Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Museo ng Pambata
Roxas Blvd at South Drive • March-Aug Tues-Sat 9am-noon & 1-5pm, Sun 1-5pm; Sept-Feb Tues-Sat 8am-5pm, Sun 1-5pm • Adults
& children P150 •
T
02 523 1797,
W
museopambata.org • LRT to UN Avenue
The entertaining
Museo ng Pambata
(Children's Museum) has several hands-on
exhibitions designed to excite young children; at the Maynila Noon exhibit they can
get a feel for history using interactive displays - replicas of ships, churches and native
Filipino homes - and there's also a simulated rainforest and seabed. On the first
Saturday of every month shadow puppetry is put on; on the third Saturday you can see
music and dance (both start at 10am).
1
Ermita and Malate
Two of the city's oldest neighbourhoods,
Ermita
and
Malate
nestle behind Roxas
Boulevard, facing Manila Bay. Ermita was infamous for its go-go bars and massage
parlours up until the late 1980s, when tough-guy mayor Alfredo Lim closed most of
them, alleging that they were fronts for
prostitution
. Sadly, the massages and KTV
hostess bars have gradually slipped back, this time to serve busloads of Japanese and
Korean high-spenders, and there has been a resurgence of prostitution in Ermita; it is
now the Philippines second largest centre for paid sex after Angeles City.
Ermita and Malate otherwise remain in most part a ragbag of budget hotels,
choked streets, fast-food outlets and bars, with street children all too prevalent on
every corner, though the area does look to be changing; several high-end residential
developments and hotels have already jazzed up some streets. Most of the sights in
this area lie along Manila Bay in the form of the
Metropolitan Museum
and the
Cultural Center of the Philippines
, though
Paco Park
, to the east, is also worth a look
if you have time.
Metropolitan Museum
Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Complex, Roxas Blvd • Mon-Sat 10am-5.30pm (Gold & Pottery Galleries Mon-Fri 10am-4.30pm) • P100 •
T
02 521 1517,
W
metmuseum.ph • LRT to Vito Cruz, then a CCP orange-coloured jeepney from Taft Ave and Pablo Ocampo St
he
Metropolitan Museum
is best known for the Central Bank's astounding collection
of
pre-colonial gold and pottery
, which lies in the basement. Most of this stunning
ensemble of magnificent jewellery, amulets, necklaces and intricate gold work dates
from between 200 BC and 900 AD, long before the Spanish Conquest. Look out for
the extraordinary Kamagi Necklaces (long threads of gold), Islamic art from Lake
Maranao, ancestral death masks and items from the Surigao Treasure (see p.438). The
pottery section is dull by comparison, though some of the pots here are very ancient.
Note though that this whole section is closed on Saturdays. The museum also houses a
fine permanent collection of contemporary and historic artworks from Asia, America,
Europe and Africa (including Egypt), plus temporary displays from high-profile
contemporary Filipino artists.
MANILA BAY BY BOAT
Sun Cruises
(
T
02 527 5555,
W
corregidorphilippines.com), CCP Terminal A, Pedro Bukaneg
St, near the Cultural Center, runs daily jaunts around the
Manila Bay
, which can be fun
despite the often distressing amounts of rubbish floating around - the views of the city at
sunset, surrounded by the volcanoes of Bataan and Batangas, are magical. Most cruises
(1hr 30min) include a meal on board and run daily at 4.15pm, 6.15pm and 8.15pm. Boats
depart from the wharf next to Jumbo Palace at the end of Pedro Bukaneg. Tickets are P550
per person (Fri-Sun P650).
