A few months ago, my father in law wanted to see Manila’s Chinatown. In my previous visit to Binondo, I didn’t exactly use the correct directions. I ended up first in the wrong side of it and had to drive through a very narrow and slow road. This time, I made sure I know how to get there. I was glad to find several blog posts and articles about going to Binondo. Most of the directions was using LRT1 all the way to Carriedo or taking a Jeepney from Maria Orosa St. in Malate. My conclusion was that, the tour of Chinatown starts on the roundabout with the Fountain that dates to Spanish Times and the Sta. Cruz Church. This area is called the Plaza de San Lorenzo Ruiz.

Our route started from EDSA. I then decided to take the Buendia exit and went straight all the way to Roxas Boulevard. From Roxas Boulevard, we took a right turn to United Nations Avenue and tried to turn left to Taft Avenue by crossing the road and slowly and carefully doing a U Turn since there was no left turn at Taft Avenue. On hindsight we should’ve just turned right two roads after United Nations. Anyways, from Taft Avenue, we just follow it past the Manila City Hall towards the Feati University. From there we maneuvered our way towards the left and miraculously ended up at the Plaza de San Lorenzo. I would have missed it if not for the white fountain. The entrance to Chinatown, which was Ongpin St. would be easily missed from where we were.

Parking was not really a problem there since we had a driver to stay with the car. The parking fee is 40 pesos but someone has to stay in the car. I guided my father in law crossing the rotunda. I tried to hide the fact that I was scared myself of crossing the street. I was after all a real Binondo-Chinatown virgin. Hehe, not counting the first lost visit, this is really the first time I would ever walk around Chinatown.

The first stores we saw were mostly gold jewelry sellers. I was really surprised about the lack of security here with all these jewelry. There was one pendant that costs 54000 php! That’s like 3 months salary for the average white collar worker! There were also several variety stores. The store owners were really Chinese and spoke Chinese and some didn’t even speak the local language! I was also surprised to see how friendly the storekeepers were. They are not like the store owners I’ve met abroad definitely.

My father in law also took pictures of locals, and they were smiling happily while their picture was taken. We also tried eating from a 50 year old Chinese snackbar (as my father in law calls them) and ordered a vegetarian lumpia for him and a “small” lomi. The service was quite fast and everything cost less than 100. Going back, we also bought some suha (local grapefruit) from street vendors. They were quite sweet. I wish I had pictures to share but then I’ll save that for my next visit.