Macau: Noodles, congee and more Chinese hawker food at Wa Hin Mei Sec (Small Turtle) 華軒美食(細龜)

What a way to start a tour of Macau! We had arrived on an evening flight and the first order of the day was a Chinese dinner. Our hosts from the Macau Government Tourism Office took us to this hole-in-the-wall hawker stall called Small Turtle 華軒美食(細龜) or Estabelecimento de Comidas Wa Hin Mei Sec, a Cantonese restaurant which is very popular for its fried beef rice noodles 干炒牛河, fried wanton 炸雲吞, and fried dace fish balls 炸鯪魚球.


When we arrived, we saw the guy they call Small Turtle firing up the noodles in a cart by the street. It turns out, the noodles are cooked here while the other dishes are prepared inside the restaurant across the street. While most of his customers go for take away, you can opt to stay in the restaurant and eat your noodles there.



We were served various preparations of noodles. Their specialty is of course the fried beef rice noodles which reminded me so much of char kway teow. We also had octopus with white noodles and pork with glass noodles. When we thought we were done, they sent in even more food. The fried shrimp dumplings were really good while the deep fried minced fish balls were oozing hot when they served it to us.


Then came in two large bowls of Fisherman's Congee which we obviously could not finish. I wish it had come first because I liked it. But after all those really tasty dishes, it did not leave a lasting impression on my taste buds. The last dish they brought out was deep fried little fish. My friends know that I'm not a seafood person so I didn't try that out anymore. Besides, I was already stuffed with all that delicious Chinese food!


Expect to spend about HK$/MOP25 to 50 per head. The fried beef rice noodles is HK$/MOP25 per order. That heavy and sumptuous meal was a great start for our Macau adventure, isn't it Ferdz, Nina, Estan, Kaoko and Christine?

Estabelecimento de Comidas Wa Hin Mei Sec 華軒美食(細龜)
Shop 2C, G/F Edf. Lok Sze, Travessa da Saudade, San Kiu, Macau
三盞燈 (新橋)沙梨頭仁慕巷樂斯大廈地下2號C舖
Tel No. 2895 3106
Open from 6:30 p.m. to 4:30 a.m.

Ilocos Sur: Where to stay in Vigan (Hotels & Accommodation)

The Historic Town of Vigan, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is one of the popular tourism attractions of the Philippines. Here is a list of Vigan hotels and accommodation within the heritage district of Vigan:

Aniceto Mansion
Plaza Burgos, Mena Crisologo Street
(077) 7222383 to 84 / 7221242
Aircon rooms from Php1700 / Php12000 good for 20 / Php7000 good for 10

Cordillera Inn
29 Mena Crisologo St.
(077) 7222727 / (0927) 3135616
Aircon rooms from Php1500; Fan room Php1050

Gordion Hotel
V. delos Reyes St. cor Salcedo St.
(077) 7222526 / (02) 2461502
Aircon rooms from Php2000

Grandpa's Inn
Bonifacio St. cor. Quirino Blvd.
(077) 7222118 / 6320987
Aircon rooms from Php1680; Fan rooms from Php730; Aircon dorm rooms Php2250 good for 4 / Php3360 good for 6 / Php4480 good for 8

Hotel Salcedo de Vigan
(077) 7221200 / 7222798 / (02) 2461519
Aircon rooms from Php2600; Dorm rooms Php6000 good for 6 / Php7000 good for 10; Economy dorm Php400 per person

My Vigan Home
14 Plaridel St. cor. Bonifacio St.
(077) 7226528
Aircon rooms from Php2500
Note: By reservation only. It's a private residence with spacious rooms on the second floor

Vigan Hotel
(077) 7221906
Aircon rooms with bathroom from Php1495; Aircon rooms with shared bathroom Php695 single / Php895 double; Fan rooms Php395 single / Php495 double / Php 195 extra bed

Vigan Plaza Hotel
Plaza Burgos, Mena Crisologo Street
(077) 7228553 / 7221527 / 6320317
Aircon rooms from Php2300; Dormitory rooms Php8000 good for 7 / Php7000 good for 6

Part 1: Road trip to Pagudpud
Part 2: Road trip from Pagudpud to Vigan
Part 3: Arce Mansion in Vigan, a colonial Ilocano dinner experience
Part 4: Historic Town of Vigan, a UNESCO World Heritage Site
Part 5: Tres de Mayo Festival in Vigan, Ilocos Sur

Ilocos Sur: Tres de Mayo Festival in Vigan, Ilocos Sur (Day 3)

Tres de Mayo is a centuries-old fiesta of Vigan citizens to honor the Santo Cristo Milagroso or Apo Lakay. It is held annually every third of May. The day starts with a 6 a.m. Mass at the Simbaan a Bassit or Vigan's Cemetery Chapel.


I wasn't able to see the Mass last year. So I made sure to get up early this year to attend Mass which is celebrated by the Archbishop of Nueva Segovia on a makeshift altar built under a canopy of fruits and other produce in front of the chapel. While Mass was going on, I also visited the Santo Cristo Milagroso inside the chapel.

Since it was still too early for breakfast at the hotel, I decided to walk around Vigan while there were still no people. It's best to take shots of the architecture early in the morning when Vigan's streets are deserted.

