Liz, together with Andre Chang and I toured Yvan Rodic (of
facehunter.blogspot.com) around Manila. We met up with him with no itinerary so Liz asked him where he's been already.
"Intramuros?" "I've been there."
"Luneta?" "I've been there."
"Okay let's just go home then," Liz jokes.
We all decided to bring him to Chinatown. Yes, we all went to Chinatown wearing these.
We basically walked from one place to another going to Binondo church, 168 mall, etc.
He tried hopia, puto, pastillas de leche, ice scramble, etc and liked them all.
 |
| (Landmark dress, F&H by Andre Chang platforms) |
One unforgettable experience:
Yvan wanted to take photos of the Jones bridge (it connects the Binondo/Chinatown/Escolta area to the center of Manila proper) and since we couldn't double park on the bridge itself, we had to walk going there. When we got to the bridge, about 10-15 kids started attacking us and I'm not exaggerating. First they got Yvan's hopia and soda so we were all left with our gadgets.
The kids were pulling up my skirt, touching my behind and slapping me. One kid literally grabbed my camera and tried to snatch it away from me. I look up and see that Andre, Liz and Yvan were getting the same treatment as well. Helpless, we all hurried back to the van. Along the way we saw policemen and they shooed the kids away. What a nightmare.
After a tiring day, we were all excited to eat. Liz explained the concept of Dampa, wherein you have to choose raw food and they cook it right then and there so it will be fresh and delish. He was excited about it but unfortunately, it was already 3:30pm and he had to be back at the hotel by 4:30pm for his book signing at 6:00pm. We ate at Jay-J's instead.
He tried all our famous dishes: chicharon bulaklak, dinuguan, sinigang, lechon kawali, gising gising, manggang hilaw at bagoong, sisig, pusit and of course, halo-halo.
It was an experience for everyone, especially for Yvan. He arrived at the hotel at exactly 4:40pm. Then we all went our separate ways to get ready for the book signing.
We arrived late to the book signing because we overslept due to the wind and grind of going around Manila all day. I wasn't able to hear Yvan talk. What a bummer. 
