Quiapo and Binondo for the first time
Okay, so I'll admit it: I've never been to either. Until yesterday, that is. Blame it on my fear of finding myself all alone and lost in the heart of the metro. But I finally got around to surpassing my irrational fear and stepping out of my comfort zone (see preceding article) for the promise of heathen thrills and pleasures that can only be Quiapo and Binondo.
I have Sheena May, my blockmate and eternal partner in crime, to thank for that since she was the one who asked me to accompany her on her DVD-foraging trip, and she has me to thank for, too, since I consented, haha. Anyhow, so we found ourselves on a jeepney (we decided to go all-out: no taxis or FX vans, only jeeps, pedicabs, and what-have-you, to make the experience "more authentic") to Quiapo. Since it was already lunchtime and our heads were reeling from hunger, we decided to have lunch in some exotic corner of the metro. That's when I remembered a restaurant featured in QTV's Ang Pinaka, during their "Oldest Restaurants in the Metro" episode, a Chinese joint that had live Vietnamese pot-bellied pigs stationed as good-luck charms on the entrance. I don't really care much for Chinese food, but right then and there I thought that I simply had to glimpse and see those darned pigs up close and personal, so I persuaded (coerced would be a better term) Sheena May to go to Chinatown.
Thing is, we didn't know how to get there, so we ended up roaming and asking questions for a good thirty minutes. Finally, we were able to take a jeepney from UST to Binondo. We would have found the target of our quest easily had we known the name of the freaking place or what street it was on, but we didn't, so we had to make a couple of calls that went like:
RP: Andre, hello!
Andre: Hello...
RP: Uh, Andre, alam mo ba yung Chinese restaurant sa Binondo na may pot-bellied pigs sa harap?
Andre: Uhm....(long pause) hindi.
RP: (laughter)
Andre: (laughter)
RP: Okay, bye.
And we also had to contend with pedicab drivers that charged us an arm and a leg for trips that went like:
RP: Manong, alam niyo po ba yung restaurant na may matabang baboy sa harap?
Pedicab driver: Oo.
RP: Gorah, manong! Magkano po hanggang dun?
PD: P30.00
RP: Okay, go for gold!
(a couple of minutes and one bumpy pedicab ride later)
PD: Eto na.
And we found ourselves in front of a meat shop. Literally. Had I not been too excited and hungry at the same time, I'd have twisted that driver's neck and hung him on a meat hook to dry.
Anyhow, since luck was on our side, we found the restaurant (Wah Sun on Ongpin St) eventually, and we ate there and I got to have pictures of those pigs taken. From Binondo, we took the LRT to Carriedo (basta that station where you get off to get your NBI clearance), and voila! we found ourselves at the heart of Quiapo!
Nakakatakot pala, honestly. If it wasn't the fear of getting caught in a raid by the VRB or whatever its name is now, there's the fear of getting lost, getting your wallet stolen, or falling prey to some swindler. Plus, napakapredatory nung mga abortionists at mga manghuhula. They reminded me of hungry spiders enticing midges to their deadly banquets. The abortionists kept motioning for me to come closer (LIKE HELLER MANANG MUKHA BA AKONG MAKAKABUNTIS NG BABAE O MAGPAPAABORT FOR THAT MATTER? DUH.), and I simply felt that I had to flee. I took a moment at the Quiapo church to pray for someone dear, and then finally nag-DVD shopping na kami ni Sheena. At sa mga tindahan ng DVDs ay napakinggan ko ng paulit-ulit ang iba't-ibang versions ng Beatiful Girls: Sean Kingston, Jojo, at Jojo Alejar.
After becoming nauseated due to the various odours that assaulted our olfactroy faculties sa Quiapo, Sheena and I headed to Trinoma to meet our blockmates (Allels, Darwin, Darwin's boyfriend). Thankfully, may FX na derecho sa Trinoma for a measly P25 pesos. And that concludes my one-day foray into the realm of irony and the haven of aphrodisiacs, abortifacients, and astrology (none of which I tried, by the way, hahahaha).
