Photographs by Emily Choong and Dr Yeoh Seng Guan
4 a.m. on the 29th January 2013 was a fairly emotional morning. We had no more than two hours of sleep the previous night and some of us were pretty much drained from an epic karaoke session to wrap up our stay in Iloilo. Our amazing student guides woke up at such an odd hour just to bid us farewell, which we were all very touched by. After many hugs, teary eyes and goodbyes, we immediately left for the airport as we were running late. During the ride to the airport, I was personally constantly having flashbacks of the many events which happened during those ten days which flew by so quickly.
"5J452 is now ready for boarding."
We were still in the midst of paying our airport taxes when that announcement came in. True enough, we were nearly late due to an unexpectedly long queue entering the airport. Despite the slight delay and rush in our schedule, we took off at sunrise.
We set foot in Manila at 7.05 a.m. and managed to catch two vans to our hotel, Rosas Garden Hotel. We were, unfortunately, caught in a slight jam due to the morning peak hour. After checking in, we headed to the one and only Jollibee for breakfast and then rested for a few hours before the 7th session of the trip.
Old Manila Walks
The 'In Search of Iloilo' team were asked to vote for the tours in which they would like to attend prior to the trip, and guess what? Based on a unanimous decision, we chose the Big Binondo Food Wok! (typical Malaysians with stomachs like bottomless pits). This food tour revolves around Chinatown, specifically around the alleys of Binondo, and also feds our minds with Tsinoy (the Filipino term for Filipino Chinese) history.
We assembled at the Binondo Church, also known as the Minor Basilica of St. Lorenzo Ruiz, where we met our tour guide, Ivan. He then took us to Ramada Hotel for a short briefing about the tour and the history of Chinatown in Manila. He told us a little bit about the arrival of the Chinese to Manila. For security and economic purposes, the poor would emigrate to other countries. "Chinatown evolved as a commercial district of Manila. The Chinese carried out a lot of businesses in Manila such as peddling making chocolate, making slippers and more to survive," he said.
The Chinese make up five percent of Manila's population, which makes them the biggest non-Tagalog ethnic group in Manila called the Tsinoy. Ninety percent of the immigrants coming to the Philippines are actually from a province in China called Fujian, a fairly difficult area to live in due to its geographical features (consisting of eighty percent mountains and rocks). Most of the people in Fujian speak a dialect called Hokkien.
Our food tour consisted of a wide variety of dishes such as yam rice, paos, yao char kuey served with sugar, Northeast Chinese dumplings, Indian mango, hopia and popiah. In total, we made five food stops in three hours, which was quite a challenge for our tummies. We were really struggling by the time we got to the third stop, and so we packed the surplus portions for later consumption.
Traveller Anis showing us the vegetables for sale on the street
We also visited the Tee's Family Association in the middle of the tour where Ivan explained that the purpose of such an association, back in the day, was to provide assistance to the immigrants in the form of medical and legal services. They are usually for the people with the same surnames, which in this case is Tee. Today, the purpose of these associations are to help the younger generation know and understand their roots- to know where they came from, and to preserve the family names.
We also visited the Tee's Family Association in the middle of the tour where Ivan explained that the purpose of such an association, back in the day, was to provide assistance to the immigrants in the form of medical and legal services. They are usually for the people with the same surnames, which in this case is Tee. Today, the purpose of these associations are to help the younger generation know and understand their roots- to know where they came from, and to preserve the family names.
As the tour wound down, we headed back to where we started, the Binondo Church. There were many children outside the church (some without clothing) as we approached. They approached us and begged for money, but we had been warned against doing this to avoid being swarmed by a large group of them. Luckily, we still had our surplus food from the food tour, and were able to give it to a family sitting outside the church
The 3-hour tour ended by 6.00 p.m. as we departed by van back to the hotel to freshen up and take a break for the rest of the night. Dinner was optional, largely because we felt "stuffed like dumplings". We were fairly exhausted from our travelling and the food walk, but very satisfied by our taste of Chinatown.
The 3-hour tour ended by 6.00 p.m. as we departed by van back to the hotel to freshen up and take a break for the rest of the night. Dinner was optional, largely because we felt "stuffed like dumplings". We were fairly exhausted from our travelling and the food walk, but very satisfied by our taste of Chinatown.
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Emily is currently pursuing her second year at Monash University majoring in Psychology and Communication. She believes that food is the best way to a girl's heart. 'In Search of Iloilo' marks the first time she has set foot in the Philippines.
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