Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar, Bagac, Bataan

Pride in the Past...Hope for the Future

Well at least, that's their slogan. I had never heard of this place before so I didn't know what to expect. It was a very long drive from Manila through some remote and winding roads. However, when we got there, the trip was well worth it all.

I liken it to a Philippine version of Williamsburg, basically it is like being back into the past where they recreate a town from the 18th century. Houses and other structures were actually bought and moved from many parts of the Philippines to this one area. A lot of places are still under development and the construction is still on going. Still, the parts that are complete are gorgeous nonetheless. This will be a picture heavy post because all the pictures are too beautiful to not post.

We originally booked a whole house since our group was originally going to be larger. However, due to some unfortunate circumstances, half our group couldn't come. We still had the whole house nonetheless. We stayed in Casa Meycauayan. It has 5 bedrooms total, three on the second floor and two on the bottom floor. The second floor is all connected to a single living room with an entrance. The two bottom rooms have their own entrances and are separate. Although it is historic on the outside, it is modern on the inside.

We did a bit of unofficial touring of the area that evening. We missed the cultural show that night since for some reason we though it would be at 8 pm, but it was actually at 6:30 pm. Oops.

The next day we did the Heritage Tour. It was great to see all the buildings on the other side of the river. There is even an island you can rent if you have the money! Although the tour was great and informative, oh my gosh the heat was unbearable. I am normally fine in the heat but this day just killed me. We didn't even finish the tour. We went back to the house close to the end.

It's hard to believe we were only there overnight. It was just so memorable that it felt like we were there for much longer. It was kind of sad leaving since I wanted to take more pictures. I would love to go back again. I'm sure it will be even much more beautiful once all the things under construction get fixed.

Pharmacy Museum, New Orleans

Thw last stop before leaving the darling city was the Pharmacy Museum, mostly because it's the closest to our hotel. It's an old pharmacy that also has its share of scary stories that was then converted to a museum. The tour guide was absolutely hilarious and highly knowledgeable not just of the items in the museum, but the circumstances of New Orleans living and culture in the past.

The first floor is full of old "medicines" and I use quotes on that because the state of medicine and pharmacy back then was appalling. As the tour guide said, dying was the culture and the look of death was the popular trend.

After this was the mad dash to get to the airport and not miss our flight back home. Other things not pictured was our night on Bourbon street, but that really shouldn't be put on public display anyway. New Orleans was so fun! I'm already planning to come back for Mardi Gras. I think I need to experience that at least once in my lifetime. Some photos by Ella.

New Orleans Museum of Art

Ella and I always make an effort to visit a museum wherever we go. The New Orleans Museum of Art is small compared to any of the Smithsonian art museums we have in D.C. but we figure it's because the Smithsonian is hoarding any of the good old art. Still, they had some pretty hilarious works of art, not to mention a pretty museum cafe.

We also stumbled upon a Chinese Lantern Festival that was going on. The Lanterns were placed in their botanical gardens, which of course we would end up in the botanical gardens. They also had performances. 

Most of the photos were taken by Ella but I took some from my phone as well. The lantern festival could be viewed during day but it is clearly much more beautiful at night. They also served Chinese food. We were there so late that we weren't sure if the trolleys would still be operating. Thankfully they were. This post is very picture heavy but this was such a fun event to photograph though! I'm glad we stumbled upon this.