Showing posts with label museum. Show all posts

Lakbay Museo: The Philippines' Culture Presented in an Instagrammable Way



Lakbay Museo opened at S Maison, Conrad Manila, Pasay a few months before the pandemic hit and we all had to go on lockdown and start quarantining. I've seen it a few times then when I pass by S Maison and have always wanted to visit. Finally, I found a willing companion to come with me, my cousin, Ricca. 

The photo above shows us by the entrance of Lakbay Museo. As explained to us, though not shown in the photo, there are three ways to enter the museum: through the jeepney, the airplane or the boat. Currently, the airplane which is the middle entrance, isn't available. But these three entrances are meant to represent the three ways one can explore the Philippines: by land, by sea and by air. 


We picked the jeepney over the boat. And how fitting of me as a traveler since I prefer land travels over airplane rides and boats. 

Lakbay Museo is an interactive museum where you can learn about the Philippines' culture while letting you touch and play with items in the museum and take your photo with them as well. 


Inside Lakbay Museo

Inihaw street food is popular among us Filipinos 



Baskets of dried fish. Considering the Philippiens is surrounded by bodies of water, it's no surprise fish is a highly consumed meal in the country. 


And of course, we've got the different meats sold in the market from pigs, beef and chicken. I personally love eating beef and dearly miss eating Nilagang Baka. Because of high prices of meat in the market, mom usually cooks Nilagang Baboy instead.  


Carinderia is also part of the Filipino culture. Although the photo is really more like a small grocery. Carinderia after all is defined as a small roadside restaurant that serves Filipino dishes that are lutong-bahay.


Another Filipino culture? The sari-sari store. Like the carinderia, it's also usually found in every street where you can buy various items from candies to chips, to soft drinks, noodles and canned goods. Some even sell stuff like plastic balloons and paper dolls. 

We've got a carinderia and a sari-sari store. Though when I was a kid, I remember going to another sari-sari store just a few houses away from where I live. They sold plastic balloons which I loved blowing up. 






A couple of Filipino indigenous people 

Bahay Kubo 




 And because the Philippines is dubbed as the Pearl of the Orient Sea, we also have canned sardines 


                
                 


                       

Various Filipino Foods

Something I love about the Filipino culture is the many delectable foods we have in the different regions in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao. I think if you're a foodie, the experience of tasting the different Filipino dishes is heavenly idea.  


Camote cue and banana cue. Personally, I enjoy eating banana cue as a snack. It's ripe banana cooked with brown sugar. 


Lechon is also a much loved dish in the Philippines. Traditional Filipino celebrations often have lechon served during their gatherings such as weddings, Christmas, New Year and birthdays. I remember my birthday parties always had this. 



                

Various Filipino kakanin and various pansit. Some of my fave kakanin are sumang malagkit, maja and puto bungbong which usually can be bought around Ber months when Christmas is nearing. As for pancit, well, I've always loved pancit bihon and pancit lucban which we usually order from Buddy's.  




Final Thoughts

We definitely had a great time bonding at Lakbay Museo. I think this interactive museum is worth visiting for both kids and adults alike. And whether you're Filipino or you've got a foreign friend you'd like to introduce the Philippines to, this is a great place to start! There's so much you can learn just by exploring the place. 

If you want to visit Lakbay Museo, there's a great deal on Klook that's not to be missed: Lakbuy 1, Get 1 Free Ticket!   

Places in the City I Want to Visit

Travelling abroad seems to be a very far fetched idea for me right now and for the near future. After all, COVID-19 pandemic is still here. It's okay though. There's already so many awesome places in the city I want to visit! 


1. Belfry Cafe

This cafe can be found in Intramuros, Manila. It is a newly opened cafe with a name that comes from where it is located: the ground belfry of Manila Cathedral. Dining under a huge church bell! Awesome! 


 

 

2. Flower Ranch Cafe

This cafe has been all over my Instagram feed lately and for a good reason! It's such an Instagrammable place in the city to visit! As the name implies, it's not only a cafe but also a flower shop so if you love flowers and coffee, then this place is a must visit! I love coffee and I have recently come to appreciate having flowers (dried flowers) in the house. 

According to their website, they started out as a small flower shop hidden in the middle of a gray and busy highway of Mandaluyong. After a trip to Seoul, the owner got the idea to marry her dream of having a coffee shop with their flower shop and that's how Flower Ranch Cafe was born.


  


3. Papakape

This glass house cafe is located in Palanan, Makati. I first learned about it through Spot.ph. Papakape is founded on the Filipino phrase, "Papakape ako" or "I'll make you coffee". This small cafe serves unique kind of  signature coffee or tea that's combined with ginger. I wonder how that would taste like?  
 


4. Hidden Garden


Another place in the city I want to visit is this Hidden Garden located in Lawton, Manila. It's one of the city of Manila's projects that involve open air green space. It used to be a dumping ground and a parking lot. Now it's been rehabilitated and turned into something beautiful! 

The place has a series of pocket gardens, lots of open air place to walk around and there's also a cafe! 


  Photo credit: Tripzilla


5. Presidential Car Museum

I love taking trips to the museum. In fact, pre-pandemic, one of my dearest friends and I were even planning on going museum hopping! The Presidential Car Museum is where you can see the largest collection of historic state cars in the Philippines. This is located in Quezon Memorial Circle, Quezon City.  
 

 


6. Coffee Shop @ Bonifacio Shrine 

Finally, on my list of places in the city I want to visit is this coffee shop that's also located in Manila. Like the Hidden Garden, I first learned of this place in the news. This coffee place is described as modern meets old. 


 


Tomorrow, it's officially a year since we were put on lockdown. One year has passed and cases have ballooned up again, almost surpassing the peak of our cases last year so I'm staying home as much as I can. For now, these places are just going on my city adventures bucket list. Hopefully when it's safer to go roaming around again, they're still around.