Dear OAP Friends,
I would like to invite you to join us for the Awesome Food & Culture Secrets of Lucky Chinatown Tour on May 10, 24 and 31 and on June 7, 2014 Saturdays from 11:00AM to 3:00PM.
Here’s a photo essay of the Lucky Chinatown Tour with our blogger friends last Saturday.
Botanical Herbal Hall: Herbal Drinks
The first stop was at the Botanical Herbal Hall at Lucky Chinatown Annex A, where Chinese tea was served. Tea is well known for its medicinal benefits and is believed to have been enjoyed by the Chinese for more than 4,000 years.
Tour Participants were able to taste different teas like the Lo’5 or Momordica Grosvenor Five Flowers Tea, with Oriental Wormwood, Chrysanthemum, Honeysuckle, Selfheal and Kapok, which can help reduce phlegm, the Snow Pear Chrysanthemum Tea, said to improve eyesight, Maybloom tea, which is good for lowering lipids and Plum Tea, which aids digestion.
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Miao De Temple: Buddha Incense Offering
The second stop was at the Miao De Temple, where they were able to light incense and learn more about the meaning of this age-old ritual.
Chinatown Walk
Next was a feast of delicious dishes at the Chinatown Walk – from Fu Dao Dumpling, Sate Seafood Noodles with Dumplings were served, while Cha Cha Food House dished up Wanton Noodles and Pumpkin Cake (said to be good for the skin), two dishes popular in the northern region of China. Other Fil-Chi favorites like Cua Pao, Maki Mi and fresh lumpia was also on the menu, courtesy of Mr. Fast Foo.
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Fu Dao Dumpling China: Sate Seafood Noodles with Dumpling
Cha Cha Food House: Wanton + Pumpkin Cake
Mr. Fast Foo: Cua Pao, Maki Mi, Lumpia
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Reflexion Studio: Chinese Wedding Traditions
At Reflexion’s Studio, the guests were able to learn more about traditional Chinese wedding and engagement practices, for example, the tea ceremony and “teng hun” described as an act of wedding etiquette performed by the soon-to-be-wed couple before their wedding.
Tour participants were also able to take home a commemorative photo of the tour group.
Phoenix Dragon: Feng Shui in the year of the Wooden Horse
At Phoenix Dragon, guests were able to listen to a forecast on the Year of the Wood Horse from a renowned feng shui expert.
Rainbow Snow: Mixed Berry Snow
Then they were able to try refreshing summer treats from Rainbow Snow, a dessert place inspired by the Taiwanese dessert culture located at the Food Junction at the 4th Floor of Lucky Chinatown. Rainbow Snow specializes in snow ice dessert, which is like a mix between ice cream and sorbet.
Wellness Spa: Tui na, Accupuncture or Fish Spa
The Chinese also have a long and varied history of medicinal practices and at Lucky Chinatown’s Wellness Sanctuary, guests were able to choose between trying acupuncture, tui na or fish spa. Acupuncture is a system of healing that involves pricking of the skin or tissues with needles to alleviate pain and to treat various physical, mental, and emotional conditions that originated in China.
Wellness Sanctuary also offers Fish Spa Therapy services wherein tiny fish, called the Doctor Fish, clean off the dead skin in various parts of the customer’s body.
Tao Yuan: Hainanese Chicken, Birthday Noodles, and Mango Lapu Lapu
The experience, both cleansing and relaxing, was followed by a sampling of another traditional Chinese food practice – the lavish lauriat. The word “lauriat” is actually derived from the Fookien dialect and means special occasion. A lauriat usually consists of at least 10 special dishes and dining lasts for hours.
Guests were able to try some of Tao Yuan’s best-sellers like their delicious Mango Lau-Lapu, which is fried lapu-lapu with ripe mango and green mango sauce and their Hainan Chicken with Chicken Rice.
Awesome Food & Culture Secrets of @LuckyChinatown Tour
Discover Chinese culture at the Awesome Food & Culture Secrets at Lucky Chinatown Tour
One of the world’s oldest Chinatowns, Binondo lies at the heart of the Filipino Chinese experience and walking its streets is a great way to discover Chinese culture, from its deeply rooted religious practices to its delectable cuisine.
This May, Lucky Chinatown, a heritage project of Megaworld Lifestyle Malls in Binondo, will be the place to go to explore some of these fascinating traditions at the Awesome Food and Culture Secrets of Lucky Chinatown Tour.
Hosted by Our Awesome Planet’s Anton Diaz and Mercato Group’s RJ Ledesma, the food and culture tour costs only P888 and will run for 4 hours, from 11:00AM to 3:00PM on May 10, 24 and 31 and on June 7, 2014. Guests can buy tickets at the Lucky Chinatown Concierge or the Eastwood Mall Concierge.
For recreation lovers and foodies, this tour is a can’t miss experience! For more information on Awesome Food and Culture Secrets of Lucky Chinatown, please call the Lucky Chinatown Concierge at 576-8139 or visit www.megaworldlifestylemalls.com.
Live an Awesome Life,
Founder, www.OurAwesomePlanet.com
Disclosure: Read Our Awesome Planet Complete Disclosure Policy here.
P.S. THE MERCATO CENTRALE EXPERIENCE IS COMING TO LUCKY CHINATOWN, BINONDO! 
my father worked in binondo from the end of WW2 up until we left the country, I grew up around the binondo environment and enjoyed the people, food , culture and environment. It’s nice to know that binondo has ceased to be a mystery and has become more open to the non-chinese population.
The food in the tour looks really good. I’ve already tried the Tao Yuan mango lapu-lapu, and it reminded me a lot of food they have in Singapore. I want to try out the Fu Dao Dumpling noodles, it looks really spicy though. Do they have noodles that aren’t spicy?
That was a fun Chinatown experience under the summer heat! 🙂