#banawe

The video I am sharing on our vlog details our journey from Star Mall San Jose del Monte, Bulacan to Brgy. Kinakin, Banawe, Ifugao. The BSB (Bahay Siadtala Binabaylan), along with Apu Adman Aghama, have been invited by our Spiritual Mumbaki Brother, Ka Mamerto Tindongan, and Ate Jennelyn Nanglihan to attend their “urpi” ritual. This ceremony will be held at their sacred site in Brgy. Kinakin,…

Leaving Banawe Street and heading towards Quezon Avenue Northbound, a restaurant caught my family’s attention. It’s a two-storey building with red and yellow signs.that says The House of Mantou.

The Restaurant

We do not always pass by the area so we were not aware of this restaurant. But according to research, The House of Mantou was built on November 17, 2011. They offer Asian fusion style…

Since we already tried most of those milk tea shops, my uncle searched and spotted an unfamiliar place called OneZoTapioca. As I was looking at the sign, I remembered it was the place my blogger friends mentioned last year. This milk tea shop is the only one that uses handmade and flavoured tapiocas!

So I said, “Go for OneZo Tapioca!”

The Milk Tea Shop

OneZo Tapioca is a milk tea brand from Taiwan, which was established in 2015. They opened their first branch in the Philippines in May 2019. It is located at the ground floor of Promenade Food Court Greenhills Shopping Center in San Juan City. But the branch my family and I visited is located at 779-A Banawe Street in Quezon City.

This branch is quite neat and cool, too! They have clean white walls as well as brick wallpaper upfront bearing their logo. They also have screens where you can clearly read the menu. Plus, a grass wall on the side with neon lights that says, “The Art of Milk Tea #OneZo.”

So if you want to take cool photos before drinking, go right ahead. In fact, you can also take nice photos at the entrance. They also have a neon sign that says, “Handmade flavored tapiocas.”

The Milk Teas

Since it was my first time, I simply asked what they recommend. And I got these:

Dirty Tea

(OneZo Tapioca House Special)

Less Ice

Less Sugar

Panda Milk Tea

Less Ice

Less Sugar

+CheeseFoam

I was not disappointed. They really gave me drinks my abuelita and I enjoyed. We loved it especially the Panda Milk Tea topped with cream cheese. It was my first time adding cheese foam in my milk tea and it was amazing. But I think the main reason why we truly enjoyed the flavours of these milk teas are the tapiocas.

Take note, I just got the regular brown tapioca pearls but they have taro pearls and matcha pearls that day. Going back, I’m pretty sure you know by now how important well-cooked tapiocas are. Difficult to chew tapioca pearls can make or break a drink or a dessert.

Good thing someone thought of making their own. Because honestly, drinking OneZo Tapioca’s milk tea was an amazing experience. Therefore, I am adding this milk tea shop to my list. Btw, are you curious about the list I’m keeping?

Let me know in the comment section below! 🙂

You can find OneZo Tapioca at 779-A Banawe Street, Santa Mesa Heights, Banawe, Quezon City.

Happy milk tea drinking!

As mentioned, there are several restaurants in Banawe. I usually check Zomato but if I don’t have a strong signal, we would simply drive around and check every corner. Yes, every corner! Even though we’ve been coming here for a long time, every trip leads us to new discoveries.

In fact, we stumbled upon a small restaurant on the corner of Banawe St. and Sta. Catalina.

The Restaurant

The place is called New Hainan Cuisine. As the name says, the restaurant serves Hainan cuisine or Hainanese cuisine. Not familiar?

Hainan which means “South of the Sea” is a province in China. Their cuisine is lighter with mild seasoning and is dominated by seafood dishes. But their four most famous dishes include Dongshan Mutton, Hele crab, Jiaji duck and Wenchang chicken. Other notable Hainan dish is the Hainan Chicken.

Pretty sure you’ve heard of Hainan Chicken. This international dish is very popular in Southeast Asia, especially in Singapore. It is adapted from the famous Hainanese dish Wenchang chicken. If you haven’t tried it, I highly recommend visiting New Hainan Cuisine.

The Food

Sure, they’re small but I can assure you they serve excellent dishes. New Hainan Cuisine’s signature dishes include Hainanese Chicken Rice, Hainanese Eggs, Hainanese Braised Potato and Singapore Laksa. Besides these, they also have dishes to share such as Hainanese Chicken (half or whole), Sweet and Sour Pork, Stir Friend Mushroom Beef, Singapore Nonya Curry Chicken and more.

Free soup – YUM!

On this visit, we ordered the following:

Hainanese Chicken Rice (PHP 180)

Ginger Chicken with Rice (PHP 180)

Beef Single Serve with Rice (PHP 200)

These dishes are light but they did not compromise on taste especially that Hainanese Chicken Rice. This dish comes with three sauces – ginger garlic, spicy ginger and soy which by the way, is now my favourite. Moreover, all three are tender which means no slice was wasted. 🙂

The question now is, will we return? Of course! New Hainan Cuisine offers dishes worth every Peso. Plus, they have a few parking spaces and their restaurant is clean and well-lit.

