Visit the National Museum
The first place I go to as a tourist when I visit a place is always the museum.
And it is because of 2 things:
It is a crash course of the history and culture of the place. It makes me understand and appreciate other things I will encounter later on in the trip.
It is a collection. The psychology of collecting is an interesting topic. It is taking things and putting them together according to themes. And sometimes, some things don’t make it to a collection because it may not have any value. But what is value? This question is perhaps already in the realm of philosophy. So let’s get back to topic. Collections show what a society or individual values. If a collection of cars is put up, it means someone or a group of people value cars in this specific place. If it puts a bunch of phallic symbols, well you get what I mean.
For these two things, the National Museum of the Philippines is one of the best museums I have ever been to. It is where you can get the best glimpses to our history. It has a variety of collections from botanical notes, sketches to paintings and marble sculptures made by our nation’s greatest artists.
Be sure to check it out. Admission is free for the whole month of May 2016!
National Museum website: http://www.nationalmuseum.gov.ph