We've always known the Cantonese version of the Lunar New Year greeting which is Kong Hei Fat Choi. It means "congratulations and be prosperous" and not "Happy New Year" as most Filipinos assume. But since most Chinese Filipinos trace their ancestry to Fujian province, the residents of Binondo are popularizing the Hokkien version which is Kiong Hee Huat Chai! This holiday is not only celebrated by the Chinese but shared by the Koreans (Seollal), Vietnamese (Tết), Mongolians, Tibetans (Losar), the Nepalese and the Bhutanese as well.
Yesterday was the eve of the Lunar New Year. As I was nearing the Binondo Church, I bumped into dragon dance group making its way along Ongpin Street. Anyway, my tokayo (Filipino term for person with the same first name) Manila streetwalker Ivan ManDy had a tour scheduled in the afternoon so I waited for him at the church lobby. He arrived at 2 p.m. together with two other bloggers, Anton Diaz and Sidney Snoeck. Anton and family joined his morning tour while Sidney bumped into their group. Since I've already been on his walking tour (check out this old entry on the Big Binondo Food Bowl), I decided to join Anton and Sidney for a walk around the place to look for some action.
And it wasn't difficult to look for dragon and lion dance groups since they were all over the place. The lion dance is often confused with the dragon dance. If it's just one or two people, it's a lion. We finally found a big dance group and decided to follow them since we figured they knew which shops to stop at. And our hunch was right since we were led to a shop with a load of firecrackers hanging in front of it.
All these groups were after the little red envelopes filled with money, called ang pao in Hokkien, which were taped on the ceilings of the shops. But one thing I noticed was that most of the dance groups were not Chinese at all, obviously outsiders after the loot. There were even ati-atihan groups who were quite aggressive, giving red envelopes to by-standers hoping they would put something inside for them.
Since the afternoon sun was quite hot, there were not that many groups yet. So we decided to rest a bit and have dimsum at President Tea House on Salazar Street near the corner of Ongpin. I had hakkao, polonchai dumplings, spinach dumplings, japanes siomai and taupe rolls. We saw the mango shakes on the other table and couldn't resist ordering for ourselves too. Thanks to Sidney for the treat! We also bumped into Señor Enrique there.
The shops outside were also loaded with fruits, "lucky" plants and new year decorations and good luck charms. Of course, tikoy was in abundance too. There were long queues to buy tikoy, hopia and other goodies at the more popular outlets.
We continued our walk and found even more action. Along Ongpin, the crowds were increasing as they watched the different groups perform in front of the shops. The shop owners would place a bowl of candies and coins in front of their shops for the lions to "eat." The lions would then "spit it" to the crowds who all rush in to grab the goodies. Of course, the end of the routine would be the lighting of firecrackers. In fact, the lions would play around with the other end of the firecraker belt, "biting" it with its mouth. This time, the fumes were just too much for me to handle and I ended up coping with an asthma attack.
At 5:30 p.m., we parted ways and I ended up joining the tail-end of Ivan ManDy's tour which was a visit to the Guan Gong Temple. After the temple visit, we made a left on Nueva Street (the Lord Mayor of MayniLA changed the name to Yuchengco), and entered this alley which is known as Carvajal Street. The alley is a food haven with its myriad of hole-in-the-wall tea houses and vendors who sell anything from fruits, vegetables, fish and other delicacies.
We ended up in Quintin Paredes and our last stop, the New Po-Heng Lumpia House in the Uy Su Bin Building. Of course, their fresh lumpia is healthy and delicious. After the tour, I asked my tokayo to accompany me to my favorite dumpling shop along Nueva Street, Dong Bei Dumplings. I took home frozen xie ping (fried stuffed pancakes) and chui kio (dumplings). From there, we went back to Ongpin where I bought a box of tikoy and ube hopia from Eng Bee Tin.
Anyway, got a lot of work piled up for school, work and my NGOs. Check out the rest of my photos in Multiply. Kiong Hee Huat Chai!
I was at Binondo today to join in the Lunar New Year festivities. Since it was definitely going to be a traffic nightmare in Binondo, I decided to park at that unsightly shopping mall beside the City Hall of Manila (I must admit, I finally saw use for it... hehehe!) and walk to Chinatown from there. I also saw it as an opportunity to check out all the neglected heritage buildings along the way.
