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Stopping from my planned route. I ran to the nearest street and ended up in- - -

ONPIN!

It's just a few walks away from Carriedo . Like the rest of Manila, it is a chaotic paradise of cables, gridlocks, canals, smoke and cars. The only difference is, chinese food, Kalesas, horse s**t and chinese. If you're used to hustle and bustle of gloriously chaotic Manila then you'll be familiar to this place but if you're those posh, sheltered, manicured alabang girls and boys then this would be an adventure for you.

At first glance it may seem chaotic and ordinary. The same wires, the same concrete blocks but inside of this all is the heart of Binondo. It's the same as Manila but some parts of it are exclusively Ongpin.

I suggest if you really want to experience Ongpin, do it by foot that way you'd not only see, you'd also feel and smell.

What you'll see is different. There are some existing structures which go way back. But sadly they're in a cripled state. And there's some chinese influenced structures scattered about in the streets but sadly they number a few. It's sad though, I could imagine I more Chinese, China Town as compared to a concrete wonderland.

The Taste here is different, The main attraction (atleast for me) is Wai Ying, the local Chinese Deli where the food is good and price is not that high. I instantly fell in love with their Hakaw and Beef Wanton Mami. Unlike the chains in the posh Malls, there's something different with taste of their Shrimp Dumpling. You can also stop by one of the low cost bakeries, selling anything from Moon Cakes to Leche Flan. If you're craving for Hopia there's a local Poland store within the vicinity. My personal favorite is Hopia Pina.

The smell is different, well aside from nearby polluted creek, the smell in Ongpin is different. Well it's smoky, smells like Estero but there's that distinct smell, perhaps a mixture of horseshit and the estero.

For all intents and purposes, Ongpin fails to live up to its potential but what the heck it still there and it's still an interesting place to go to. It does retain some of its characteristics but the way things are going I hope it doesn't lose its personality.Besides there's a lot of areas around the street that I have failed to visit, who knows there might be more to this sidequest.