I am desperately wanting to travel. Usually this time of the year I’ve finalised my travel papers, accommodation, itinerary, and counting the days until I fly out. I made different plans this year and so I’m now stuck wanderlusting, however, it did give me a chance to make out-of-town weekend trips.
Last Sunday I met up with a friend to visit Binondo, I think I’ve only been there twice and both times I went with my parents. To be honest, I didn’t commute often and I don’t mean that in an elitist way (I am so far from being one) but I just didn’t have the opportunity to do so. But on this day that’s exactly what I did, I rode a bus from Alabang to Lawton, got off at Kalaw, walked a few hundred meters to Manila City Hall where I was to meet up with my friend. From there we took a jeep to Divisoria, got off at San Lorenzo Church and went off to start our food crawl.
First stop: Cafe Mezzanine (btw, be sure you do the crawl on an empty stomach)
From the left, Lechon Kawali, Fried Tofu, Kiampong (Php295.00)
Second Stop: Dong Bei Dumplings
I’m okay with dumplings, I don’t usually crave for it and I mostly consider it a snack than an actual meal. So this was no exception. Did it taste fresh? Yes. Was it something new to my taste? No. Have I tasted better? Yes. However, the place has been in Binondo for a while and that alone makes it worthy to visit.
Stop 3: Sincerity Restaurant
Fried Kikiam. Ever since I tried Hen Lin’s Kikiam it has become my standard. This didn’t meet it, sadly.
My friend wanted to try machang so we ordered that one too. I think it’s safe to say it’s an acquired taste, it’s like a savoury suman.
Stop 4: Ho-land Bakery
Did I mention it rained heavily? That’s probably the only downside during this trip. It had rained again after we left Sincerity so we decided to stop by Ho-land to buy pasalubong. At this point we (I) was getting tired because of the rain and was ready to go home so we decided to stop at one more place before we go back. Anyway, I bought the usual fare like hopia and this fortune cookie. Would you believe it’s my first time to have one? And this is what it said.
Stop 5: Po Heng Lumpia House
At this point it was raining really hard and I was just so eager to go to our next stop. Po Heng is a bit out of the way than the rest, the first 4 stops were almost along the same street and weren’t hard to find. I was expecting the place to be along the street too but it turns out we have to go inside a condominium building to get to it.
The place was a bit dark, there was no sunshine because of the rain but oddly enough I found it comforting. It reminded me of my trip to Hanoi when I had egg coffee at an old cafe.
Best spot. Yeah it looks old but it loved it.
But enough about the place, how was the lumpia? I’ve had better, tbh. There’s this small kiosk at Alabang Town Center Food Choices that sells lumpia and it’s the bomb.
We went home after Stop 5. From Divisoria we had to take a jeepney to take us back to the terminal.
it begins with a step 