Miss Adventures from the Philippines

Chinese New Year is a national non-working holiday in the Philippines. Having Chinese a keen interest on Chinese culture, I took advantage of this break and dragged my boyfriend to Binondo, Manila, arguably the most popular Chinatown in the country. Apparently, hundreds of people had the same idea.

Red lanterns, dragon dances, and a horde of folks greeted us when we arrived, but I was undeterred. I came to Binondo with a vision—to stuff myself with as much Chinese food I could get my hands on—and a crowd couldn't stop me. Or so I thought.

Weeks before Chinese New Year, I was already drooling over Chinese food on the internet. I was immediately overcome by frenzy to taste everything.

I failed to anticipate the long lines. Store after store, we were met with full tables. The wafts of siumai, xiaolongbao, and jiaozi only bolstered our hunger, but failed to get us seats.

Finally, a noodle house with a short line was in sight. When we finally got to order, I chose the most authentic sounding noodle soup on the menu, along with some dumplings. When our food arrived, the smell made me salivate, so I greedily ate a dumpling right away. It was a decent shrimp siumai, but the restaurant being a noodle house, I looked forward to the noodle soup the most. Alas, the moment I sipped the broth, I was immediately let down. I kept an open mind, but the soup was thin and its flavor reminded me of dish washing liquid. Hunger dominated, and I finished my meal.

After that, we still tried to get in other restaurants, but the endless stream of people and the initial discouraging attempt made me lose hope. Since it was getting late, we decided to go home.

After walking away from the crowd, we chanced upon a side street with a lone vendor. He was selling deep-fried crispy chicken skin, a common Filipino street food, oddly in an uncrowded obscure street. Since it was one of my boyfriend’s favorite snacks, we bought one bag to go anyway.

It was the best chicken skin I had tasted in my life. It was crunchy and perfectly seasoned, but most of all it was cheap. We proceeded to devour the snack on our way home.

I still crave for his divine deep-fried chicken skin. I don’t even remember the street that vendor was on. I’ll return to Binondo someday when it is less crowded, and sample more satisfying Chinese food until I can no longer eat, but no matter how full I get, if I see that vendor again I’ll make sure to order two bags.