Philippines - Day 3 (Manila Chinatown - Intramuros - SM Mall of Asia)

Jollibee is a Filipino multinational chain of fast food restaurants. On the day of arrival, we asked our friendly Grab driver what is the must-try food in Philippines and he mentioned Jollibee. So here we at Jollibee located inside Landmark Department Store just 4 minutes (250m) walking distance from New World Makati Hotel. We ordered 2 pieces of chicken served with rice and drink. Rice is soft. Fried chicken is crispy, flavourful and tender. It comes together with a brown gravy which taste like KFC mashed potatoes gravy. Overall it's good.

Jollibee

2 pieces of fried chicken, rice and drink - PHP 173

Address:

Jollibee

Landmark Department Store,

Ayala Center, Makati City,

Philippines


After we had our brunch, we took a Grab car from Landmark Department Store to Ongpin Street located in Manila Chinatown (Cost: PHP 344) The journey took us approximately 45 minutes. We're looking for this small shop selling Shanghai fried siopao. The fried siopao is not crispy but only pan fry at the bottom of the siopao. Bun is soft and fluffy. Filled with minced pork and vegetables, this is not the type of food that I will crave for.

Ongpin Street - Manila Chinatown

Shanghai fried siopao

Shanghai fried siopao

Shanghai fried siopao - PHP 22

Address:

Shanghai fried siopao

Ongpin Street, 

Binondo, Manila


Just across the street is The Original Salido Restaurant located on the 1st floor. This restaurant is famous for its pork Asado. The restaurant looks so nostalgic just like where your parents dated when they're young. We ordered their smallest portion of pork Asado (1/4 kilo). Meat is tender but dry. Ended up we couldn't finish the whole plate.

The Original Salido Restaurant

The Original Salido Restaurant

Restaurant ambience

Free flow of hot tea

Pork Asado (1/4 kilo) (small) - PHP 260

Address:

The Original Salido Restaurant

839 Ongpin Street,

Binondo, Manila

We walked along Ongpin Street and reached Binondo Church also known as Minor Basilica of St. Lorenzo Ruiz. It's just 6 minutes (500m) walking distance from The Original Salido Restaurant. Beautiful church and it's so peaceful inside. 

Manila Chinatown

Manila Chinatown

Manila Chinatown

Minor Basilica of St. Lorenzo Ruiz

Candles

Minor Basilica of St. Lorenzo Ruiz

Minor Basilica of St. Lorenzo Ruiz

Address:

Minor Basilica of St. Lorenzo Ruiz

Plaza Lorenzo Ruiz Binondo,

1006 Metro Manila,

Philippines


Plaza Lorenzo Ruiz is a public square in  Binondo, Manila fronting Minor Basilica of St. Lorenzo Ruiz. The square is surrounded by trees and there's two large fountains. We saw few kids taking their bath in the fountain and a homeless man drinking from the fountain.

Plaza Lorenzo Ruiz

San Lorenzo Ruiz

Address:

San Lorenzo Ruiz

Quintin Paredes Road,

Binondo Manila,

1006 Metro Manila,

Philippines

Fort Santiago is one of the popular sightseeing spot in Manila. It's 22 minutes walking distance from San Lorenzo Ruiz (1.7km). However, the weather was too hot for us to walk. We saw many jeepneys (one of the most popular public transport in Philippines) but it's so crowded and we have no idea where they go. Ended up we decided to take a Grab car.

My partner selected Fort Santiago but somehow it leads us to Emilio Aguina College (Cost: PHP 144). We have no idea where we are and the Grab driver told us that this is the place that we have selected in the Grab apps. He couldn't drive us to Fort Santiago because there's another customer waiting for him. So we got down from the car and took another Grab car to Fort Santiago (Cost: PHP 186)

Finally we are here at Fort Santiago. Admission fees is PHP 75 for adult and PHP 50 for children or students. This Fort served as a prison for national hero Jose Rizal before his execution in 1896. There's a museum to honour this great man located inside Fort Santiago. Apart from that, there's souvenir shop and cafe.

