It was the week before Balong go back to school after Bulan went back to Miga-ao, the week where Balong promised to ride with me the full seven days and Bulan moved into his new residence outside the university, the week Balong kept up to the first two rides but refused to rise from bed on the third and the fourth days, and Bulan told us he passed all of last semester's classess.
It was also the week of back-to-back birthdays when I went home totally inebriated, and the week of our third visit to the San Jose City Court as Central Luzon's Amaranthine royalty.
And it was the Sunday when the Book of O opened a Chapter on "Eating Binondo", starting off with the homang-on-silver bread roll and pork chops at Tasty Dumplings and the steamed pork-and-kutchay dumplings at Dong Bei's after lighting colored candles at the Binondo Church.
That was almost enough but not as the Book of O filled its pages with the crispiness of Sincerity's famous fried chicken with kikiam on the side, the unique flavor of Masuki's chicken mami paired with an unforgettable siopao asado, the exotic fried frog legs at LGA Fastfood along a murky estero, and a plate of freshly cooked heavenly chami at Delicious.
The hopia to take home came in as a footnote too, first at the cramped Ho-Land store that's almost bursting with shelves of Chinese-inspired delicacies and then later at the new Eng Bee Tin shop where the abundance of space and airconditioning somewhat subdued the spirit of Binondo, but it was there where it was decided that room can be made for a couple, or a trio in fact, of the New Po-Heng Lumpia House's signature dish.
It was Binondo twice for me within two weeks and on a Sunday too but I don't mind giving Ivan Man Dy a run for his money although mine is gratis for friends, plus I was able to pinpoint the exact location of two more of Binondo's iconic culinary gems --- Lan Zhou La Mien, known for its hand-pulled noodles, and the New Toho Food Center that first opened in 1866 making it Manila's oldest operating restaurant, so old that Jose Rizal was said to have dined there!
Those are marked targets on my return to Binondo any time soon.
It was also the week of back-to-back birthdays when I went home totally inebriated, and the week of our third visit to the San Jose City Court as Central Luzon's Amaranthine royalty.
And it was the Sunday when the Book of O opened a Chapter on "Eating Binondo", starting off with the homang-on-silver bread roll and pork chops at Tasty Dumplings and the steamed pork-and-kutchay dumplings at Dong Bei's after lighting colored candles at the Binondo Church.
That was almost enough but not as the Book of O filled its pages with the crispiness of Sincerity's famous fried chicken with kikiam on the side, the unique flavor of Masuki's chicken mami paired with an unforgettable siopao asado, the exotic fried frog legs at LGA Fastfood along a murky estero, and a plate of freshly cooked heavenly chami at Delicious.
The hopia to take home came in as a footnote too, first at the cramped Ho-Land store that's almost bursting with shelves of Chinese-inspired delicacies and then later at the new Eng Bee Tin shop where the abundance of space and airconditioning somewhat subdued the spirit of Binondo, but it was there where it was decided that room can be made for a couple, or a trio in fact, of the New Po-Heng Lumpia House's signature dish.
It was Binondo twice for me within two weeks and on a Sunday too but I don't mind giving Ivan Man Dy a run for his money although mine is gratis for friends, plus I was able to pinpoint the exact location of two more of Binondo's iconic culinary gems --- Lan Zhou La Mien, known for its hand-pulled noodles, and the New Toho Food Center that first opened in 1866 making it Manila's oldest operating restaurant, so old that Jose Rizal was said to have dined there!
Those are marked targets on my return to Binondo any time soon.
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