Lakbay Museo: Explore the Philippines without leaving Manila

From festivals to food, the Philippines is amazingly vibrant and colorful. Lakbay Museo aims to give visitors a chance to travel around Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao and experience the best that the Philippines has to offer in under two hours right in Manila. We recently got a sneak peek of the museum inside S Maison at Conrad Manila right beside Mall of Asia (MOA), before its official opening on July 12.

Featuring hourly cultural dances and shows, free samples of native delicacies and even lambanog and fruit wine tasting (for adults), this is kind of like Nayong Pilipino for the Instagram generation.

Lakbay Museo describes itself as the “first PH interactive millennial museum.” The vibrant colors, IG-ready stalls, perfectly flatlayed food replicas and quirky props seem to have been designed to appeal to social media users. The museum offers 14 unique experiences featuring 11 different destinations around the country.

This includes walking through replicas of iconic landmarks, tasting samples of regional cuisine, touching handwoven textiles, and taking part in traditional folk dances. The museum aims to give the younger generation a chance to travel across the Philippines and know more about its rich history and culture.

The museum provides fun facts and depicts unique aspects of Philippine culture in creative and interactive ways. For instance, the chairs around the stage look like puto with cheese while the benches look like suman, which I found cute. Unlike most museums where you can’t touch anything, in Lakbay Museo you can climb up the exhibits, play in an area filled with (plastic) rice, and try balancing rubber palayoks on your head. There are a lot of fun, photogenic spots and areas for photo ops.

Each visit comes with twelve (12) chips that you can use as payment inside the museum. You can get freebies like candies from your childhood (I spotted Orange Swits, Stay Fresh, Haw Haw and Tarzan bubble gum), native treats and more. The goods normally cost around 1-4 chips each.

Right by the exit, there’s also a souvenir shop that sells unique souvenir products from micro, small and medium scale enterprises all around the country and traditional toys, well-designed t-shirts, totes and other items.

I think this museum will appeal mostly to international tourists in transit in Manila, families with kids, or those looking for somewhere new to go in Manila especially during the rainy season. The museum is accessible to PWDs and senior citizens. It’ll probably be popular for school tours as well. 

I really don’t want to give everything away because the place is best experienced, so I’ll just share a few photos and basic information.

Location

Lakbay Museo is located on the ground floor of S Maison, Marina Way, Mall of Asia Complex, Pasay City. You can easily Google or Waze “Conrad Hotel Marina Way Mall of Asia Complex.” For those traveling by public transportation, S Maison is connected by a covered walkway from Mall of Asia.

What to bring

Visitors are allowed (in fact, they’re encouraged) to take photos and videos of the experience for personal use. However, professional photo shoot equipment such as tripods, lighting materials, and props are strictly prohibited unless you want to avail of their photo shoot package.

Rates

The two-hour Philippine adventure costs P799 if you walk-in and during holidays, and weekends. You can get a special rate of P699 if you book it online. Some sites like MetroDeal are offering discounted rates.

Address & contact information

Lakbay Museo. Level 1, S Maison at Conrad Manila, Marina Way, Mall of Asia Complex, Pasay, 1300 Metro Manila, Philippines. Hours of operation: 10 AM to 10 PM but last call is 9:00 PM

• Wesbsite: www.lakbaymuseo.ph
• Facebook: Lakbay Museo PH
• Instagram: @LakbayMuseoPH

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