According to Wikipedia, the Manila Chinese cemetery is the second oldest cemetery in the city, built during the Spanish times for non-Christian Chinese residing in the country.

Since then, however, it has become the resting place for the Chinese community in the country regardless of religious affiliation.

The cemetery is said to be the burial of many prominent Chinese in local history, including those who led uprisings during the Japanese occupation, but one name caught my attention.

So I went there the day before All Saints’ Day and I did find his tomb but unfortunately, I can only peek from outside the locked gate, seeing there were no visitors yet then.

Ma Mon Luk’s story itself deserves a follow-up quest, perhaps in the streets of Binondo. For starters, legend has it that Ma Mon Luk was responsible for popularizing mami and siopao. The word mami – a concoction of chicken and egg noodles in broth – is said to have been derived from his name.

Honestly, I expected a more opulent mausoleum housing Ma Mon Luk’s tomb. But while me and my fellow reporter Marjorie were walking around looking for the Mami King’s burial place, we did find a lot of those that look like temples.

Some of these mausoleums were so big they come “fully-furnished”, complete with sala sets and a toilet and bathroom.

Throw in a widescreen TV, maybe a ref or hell, even an entire kitchen showcase can still fit in there. Cover those tombs with cloth and you have a dining table. And like any apartment, most of these mausoleums even have caretakers.

What I remember most from our visit is that unlike “normal” cemeteries, I didn’t see tombstones crowding each other on the ground. There was also ample space between tombs, so that should make people not worry about stepping “out of bounds”, so to speak come All Saints’ Day.