As I've mentioned over and over again, that uninteresting mall beside City Hall used to be where the elegant YMCA Building designed by Archt. William Parsons stood. Right beside it is an early post-war government building, one among many decrepit heritage buildings near City Hall, the former GSIS Headquarters. It was a pity looking at the building. From the architectural details, I could imagine just how chic it was during its heyday.
One thing the City Government of Manila lacks is creativity. There is such a thing as adaptive reuse Mayor Atienza. The GSIS Building could have been by used for the Unibersidad de Manila, and it would have been an elegant school building at that, instead of constructing that boring building in Mehan Gardens.
Aside from the fact that it was built on an important historical and archaeological site, it lessened the open space in Manila. We were discussing in my land use planning class yesterday that Filipinos seem to hate open spaces since when a local government sees one, they try to build something on it. In Mehan Gardens alone, Atienza had succeeded in constructing the UDM campus and Park & Ride. Check out this article for more details.
Anyway, right in front of UDM itself was another heritage government building that could also have been used by the UDM. But the National Waterworks and Sewage Authority building was obviously as derelict as GSIS. What a waste of architectural treasures right beside City Hall!
I continued my walk and saw that controversial DepEd building Atienza built in the Arroceros Forest Park. Oh brother! From outside, Arroceros was a sorry sight, heavily damaged by two typhoons, one named Milenyo and the other named Jose. If Winner Foundation was still on top of things, I'm sure the trees would have been rehabilitated immediately after Milenyo.
At the end of the road was the jewel of all decrepit heritage treasures in the vicinity of City Hall, the Metropolitan Theater. Need I say more?
I hope they are able to bring back the grandeur of that charming edifice which has Art Deco written all over it. But sadly, as early as now, one could already see that declared structures such as the Metropolitan Theater won't be spared by the elections. Attention Comelec, not only did Gabriela place their posters outside the designated posting areas, they violated PD1505 by desecrating a national historical landmark and had the gall to place their posters right beside the NHI marker at that!
At least across the street, Liwasang Bonifacio (formerly known as Plaza Lawton) had already been rehabilitated. Beside it, another imposing Manila landmark, the Central Post Office stands like a proud sentinel of Manila's former glory (before the city was carpet-bombed by American forces in the final days of the Second World War, it was among the great cities of Asia and the world). I guess there is a glimmer of hope for Manila's heritage.
I continued my walk across the Pasig River via the Jones Bridge. It's sad that they did not restore this bridge following the original plans of Archt. Juan Arellano. From the west side of the bridge, you could see Intramuros on your left and Binondo on your right. Again, amidst all the urban chaos, two buildings standout: the El Hogar Building and Pacific Commercial Building. I hope they restore these buildings soon.
At the end of the bridge, the Philtrust Bank Building (another grand pre-war building that should be restored) and a welcome arch greets visitors as they enter Chinatown. Along Quintin Parades Street, more Art Deco buildings still stand. And it was a pleasant surprise to see many of these old buildings freshly painted. And I also noticed that they are foreign banks, namely Citibank and HSBC which chose to locate in chic pre-war buildings. I guess it's because they know the value of the said buildings.
Anyway, my walk ended at the Binondo Church. Few people know that only the facade is original since the church was bombed too during the Second World War. But the current interior is just so nouveau riche, a cheap and pitiful imitation of St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican. Binondo, with all its money could definitely do better than that.
Watch out for Part II tomorrow. Kiong Hee Huat Chai!
Since I started talking about university chapels, here is another one. I was quite excited when I received an invitation from DLSU Liga Historia to speak about heritage at De La Salle's alternative class day called LEAP (Lasallian Enrichment Alternative Program) since I had been wanting to check out the De La Salle University campus for the longest time. I had heard so many good things about its pre-war university chapel from a lot of friends. So as soon as the talk ended, I went straight to the Chapel of The Most Blessed Sacrament on the second floor of its neoclassical main building, St. La Salle Hall.
