Fried Ice Cream, Dumplings atbp.

This post will be part Tagalog (my vernacular) and part English to express my feelings fully... Pardon to my readers who can't understand Tagalog. :-( (note: atbp. in the title is an abbrev. of at iba pa, it's the equivalent of etc. in English)

I was on leave yesterday (Tuesday, March 15) to fix some "papers" for migration. This day was also dedicated to find a supplier who can give us the lowest price for a table top name plate. It'll be our manager's birthday on Friday (March 18) and we want to give her the best gift we could think of.  After visiting about ten suppliers, we chose the cheapest but quality maker of table top name plate (the name is Tri-F just in case someone bumped into my blog and wanted a supplier for plaques and name plates).  My friend, Meg and I were still full from breakfast so we decided to go to Tutuban Mall (it is a place in the heart of Manila where you can buy anything and everything at the lowest possible price. So, you must be good in haggling for you to get what you want at the price you want) and look for drawstring pants.  Too bad though, we didn't find any but we found a nice top that we could wear on Fridays.  Meg was so used to this place so we got a hundred peso discount (from P250 to P150) haha! Isn't she just good?! And the blouse was just so nice! :-) 
After walking and walking along the aisles and aisles of goods, we found a nice bridal gown displayed in a window so we went inside the shop. We were just so lucky that we got two complimentary tickets to a Bridal Fair at The Fort Global City which will be held this Sunday. Woohoo!!! And the ticket came with quotation for a bridal entourage! :-) Our feet were already tired (especially mine!) so we decided to sit down on one of the benches but before that, each of us bought a large cup of Fried Ice Cream!!! That was a first for me so I took a photo of the store and our ice cream. Yum!  While we were busy devouring our ice cream, two old ladies approached us to tell us that the end of the world is near and that the world will be a new paradise... Sorry, I won't divulge their religion, I still respect them ;-)  After the old ladies, came a Real Estate agent who sells condo units in some Metro Manila suburbs... We just let her talk and talk then we said good bye... In a nice way of course! Too much for our adventure in Tutuban...
Our next stop was Binondo, the Chinese community in the Metro.  But, our Binondo trip would not be complete without witnessing a Chinese wedding at the San Lorenzo Basilica.  The last time we went there, there were two Chinese weddings and we just loved witnessing the mass!  Although, the rites were in English.  We were already hungry so we decided to go to our next stop--Dong Bei.  Actually, Binondo has a lot of nice place to eat but Dong Bei is our favorite!  It's just the hole-in-the-wall type of eatery that serves authentic Chinese dumplings!  Even the owner are "authentic" because they don't speak Tagalog, only Chinese.  :-) This was already our second time to be here but I didn't get to blog about the first time we were there... I'll just post photos. Hehehe... I just can't explain the taste of their dumplings, it's just so masarap and malasa!  Alam mo yung kahit ang tagal nang na-digest nung dumplings nalalasahan mo pa... Ay grabe!!!  And their soy sauce and vinegar dip was just right to the taste!!! Plus, the chili sauce with crunchy red chili and garlic adds flavor to the already delicious dumplings (I ate 19 dumplings total)!  And since this was the second time we visited the place, the waitresses were already at ease in telling some stories about their work :-) and from our little chitchats, we learned that Ate Jane, was the most tenured among the four waitresses, she was already there when Dong Bei started... that was seven years ago! The next was five years, and I forgot the others. Hehe. Ang tagal na nila don but hindi pa daw sila nagkaka-increase... Naawa kami ni Meg.  Our stay in Dong Bei was somehow relaxing because we get to know a part of the lives of the waitresses over our sumptuous kuchai, pork and shrimp dumplings (a plate of mixed dumplings which consists of 7 kuchai and 7 pork dumplings costs 100 pesos and a plate of shrimp dumplings (10 pcs.) costs 100 pesos as well) ! We didn't buy anything for our drink because after our meal, we went to ZenTea to buy our Chai Tea with Black Sago (Tapioca). This was also our second time to visit ZenTea so we already know the name of the vendor--Kuya Jake.  And he was actually startled when we called him by his name.  Sabi nya "huh?! kilala nyo ko?! Paano nyo ko nakilala?!" then we explained to him that we already bought ZenTea from him two weeks ago. And just to refresh his memory, I told him my infamous line "Chinese din ako kuya, hindi lang halata" that's when he laughed and said that he remembered us! :-) 
Our day ended at SM Manila, where we just sat and Facebook-ed and YouTube-d away at Cyber Internet Cafe.  I was so damned tired but I enjoyed this day so much!  Next time I go there, I'd bring a lot of shopping money to buy great stuff at low prices! ...and of  course visit Dong Bei again :-)


This store in Tutuban just caught my attention because of the name! I was just laughing so hard seeing the name! Haha!

Fried Ice Cream stall. I forgot to ask the name of this attendant :D

My Strawberry Fried Ice Cream with Strawberry Syrup and White Choco Chips

 

After the Chinese Wedding



The Purple Engine firetruck outside the St. Lorenzo Ruiz Basilica

Fourteen dumplings: Kuchai and Pork. Was not able to take a photo of the ten pieces of Shrimp dumpling

Meg choosing her Zen Tea, while Kuya Jake was busy preparing my drink

It was drizzling but I still wanted a photo of me taken at this Filipino-Chinese Arch. See that tarpaulin beside me? That's the best Ube Hopia in town! When you visit Manila, you should bring with you some of these sort-of moon cake, Eng Bee Tin Hopia Ube flavor.