When Erin got back from her out of the country travel, she told me about her plan to do at least one new thing a week. I was enrolled with the idea of doing one new thing a week. She’d never been to the National Museum before and so we made plans to go visit one Sunday. While it’s not the first time I visited (I went there way back in 2011 because I wanted to see Juan Luna’s The Spolarium), it was the first time I was going there with a friend.    

It was nice to spend a Sunday afternoon in the National Museum. There were so many new things there!

Here are some of the new things I saw:

A room full of Ben Cab work of arts 


Ben Cab is a National Artist. It’s not the first time I’ve seen his works. I’ve been to the Ben Cab Museum in Baguio way back 2013. I wish I was able to blog about that because that museum is so beautiful. Unfortunately, I lost the phone where all my photos from that trip was saved due to a snatching incident.



I like Ben Cab’s artworks. His works have such vivid colors that they would immediately catch your attention. Vivid colors give me a feeling that his works are more alive.

The hallways of the museum are somewhat dark. Up to this time, though there are a lot more people visiting than when I first came, my imagination still makes me feel like the place is haunted.

The stairs in the museum is classic and elegant. #OOTD anyone?

I feel like I didn’t get to explore everything inside the National Museum the first time around. So many things I found so new! Well… either that or I’ve already forgotten considering it’s been years!

There were also religious works of arts on display.

And some works of arts that showed the history of the Philippines.

These two artworks are about the Japanese invasion in the Philippines. The last photo above, the one that looks like a skull is a tribute to the Bataan Death March. That was a dark time in our history. 

This is another painting of Juan Luna called Parisian Life. This is an example of his artistic work that is lighter in color and mood.

This one below is the famous Spolarium also by Juan Luna. As you would see, comparing it from the painting above, the mood of this one is darker and more gruesome if I may say so. But it’s a glorious painting. Even when I saw this the second time around, I still found myself in awe staring at this masterpiece.

In this day and age of social media, going to a museum like the National Museum is now more than just about viewing the art works and appreciating them. It’s also about taking photos of the things you see inside and taking photos of yourself – those “candid” shots and those “OOTD” shots. Erin and I did those when we were inside. 
Our selfie to document our time together in the museum

We did it too when we were outside the museum.

We didn’t get to go inside the other museum building. It was supposed to be our first stop. But there were just too many people in line when we got there. We had agreed to go back after visiting the National Arts Gallery Museum (the one where The Spolarium is) but it’s such a huge museum, by the time we finished, our feet were already tired and aching and we were hungry. I’ve been to that other side of the museum as well with my Dad. What’s there to see in that other building? Read my post about it here.

If you’d like to visit The National Museum, you can do so for free on Sundays. You can also visit The National Museum or some other museums in the Metro for free during the International Museum Day on May 18.