “A” is a mystery) and “Manila” (below it) are also engraved around this pedestal.

The pedestal supports a large vasque, above which is another smaller pedestal supporting a smaller vasque. Around the smaller pedestal are four bas reliefs of bearded heads (probably depicting Neptune, the Roman god of freshwater and the sea).

Above these heads are four seated female figures, one is holding a trident and the other a harp. This set up is reminiscent of the Statue of Queen Anne at St. Paul’s Churchyard in London (England) which has the seated female figures representing England with a trident; Ireland with a harp; France with a truncheon and a crown; and North America holding a bow and arrow with a quiver at her back, her right foot resting on a severed head.

Above the smaller vasque is an urn-like finial. Water spouts from the top of this finial,   at water spouts between the two trident-wielding cherubs; the urns of the cherubs; the side of the bigger vasque and the inner perimeter of the circular basin.

The words “A Carriedo” and “Manila” engraved on the pedestal

Carriedo Fountain: Plaza Santa Cruz, Manila