Backpacking Philippines: Kiapo: Where Quiapo, Manila Got Its Name

Kiapo: Where Quiapo, Manila Got Its Name

The trip to Liliw, Laguna was an eye opener for me since I was taking pictures of those kawai green floating plants that remind me of my childhood in ricefields and on the shores of Laguna de Bay. My ate who saw me remarked, "Pati ba naman yang kiapo kinukunan mo ng picture? (You take pictures even of that water cabbage?)," when it dawned on me that those floating plants were actually what I was searching for for some time now.

All the while I thought they're called azolla that I see almost everyday floating on a pond in Ayala Triangle! :(

Some of you may ask why but these plants used to thrive in the area of Manila now called Quiapo, the seedy yet exciting district of Manila that I love to visit!

Kiapo, water cabbage in english and scientific name Pistia Stratiotes, have fan-like leaves and brown, porous ends servings as roots and grow floating on stagnant water. Large concentrations of these floating plants make good hiding places for surface fishes like gouramies (freshwater fish species introduced in the Philippines possibly from Thailand).

Kiapo plants near 25 centavo coins to give you an idea of their size (taken somewhere in Biak-na-bato National Park in Bulacan)

Now, all I need to look for and take actual pictures of is the elusive Nilad tree, a certain species of mangrove (bakawan) that used to grow profusely in Manila and where Manila got its name.

I blogged/joked some time ago that Manila should change its name to Walang Nila since there are no longer Nila trees growing in the city; I don't think I can also joke about that when the same proposition applies also to Quiapo's long lost kiapo dwellers.

Quiapo attractions:

1. Quiapo Church - Church of the Black Nazarene where the fiesta is held every 9th of February. Within the vicinity of this church you can buy various herbal medicines including abortifacients. Also fortune tellers using tarot cards ply their trade here. Quite ironic for a place of worship
2. Plaza Miranda
3. Hidalgo Street- where you can buy cheap cameras, lenses, tripods, and other photographic supplies and equipment
4. Raon (Gonzalo Puyat) - electronics, parts, musical instruments, trophies, hardware tools et al
5. San Sebastian Church- an all-steel church in Asia, built in Belgium, and designed by the company of Gustave Eiffel
6. Bahay Nakpil-Bautista on Calle Barbosa (now A. Bautista Street)
7. Manila Golden Mosque on Globo de Oro St.
8. Villalobos and Bautista: sidestreets full of pirated DVDs, CDs and bootlegged materials
9. Evangelista St where to buy industrial pumps and generators
10. Ronquillo St where to buy cheap eyeglasses and optical supplies

Please refer also to my earlier blog post about this here where a picture of the Nila (not Nilad) is posted.

How to Get to Quiapo

Labels: Flora and Fauna, Manila, Metro Manila, Nueva Ecija, Quiapo

posted by GingGoy @ 10:45 PM,

22 Comments:

At May 31, 2007, 8:40:00 PM, Anonymous said...: aba pers ako! heheh...

mahal ng ganyan dito 70 pesos ang isa niyan. nalala ko tumutubo lang yan sa mga ilog.
At Jun 1, 2007, 12:19:00 AM, Anonymous said...: tito,

edible ba yan?

dp
At Jun 1, 2007, 8:08:00 AM, carlotta1924 said...: galing ba sa chinese yang pangalan na yan?
At Jun 1, 2007, 12:21:00 PM, Anonymous said...: Ah!

I never knew that it was called water cabbage! Thanks for sharing po.

[:
At Jun 2, 2007, 7:56:00 AM, Sidney said...: Interesting info!
At Jun 2, 2007, 9:33:00 PM, Anonymous said...: ngayon ko lang nalaman na kiapo ang tawag dyan... kaya pala bibihira rin ang mga gurami.
At Jun 4, 2007, 1:41:00 AM, Anonymous said...: kahit hindi ako mahilig sa mga halaman, napatutok ang aking mga mata sa post mo.. hehe...

very info...

