LAKBAY MUSEO: 2021 Year-End Museum Tour

LAKBAY MUSEO: An Interactive Colorful Display of Filipino Culture

Heya! It's yo girl, @genesys again with another wanderlust episode.

I prefer staying at home rather than going outside in the city. If I will have an outing, I make it sure that there is beach and sea in the area or trees around. That's why this place is very special to me because this was my first time visiting a museum.

Lakbay Museo is located at S'Maison, Seaside Blvd, Pasay City. It is within Mall of Asia Complex (the largest mall in the Philippines).

This instagrammable museum is built to showcase the rich Filipino culture and food across the country. We have 3 main islands here in the Philippines, Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao. And exploring these three will take a HUGE amount of money and time. But visiting this museum let's you travel to various regions in just a short span of time.

Lakbay means travel and Museo means museum

This is a traditional jeepney and the most common public transportation.

As soon as you enter the museum, you will be welcomed by various stores which are famous in the Philippines. All of the items are made of plastic but it really looks real products.

We have the "sari-sari store" which is basically a sundry convenience store.

A vegetable and fruit stand which can be found in wet markets.

This museum also features one of the signature street food in the Philippines, which is the "balut". This is a fertilized developing duck egg embryo that is boiled and eaten from the shell. This goes well with salt or vinegar.

We also have other street food like barbecue and banana cue.

Banana cue is a skewered banana cooked with brown sugar.
And yes, we also love barbecued chicken intestines, and chicken blood which we call as Betamax.

We also have variety of dried fish being sold especially near the beaches.

These are collection of spices and fermented products across the country.

Let us now go to the North of the Philippines.

That's a huge mortar and pestle. LOL

These are Burnay Jars which can be found in Vigan.

And of course, longaniza (longganisa) or chorizo is also famous in the north.

These are common "rekwerdos". These are typically handcrafted out of native materials.

If you visit Vigan, this structural design is an example of few Hispanic towns left in the Philippines.

The country is also known for ethnic tribes and their unique cultures.

This is an Ivatan House which can be found in Region 2 that also covers Batanes. Batanes is called the Little Switzerland of the Philippines.

We also have what we call bahay-kubo or nipa hut.

The interior is designed simply and the people will just lay a carpet or banig that will act as bed.

Ethnic people or katutubo make their tools by handcrafting native materials.

Aside from these ethnic cultures, we are also famous for various festivals across the country.
Pahiyas Festival is celebrated to give thanks to the Saint of the farmers. It showcases colorful houses accented with farm produce such as rice.

While this is an Ati-atihan costume which can be seen during the festival in Aklan. This commemorates peace between tribes in the region.

And let's not forget the Lechon, famous to be served during festivals and special occasions.

We also have unique landforms and rich water resources.

This is Mayon Volcano which is known for its steep-sloped cone or picturesque symmetry.

If you get tired exploring the museum, there is an actual and real food being sold inside. We bought squid balls and kwek-kwek (egg waffle).

As you eat your snack, Lakbay Museo also has scheduled cultural show where people dance the Philippines' traditional folkdance.

And since it's CHRISTMAS TIME, we, Filipinos welcome the season with various traditions.

Public places are commonly decorated with belen which exhibits the birth of Jesus Christ.

And these are Filipino ornamental lanterns also known as parol.

For the food, we have food solely for this season which is puto bumbong and bibingka

Aside from these things in the museum, this place also have IG-worthy background which I enjoyed so much.

At the last room, there is a souvenir shop where you can buy keepsakes.

When we were done exploring the museum, we went to Italianni's restaurant for dinner.

In the Philippines, it is common to see lots of christmas tree decors inside the malls.

That's it for this episode of wanderlust. Thanks for reading! 😘

'Til my next travel, see ya!