An Unexpected Gala at Rizal Park (Luneta) and National Museum

It's a shame that I've lived in Manila for years and yet I've never set foot on Luneta. I'm glad I finally had time to visit the place during the holidays.

The park is divided into two areas by a highway. The western side facing Manila Bay is where the Rizal Monument stands. I decided to explore the eastern side first, which is where the statue of Lapu-Lapu is located. The area is flanked between two buildings - the Department of Tourism and the National Museum. The guard explained that the National Museum actually consists of three buildings - the one inside Luneta is called the Museum of the Filipino People and features historical and archaeological artifacts. The other one, which is a short walking distance away, is the more familiar building that we seen from LRT - the National Art Gallery. Third one is a planetarium located at the western side of Luneta. I knew that The National Art Gallery houses the famous Spoliarium by Juan Luna, which got me excited.

The entrance fees are as follows: P150 regular, P120 senior and P50 student. This covers the entrance fees for the National Museum of the Filipino People (or just National Museum, for short) and the National Art Gallery but not the planetarium. Thanks to my student ID I dished out only P50. There were around 30 of us who came when the museum opened, and flocks of other visitors, mostly groups of students, continued coming.

To avoid spoiling everything by giving away too much information (actually, this is just my excuse for not taking any notes and concentrating on getting good camera angles), I'll just show you some of the pictures.

Lapu Lapu's statue lords over Luneta park..

Binhi ng Kalayaan Statue

DOT building

The humble maya.

The National Museum

A manunggul burial jar. These two boatmen are believed to help take the souls of the departed to paradise.

Top of the jar

Miniature replica of a galleon ship

One of the many galleries

Alibata

 More artifacts:

Inside an Ifugao house

Philippines Eagle

Kalesa

Back of the National Art Gallery, with a replica of a balanghay boat

Facade of the National Art Gallery, with the famous clock tower of the Manila City Hall not far away.

Spoliarium

Detail

Skeleton of a sperm whale

The silhouette picture showing a dog biting a crocodile
who is mangling her puppy is a sculpture created by Jose Rizal.

Panoramic view of Rizal Park

More pics here.

HOW TO GET THERE

There are jeeps for Pier 15 along Commonwealth, and jeeps for Luneta along Cubao Auroa. These will drop you at the side of the park where you will see this: