I'm a shoeholic and I'm currently on a shoe diet now because I probably have 136++ pairs of shoes where I keep it. I pretty much know what looks good or not for me and suffice to say, a good 30% of the shoes I own are actually Converse CHUCKS. Now that tells you how much I do love the brand, and perhaps give you a picture how it is with other people that own shoes like it.
There are a lot of technological advancements now with Converse shoes. First off, they listened to consumers and they have really changed the way we look at the CHUCK II. For me, Chucks has pretty much satisfied me in the comfort department because they made the shoe light and I can walk for hours without feeling hurt at all. Although there are some instances where if the terrain is a little bumpy, you could feel the road on your feet. This is where they employ the Lunarlon technology. You see, this is the cushioning foam that they put in CHUCK II's that basically gets you the support and comfort you need without compromising weight that Chucks are actually known for. It's 30% lighter than the usual phylon insoles you see in rubber shoes and they've made it available in future models.
Speaking of which, we just got hold of the Converse Chuck Taylor All Star II Knit Collection. This was planned to be released in May, but since we're good boys and girls they went ahead and did it in April (which means it's available now!). Now I know if you're new, you probably aren't going to buy a descent pair of Chucks just by the looks department (although I would on impulse) but if you saw these pairs in real life, you know it's going to last you longer than the usual pair. Why you ask? It's because of it's built, it's got tightly woven knit material which I'm sure would weather the abuse of everyday life. Bumps, scratches, other people who step on it, might only get it a bit dirty but NOT damage it at all. In a normal world, this is already unusual and getting this material in a pair of Chucks Knit II is just amazing. They also had it in different colors, Volt Green, Black, Yellow, Roadtrip Blue, Red, White and Spraypaint Blue. It's high cut but the one I got isn't and I'm glad they have variety. I didn't just take their word for it, we really did a road test in the oldest Chinatown in the world, the Binondo District in old Manila. We got the services of Ivan Man Dy who does Food Wok's (another term for Food Walk) so we could get to know Manila and the Chinoy food culture, an activity that I surely enjoyed. Here's how it went in photos!
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We wore our comfy Lunarlon embedded Chuck II Knit Sneakers in the historical Binondo Church. Then we met with Ivan Man Dy who told us to meet several other people, foreigners who joined in the tour that day. I took off my Red All Weather Waterproof Chucks and wore this Roadtrip Blue low cut Chuck II Knit Sneakers!
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| Some foreigners were weirded out because it was noisy, obviously it's election season. Mayor Lim waved at me too! Then we walked a bit more. |
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| Wearing my playboy shirt and posed here together with the other peeps who did the road test too. My Chuck II Knit Sneakers were so comfortable as it's got Lunarlon on it. With the heat outside, I'm glad my feet wasn't feeling the heat of the road too. |
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| Ivan Man Dy was explaining how the Binondo district came about and why it was in the outskirts of Intramuros. He had a map then told us where we were at that time. We walked further inside Chinatown and looked around for food! |
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| Of course I wouldn't do this without my blogger friends, Ruth and Myke had different pairs of Chuck II Knit Sneakers and like me, they weren't complaining walking all day. |
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| We went to our first destination, the New Po-Heng Lumpia House which is a hole in the wall restaurant specializing on Chinese Lumpia. It's a little shack, you have to go through an alley to see it. It's on Google Maps though. |
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| It's located in the ground floor of a Chinoy apartment complex. You can see this place is a little dated, like something in the 50's complete with a non working fountain in the center (see right side). |
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| Ivan Man Dy continued to tell us about the Lumpia and how they came to the Philippines. They also had vegetarian choices, I ate both though. I am a big boy! |
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| Fellow blogger Cristelle was sitting beside me, time for a groufie of course! |
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| They had the usual condiments, plus the garlic sauce they put on the Lumpia. It was weird though that Ivan put in Vinegar in lieu of the raw garlic they didn't have because they didn't have it in the market. |
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| I watched how they made it from scratch, it was something I'd want to do later on at home. The mixture was veggies and tofu. They add on peanuts, rice noodles and seaweed. |
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| Now do you think I'd really have to convince you that it was good? I guess not. |
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| Myke Soon actually lives nearby but swears the Lumpia was mighty good. He also took a lot of photos in the market which you'll probably see in his instagram shots, just look for his name. |
