Landed late Friday night and traffic crazy to get to hotel (driver said that way every night until about 2 am). Woke up in colonial hotel opposite Rizul Park, and Drew and I set out to catch the LRT (elevated rail line) to the Saturday Salcedo Market. The front desk said it was all about eating, confirming our hopes.
Raining hard off and on – it is the rainy season and the island is catching the edge of a typhoon. Typhoon sounds so much grander than hurricane, don’t you think (perhaps not this year, but generally it does sound more exotic)? No matter, we’re prepared with raincoats and a large umbrella from the hotel. Find the train, and imitate sardines for the ride to our stop, then catch a taxi (and careful to be sure it’s metered) over to the market.
It’s definitely smaller than I was expecting – one large square – but the smells and variety of vendors entrance nonetheless. It’s a square path around the outside with the inside set up with tables and chairs for eating. We do a lap and enjoy some lovely treats along the way. So fun using my new camera to capture the colors and variety.
One of my favorites: a man filled each of these little round forms with batter, then dropped in slices of octopus and what looked like cole slaw, then more batter. Over the next 10 minutes he uses the two tools you see below to constantly turn each ball until golden brown.
Quite a tedious process, but yummy nonetheless. Also tried lumpia, a traditional chinese meal that’s been adapted by the Filipino culture. Their cuisine has a lot of vinegar and pickled veggies in it, so often the food will have a sprinkling of sweetness (or even more) to balance the sour flavor.
A happy girl at the market:
It’s easy to see the history of the Philippines (so named by Spanish conquerors after their King Philip) in the food market. Paella, pork adobo and barbecued meats. Chinese influence at noddle stands and shumai shops. But there were obvious tweaks from local palates and more stands that offer middle eastern, Indonesian and Italian treats as well as the big, fat Australian burger.
As we came to the end of our lap, there were the open charcoal grills and I stood gawking at the variety of charred fish, stuffed fish, grilled meats and that which I supposed were calamari, but in fact turned out to be chicken intestines! Here’s the kitchen in back…
And the service out front:
After the heat, humidity and hot food, it was time for a rest in the park next door. Finally! I had remembered to bring one of my lovely Asian fans, and laid on a bench and fanned myself for a 15 minute break before heading over to the Binondo Church at the entrance to Chinatown for our Walking Tour.
We arrived early, only to realize we were in the wrong place, so hopped in a metered taxi to get where we needed to be. However, we soon realized we could walk there faster (and I thought traffic in Boulder was bad!), so hopped out and did so.
Met up with our man Anson and away we went. He schooled us in the history of Manila and how the Chinese community (erroneously reported as the oldest Chinatown in the world, it’s actually the 2nd oldest, behind Cambodia) came to be a permanent and important economic fixture in Manila. We sampled a meat pie and grandma’s secret recipe of pepper noodles:
Walked through a really, truly, funky alleyway, past little local stands (where he said really only Filipinos eat) so we could have a dish that had a layer of tofu, topped with white fish, all steamed and topped with dark vinegar (SO GOOD!) and garlic stuffed prawns:
Filled with enough sauteed garlic to satisfy the most rabid garlic fiend. See for yourself:
I was starting to feel in somewhat of a drugged state (only slept from 2 – 6 last night, so we visited a former department store in a historic building that has been converted into art spaces (ceiling art pic here):
And i requested a stop in the cool little coffee shop for a pick-me-up. Anson actually said that this space was for the hipster crowd. Hipster? Philippines? Takes a few to process that one. Just shows once again how people all over the world are really all alike.
Then more walking (yes, still raining hard off and on due to Typhoon Odette, which is to the northwest of us) and history lesson, and the best dumplings I’ve ever had.
Best because the pastry was light, not a bit sticky, and I could taste the texture of every morsel inside. No pic, because pale white and bland, but the best part of the dish was the ability to mix up your own secret sauce (the way they serve food, even at home). Starting with dark vinegar and peppers, we added chinese sriracha, mashed chilis and a shit-ton of chopped scallions, that were sitting in a giant bowl on every table like Heinz. Aah, the art of the sauce:
Noodle soup…which to choose:
A final stop for some sweets, including obe, a cold treat filled with purple yam and an outside kinda pastry covering that proved so wildly successful that the inventor/store owner was able to purchase fire trucks to service the whole neighborhood (high fire risk when stores jammed so close together) painted purple just like the inside of the treat.
Tour over (my tummy said ‘thank goodness!’), so Anson flagged down a jeepney for us to ride in back to the hotel. 8 PHP each (about $0.16) and we were lucky enough to sit up front. The vehicles are something to look at and each is allowed to hold up to 23 people.
Riders hop on and off through the back
and hand their money up. The driver has his hand on the wheel, filled with bills, and makes change from the box on the dash:
the whole process going on continuously while he gauges opening in the traffic. We pass through one part of town that must be low-lying, because the rain has come down faster than the drainage systems can handle. Kids are swimming in it and Drew looks askance at the whole scene:
It’s a ball, though and I am snapping photos like crazy and loving travel with the locals. My favorite pic – the scene behind and in front of me, all in the same shot:
We hop out at our stop and walk back a couple blocks to the hotel. Then our only goal is to stay awake until a reasonable time, the lag and lack of sleep catching up to us both. Hopefully it will be more restful after the full day of food and adventure!