Week 1 – Chinese flavor

It’s been my life-long dream to be part of the Chinese New Year.  Chinese tradition and celebration, and their accompanying meaning, are  so beguiling to me for some reason.  For 2013, my year for new adventures, I went along with a friend one Saturday to Binondo, Manila to experience first-hand the way our Chinese brothers and sisters welcome the year of the tiger.

From afar, we could already hear the beaitng of the drums, inviting us to come closer and faster to Ongpin Street

The movements are dynamic, the color is vibrant, the culture is rich

Drumming and smoking the bad vibes away

Greeting you before the church is the statue with historical plate of Don Ramon Ongpin, the Chinese-Filipino tradesman who organized art exhibits to earn money for revolution against Spanish government

I have the fixation and fascination with churches especially old ones like this. Binondo Church or Minor Basilica of St. Lorenzo Ruiz is one of the oldest in the country, bearing witness to history since 1596

I find the interior of the church quite modern