I wish I could say that museums in the Philippines are as well-visited as museums in the countries. The fact is sadly, museums here are not much promoted as destinations to be visited by locals and tourists. Yes, for some reason, some travel books and sites about the Philippines do not emphasize that visiting a museum here is a must-do. Do Filipinos couldn’t care less about museums and the things being showcased there? Do they generally find museums boring compared to malls and beaches? Do some think our museums here suck? While I have no answer to the first 2 questions, I must say that the answer to the 3rd…
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Quiapo’s home of heroes: the Bahay Nakpil-Bautista
On the occasion of the 150th birth anniversary of Andres Bonifacio, one of the country’s foremost heroes, the founder of the Kataastaasang, Kagalang-galang na Katipunan ng mga Anak ng Bayan or Katipunan, the secret organization that lit the fire that was the Philippine Revolution in 1896, the Urban Roamer visits a heritage house that has a connection to this renowned figure. For many people, Quiapo is the epitome of Manila’s urban madness: the “chaos” of people and vehicles on its streets and the commerce that goes by that place each day. That particular madness has brought both good and ill to this bustling district that has long had a rich,…
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Museo Pambata: the children’s museum that was once an social club
In a metropolis where tales of gems neglected or lost to urbanization, the story of the old Elks Club Building along Manila’s Roxas Boulevard near Rizal Park is a story worth to be told and emulated in the field of what they call as “adaptive reuse” or making use of an old structure into a different purpose while maintaining its classic character. And the story behind this edifice gets more interesting. As the name suggests, it served as the home of the Manila Elks Club, a social club and fraternal organization that is under the Elks Lodge (or formally, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks) centrally based in Chicago.…
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The Art Museum at the GSIS Financial Center
October happens to be “Museum and Galleries Month.” In commemoration of this occasion, the Urban Roamer decided to pay a visit to one of the city’s more overlooked museums. And that says something considering the situation here currently that museums here aren’t placed high in the must-visit list among locals. Today, we visit the GSIS Financial Center in the reclaimed area that is part of the CCP Complex in Pasay City, headquarters of the Government Service Insurance System, (GSIS) the social insurance institution catering to government employees. The building is actually a Marcos-era structure that was completed in 1985, but it was not fully utilized until 9 years later, when…