Day 8 - Aug 13 - Chinatown Breakfast

I woke up early. I was planning to go to San Beda again for the Lauds and mass. But I decided to instead go to the Sta Cruz church in Manila. Again, I took the LRT at 5:44. It is very clean and efficient. This is one of the excellent projects Marcos did.

I got off this time at the Carriedo Station at around 5:55. Walked to the church and sat there. Mass starts at 6:30 am.

I had time to pray the Divine Mercy chaplet and rosary before the mass started. The mass was in English. I just realized that this is my 8th day here and I still have not attended a Filipino mass. All except one were in English.

Since the church is run by the fathers of the Congregation of the Blessed Eucharist, they exposed the Blessed Sacrament immediately after the mass. The host used is HUGE!!! I'd say about 1 foot in diameter! The monstrance also seemed very heavy.

They allowed half an hour of quiet time then morning prayers. Since the Church provides plenary indulgence to those who adore

the Lord for at least half an hour, I claimed that indulgence after offering prayers for the pope. Having no desire to sin was difficult though. Hopefully, the Lord will fill what I lack.

After morning prayers, I left the church and walked the streets of Chinatown. I grew up in Manila's Chinatown. My parents had a store there. I walked towards that store and took a picture. It's the one at the corner of the street. I spent most of my teenage years in that store.

Walking through Chinatown, I saw a lot of things have changed. There are a lot more newer buildings. The shops are different.

I went to one of my favorite restaurants, LingNam. I ordered lugaw (congee). Here's a picture of it. The bowl was relatively large. It had a raw egg which will be cooked in the heat of the congee. "To paraphrase Homer Simpson, "Mmmmmm, congeeeee, ahhhhhh!"

After 11 years, I tasted the congee that I grew to love. What a treat! The food was excellent, but the cost was shocking - Php 150 for a bowl - that's about CA$4. Where can you buy something under $4 in Victoria?

I decided to take home some siopao. Here's a picture.

This is not their special siopao. I forgot to take a picture before we ate it. This is their regular siopao!

The dough was soft and sweet. It had a meat ball and salted egg. I shared this with my wife and kids.

After breakfast, I decided to come home. I took the LRT back. A small drizzle was starting but it was a welcome thing.