T+N Explores: Manila museums

Noah and I planned to go on leave last month, just because. Haha! Actually, it was for no apparent reason at all. We just wanted to relax and spend some time together before he leaves again for a business trip. Since Noah is a big museum fan (spell G-E-E-K!), what better suggestion did he come up with but for us to tour around Manila's famous museums. We had been planning this for a long time but didn't find any common time to do it. I was kind of hesitant at first but I thought, what the heck. It might be fun to discover the places where our national heroes and ancestors frequented and made their marks. So I went along.

And with this, I thought of starting a new section of this blog: T+N Explores. This is to document and write about reviews of our adventures. Obviously, T+N stands for Tam + Noah, just in case haven't figured it out yet. Hihihi. :P

1st stop: Fort Santiago
Fort Santiago is a historical park located inside of Intramuros, Manila. It is said to be where Jose Rizal spent his last few days before his public execution in Luneta. A museum is found within the park that showcases certain garments and stuff owned by Rizal, as well as copies of his literary masterpieces. The place is actually nice and picturesque. In fact, a pre-nup photoshoot was being done when we were there.

Parking: Yes (pay parking)
Entrance fee: 75 pesos (adults)/person

2nd stop: BSP Metropolitan Museum
This was actually an accidental stop. Haha. Honestly, didn't really enjoy this museum  much coz most of the exhibits were closed and those that were left were the ancient gold and pottery and the art gallery. I'm not sure of their formal names but that's what I can remember. Hihi. Didn't appreciate it and i kinda felt short-changed. :/ No pictures here because it's not allowed.... Boooo!

Parking: Yes (free)
Entrance fee: 100 pesos/person

3rd stop: BSP Money Museum
I actually  liked this one because the history/evolution of our money interests me. I've learned a bit about it in one of my econ classes but to see the money for real is a nice experience. It started from rocks/minerals, which were used as currencies back then up to the paper and coins that we have now. We also discovered that the Philippines had different kinds of money during the different foreign occupations of the country. One of the most interesting pieces for me was the note sent by then President Marcos' assistants to one of our national artists to give instructions on the portrait of President Marcos to be reflected on the bills.

The exhibit was really good and worth our time. And to top it all off, entrance was free! Haha! Just note that bags are not allowed inside the museum. They'll ask you to leave it in their provided lockers. This wasactually nice since we got to go around without the burden of our bags. :D As a result, we forgot to take pictures. hahaha.
Parking: Yes (free)
Entrance fee: Free!!! :)

4th stop: MOA Eye
Oh the MOA Eye. Haha. As the name implies, it is our local version of the London and the Singapore Eye, which are huge ferris wheels overlooking the cityscape. It is found beside the Mall of Asia, on the side near the Manila Bay. The ride is actually bitin and i think will be better if you ride it at night. And in my opinion, hmmm you could probably do better things with your 350 pesos. Hehe! :D

Parking: Yes (paid; MOA's parking space)
Entrance fee: 350pesos/person

So that's about it! We spent the whole day traversing Manila and exploring these spots. It was a nice and fun day and even though I didn't enjoy 100% of the places, the day's adventure was a nice refresher from a busy work life. :)