Chow!

BINONDO -  You might read about this place on your history books or you might heard about this so many times. You wouldn't miss this place when you're heading to Divisoria (from Lawton). According to Wikipedia:

Binondo is an enclave in Manila primarily populated by Chinese immigrants living in the Philippines. Historically, the place called Parían near Intramuros was where the unconverted Chinese immigrants (called Sangley by the Spaniards) lived while Binondo was the place where the converted sangleys and their descendants, the mestizos de sangley or Chinese mestizos resided. The Parian was sited by the Spaniards within the range of Intramuros cannons, to prevent any uprising coming from the Chinese.

My friend and I usually go to Binondo Church after attending a novena at St.Jude but we never tried going on a food trip, instead, we would just eat at Mc Donald's :)) Last August, while she was at her hometown on the beautiful Albay, we were talking about going on a food trip at Binondo. Luckily, there was this episode on Tara Let's Eat (Q11 hosted by Tonipet) featuring Binondo. When my friend went back to Manila after the said episode had been aired, we finally marked our calendar for a food trip at Chinatown!

Frankly, I never tried going on a food trip because I'm always on a diet. Two years ago, my friend celebrated her birthday with only few of us, her friends at Saisaki, the eat-all-you-can thing was not worth the price! because my tummy couldn't contain much food. :P 

On the last week of September, my friend and I decided to meet at Quiapo on a lunch time before heading to Binondo. We wanted to have lunch at Binondo while waiting for our other friend. We've learned some of the must try restaurants when we watched Tara Let's Eat, but before eating, we first passed by the church to pray. The people were actually preparing the church for a wedding, so my friend and I never wasted even a single second to say whatever we want to say to God.

After praying, we looked for Chuankee Fastfood to try for whatever they have on their menu. My friend and I decided to just share so we could eat more.

We ordered Cha-Mi (95 Php), looked like LOMI minus the sabaw.
Serving: I think it would be good for 2-3 persons.
Taste: Thumbs up!! Thumbs up!! At first, you might think like it may just be the same with other pancit, but it wasn't. I just couldn't find words to describe the taste. All I could say is I would recommend this when you happened to visit Binondo.

After our lunch at Chuankee, we went to Mc Donald's  first and waited for our other friend. We needed a break first before feeding our stomach with another food! :)

Next stop: Sincerity
I've read this on Charlie's blog  and Tara Let's Eat also included this on their episode. Of course we tried for their best seller: Fried chiken! (8 pcs for 150 Php). Not your ordinary fried chicken! Not the usual taste of fried chicken! Really a must try!

Next Stop: Eng Bee Tin
Whenever I go to Binondo, my mom would usually ask me to buy hopia. She would really give me a budget so I could bring home hopia and anything from Eng Bee Tin.  They have several flavors. Pick your favorite taste! :) They also have Mongo Lite and Hopia Combi (two flavors in one pack) and etc.

*We were supposed to look for Happy Delicious to bring home fried siopao but we couldn't find Benavidez St. :( I ended up bringing home nothing since mom didn't ask me to buy anything from Eng Bee Tin. * So if anyone who would read this knows the location of Happy Delicious, I would appreciate your help through a comment.*

Last Stop: Starbucks

A sip for more stories to tell

All expenses paid! :) My friends (Lars and Geli) were generous, really generous enough to share what they have. Geli paid for my Mango Passion Fruit while Lars paid for the doughnuts! I missed moments like that - I mean, going to a coffee shop with friends just for you to have more time to exchange stories and all. Coffee shops would really be a good idea when you just want to update your friends about your recent stories and vice versa. We really had a good time that we didn't notice it was getting darker outside and it was time to go home. Time's fleeting when you're having fun as they say. True. True. True. Nevertheless, the day would seem so sinful for me since I cut down my diet for a day, but sometimes, it's good to break your usual routine to try something else you haven't tried before. :) Great try. Great time. I  had a three-letter word for what I did: F-U-N.