Museum Shenanigans (feat. friends)

I had been anticipating our little museum outing for a while now. I was nervous and excited at the same time, it would be my first time going off somewhere that wasn't for groceries or school. And without my parents, too. I'm not usually allowed to go places without them—surprising, I know, considering how old I am but I've never particularly minded it. Though, I'll admit I have found myself feeling rather left out whenever I would see all the posts and videos and pictures of my friends hanging out together, having fun, without me.

Anyway, a week before the actual outing, we had planned out what we were going to bring and what mode of transportation we were going to use. We considered commute but, well, the travel fees were... intimidating, to say the least. We had all agreed on traveling together in Steven's car, but it wasn't big enough to accommodate all 7 of us. Steven told us his older sister would drive us instead, since she had a bigger car. In our group chat, he sent us the seating arrangements and with the use of the itinerary we had received, we planned which museum we would be going to first.

So, on October 26, 2023, we went to the museums. It was after class, we ate lunch together and at around 1:30-ish, Steven's older sister arrived. Yaci, Steven, Mark, Kylee, Kieth, Florence and I all got into the car. It was a bit of a snug fit but we still had fun. We were quiet for most of the car ride, choosing to communicate either through whispering or via chat. We wanted to make a good first impression after all, both Steven's mom and older sister were in the car with us. I suppose Yaci had the most awkward time in there, considering he was the one sitting up front.

Kylee had shared one of his earphones with me and we listened to music for the majority of the ride. (Please pay no mind to my goofy little snaggletooth, I'm still trying to figure out how to smile.)

Kieth and Florence were sitting in the back with us, they were also doing their own thing. Basically, the four of us would just show each other funny videos and laugh silently. Kylee recorded a small portion of the car ride but he won't send it to me. Typical of him to deny me of funny videos.

We eventually arrived at the Casa Gorordo Museum, a well-known house museum that had preserved the furniture, photographs, decor, appliances and other personal belongings of the Gorordo family. The lower floor that we had entered from featured many statues, authentic pottery, tools and projections of what the average Filipino's day was like in the 1860s.

There was also a bike underneath a staircase that I wasn't sure if it was part of the display or if someone had just kept it away. I took a picture with it anyway.

The 2nd floor had more of the "house" aspect of the Casa Gorordo House Museum. 

At the top of the staircase, we were met with a lovely dresser with a large mirror.

Of course, a large mirror calls for a mirror selfie. "Sinaunang Aesthetic" as Mark called it. We proceeded to refer to anything and everything in that house as "Sinaunang" plus whatever it was. It was a lot of fun. The guard warned us not to touch anything, we weren't really planning to but he said it like we were.

The old floors creaked under our weight and, for a moment, I was worried they might collapse from beneath us. Of course, they didn't and we continued to explore the house. We entered the bedrooms and admired the details in the carvings of the wooden furniture.

While exploring the bedrooms, Mark found a framed portrait of a man who he joked was his grandfather. Upon closer inspection, we realized that it was a portrait of Obispo Juan Perfecto de Gorordo himself! So, naturally, I took a selfie with him.

In the main area of the house, there was the dining room. Beautifully set, it was like something straight out of a Pinterest board. The staff there surely did a great job maintaining all the mementos of Casa Gorordo.

We  also came across the kitchen, where we found the fancy chinaware and tea sets. There were pots and pans in the sink, almost as if the Gorordo family left their dirty dishes before the house was turned into a museum. That wasn't the case, of course but it's a funny thought.

There was also this cool bathroom that we couldn't enter. I'm assuming the barrier is for the people who have tried to use it(?), I hope not. I'm sure it was always like that since the opening of the museum.

We walked all around Casa Gorordo, and even went back to the rooms we had already visited. We had fun and appreciated all the furniture and arrangements. We didn't buy anything in the gift shop unfortunately, we simply did not have the budget for it. 

After spending almost two hours at Casa Gorordo, we got back into Steven's car and headed for our next stop, the National Museum where we met up with our friend Shan as well as other classmates. (Shan and Mark are not in the picture as they were off to the side somewhere).

We got there at around 3 PM, a bit worried at first since the guard told us our group had to wait in queue, but fortunately we only waited a few minutes. During those few minutes, we took pictures of the surrounding area.

And by we, I mean Kylee.

There he goes. Anyway, the National Museum didn't have an entrance fee and was completely free. Their gallery featured a wide array of art pieces and remnants of our predecessors. We entered five different rooms and each one of them had a fairly different vibe. The first room was more on the educational side, in regards to the biology and natural history of our country. Look at this little guy, what a shame it went extinct.

Very cute whale shark. A fun fact about whale sharks, did you know they have teeth on their eyes? Well, not "teeth" teeth but are structurally very similar to our concept of teeth. There are 3000 solid teeth-like chunks on their eyes, working effectively as a sort of armor. It's very cool.

The next rooms had featured more of the historical side of our country's art. With paintings of the battle of Mactan and actual boats and tools that were made and used in the past.

The next rooms featured paintings and sculptures that were more on the abstract side, allowing us to interpret it ourselves. They were all very interesting and it was inspiring getting a glimpse of all the different techniques and styles in making art. 

Kylee and I had a mild debate about whether the paintings of Martino Abellana were done like that on purpose or if they were simply unfinished. I won this debate of course, after finding that the paintings quite literally had "unfinished" in their labels. That aside, the sketch guidelines of the paintings are so incredibly detailed and intricate. The wrinkles and pattern on the women's clothes, the background, the composition. They truly are masterpieces on their own despite being unfinished. 

It was nearly dark by the time we had left the National Museum. We all got into Steven's older sister's car and were dropped off; Kieth and Florence being dropped off at Gaisano, and the rest of us at school where we thanked Steven's family and went our separate ways. I walked home feeling tired but happy. It was a fun day.