Through the Spectacles

Have you ever experienced eating a certain dish and then suddenly, memories of the past rushed in your head? That's what I always experience every time I dine at 'Ma Mon Luk' restaurant in the middle of hustle and bustle of the Quiapo district, Manila. The humble restaurant serves a typical Chinese noodle house menu: their signature and famous chicken noodle soup, popularly known as 'Mami', hot pork bun or 'Siopao', siomai and soda. The restaurant was established in the late '40s and is still operational up to this day. The restaurant doesn't look any special or fancy, it is a typical restaurant with marble tables and a wall full of newspaper cutouts wherein the restaurant has been featured by the local newspapers, magazines or cutouts of famous personalities who have dined there. When I was around 7 or 8 years old, I and my grandparents used to eat at Ma Mon Luk after hearing the Mass at the nearby Quiapo church. I remember myself indulging i...

I was born and raised in the historic community of Santa Ana in the city of Manila, Philippines. As a child, we always tend to hear the Mass at the old church of Santa Ana - which is the first church outside the 'Intramuros'. it was built by the Franciscan mission friars way back 15th century and it is still standing today and have gone through many earthquakes and fires that almost took it to the ground. The district of Santa Ana; or also known as 'Santa Ana De Sapa'. Before the Spaniards colonized the Philippines, Santa Ana already had its own functioning community complete with the systems of politics, governance, military, and commerce. It was part of the Namayan  kingdom which was under the rule of Lakan Tagkan and his wife. Archeological excavations are also conducted in the area where they have found ceramic plates, vases, and many more ancient objects that dates back to the Ming and Sung dynasty which proves that Santa Ana is a very important trade area during...