It was in November 19, 1939 that the chapel was completed and dedicated to St. Joseph. The chapel figured prominently during the Second World War having served as a refuge for brothers, priests and families. On February 12, 1945, drunken Japanese troops massacred 16 brothers and 25 civilians in the chapel. In 1947, the chapel was rededicated to the Blessed Sacrament with a ceremony of reparation for the desecrations perpetrated in the chapel.
St. La Salle Hall itself was completed in 1924. It was designed by renowned architect Tomas Mapua. I had wanted to take a photo of the facade of the building. But to my horror, a single-story structure had been constructed right smack in front of the building. Constructing the Marilen Gaerlan Conservatory in front of its main building is one of the biggest mistakes DLSU had made. Check out the old postcard in the inset featuring St. La Salle Hall when there was still a lot of open space in front of it.
As Wikipedia notes, since its completion in 1998, the conservatory has completely blocked the ground level of St. La Salle Hall. Despite its abundance of funding sources, DLSU seems to be ill-advised with regard to campus planning and the proper construction, scale and location of its new buildings. It was even more depressing when I went to the second floor of the main building since instead of a courtyard, one would see the roof of the conservatory. How sad!
Another thing I noticed was the importance (or lack of it) DLSU gave to the Philippine flag. Aside from the flagpole being really short (many public elementary schools have taller flagpoles), it was relegated to the corner of an amphitheater. For a university as prestigious as De La Salle, surely it has the funds to erect a taller and more appropriate flagpole befitting our national flag and place it in a prominent location in campus, maybe in front of the main building or at the center of its main quadrangle. The Philippine flag is our most important national symbol and schools should stress to their students the importance of respecting our flag as part of strengthening Philippine nationalism. So I suggested to Liga Historia to make it an advocacy to convince the administration that the Philippine flag deserves a more prominent location in the DLSU campus.
We all wonder why the Philippines is still lagging behind its neighbors. The answer is simple: most Filipinos don't have a sense of nationalism. Only when we find ourselves, strengthen pride in our nation and what it stands for, will we begin to really move forward.
Looking back Thanks to Alex Paglinawan for sending me this link to a video of Manila before WWII...
Since we were coming from Manila, I had to get up much earlier today. We wanted to leave before 4 a.m. to make it there early enough to get decent parking and a good vantage point. So we had to be up at 3 a.m. And since I was driving, that meant I couldn't catch up on sleep.
When we arrived at 5:15 a.m., there was already a queue entering the parking area. In fact, there was also a line at the ticket booth and it was a good thing I had pre-purchased tickets.
We went straight to the hot air balloon area and good enough, there were still gaps in the crowd and Dad and Bettina were able to sit down right by the fence. One thing I noticed was the garbage that littered the grounds. It seems no one cleaned the place at the end of each day. I don't remember seeing any trash cans either. I hope the organizers read this and make sure it doesn't happen again next year.
The program started with an unusual flag ceremony with a sky diver from the PAF bringing the Philippine flag. It was indeed a spectacle but I wonder if that is allowed by our Flag Law since it's quite strict as to what you can and cannot do with the flag. Another thing they should have done was to ask everyone to stand up to render due respect to the flag as the national anthem was being played. These are SOPs that should have been followed.
Anyway, since I had watched the balloons up close from the restricted area on Thursday, I decided to go as far back from the crowds as I could so that I could take photos of the balloons from a distance.
When I got back, I could see Bettina was having a blast watching the balloons since she was all smiles. I got to meet a lot of bloggers too such as Anton Diaz and Philippine blog guru Abe Olandres. In the photo are Anton and son Aidan with me and Bettina.
Of course, my friend and travel photographer Karlo de Leon was also there to document the event. The photo of the balloons above, I snatched from Karlo. Hehe!
After going around to check out the exhibits, we went to VFW (Veterans of Foreign Wars) Restaurant for breakfast. The menu was similar to that of AC Rumpa although they had their own specialties. But prices were a bit higher in VFW. For breakfast, I ordered beef bangers and mash, and pork schnitzel which came with corn and bread.