After breakfast, our group visited the ancestral home of Engr. Ric Favis of UNESCO and the Syquia Mansion before proceeding to Hidden Garden Restaurant for an Ilocano lunch.



Crisologo Street is again the focal point for the afternoon activities. Vigan's Chinese roots become evident as a lion dance troupe makes its way around the various shops owned by Chinese-Filipinos. But there are no fire crackers though which always accompanies this practice. Later in the afternoon, we watched the Kalesa Parade.


During the day, notice the ramadas or makeshift canopies decorated with produce that are constructed around the city as part of Tres de Mayo. The ramadas become focal points for each neighborhood during the afternoon since traditional Filipino games are organized for kids and kids at heart under these canopies.

I walked to one of the ramadas while our group was having merienda at Abuelita's Restaurant. After the heavy snack composed of miki, bibingka and empanada. We drove back to Manila which took us about 9  hours with a dinner stop of course.

Part 1: Road trip to Pagudpud
Part 2: Road trip from Pagudpud to Vigan
Part 3: Arce Mansion in Vigan, a colonial Ilocano dinner experience
Part 4: Historic Town of Vigan, a UNESCO World Heritage Site
Part 6: Where to stay in Vigan (Hotels & Accommodation)

Halalan 2010: Ivan Henares casts his vote in San Fernando, Pampanga

Halalan 2010! Today, I stood up and was counted! While I always try to travel when the opportunity arises, I made sure not to plan any trips today. I've never missed a national election since I first voted in 1998. It's the very least we could all do for our country.


This was the line (or the lack of it) when I arrived at my clustered precint at the San Jose Panlumacan Elementary School, City of San Fernando, Pampanga. I tried to ask everyone to line up but they were just not willing to give way. It was quite disheartening.

This is one reason our country will never move forward, people are uneducated and undisciplined! I tried asking for help from the PNP but they could not go in without a request from the BEI. Same response from the barangay officials. It was only when the parish priest with the PPCRV came over did people start to give way. But even then, people who came late kept on overtaking through friends and relatives despite our howls from the back. Shame on everyone who cut the line!


It took me two hours and 45 minutes from the time I lined up to the time I fed my ballot into the PCOS machine. Never did I have to wait more than 5 minutes in the four previous national elections. This is automation!

On the brighter side, my ballot was accepted by the PCOS machine on the first try. Now we have to be vigilant with the counting!

For those who chose not to vote, you have no right to complain. This was our chance to be heard. It's a shame if you chose to use this non-working day to snub the elections and enjoy yourself. And remember, being an OFW or expat is also no excuse not to vote. The period for absentee voting was long enough for you to send in your ballot or personally cast your vote at Philippine foreign missions abroad.

As Plato once said, "The punishment which the wise suffer who refuse to take part in the government is to live under the government of worse men" or "One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors." To those who voted, congratulations and job well done!

Ilocos Sur: Historic Town of Vigan, a UNESCO World Heritage Site

The Historic Town of Vigan was inscribed in the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1999. UNESCO inscribed Vigan in the World Heritage List because it "represents a unique fusion of Asian building design and construction with European colonial architecture and planning," and "is an exceptionally intact and well preserved example of a European trading town in East and South-East Asia."


The UNESCO description of Vigan reads, "Established in the 16th century, Vigan is the best-preserved example of a planned Spanish colonial town in Asia. Its architecture reflects the coming together of cultural elements from elsewhere in the Philippines, from China and from Europe, resulting in a culture and townscape that have no parallel anywhere in East and South-East Asia."


I woke up early in the morning to take photos around Vigan. If you want to take great photos of Crisologo Street, and other significant places around Vigan, without the crowds and the clutter of the souvenir shops, 6 to 8 a.m. is the best time to do that since the streets are deserted and the shops closed.


Our group was very lucky that Engr. Ricardo Favis of UNESCO was in Vigan at the time we were there. He invited us over to his house for us to understand the unique architecture of Vigan. He talked about the different parts of a typical Vigan house, their uses during the Spanish colonial times and the conservation issues and difficulties to maintain such large houses today without any clear economic benefits for the owners.

A Bangkok-based UNESCO consultant, Ric is one of the people responsible for the preservation of Vigan in the early 1990s. If not for Ric and his group, there would be no Vigan to speak of today. In fact, he was sharing to us that when they started the preservation movement in Vigan, they were branded as anti-development and criticized by the media for it. It was only after a visit by UNESCO officials visited Vigan and said that it was UNESCO World Heritage material did the locals start realizing that indeed there was potential in heritage.


Now that Vigan is part of the UNESCO World Heritage List, it has received an economic boost from tourism arrivals. The challenge now to harness the economic benefits of tourism while ensuring the proper conservation of the unique Vigan architecture. In the Philippines, as tourism brings in the needed revenue, many policy makers and stakeholders are blinded and forget why people come in the first place, what the tourism product really is and sadly neglect it. I hope that will not happen in Vigan because they seem to have gotten it right.

Part 1: Road trip to Pagudpud
Part 2: Road trip from Pagudpud to Vigan
Part 3: Arce Mansion in Vigan, a colonial Ilocano dinner experience
Part 5: Tres de Mayo Festival in Vigan, Ilocos Sur
Part 6: Where to stay in Vigan (Hotels & Accommodation)