Chinese New Year 2013 at Binondo, Manila

It all started last year when a few friends decided to go to Binondo to celebrate Chinese New Year. Then I think it became a tradition. =) We came not just for the festivities but also to indulge in good food. 

1.) First stop is to buy my favorite hopia from Ho-land Bakery. You can also buy there other Chinese delicacies.

Address: 551 Yuchengco St. cor. Carvajal Binondo Manila

2.) We planned to eat lunch at Sincerity Cafe & Restaurant but unfortunately they were open for take-out only so we brought it home instead. Sincerity is known for their fried chicken and it was indeed full of flavor that you no longer need sauce.

Address: 497 Yuchengco St. Binondo Manila

While walking we saw lots of finger food, tikoy and lucky charms.

3.) Another place you shouldn't miss is Po-heng's Lumpia House. For P50.00 you can have a big healthy snack. It's quite hard to locate this place probably because it's hidden. They make the best lumpia with fresh ingredients. They also serve Maki Soup (P55) which is perfect for merienda. I'll try this in my next visit.

Address: Uy Su Bin Bldg.531 Quintin Paredes St., BinondoManila

4.) We had lunch at Awi's Cafe and Restaurant which was featured in one of the episodes of Cityscape (a travel and lifestyle show). We ordered their famous Lomi which was perfect (P130) and coffee spareribs (230) - both good for sharing. Their lechong kawali and chicken with lemon sauce were also great.

Address:  520 E.T. Yuchengco Street, Binondo, City of Manila 

5.) Cafe Mezzanine would be the most famous restaurant in Binondo because it is never empty and because all of the revenues are donated to Binondo Paco Fire Search and Rescue Brigade. It's a good business with a good cause. We had some light snacks -- french fries (P55) and siomai (P60) because we were still full with all the food that we ate from Awi's. We also watched the dragon dance from the second floor window. 

Address: 650 Ongpin corner E.T. Yuchengco Sts., Binondo Manila

6.) I kind of missed some of the goodies from my HK trip last year good thing Binondo has the Mandarin Supermarket where I could buy my favorite juice, canned coffee, biscuits and other favorite Chinese goods. Could you spot the giant lollipop? I'm sure you wouldn't miss it. 

Address: G/F Mandarin Square Bldg. 777 Ongpin St. Binondo Manila

7. My brother who used to work at Binondo told me about Crepe de Chine. He asked me to buy Taco Mexicano (P170) which was so huge and filling. My friends ordered desserts and I tried their Pizza Crepe (P140) which was so cheesy that's why I loved it. Their fresh mango shake was a great fix to end my merienda. The place was quite far from the busy streets of Binondo. It was a perfect place to hang-out and chill and enjoy their cozy swings.

Address: World Trade Exchange Bldg. 215 Juan Luna cor Dasmarinas St. Binondo Manila

I'm not superstitious but there's no harm in buying charms that could bring you luck right? Just in case it would work, I bought a charm bracelet for the year of the Ox for P80. =)

8. Aling Carina, our Chinese friend, used to bring us this famous Shanghai Fried Siopao. Everytime I go to Binondo I always buy this for baon and pasalubong. 

Address: corner of Ongpin St. and Bahama St.

The highlight of the festivities -- Dragondance.

We even saw Ivan Dy with his tour group. 

9-10. This pic was taken last year. I just wanted to share this since we're talking about the great food finds in Binondo. I loved the Kuchay dumplings from Tasty Dumplings and Waiying's hakaw.

Address: Tasty Dumplings - 620 Ongpin St. Binondo Manila

Address: Waiying - 810 Benavidez St. Binondo Manila 

It was again a fun experience with my friends. Every meal was delicious! Can't wait for 2014, probably by that time I would have tried every restaurant in Binondo (I wish!) 

I hope everyone would have a prosperous year ahead! =)

Modern Toilet

Modern Toilet 

by Allei for Discovgraphies

I’ve recently visited Shenzhen, China and found this very interesting restaurant called “Modern Toilet”. I never imagined that the word 'toilet' would be associated with food. My imagination went wild just thinking about what kind of food they serve. I wondered if everything in their menu stinks but tastes good? =P When we arrived at our hotel we hurriedly left all our stuff and started our search for this place (which I have to say was not easy). First, it was hard asking for directions because of the language barrier and the locals pointed us to different directions. Even though we had to figure it out by ourselves, I appreciated the fact that they were really nice and they made an effort to assist us. Another issue was that, we can’t understand the street signs since they were written in Chinese.=( We already lost hope in finding the place. But on our last day in China, we accidentally found it! It was just near our hotel and so near to the stalls we have asked. To our excitement, we just ran upstairs since it was on the second floor of a building in Dongmen=P

   

  

Every table has different centerpieces underneath a glass and all their seats are made of toilet bowls. (Don’t worry the seat is covered so your butt won’t have to feel stingy after) hahaha! I also loved their unique displays. It was like dining in a very posh and hygienic comfort room/store haha!