If you are in the area or looking for the best Hainanese Chicken Rice, you can find New Hainan Cuisine at 834 Banawe Street, Siena, Banawe, Quezon City.

Happy eating!

I went back to trying milk tea beverages again and I have a new list of milk tea source to try and on my number one is the Yi Fang Taiwan Tea. I haven’t heard of this source since the middle of this year and now I’ve been receiving quite a lot of requests for me to try it.

Of course, as most people know, I’m a milk tea enthusiast and Yi Fang is known for their fruit tea so as early as now, I want…

Banawe Avenue Auto Supply Store

Stretching 3.2 kilometers from the E. Rodriguez Sr. Boulevard corner to Sergeant Emilio Rivera Avenue, in Quezon City, Banawe Street is called the Autoparts Capital of the Philippines for the many car part stores and repair shops along the road. Like several streets in the area, the thoroughfare was named after mountain, in this case the Banawe Rice Terraces (also Banaue), of the Cordillera mountain range, in northern Luzon.

1957 Children’s Medical Center of the Philippines

1957 Fe Del Mundo Medical Center

1957 Fe Del Mundo Medical Center

Dr. Fé Primitiva del Mundo y Villanueva (1909-2011)

From E. Rodriguez Sr. Boulevard, the first major landmark on Banawe is the Fe Del Mundo Medical Center, which was established in 1957. The hospital is named after its founder, Dr. Fé Primitiva del Mundo y Villanueva (1909-2011), who is the first woman pediatrician to be admitted to Harvard Medical School (1936), whose pioneering research is credited to the invention of the first incubator and jaundice-treatment machine, the first woman to be named National Scientist of the Philippines (1980). Affected by the deaths of her siblings at infancy and early childhood, Fé del Mundo first took her medical studies at the University of the Philippines, then upon graduating with honors, continued her medical education at the University of Chicago, and finally a master’s degree in bacteriology at Harvard University, Cambridge, USA. Dr. del Mundo returned to the Philippines in 1941, to put up hospice with the Red Cross at the Japanese World War II internment camp at the University of Santo Tomas campus, where she gained the moniker as “The Angel of Santo Tomas.” After the war, Dr. del Mundo was asked to work for a government children’s clinic; but frustrated by the bureaucracy, she put up her own private clinic. Later, Dr. del Mundo would sell her home to build the Children’s Medical Center (later renamed as the Fe del Mundo Medical center) in 1957, the first pediatric hospital in the Philippines, with additional funding from the GSIS (Government Service Insurance System). Dr. del Mundo and her family lived on the second floor of the hospital, as she would see to the care of the patients day and night, until her death in 2011. For her years of service, Dr. del Mundo was honored with the 1966 Elizabeth Blackwell Award for “Outstanding Service to Mankind” by thr Hobart and William Smith Colleges, the 1977“Outstanding Pediatrician and Humanitarian” by the International Pediatric Association,the 1977 Ramon Magsaysay Award for “Outstanding Public Service,” and the 2010 Presidential Order of Lakandula with the rank of Bayani by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

1957 Fe Del Mundo Medical Center

One interesting feature of the Fe Del Mundo Medical Center is the concrete map of the Philippines, in the middle of a rotunda of the hospital’s rear driveway and parking lot. The map that is “floating” in the middle of a pool of water represents the influence of Dr. del Mundo throughout the country, in the field of pediatrics.

1973 Philippine Center for Population and Development (PCPD) 1991

At the corner of Cadiz and Banawe streets is the Population Center Foundation (PCF)building, whch was established in 1973. When the organization was reorganized and renamed as the Philippine Center for Population and Development (PCPD) in 1991, they left the building for a venue in Taguig City. Presently the building is referred to as the Medical Arts Building of the Fe Del Mundo Medical Center, with the FDM Training Center opening in 2011.

2013 Quezon City Chinatown Arch, Banawe Street

2013 Quezon City Chinatown Arch, Banawe Street

At the intersection of Pres. Manuel Quezon Avenue and Banawe Street are two Chinese páifāng (arches that are also called pailou) that represent the Banawe area is the “Chinatown” of Quezon City. The general vicinity of Banawe and its side streets were declared by the city council as a “Chinatown” in 2005, and the páifāng were erected at the north and south entry points of Banawe Street, coming from Quezon Avenue, in 2013. Serving as the gateways to these communities, the Chinatown páifāng was erected in 2013, as a project of the FFCCCII (Federation of Filipino-Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Inc.). Aside from the automatic businesses along Banawe Street, there are many noted restaurants along the road, serving authentic Chinese cuisine.

