I usually spend free days visiting museums and get fascinated about these historically filled exhibits and true enough, the story behind these beautifully curated objects holds a great value. I never expected that there's a museum that can be found in 4th floor of Lucky Chinatown Mall located in Binondo, Manila. I've been there a lot of times, but I never heard of it. Not until, my brother visited and so, I thought maybe it's a great idea to take a stroll out there. I am a fond of museums, when my boyfriend and I had our first date, I told him that museums are perfect places to visit. And so, we went to visit National Museum of Art and History for free.
In Chinatown museum, we had an entrance fee. For adults, it's a 150 php and for students like me, it's a 100 php. When we get there, it seems like there are no other visitors because the hallway is too quiet and it's not yet crowded unlike in any other museums. We left our bags on the counter and proceed to pay for our tickets. The museum aims to show the history and influence of Binondo during early days up to the present, which is considered “the oldest Chinatown in the world.” It has interactive maps with a detailed lists of names of some streets that some are familiar to me (we used to have a place in Binondo during my college days) Also, It showcases the products of commerce in those early periods in Binondo.
I guess one of the highlights in the galleries is the Panaderia full of realistic pastries, Siopao, mooncakes and some other Chinese food delicacies. There are also galleries that shows business districts with products like tobacco, Barrel of wines, bananas, coconuts and some other fruits. In there, we also found a gallery about Watsons and Co, the first Watsons pharmacy in Binondo. Hopia, one of the well-known delicacy in Binondo can also be found. During my college days, our office is located near Polland restaurant. We used to eat tender and delicious Baby back ribs and my mom would bought Polland Hopia during holidays to share it as a gift for our relatives and friends.
Some food are also exhibited that shows the flavors of Binondo, some combinations of Filipino, Chinese and Spanish delicacies that seems realistic! (I wanted to post some of those pictures but I guess I'll leave it to the readers to try and visit the museum to experience a much more amazing look at the galleries)
He also taught me how to play sungka and he laughed about how I won the game even if it's my first try. The Sungka is free to everyone who wants an interactive game with friends.
