March's Museum: National Museum of Anthopology

In March Katie, Ryne and I headed into Manila to check out the second of the National Museums - The National Museum of Anthropology. It is housed in a newly renovated building on the edge of Rizal Park it was formerly the Department of Finance. The colonial style building makes for an impressive location for the Anthropology Museum.

The foyer of the National Anthropology Museum

We wove our way through three floors of exhibits. And as with the last time I was in one of the National Museums I found myself more interested in the exhibits at the top level, and wished we had started there before getting that overloaded feeling. The two things that stand out to me was how fascinated I was by the rice exhibit (really, rice!) which displayed tools and rice field guardians among other things.

Rice field guardians

There was also an interesting exhibit on artefacts recovered from the San Diego ship which sunk outside of Fortune Island in 1600. Interestingly it was a trading vessel that had been retrofitted with cannons as a warship. It was ill prepared to handle the extra weight and sunk because the cannon port holes ended up below water level. In 1992 the wreck was discovered and over 34,000 artefacts were recovered, many of which are on display in the museum. My favourite included a nice selection of the different types of stoneware jars.

Stoneware jars recovered from the shipwreck San Diego

There were other treasures in different exhibition halls. Weaving from different regions of the Philippines. Musical instruments. Woven rattan balls used to play sipa. Burial containers. I could go on and on, but you get the idea. It was a cross section of Filipino culture and quite an informative visit.

Burial jar

February's Museum: Corregidor Island

I have a long way to get caught up, I'm not quite sure what has happened except for having my  mom visit for a month and then school getting crazy. I suppose in some ways it is a good thing when life gets to busy to write! Now that my seniors are graduated I've got a bit more down time. Hopefully in the next two weeks I'll get caught up a bit.

 

While my mom was here visiting she wanted to take a trip out to Corregidor Island. Set at the mouth of Manila Bay it is the second most bombed island during WWII. Before the war it was a lush assignment for US military featuring gorgeous views, a movie theater, tennis courts and other recreational activities. During the war Corregidor served as the temporary house of the Philippine government, as well as the the Japanese used heavy artillery to storm their way into taking over the island, General McArthur pulling out with the often repeated statement "I will return."

          

 In 1945 the Americans returned to the Philippines, and heavily bombed the island before using paratroopers to get soldiers on the ground to continue the fight. Six days later things were looking grim for the Japanese and they retreated to the tunnels that had been dug through the island in defense. One group sealed themselves in, waited for American soldiers to be above them and then blew up the tunnel, taking out as many of the enemy as possible. Ten days later Corregidor was finally considered to be back in Allied control.

   

Approximately 6,650 Japanese died in the Battle of Corregidor, and around 500 Americans. Now the island services as a memorial to those who are gone. A somewhat somber day trip from Manila, it nonetheless offers an intimate view of the destructions of war. There are a multitude of bombed out remains, as well as peaceful memorials. There are flags flying in memory...somewhat to my surprise including the Texas flag and the ATM flag (upon inquiry we found that one of the battalions that landed on Corregidor had a large number of Aggies in it, 5 of whom were killed. So the school had donated a flag in their memory). 

The only way to visit Corregidor is through Sun Cruises. They run a ferry out on the weekends, and facilitate the guided tours which were very well done.