Godbless! :)
At Jun 4, 2007, 6:19:00 PM, Anonymous said...: I heard about this before and felt pleasantly surprised that Quiapo got its name from the lilies that had once grown there in great numbers...
At Jun 5, 2007, 9:44:00 AM, - said...: ok sa trivia bago ko din lang alam yun..d naturo sa min nun elementary e.hehehe
At Jun 5, 2007, 12:27:00 PM, Nick Ballesteros said...: Uy... we were in Dolores, Quezon last weekend and those were being sold as well. hindi ko na tinanong how much kasi mahirap mag-alaga ng halaman sa sa Manila... Nalalanta dahil sa init.
At Jun 6, 2007, 12:32:00 PM, Anonymous said...: kiapo- - - quiapo, makes sense. but i did not know that until now.
At Jun 7, 2007, 9:23:00 AM, Anonymous said...: mousey,

mura lang yan sa amin nagkalat sa palayan :)

datupanot,

all I know is that they're sometimes used as animal feed

carlotta,

don't know yet but i'll try to research more hehe

kyels,

all along i thought, as i said, azolla :(

sidney,

at least now I know

eye,

pareho tayo. miss ko manghuli ng gurami sa lawa

ginoong lapis,

naisulat mo na ba name? hehe

major tom,

yes, kiapo used to grow in abundance in that place years ago before the filth that pile up there

germs,

absent din ako nang ituro yan :)

watson,

they're being sold for aquariums but they can be found in the ricefields din...

sexymom,

quiapo is the hispanized name of the place.
At Jun 9, 2007, 3:41:00 PM, Anonymous said...: Very very interesting information. The kiapo is so beautiful. It looks too good to eat.
At Jun 9, 2007, 4:33:00 PM, jhenny said...: ahh, kiapo pala ang tawag dun :) nakikita ko yan madalas sa mga pond, at sa mga cross stitch patterns :)
At Jun 11, 2007, 11:44:00 PM, Anonymous said...: sa garden ni father blanco sa san agustin museum may mga kiapo din dun... weird pero dun lang ako unang nakakita nyan. haha!
At Jun 12, 2007, 3:04:00 AM, punkiliciousss said...: hahaha! ako rin nakaka-receive ng ganyang comments tipong "aanhin mo naman ang picture ng dahon"

but see?

ang ganda ng pic kahit kiapo lang. btw, kiapo pala tawag dun!
At Jun 13, 2007, 10:13:00 AM, Anonymous said...: Very interesting. First time I've heard of kiapo and seen this plant. Thanks for sharing.
At Jun 19, 2007, 2:37:00 PM, jenny said...: may i use your pic of kiapo please? i posted your pic on my blog (neurotikan.livejournal.com) as part of my homage to quiapo with credit of course. i will take it down if it's not ok with you.
At Jul 21, 2007, 1:10:00 AM, forevermonk said...: ey ganun pala yun--- pero sa amin sa bikol tawag namin diyan ay daquiri plants--super super dami nyan sa mga ricefields na nakikipagsabayan naman sa pagtubo ng mga palay--- i remember noon- bata pa ako buong maghapon ako "naghihilamon" ng mga yan kasi they grew faster than palay kaya natatabunan nito at nagsisikip ang space na dapat ma occupy ng palay plant...
At Sep 28, 2007, 9:43:00 PM, Anonymous said...: Sa UP Manila maraming Quiapo....

Thanks na rin sa info kasi may botany class kami at dagdag info yan para sa herbarium project namin!!!!
At Sep 19, 2008, 11:56:00 PM, Anonymous said...: this is great trivia. i didn't know that.... thanks for the post.
At Jun 29, 2011, 10:42:00 PM, maria theresa estilong said...: do you know where can i buy this plant? i hope you will reply... badly needed for my research....

Kiapo: Where Quiapo, Manila Got Its Name

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