We then passed by SM Clark for a while since it was still early for us to drive to Tarlac City where we had a lunch reunion scheduled for the Magat family. I bought myself some iced coffee to keep me up. But when we got back on the road, I was still sleepy. So I begged off from driving back to Manila. Anyway, I have midterms on Monday so I need to study.
It was the opening day of the 11th Philippine International Hot Air Balloon Fiesta at Air Force City, Clark Special Economic Zone in Pampanga. Despite the fact that it had been held in Pampanga ten times before, I had not had a chance to check it out until today. According to the program, the hot air balloons begin take off at 5:30 a.m. Which is why we had to wake up really early to catch them.
I passed by for Ching at 4:30 a.m. and we were on our way. We stopped at a gas station along the NLEX for a quick snack since we were so hungry, as well as coffee for me to keep me awake. By the time we arrived, several hot air balloons were already being prepared for take off. The actual flights begin at about 6:30 a.m. but it's best that you come early since parking and vantage points will be a problem when you arrive much later.
My brod Ryan joined us at the festival venue. It was fun watching them inflate the hot air balloons of various colors and shapes with the sunrise and Mount Arayat as a backdrop. And indeed, it was an international event since the participants had come with their balloons from all over the planet! How I wish I could ride one. I regret not taking the opportunity to do it when I was in Angkor Wat but time and budget were not on my side then.
One by one, the balloons took off from the grassy field beside the PAF base. Indeed, watching them fly away was a sight to behold. The event for the day was a "Hare and Hound" race.
Since the hosts of GMA7's Unang Hirit were also there to cover the event, we didn't miss the opportunity to take photos with Regine Tolentino and Drew Arellano. Although the day was packed with events and activities, we had to leave since we all had work to do.
But before we separated, we stopped over at AC Rumpa Restaurant for breakfast. Rumpa stands for Retired U.S. Military Philippines (others say Personnel) Association. The food there is nothing but value for money. For just PHP90, I had a generous serving of creamed sausage on toast with a choice of french fries, hash browns or potato patties on the side, and either iced tea, orange juice or coffee. Beat that McDonald's! There was so much more on the menu.
Watch out for my feature on Fields Avenue/Balibago restaurants coming up soon since this restaurant strip is definitely worth visiting for the diversity of its selections. I'll be back again in Clark for Day 3 of the Hot Air Balloon Fiesta on Saturday, this time with my family. The sad part is I won't be able to watch the night flight event. You can watch the balloons take off at 5:30 a.m. daily until Sunday.
I could not believe it when travel photographer Karlo de Leon told me that Manila was number 5 in the list of top international travel destinations for 2007 according to Yahoo! Travel. Was that for real?! So I checked out the site and found this article. Amazing indeed! What do you think about the news? But I also noticed they didn't spell Philippines right! Anyway, here's the short article:
Where Are Travelers Heading In 2007? By Katherine Tom, Senior Editor, Yahoo! Travel December 20, 2006 Curious where travelers are headed in the coming year? We took a look at the most popular searches on Yahoo! FareChase to see which cities folks are flocking to in 2007. On the domestic list, perennial travel favorite Las Vegas shows no signs of ceding the top spot, while sunny Florida dominates the rest of the list, with five out of the top 10 searches.
We did note a few surprises on the international list, including the appearance of Frankfurt and Manila in the top 5. Visitors rave about Frankfurt's shopping and architecture, while Manila attracts budget travelers looking for beaches and nightlife. Of course, more traditional travel destinations like Paris and Rome made the list as well, placing at 7th and 8th respectively.
Top International Travel Searches - 2007 1. London, United Kingdom 2. Cancun, Mexico 3. Frankfurt, Germany 4. San Juan, Puerto Rico 5. Manila, Phillipines(sic) 6. Bangkok, Thailand 7. Paris, France 8. Rome, Italy 9. Puerto Vallarta, Mexico 10. Amsterdam, Netherlands
Now this is something I'm putting in my calendar! The annual TravelTour Expo is considered the biggest in the country. It's going to be held at the Megatrade Hall of SM Megamall from February 9 to 11. The theme for this year is "Gateway to Your Dream Vacation" as it expects to draw nearly 100,000 visitors hoping to get the best bargains, tour packages, travel discounts and souvenir items from the various exhibitors which include 41 travel agencies, 45 hotels, resorts and tour operators, 19 travel shops, 17 internationals airlines and 5 cruise operators. Even the tourism offices of other countries will be there, hoping to lure Filipino travelers to their shores. Check out their website for more information.
