7 a.m. — Marikina River Park


Photo from Marikina.gov.ph


A day in Marikina must begin by the river, as it is considered the wellspring of the city’s life and culture. What was once a muddy embankment is now a 20-kilometer jogging lane (about 10 km on both the East and West banks) with strategically placed landmarks for people to hang out in, as well as pockets of land for urban farming. A quick run by the riverbank should start the day right. 




9 a.m. — Goto Garahe



You can’t get any more #UrbanRural than by enjoying a bowl of goto and tokwa’t baboy after a satisfying morning run by the river. Locals love this quaint restaurant along J.P. Rizal Street (no Pinoy town does not have such a street), which has been around for upwards of three decades, because they use an heirloom recipe and do not scrimp on ingredients. Their goto has juicy strips of meaty beef and the baboy in their tokwa is real lechon kawali. You get both for P65. Steal!


Goto Garahe is at 269 J. P. Rizal St., San Roque



9:30 a.m. — Shop for treats at J.P. Rizal 




We can scoot over to the row of local delicacy shops 20 or so steps away from Goto Garahe. This is where you can buy Marikina’s famous puto—tasty little dark orange treats with melted cheese on top. Local history tells us that an amiable lady named Aling Remy was the first to come up with the delicacy in 1933 and that Commonwealth President Manuel Quezon used to buy from her regularly (because Quezon used to own a considerable chunk of Marikina as his hacienda). Aling Remy’s heirs still sell puto in the exact same place she set up shop. 



12 p.m. — Lunch at Industriya 





Lunch will be at a place that used to be a shoe factory, and you can actually see tools and machines once used to make shoes repurposed as restaurant displays. Industriya is located in a fairly hidden part of Marikina so that adds to its charm. The interiors are straight Instragrammable. Food is a mix of Filipino, Western, and Japanese fare. This is one of those places that don’t require you to hurry along. 


Industriya is at 23 M.A. Roxas St., Calumpang




1 p.m. — Discount shop at Riverbanks Mall


The Marikina Riverbanks Mall used to be the factory space of a textile mill. Here is where you can get the famed Marikina-made shoes at discount prices. We advise that you pick out the ones in real leather with good stitches. It is also here where sneaker giants Nike and Adidas have discount outlets facing each other, as though they were doing a Mcdo-Jabee duel.The best thing is that their selections are totally respectable, and the prices are even better. 


Riverbanks Mall is at A. Bonifaco Avenue, Barangka, adjacent to the Marikina River




2 p.m. — Sneak in a…secret eat!


AO will now let you in on a secret the locals have been trying to keep to themselves (heck, even some locals don’t know it exists; only the true-blues are aware of its provenance): It’s a street vendor of local mami that is unlike anything you’ve ever tasted before. His bowl does not taste Chinese—the noodles are flat miki, the broth is of a savory beef-kind not unlike nilaga or bulalo, with an unmistakable hint of ginger that makes the overall taste refreshing. The locals swear it’s the greatest hangover cure. The guy who runs the cart inherited it from his dad and what worries the locals is if there is someone who will inherit the recipe when the son calls it quits. 


Find it at M.C. Cruz St., Marikina Public Market, Sta. Elena



3 p.m.  — Marikina Shoe Museum


The only tourist-y item on this day-trip itinerary, it’s located a few steps away from the puto shops. Local stories say that the museum used to be a 19-century granary; now it houses a capsule history of the Marikina shoe industry as well as a part of the famed shoe collection of former First Lady Imelda Marcos. But there is one other thing that should interest you, apart from the shoes: in front of the museum there used to be a very old acacia tree that was felled by a freak tornado just recently. Its remnants are still there, and local bonsai practitioners have moved to save the tree, so now we can be witnesses to how a tree is reborn for future generations.  



4 p.m. — Street barbecue at Mang Frederick’s 



Last stop is the best stop for AO, because it’s the best street food in Marikina by far. Mang Frederick’s has been selling pork barbecue, isaw and balat in the exact same spot by the Our Lady of the Abandoned Church since 1964. Cause for celebration here is the pork isaw (intestines) that is so flavorful you wouldn’t think gunk seeped through it when it did its work inside a live pig. It tastes absolutely clean, no aftertaste. They start selling at a little past 4 p.m. and are sold out before 7p.m. The congregation of the faithful gathered around the grill makes sure of that. Any self-respecting Marikenyo with guests bragging about their non-risk for gout will take them to Mang Frederick’s because they are asking for it.


Mang Frederick’s is at V. Gomez St., San Roque