I have Sheena May, my blockmate and eternal partner in crime, to thank for that since she was the one who asked me to accompany her on her DVD-foraging trip, and she has me to thank for, too, since I consented, haha. Anyhow, so we found ourselves on a jeepney (we decided to go all-out: no taxis or FX vans, only jeeps, pedicabs, and what-have-you, to make the experience "more authentic") to Quiapo. Since it was already lunchtime and our heads were reeling from hunger, we decided to have lunch in some exotic corner of the metro. That's when I remembered a restaurant featured in QTV's Ang Pinaka, during their "Oldest Restaurants in the Metro" episode, a Chinese joint that had live Vietnamese pot-bellied pigs stationed as good-luck charms on the entrance. I don't really care much for Chinese food, but right then and there I thought that I simply had to glimpse and see those darned pigs up close and personal, so I persuaded (coerced would be a better term) Sheena May to go to Chinatown.
Thing is, we didn't know how to get there, so we ended up roaming and asking questions for a good thirty minutes. Finally, we were able to take a jeepney from UST to Binondo. We would have found the target of our quest easily had we known the name of the freaking place or what street it was on, but we didn't, so we had to make a couple of calls that went like:
RP: Andre, hello!
Andre: Hello...
RP: Uh, Andre, alam mo ba yung Chinese restaurant sa Binondo na may pot-bellied pigs sa harap?
Andre: Uhm....(long pause) hindi.
RP: (laughter)
Andre: (laughter)
RP: Okay, bye.
And we also had to contend with pedicab drivers that charged us an arm and a leg for trips that went like:
RP: Manong, alam niyo po ba yung restaurant na may matabang baboy sa harap?
Pedicab driver: Oo.
RP: Gorah, manong! Magkano po hanggang dun?
PD: P30.00
RP: Okay, go for gold!
(a couple of minutes and one bumpy pedicab ride later)
PD: Eto na.
And we found ourselves in front of a meat shop. Literally. Had I not been too excited and hungry at the same time, I'd have twisted that driver's neck and hung him on a meat hook to dry.
Anyhow, since luck was on our side, we found the restaurant (Wah Sun on Ongpin St) eventually, and we ate there and I got to have pictures of those pigs taken. From Binondo, we took the LRT to Carriedo (basta that station where you get off to get your NBI clearance), and voila! we found ourselves at the heart of Quiapo!
Nakakatakot pala, honestly. If it wasn't the fear of getting caught in a raid by the VRB or whatever its name is now, there's the fear of getting lost, getting your wallet stolen, or falling prey to some swindler. Plus, napakapredatory nung mga abortionists at mga manghuhula. They reminded me of hungry spiders enticing midges to their deadly banquets. The abortionists kept motioning for me to come closer (LIKE HELLER MANANG MUKHA BA AKONG MAKAKABUNTIS NG BABAE O MAGPAPAABORT FOR THAT MATTER? DUH.), and I simply felt that I had to flee. I took a moment at the Quiapo church to pray for someone dear, and then finally nag-DVD shopping na kami ni Sheena. At sa mga tindahan ng DVDs ay napakinggan ko ng paulit-ulit ang iba't-ibang versions ng Beatiful Girls: Sean Kingston, Jojo, at Jojo Alejar.
After becoming nauseated due to the various odours that assaulted our olfactroy faculties sa Quiapo, Sheena and I headed to Trinoma to meet our blockmates (Allels, Darwin, Darwin's boyfriend). Thankfully, may FX na derecho sa Trinoma for a measly P25 pesos. And that concludes my one-day foray into the realm of irony and the haven of aphrodisiacs, abortifacients, and astrology (none of which I tried, by the way, hahahaha).
posted by Ryuujin at 8:18 PM
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