Yesterday, I attended a Mass for Ateneo jubilarian classes at the Church of the Gesu in Ateneo. My high school batch is celebrating its tenth anniversary this year. The Mass really brought back memories since all of a sudden, I was an impromptu lector and altar server. Hehe!
The Church of the Gesu was built several years after I left the Ateneo and transferred to neighboring UP. It was a low hill during my twelve years stay at the Loyola Heights campus. Although we already knew that the University Church, one that would replace the grand San Ignacio Church in Intramuros as the landmark church and religious center of the Ateneo de Manila, would be built on that hill. According to the Ateneo website, it was in 1949 that "Fr. William Masterson, S.J. dreamed of a chapel on the highest point of Ateneo’s new campus in Loyola Heights, which was to be the icon of everything the Ateneo stands for as a Catholic, Filipino and Jesuit institution." More than 50 years later, that dream became a reality and the finished product is nothing but impressive!
Designed by Jose Pedro Recio and Carmelo Casas, "the Church’s striking triangular architecture symbolizes 3 things: the Holy Trinity, the outstretched arms of the Sacred Heart, and the Filipino spirit as embodied in the nipa hut roof it represents." Years from now, it's brilliantly-designed edifices like the Gesu which will fall in the category of heritage, and not those haughty, nouveau riche designs we see in many of our churches today.
Archt. Paolo Alcazaren gives us more information on the impressive design of the Gesu in his Philippine Star column: "The church is a modernist take on a long line of Jesuit churches that have their origins in the original Gesu in Rome. The Ateneo has had several of these churches starting with the one destroyed in Intramuros. The campus in Loyola, to which the school moved after the Second World War, was also a modern remake of a formerly urban campus with wide, open and green spaces (undefiled by telephone and power cables, which the original planners – thank God – buried underneath).
"The Ateneo chose the firm of Recio+Casas to design the new Gesu. Bong Recio, the principal in charge, is an alumnus. He took pains to study the site to find the best geometry and location for the building. The striking design was unlike anything seen since another geometric wonder (the UP dome by Leandro Locsin) was constructed 50 years earlier. The angle-roofed structure is an abstraction of a bird in flight (an eagle, of course) and is perched on a slight knoll with a large "sunken" quad in front of it – perfect siting for prominence despite the structure’s relatively small size.
"It’s not how large the church is that counts, it’s how appropriately configured the space is inside. Here, Recio is eminently efficient and stylish. Less is really more in this structure. It eschews frills, is airy and cool in addition to being dramatic from all angles.
"The drama, however, was a little off, or so I thought when I first saw the church in late 2002. The composition seemed to lack something and (I later found out) it was the carillon that had to wait until now to be built. Additional funds were raised (by High School Class ’60 and College ’64) in the interim and happily, the carillon, also designed by Recio+Casas, was finally built last year and inaugurated in October.
"The tall white bell tower is separate from the main structure and balances its geometry carefully. It houses 18 bells and an Angelus bell that now gives students and passersby notice of events, masses and hours of prayer. The 18 bells are named, following an old liturgical tradition, after the Blessed Trinity, saints and the blessed. Jesus, Mary, Joseph and the Holy Saints above! This carillon rocks!"
We had a lunch program in nearby Cervini Hall. While eating, it was announced that the Ateneo Football Team was up against UP at the football fields accross the Blue Eagle Gym. I managed the high school soccer team during my senior year so I decided to drop by to see if some old friends were there. I was right! Like die-hard football fanatics, they were still watching even after graduating. Coach Ompong Merida was very concentrated on the game in the players' box so I didn't get to greet him.
I always had a difficult time watching Ateneo-UP games. I ended up singing two alma mater songs after every game. Hehe! It was funny since I knew the cheers on both sides as the drums blasted their way to inspire the players to fight harder.
