Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
National Museum of the Filipino People
Finance Rd at Padre Burgos Ave • Tues-Sun 10am-5pm • P150 (free on Sun), includes entry to National Art Gallery •
T
02 527 1215,
W
nationalmuseum.gov.ph • LRT to UN Avenue
The absorbing
National Museum of the Filipino People
occupies what used to be the
Department of Finance Building, a stately Greek Revival edifice completed in 1940.
Much of the priceless collection of artefacts on display has been retrieved from
shipwrecks, most notably the
San Diego
, a Spanish galleon that sank off Fortune Island
in Batangas after a battle with the Dutch in 1600. Recovered in 1992, the ship yielded
over five thousand objects, not all intrinsically valuable: you'll see chicken bones and
hazelnuts from the ship's store, as well as tons of Chinese porcelain, storage jars,
rosaries and silver goblets. Other rooms contain objects from wrecked Chinese junks
going back to the early eleventh century - compelling evidence of trade links that
existed long before the Spanish arrived.
The well-labelled anthropology section on the third floor is equally engrossing, with
displays from almost every region and tribal group in the Philippines, including the
enigmatic anthropomorphic jars discovered in Ayub Cave (Mindanao) that date back
to 5 BC. These jars were used to hold the bones of ancestors.
1
Manila Hotel
1 Rizal Park •
T
02 527 0011,
W
www.manila-hotel.com.ph • Take a taxi or walk from Manila Ocean Park
he
Manila Hotel
, just northwest of Rizal Park, is the most historic of the city's
luxury hotels, though now a little careworn. It's still the best place to get a sense of
early twentieth-century Manila, those halcyon days when the city was at its cultural
and social zenith; you can even stay (see p.86) in the
General Douglas MacArthur
Suite
, residence from 1936 to 1941 of the man Filipinos called the Caesar of
America. If even the standard rooms are beyond your means, you can at least sip a
martini in the lobby while listening to a string quartet and watching the capital's
elite strut by.
When the hotel opened in 1912 it represented the epitome of colonial class
and luxury. Lavish dances known as rigodon balls were held every month in the
Grand Ballroom
, with high-society guests dancing the quadrille in traditional
ternos
(formal evening dresses) and dinner jackets. Today staff glide around in similarly
elegant attire.
The hotel has its own historical
archive
, containing signed photographs of illustrious
guests, from Marlon Brando, looking young and slender in a native
barong
(formal
shirt), to Ricky Martin and Jon Bon Jovi. The archive is available to guests only, but if
you eat or drink at the hotel, one of the guest relations of
cers should be able to show
it to you. South of the hotel is the
Quirino Grandstand
where various of
cial functions
take place, including a military parade on Independence Day.
Manila Ocean Park
Parade Ave, off Roxas Blvd (behind Quirino Grandstand) • Mon-Fri 10am-9pm, Sat & Sun 9am-9pm • Entry P400; packages to
see all shows P550-900 •
T
02 567 7777,
W
manilaoceanpark.com • Shuttle buses (P30) run between the entrance and UN
Avenue LRT station
At the far western end of Rizal Park, along the bayfront, lies
Manila Ocean Park
,
one of the city's most popular attractions. The undoubted highlight is the
Oceanarium
, a huge saltwater tank viewed via a 25m-long walkway, packed with
some twenty thousand sea creatures. There are also spectacular light shows, musical
fountains, sea lion shows, a birds of prey exhibit, a trippy jellyfish installation and a
penguin park (all incurring extra charges). It's also the home of the
Liquid Pool &
Lounge
bar (see p.94).
