A travel & adventure blog by Kara Santos
Do you miss traveling and going to museums? The Book Museum and Ethnology Center in Marikina announced that they’re finally reopening on July 18, 2021 (Sunday) at 50% capacity. This colorful and quirky museum offers an interesting visit for book-lovers and avid travelers. The museum contains a collection of limited edition books and published materials from all around the world, including travel artifacts from different regions of the Philippines.
When you think of museums to visit in Rizal, the Instagram hotspots of Pinto Art Museum and Art Sector Gallery and Chimney Café are the first two museums that immediately come to mind. But it’s always nice to visit and revisit the older and more established museums around the country.
Museums have just started to reopen again in Manila at a restricted capacity, with limits on the number of visitors and online reservations systems in place. One of the country’s top museums that recently reopened is the National Museum of Natural History, one of the three main museums inside the National Museum of the Philippines (NMP) complex, which also includes the Museum of Fine Arts and Museum of Anthropology.
My last visit to the Museum of Natural History was before the pandemic hit, but I’m sharing the latest guidelines and new features as of June 2021 for reference for those who are looking for somewhere new to go in the metro.
Continue reading “National Museum of Natural History in Manila: New Guidelines (June 2021)”I’ve been meaning to visit ArtSector Gallery & Chimney Cafe 360º for a while now. This special events place located in my husband’s hometown of Binangonan has become one of the most popular spots on social media this past year because of the stunning views it offers. The relatively new café perched on a hill offers a 360º view of Laguna Lake, Sierra Madre Mountains, Pililla Windmills, sunset, moon, and city lights.
Need a bit of Christmas spirit and cheer in your lives? Or maybe you’re looking for a fun Christmas ride destination for biking or motorcycling near the metro for the weekend? Casa Santa Museum in Antipolo offers a fun Christmas-themed museum for those who want to experience the magic of the season all year-round.
Brisbane is the capital and the most populated city in the Australian state of Queensland. One of the oldest cities in Australia, Brisbane was founded upon ancient traditional lands. The city was named after the Brisbane River on which it is located, which in turn gets its name from Scotsman Sir Thomas Brisbane, the Governor of New South Wales at the time of the city’s founding.
Despite being a highly urbanized city, Marikina still manages to retain a sense of history, nature, and culture. The “Shoe Capital of the Philippines” is a bike-friendly city that possesses a quiet, small-town charm. Heritage buildings are preserved, the streets are clean and well-maintained, there are actual designated bike lanes, a number of public recreational spots, and green spaces, and lots of charming homegrown garden restaurants, unique shops, and hidden gems here.
Whenever I bike around Marikina, I feel like I’m biking around a small town in the province. While the rest of Metro Manila feels grimy, congested, and overly developed, you still get the feel of the simple provincial life in some spots here. Marikina feels like a modern-day pueblo where family-run businesses are still the norm and cultural heritage is still present. Here’s a look at some of the fun and unique things you can do in Marikina.
Continue reading “10 Fun & Unique Things to do in Marikina”The Philippines has its fair share of urban legends. A lot of Filipinos are superstitious or use horror stories to scare children into good behavior. We’ve all heard ghost stories or supernatural tales usually depicted as having happened to a friend of a neighbor or a distant family member and passed along by word of mouth, newspapers, and social media. Some urban legends have achieved cult classic status and become the subject of horror films and Halloween-related segments featuring haunted places in Manila.
The Quezon Memorial Circle or QMC is a national park located in Quezon City, the largest and most populous city of Metro Manila, which once served as the official capital of the Philippines from 1948 to 1976. Commonly referred to as the “Circle,” this park is located inside a large traffic roundabout bounded an Elliptical Road. Back in the ’80s, my cousins and I used to go here a lot, for bike rentals, roller skating, picnics, or to just enjoy the green surroundings. It got a bit run down during the ’90s, but in recent years, it’s gotten upgrades and improvements. I’ve revisited QMC for various events over the years, but I tend to take it for granted. It’s just something that’s always been there. But the lockdown has left me with a newfound appreciation for any accessible urban destination that has greens and open spaces.
I’ve always thought of museums as typically boring destinations. Most museums I grew up with were just buildings that exhibited historical artifacts. Items are usually just displayed behind glass cases and shelves while paintings are hung up on walls for people to just admire from afar. Usually, photography isn’t even allowed inside museums.
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