As I looked around, there were more childhood memories. Just across the fields was the statue of Saint Ignatius, another campus landmark. It was occasionaly the talk of town, especially when the sword disappeared, no thanks to some prankster. Right beside it was a field I used to play in after class during my grade school days since it was right beside the grade school parking area.
The field formed part of the Manila Observatory Complex which we would wander into after catching grasshoppers, bugs and other insects. I remember distinctly that we would knock on the doors of the observatory and ask the caretaker politely if they would allow us in to look at the exhibits. If we were extra nice, they would allow us to view the telescope to check out the sun. So did my childhood fascination for astronomy begin with those visits to the observatory.
Those were the days!
Photo credits: The smaller photos of the Gesu came from the Ateneo and EAPI websites and Paolo Alcazaren.
We've always known the Cantonese version of the Lunar New Year greeting which is Kong Hei Fat Choi. It means "congratulations and be prosperous" and not "Happy New Year" as most Filipinos assume. But since most Chinese Filipinos trace their ancestry to Fujian province, the residents of Binondo are popularizing the Hokkien version which is Kiong Hee Huat Chai! This holiday is not only celebrated by the Chinese but shared by the Koreans (Seollal), Vietnamese (Tết), Mongolians, Tibetans (Losar), the Nepalese and the Bhutanese as well.
Yesterday was the eve of the Lunar New Year. As I was nearing the Binondo Church, I bumped into dragon dance group making its way along Ongpin Street. Anyway, my tokayo (Filipino term for person with the same first name) Manila streetwalker Ivan ManDy had a tour scheduled in the afternoon so I waited for him at the church lobby. He arrived at 2 p.m. together with two other bloggers, Anton Diaz and Sidney Snoeck. Anton and family joined his morning tour while Sidney bumped into their group. Since I've already been on his walking tour (check out this old entry on the Big Binondo Food Bowl), I decided to join Anton and Sidney for a walk around the place to look for some action.
And it wasn't difficult to look for dragon and lion dance groups since they were all over the place. The lion dance is often confused with the dragon dance. If it's just one or two people, it's a lion. We finally found a big dance group and decided to follow them since we figured they knew which shops to stop at. And our hunch was right since we were led to a shop with a load of firecrackers hanging in front of it.
Since the afternoon sun was quite hot, there were not that many groups yet. So we decided to rest a bit and have dimsum at President Tea House on Salazar Street near the corner of Ongpin. I had hakkao, polonchai dumplings, spinach dumplings, japanes siomai and taupe rolls. We saw the mango shakes on the other table and couldn't resist ordering for ourselves too. Thanks to Sidney for the treat! We also bumped into Señor Enrique there.
The shops outside were also loaded with fruits, "lucky" plants and new year decorations and good luck charms. Of course, tikoy was in abundance too. There were long queues to buy tikoy, hopia and other goodies at the more popular outlets.
We continued our walk and found even more action. Along Ongpin, the crowds were increasing as they watched the different groups perform in front of the shops. The shop owners would place a bowl of candies and coins in front of their shops for the lions to "eat." The lions would then "spit it" to the crowds who all rush in to grab the goodies. Of course, the end of the routine would be the lighting of firecrackers. In fact, the lions would play around with the other end of the firecraker belt, "biting" it with its mouth. This time, the fumes were just too much for me to handle and I ended up coping with an asthma attack.
At 5:30 p.m., we parted ways and I ended up joining the tail-end of Ivan ManDy's tour which was a visit to the Guan Gong Temple. After the temple visit, we made a left on Nueva Street (the Lord Mayor of MayniLA changed the name to Yuchengco), and entered this alley which is known as Carvajal Street. The alley is a food haven with its myriad of hole-in-the-wall tea houses and vendors who sell anything from fruits, vegetables, fish and other delicacies.
We ended up in Quintin Paredes and our last stop, the New Po-Heng Lumpia House in the Uy Su Bin Building. Of course, their fresh lumpia is healthy and delicious. After the tour, I asked my tokayo to accompany me to my favorite dumpling shop along Nueva Street, Dong Bei Dumplings. I took home frozen xie ping (fried stuffed pancakes) and chui kio (dumplings). From there, we went back to Ongpin where I bought a box of tikoy and ube hopia from Eng Bee Tin.