1963 Philippine Orthopedic Center

Around 1.1 kilometers northbound from the Fe del Mundo Medical Center is the government Philippine Orthopedic Center, which was erected in 1963. The was established in 1945 as the Mandaluyong Emergency Hospital, as part of the National Center for Mental Health (then called Mandaluyong Mental Hospital) compound. The new hospital was set up to deal with the needs of civilian casualties of World War II, especially the Battle of Manila (February 3 to March 3, 1945), which saw most of the city flattened by American and Japanese bombing and a documented over one hundred thousand civilians killed. When Dr. Jose Valmonte de los Santos Sr. (1898-2000) took over the administration of the hospital in 1947, it was immediately renamed as the National Orthopedic Hospital. With the growing populations and rising requirements of both hospitals, the National Orthopedic Hospital was moved to its present Quezon City site in 1963, and was later christened as the National Orthopedic Hospital-Rehabilitation Medical Center (NOH-RMC), then renamed as the Philippine Orthopedic Center in 1989.

1974-1993 Philippine Rehabilitation Institute

Across Banawe Street, from the Philippine Orthopedic Center, is the Philippine Rehabilitation Institute Foundation, Inc. Established in 1974 as a Bachelor of Science in Physical Therapy course, by the Institute of Physical Therapy and the College of Rehabilitation Sciences of the University of Santo Tomas (UST). In 1993, the foundation became an autonomous unit from the UST.

Missionary Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary

Missionary Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary

At the corner of Banawe and Calamba streets and beside the Philippine Orthopedic Center, the Queen of Peace Convent was named after the Notre Dame de Paix (Our Lady of Peace), a 1500s incarnation of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The convent is administered by Metro Manila home for the Missionary Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (ICM), which was established in 1897 as the Missionary Canonesses of St. Augustine by the Belgian Mother Marie Louise De Meester (1857-1928). Sr. Meester and her novices arrived in the Philippines in 1910, and started their ministry in the province of Ilocos Sur. In 1915, the ICM sisters moved to Manila to be closer to the supply and travel routes.

1945 St. Theresa’s College Manila

1947 St. Theresa’s College of Quezon City

1947 St. Theresa’s College Quezon City

1933 St. Theresa’s College of Cebu

On the same year, the ICM sisters established the St. Theresa’s College (STC), in the San Marcelino district of Manila; and the school was dedicated to the Spanish patron saint, Teresa of Ávila (born Teresa Sánchez de Cepeda y Ahumada, 1515-1582). However, the devastation of World War II left the campus and convent in shambles, and the ICM moved their operations to the Quezon City lot donated by the family of Don José Severo Tuason y Patiño (1833-1874) in 1947. On the same year, the ICM sisters opened the St. Theresa’s College of Quezon City, which just as its Manila campus was an all-girls school for the local wealthy families. However, as the demand for the Catholic education grew with the swelling population of Quezon City, the St. Theresa’s College opened its door to students of other economic brackets. The STC is still at its original location, between D. Tuazon, Maria Clara and Calamba streets, but donated ¼ of the property for the construction the Philippine Orthopedic Center. In 1933, the ICM sisters established the St. Theresa’s College of Cebu, which was followed by the St. Theresa’s College Baguio City in 1957. However,kindergarten operations of the St. Theresa’s College of Manila ceased in 1980, leaving the St. Theresa’s College of Quezon City as the ICM center of operation in the whole Metro Manila.

2005 Ace Water Spa, QC

Moving further north, one crosses the intersection of Del Monte Avenue and Banawe Street. Near the intersection is the Ace Water Spa, a hydrotherapy center that was opened in 2005. The center offers different types of hydro-massage, herbal pools, sauna baths, and an Olympic sized pool where the Bert Lozada Swim School trains, which was founded by the former National Swimming Team coach, Remberto “Bert” C. Lozada (1941-2009).

1954 Manresa Retreat House

1954 Manresa Retreat House

1954 Manresa Retreat House

1954 Manresa Retreat House Chapel

Saint Ignatius of Loyola’s vision in Manresa, Spain (1522-1533)

Almost 1.3 kilometers north of the Queen of Peace Convent is the Manresa Retreat House, erected by the Jesuit order in 1954. The recollection house was named after the northern Spanish town of Manresa, where the founder of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits), SaintIgnatius of Loyola (born Íñigo López de Loyola, 1491-1556), took solitude in a nearby cave, which helped him write his book on meditations and prayers “Exercitia spiritualia” (Spiritual Exercises), which was published in 1548. Hence the Manresa Retreat House serves as a place to take the time off to reflect on one’s life, just as Saint Ignatius had almost 500 years ago.

2010 Wow Toy Museum

Roughly 400 meters north of the Manresa Retreat House is the intersection of end of Banawe Street and Sergeant Emilio Rivera Avenue. Formerly named after the highlands of Tagaytay, the road may have been rechristened after the army soldier, Emilio Castro-Rivera, who received the Purple Heart for his service during the Korean War (1950-1953). At the northern corner of Banawe and Sgt. Rivera is the Wow Toy Museum, a private exhibition of the toy collection of businessman, Jimmy Gaw Chua Madarang, which he opened to the public in 2011.

#94-98 Banawe Avenue

#99-126 Banawe Avenue

Despite the chaos of Banawe Street’s hawkers, vendors and auto-services spilling on to the streets and causing traffic, the road has many stories to tell with its religious and medical heritage sites and recreational centers. The challenge is to peer beyond the cacophonic businesses, and see the true wealth of Banawe Street.