We had the Toilet Bowl No. 5 which was Chocolate Ice cream. We were really full after eating at Yoshinoya so there was only a space left in my tummy for dessert. If we had seen this earlier that day, we would surely have tried their meals and main entrees since they all look so appetizing.

Knowing what it looks like, it still looked appetizing =P

(Looking across our table) - I was so amazed how all their meals are served in toilet bowls =)

Rating:

Price: 4/5

Ambiance: 5/5

Taste: 4/5

I liked my dessert. It wasn't the best ice cream but for the price it was good. It was definitely an unforgettable experience having dessert while sitting on the 'throne'. 

When I go back in Shenzhen, I’m sure to visit this place again and try out their other food in their menu. Can’t wait for my next trip! =)

Location: 2nd Floor, JieFanlu 1004# Dongmen BuxingJie Shenzhen

Star Finder Optical

A lot of people have been asking me where I bought my eyewear that's why I'm sharing it with you. =)
I got it from Star-finder Boutique which has a lot of Korean eyeglasses. I got a light-weight frame from HumanEye Korea which is good for everyday wear. A lot of people (even celebrities) are digging the nerdy look with the classic wide-framed lenses probably because of the casual look and most importantly for comfort.  

Who would think twice seeing how affordable it is?

Having fun with the different styles =)

Photos of local and Korean celebrities are posted everywhere =P I was surprised that Martin Nievera's eyeglasses are from Star Finder =)

This is my "this-is-it" look when I finally decided what to buy.

Before purchasing, the staff would double check if your eye grade is still the same. You would go throught some vision tests that would only take around 5-10 minutes. Then you would only have to wait 45 minutes to an hour to get it fixed =) For the frame and multi-coated lenses I paid around P1,500, which is a good deal for an awesome pair of eye glasses. =)

Star-finder Boutique has branches at Festival Mall Muntinlupa, BF Homes Paranaque and Robinsons Ermita. I'm not sure if they have a website but you can check their FB page https://www.facebook.com/StarFinderOptical.ph?fref=ts

Caress Nail Polish in Shower Party

It is ironic that I'm a person who loves color but my nails are just dull and blank. My main reason for having colorless nails is because of my carelessness. It only takes seconds for nail polish to stay on without any damage (chip, scratch, etc). My second reason would be the fact that I don't want my chubby fingers to be emphasized *toink*. One day, while I was having my nails cleaned, I was offered by our home-service manicurist to try on something for a change. I paused for around 5 seconds before I said yes. =P

I gave in because I know I could always remove it if it doesn't look good. Also, it is not noticeable. It just gives a light shine, not too glossy and scratches are not too obvious haha. It made my hand look clean, girly and presentable. I would describe it as the lightest shade of metallic pink or almost nude. 

(Yikes! I know I'm not a good hand model. Sorry for the sausage fingers =S)

I have tried looking for this in Watsons and other department stores but I couldn't find this shade. I heard it's available at Sta. Lucia East for P 24. 75. Super affordable! The color is perfect for everyday wear and even for other special occasions. How about you? Do you prefer dark and bold colors or you're also into nude shades like me? Let me know what you think!

Luk Foo Cantonese Kitchen

How come when you don't know where to eat, you end up eating Chinese food? I just realized that when we were in the car debating where to eat for my parent's anniversary. =P A lot of places came up but when Luk Foo was mentioned, no one disproved. I wondered what's so special about it. You'll know in a bit.

The place was already full when we arrived. Good thing a table became available and we no longer needed to wait. Here's what we ordered:

Broccoli with Oyster Sauce (P230)

Yang Chow Fried Rice (P210)

Steamed Spareribs in Tausi Sauce (70)

Fried Shrimp Balls (P290)

Steamed Lapu-Lapu with Soy sauce (680)

Lapu-Lapu being de-boned

Mango Sago (P 55)

Black Gulaman (P55)

Other Branches

(Sorry for the bad lighting) They also have set meals for special occasions. The food was a bit pricey but the food was so good! No wonder it is always full and our Chinese friends recommend this place. Looking at the list of branches, they are mostly located beside Puregold that's why it would be easy to find it. =) Now I know the answer why no one contested eating at Luk Foo, because of the great food and good price. This is definitely a good alternative to the expensive Cantonese/Chinese restaurants I know.     

Taste: 4/5

Ambiance: 3/5

Serving: 4/5

Service: 4/5

Price: 3.5/5