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| Although very lady like and statuesque, Ruth just loved having brunch with us. Donning the same color of shoes like I was, it looks like the Chuck Knit II Sneakers could very well be carried by ladies too. |
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| I loved looking at my pair. |
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| If you look real close, the details of the fabric are just remarkable. You know it's made with quality in mind. |
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| We went to the next restaurant and found some really good fruit stands in the small market on the way there. |
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| You can see how we were all flashy during the Binondo Food Wok, we surely let people see that we were wearing our lovely Chuck II Knit Sneakers! |
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| My seatmate on the second restaurant was fashion blogger Michael Macalos. We didn't mind the heat and the long walk there, because we were about to see something really good. |
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| Ivan Man Dy told us that he frequents this particular establishment because of the Tofu dish that the founding Grandma of this place has invented. It was already being taken cared of by the third generation and they're continuing the tradition as with other restaurants in the area. |
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| I was shocked to see how gorgeous our next destination had prepared for us! |
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| I am a huge Tofu fan and they prepared for us this dish passed on from generations. The tofu is flash fried so you get that crunchy crust outside while it still remains soft inside. They put a generous amount of ground pork, tomatoes, flatleaf parsley, and a sweet salty soy sauce around it. You would need to dip the actual tofu on the sauce so it absorbs the thing when you have it with rice or just plain jane. This is a must try! |
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| Eager to see more, the next one was a little familiar to me. |
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| This is Kuchai ah. I was always eating this when I was a kid as there was a factory of it in the front of my Mom's school. She was a Principal and it was a treat after I waited for her after school hours. I loved it as it was also vegetarian but there are versions of this that has ground pork in it. |
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| Ivan was raving about this lovely pansit. He says you can only have this particular variety here because it is also concocted by the founders of this restaurant. |
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| They apparently do catering services too so if you're planning a simple gathering and am looking for a Chinoy menu, then you might want to give them a call. We then proceeded to our next destination, another hole in the wall place that not only cooks dumplings, but is made there from scratch. I think I've also been here twice in the past but always just buy a pack of frozen dumplings, I didn't know they serve it in the restaurant upstairs. This is quite near the main Eng Bee Tin branch which sits right across the street. This is near the bridge which people use as a shortcut if they're coming from the Lucky Chinatown Mall. |
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| The dough is made fresh as I mentioned earlier, we found them making a whole batch and they were even wrapping them up on the next table. |
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| They had simple ingredients, mostly pork and leeks. |
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| Beside our table upstairs, there was a bunch of Onion leeks sitting in the corner probably to be made into dumplings later on. |
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| The requirement for the dumplings include a vinegar based dip, it was around 8/10 tangy, a little soy, a little garlic I think in a plastic bottle. They also serve free hot tea I think but you have to ask for it. |
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| If you want to be a little adventurous, you have this bottle of Chili and Chili oil on the side so right after you pour the vinegar concoction on a small plate, add in a teaspoon of this on it too. |
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| The dumplings were heavenly! They also had several other dumplings on the menu so if you're around the place, make sure you drop by and try some. Otherwise, they have a couple plastic full of these lovely dumplings that are frozen, then take home. It's easy to cook too because you just have to boil it in water for a few minutes and enjoy! |
After a half day of walking around Binondo and Manila's Chinatown, it looks like I haven't even though about complaining walking that far. It was comfortable, it looked good and we obviously turned heads with our new Chuck II Knit Sneakers. I've been using it almost everyday too because it's easy to clean, easy to put on and it doesn't slip. If you want to know more about the Chuck II Knit Sneakers and their other products and events, make sure you follow them on Facebook at the channels below!
I'd like to take this opportunity to thank Converse Philippines for having us participate in this Food Wok Tour in Binondo,I enjoyed a lot and had excellent food tasted in every stop. People should really start walking out more so they could discover a whole other world out there. Walk with the Chuck II Knit Sneakers too while you're at it!
For more information about their shoes:
Converse Philippines
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