Wednesday, May 22, 2013

National Museum and a Muslim Family in Manila

After exiting Intramuros, I entered the National Museum. Mostly to escape the heat outside. Haha. But this museum was actually very cool!

National Museum - Pambansang Museo

This museum houses many hand paintings and I could easily visualize how the world was without photography and how people resorted to paintings to depict their lives on canvas. I saw paintings where country girls posed provocatively for the painter and also paintings of landscapes both during sunsets and sunrises.

I assumed in those days many people became painters, artists, drawers and sculptors just to become visual captors like we are now with our cameras and smart hand phones. :)

Oh yeahh.. draw me now! Today she'd say, take a photo of me now. Hehe.
If they had cameras like we do now, wonder what the sunset below would look like?
Paintings were their only way to visualize what they saw. 
Some paintings were also on the nude (which I'm not gonna post it here. haha) and many on family portraits. I guess I spent almost an hour here because the paintings seemed so alive. I tried taking photos of the portraits but failed to capture the "aliveness" of it so decided to not post it here. Huhu. Seriously, the paintings seemed so alive! (This is my second time saying this. Hehe)
A mom dog trying to save her pup. T__T
I actually cried when I looked at this clayed sculpture. The artist must have been grieving when he/she sculpted this. T__T

I exited the museum, hopped on a Jeepney and headed to a shopping mall (which I forgot the name. huhu) to post some postcards I bought from Intramuros.

While walking down a street I accidentally chanced upon a signage which displayed in big letters the words "Lani's Halal Eatery" and I immediately froze in my tracks.

Lani's Halal Eatery

I was like, "OH EM GI!" Hahaha. And immediately praised god and went inside.

I was hungry like hell when I found this part of heaven. :)
They poured a bowl of rice on a plate and I chose two types of dishes with it. I felt like home instantly! As i seated myself down, suddenly the owner's family came out and gathered around me. It felt awkward at first because I had to eat in front of them all. But their warm hospitality easily wiped that feeling away. 
My first Halal meal in Manila. 
The most surprising part was that some of them actually knew how to speak SABAHAN! I got excited and learnt that the aunt there just came back from Sabah after the Lahad Datu case. She lived there for almost TEN years but got scared with the current situation. She dreams of coming back but has to wait for the situation to cool down first. Others shared their stories with me and my lunch time was spent cheerfully. :))

They even advised me to marry a Filipino man. As if I will! LOL.

A Muslim Family in Manila
After exchanging contact numbers and Facebook emails (but I've still yet to add them. haha), we parted ways. They even gave me some tips and pointers on do's and don'ts in Manila. It was overwhelming for them to worry me just because I was cute and traveling alone. (Eh?) But I assured them, I'd be fine. 

I said goodbyes and headed to the post office nearby before heading to my next destination. Later on my next post. Tata!
.

4 comments:

Alid Abdul said... [Reply]

I like the painting haha, I want to grab and put on my own room...
so you got discount in that restaurant?

Jard The Great said... [Reply]

@ alid.. tak sampai hati mau makan gratis. haha. I came as a paying customer so I paid for my meals. But the drinks were free and boleh tambah. hehehehe

Alid Abdul said... [Reply]

@Jard The Great
I'm not saying not pay your meal akak, discount discount not free :p

Jard The Great said... [Reply]

@ alid... ohhhh.. maybe next time. harga sudah murah lah kaka! =P