Jeepney

Fort Santiago

Fort Santiago

Fort Santiago

Fort Santiago

Fort Santiago

Fort Santiago

Fort Santiago

Fort Santiago

Jose Rizal Museum

Jose Rizal Museum

Memorial Cross at Fort Santiago

iMake History fortress

Model in Lego of Palacio Del Gobernador

iMake History fortress

Dungeon

Fort Santiago

Fort Santiago

Almacenes Reales

Address:

Fort Santiago

Intramuros, Manila

1002 Metro Manila,

Philippines
Opening hours: 8am to 7pm (daily)


At the entrance of Fort Santiago, there's many local people trying to promote their local travel package includes taking a kalesa ride. They can be quite annoying at times. The weather was crazily hot and it's so refreshing to take a break and enjoy a cup of icy cold Slurpee at 7-eleven. Beside Manila Cathedral there's a 7-eleven shop. Manila Cathedral is just 6 minutes walking distance (450m) from Fort Santiago. It has this huge pipe organ by far the biggest in the country and possibly in South East Asia.

Kalesa - a traditional horse-drawn carriage

Mountain Dew Slurpee (medium) - PHP 36

Manila Cathedral

Manila Cathedral

 Enormous pipe organ

Manila Cathedral

Address:

Manila Cathedral

Sto. Tomas, Intramuros,

1002 Metro Manila


Palacio Del Gobernador is a government building located across Plaza de Roma, adjacent to Manila Cathedral. We saw a group of people demonstrating in front of the Palacio Del Gobernador. There's armed police officers stood outside the building.

Palacio Del Gobernador

Demonstration in front of the Palacio Del Gobernador

Houses along the road

Casa Manila is a small museum in Intramuros just 3 minutes walking distance (260m) from Manila Cathedral. Just opposite Casa Manila is San Agustin Museum. Due to time constrains we didn't enter both the museums. Beside San Agustin Museum is San Agustin Church. Sadly the church was close when we reach there around 3.40pm. 

Casa Manila Intramuros

Casa Manila Intramuros

San Agustin Museum

San Agustin Church

Address:

San Agustin Church

General Luna Street,

1002 Metro Manila,

Philippines

To avoid the bad traffic, we left Intramuros before 4pm and took a Grab car to SM Mall of Asia (Cost: PHP 215). SM Mall of Asia is one of the largest shopping mall in Philippines. It's huge and entrance to the mall is very strict. Everyone must walk through a metal detector and have their bags checked by the guards.

SM Mall of Asia

SM Mall of Asia

We were so hungry by the time we reached the mall. My partner's friend recommend him to try this Mang Inasal and coincidentally we saw this restaurant while searching for food. So we ordered 1 piece of grilled chicken comes with white rice and drink. Chicken is well marinated, tender and juicy. However, the chicken portion was way too small for the two of us.

Mang Inasal

1 piece chicken with rice and drink - PHP 89

We passed by Pancake House and decided to try their waffles. We ordered their waffles comes with chopped walnuts, banana slices served with caramel syrup. The waffles are fluffy but not crispy. I prefer crispy waffles with a fluffy texture. Nothing special on their strawberry sundae.

Pancake House

Restaurant ambience

Caramel banana walnut - PHP 217

Strawberry sundae - PHP 99

We strolled along SM by the bay and waited for the sunset. It's quite crowded and luckily I managed to find a spot to sit and wait for the sunset. It's so relaxing and one thing for sure, I will never get bored of looking at the sunset...

SM by the Bay

Sunset

Waiting for the sunset

We had our dinner at Gerry's Grill. The restaurant was quite pack when we reached there at 7.30pm. Luckily they managed to find a table for us. We ordered 2 dishes - beef Kare Kare and sizzling bangus ala pobre. This is the first time we had beef with peanut sauce. Something different but not one of my favourite. Sizzling fish on the other hand was well marinated. Overall both the dishes were okay but mango juice was too sweet for my liking. We decided to call it a day since both of us were quite tired. We took a Grab car back to our hotel (Cost: PHP 215). I slept early that night as we need to wake up at 5am the next day to catch our flight which scheduled at 9.05am.

Note: PHP 1 = RM 0.0807

Gerry's grill

Mango juice - PHP 80

Beef Kare Kare - PHP 425

Sizzling bangus ala pobre - PHP 325

Plain rice - PHP 45

Address:

SM Mall of Asia

SM Central Business Park,

Seaside Blvd, 123 Pasay,

1300 Metro Manila,

Philippines