China Town Walk

for the past 2 sundays, my mom and i went to ongpin in manila. primarily, we went to buy jewleries (for re-selling purposes).. everytime we go there, usually we have something planned already, or else i'd get so lost with all the things i wanted to see, and all the stores i wanted to go into. its like shopping heaven for chinese, everything you need is around the corner. first is the good old mamang kutsero - when i was younger, like 2-5 years old, id go with my mom and ama (lola) and aunts around ongpin riding in a kalesa. i was really frightened at first, but you'd get used to it, whenever you're there on a weekly basis. ongpin also has good source of fruits, in any "kanto" you will surely find stalls at much cheaper price, of course one would need to bargain - and that was my mom's course in college, she's so good at it, that we get things cheap, although sometimes nahihiya na talaga ako. we usually go to ongpin around 10 to 11AM so it wouldnt be too hassle, kasi ang traffic, we would usually park in a small parking space, and we'd go around walking na. our stop over was "ang tunay na beef house" - both my parents love the chinese-black chicken soup (the one in the right) - i didnt even dare try it, the smell was awful, although i had compromised with my mom that i'll taste pero the meat of the duck lang. - actually that soup is usually prepared for mom's who just gave birth - pampalakas daw ng katawan yan eh. while i had the one in the left, oysters with tausi sauce, squid with chili peppers and spinach with garlic and "kiampung" - or chinese fried rice na "malagkit".. the pictures above are the chinese groceries we went into, i was dumbfounded with all the colors there is - i cant even seem to focus to one specific spot. there were different kinds of candies and noodles from taiwan, china, korea... i was tempted to buy, so i just bought myself chocolates (pictures to be posted on the next post) i'm sure everyone have heard of DEC or diao eng chai - its a chinese food store that sells almost everything.. chicken pie, chiffon slices, mamon, puto, siopao, kutsinta, taiwanese bamboo shoots, siomai, tikoy, rolls and cakes. this is my favorite - it is called "hopia dice" from bakers fair - one dice would cost of P2.50 - kinda cheap but considering the size... a box of P20 will cost about P55 or P60 - i forgot the amount i paid for but everytime i get to go there, i will surely have ine tray of this.