The Lesson Plan

We now live in times when most people aspire to have faster cars and bigger cars. They believe that with these come Prestige and Power. However, once too many people have too many cars, it can only bring heavier Traffic. When this happens, these fast cars and big cars are suddenly powerless and ultimately, useless.

It is then when we see the value of a quieter and smaller vehicle — a bicycle perhaps — or even something simpler like a good walk. And when we walk, we get to appreciate the many things we miss when we are comfortable inside our airconditioned cars and surround sound vans. It is in the simple act of walking that we rediscover life’s simplest joys. And when we do, we become truly one with the world.

Today was one such day.

Click on the image above for the Multiply album

The following write up is a reflection, not a report. I wouldn’t want to reveal every single detail of the food walk because I hope to bring more groups and friends to this in the future. Thus, I’ll simply talk about why I would. Simply, this tour is an incredible way to get in touch with the roots of our city since the story of Chinatown is in essence, the story of Manila. But don’t worry. This post won’t be about history. In a way, this is to respond to an old philosophy teacher’s challenge, “How do we reclaim our streets?” Simple: we walk it.

We began walking the moment we left Philippine Science. We decided to take public transportation all the way from Quezon City to Binondo since we all wanted a little adventure. A lot of the students with me don’t take public transportation regularly while some did, and so this select few readily offered some guidance.

But it was an adventure for me too. I haven’t made it a known fact until writing it now that the last time I took public transportation was four years ago. But while I have been spoiled with being able to drive myself, it doesn’t mean I couldn’t work my way around. It’s all about being clear about where to go and knowing what to ride. I am proud to say that today, we rode all three lines of the city’s light rail transits and fought for slots in jeepneys in the height of shopping season in Divisoria. Today I realized what wu wei really means and why, in a lot of ways, it is very similar to surfing. In most instances I didn’t know where to go or what our destination looked like, but I rode the crests and troughs to take us where we were supposed to go. And we definitely did!

To be honest, I loved taking public transportation today. The LRTs made me realize how well connected our city actually is and how so many things in our country actually works despite all the naysayers, contrarians, and oppositionists in the media. I have a newfound respect for jeepney drivers — while there really are assholes, the greater lot of them are gallant family men with an incredible aptitude in what I would describe as “street math” (collecting, counting, and exacting change while driving) and “alley physics” (driving a two ton long vehicle through alleyways too thin for my Honda City). Indeed, there are simply too many things the street can teach you that you won’t find in books, masters programs or even doctorates. Following the city beat and not driving myself through it opened up Manila to me in ways I never even imagined.

This became even clearer the moment we began the Big Binondo Food WOK itself. While I have always been more interested in Asian history than Philippine history, the tour provided for a critical intersection between the two topics. Intellectually, I now plan to study Philippine history from the point of view of the migrant communities from Asia — but this will be for another time. Right now, I am happy to have a clear sense of how our capital city emerged and why, in so many ways, we are still making up for all we’ve lost in World War II in terms of infrastructure, commerce and even culture. However, don’t mistake that for pity. Right now, I feel nothing but pride for Manila.

This pride comes from the fact that I’ve been to and seen so many Chinatowns before our own. Knowing now how ours is perhaps the oldest in the world and how it managed to endure through the years, Binondo simply shames all the rest. Indeed, our Chinatown may not look “so China” unlike those all over the world that remain distinctively Chinese. Yet, ours grew with the city around it and was never contented with simply being the tourist enclave other Chinatowns are. Ours is a real, live, breathing city and one proof of this is the fact that some of those who read this may snicker in reading an account of a guy who finds Binondo so special. Chances are, not too many have given thought to how outstanding this city is and that only goes to show how well the city’s destiny has blended with the nation’s. Not many Chinatowns can claim being more than a glamorous Chinese bazaar, and ours is all that and more.

Ivan Dy, our street walker, ended the tour with a wish that we walk away from it with a deep and renewed pride in our city. Ivan, we did. I think we’ve become too proud actually, since we worked our way back to Philippine Science by walking even more and duking it out in a cramped and full-bass-on-cracked-speakers-loud jeep we rode to the Recto LRT-2 station. And when we finally got down from the MRT at the Quezon Avenue station, we even walked some more until we got back to the school.

In my final year in college (around which I last rode public transportation), I recall the challenge of one Fr. David. He was notorious for being well, notorious, but looking back now I simply think he was misunderstood. But in between his diatribes about Hannah Arendt and Michel Foucault, I remember one powerful challenge he posed to us. During a lecture on freedom, he described our streets as filthy, inhuman and unwieldy and mused, “When will we regain our streets? When can we just walk them again and ride public transportation without fear of getting sick, robbed or even mobbed?”

Fr. David, my answer is simple. Let go of your fears — there really is nothing to fear — and go down from the Ivory Tower as philosophers don’t often do. Historians, political scientists and teachers can be accused of that too. That is why one day, I decided to get down and just walk those streets. And I brought some friends with me too.

Thank you to Ellie, David, Angelica, Pauline, Gaby, Christian, Jess, Luis, JD, Franco, Jethro, Alvin and Jason. That was some adventure indeed and I hope you guys enjoyed our rich and hearty afternoon! So, where next?

I am now opening up an informal Binondo Food WOK group. I can bring a group of PSHS students and other interested individuals once a month. Just take note of two rules: (a) we take public transportation and (b) don’t say no when food is offered to you — especially when you can’t tell what it is. I think a group of 10 to 15 is manageable so whenever we hit that number, I can schedule a tour with Ivan.

More details about Ivan Dy and his tours can be seen at www.oldmanilawalks.com

So let’s start walking. We never lost our streets, just the willingness to take the first step.