Romualdez Museum (Santo Nino Shrine) in Tacloban, Leyte Part 5

Tacloban City, 22 March 2010 - As earlier mentioned, the Romualdez Museum, aka Santo Nino Shrine and Heritage Center, was built to flaunt the extravagant taste and "aristocratic origins" of former Philippine First Lady Imelda Romualdez Marcos.

Imelda's life is depicted in a series of dioramas in the first floor rooms of the Museum.  Even more telling about how she wants to be portrayed to the world are the artworks in the second floor.

The huge Malakas at Maganda wooden art piece in a wall of the Firefly Room reflects the widely known desire of the Marcoses to be likened to the legend as the father and mother of the Filipino race, i.e. from whom all Pinoys come from.  The legend tells about Malakas (meaning strong) and Maganda (meaning beautiful) coming forth from huge bamboos as depicted in the art piece shown in the photo above.

The Romualdez's family tree with Imelda at the top, showing her special status even within her family.

Imelda is depicted in this painting as the mother of all Filipinos, cradling them as mother nurturing her children.  Nature's bounty is reflected in the richness of the seas.  Her husband, Ferdinand, is relegated to the background (even partly concealed by the drapes) in the photo above.

View more photos of Romualdez mansion in previous posts:

Romualdez Museum (Santo Nino Shrine) in Tacloban, Leyte Part 1 (structure)

Romualdez Museum (Santo Nino Shrine) in Tacloban, Leyte Part 2 (dioramas)

Romualdez Museum (Santo Nino Shrine) in Tacloban, Leyte Part 3 (art pieces) 

Romualdez Museum (Santo Nino Shrine) in Tacloban, Leyte Part 4 (bedrooms)

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Romualdez Museum (Santo Nino Shrine) in Tacloban, Leyte Part 4

Tacloban City, 22 March 2010 - The mansion, aka Romualdez Museum or Santo Nino Shrine and Heritage Center, was never intended to house Imelda Romualdez Marcos and family. It was just to showcase the ostentatious taste and "aristocratic origin" of then First Lady of the Philippines.  It is, therefore, not surprising to find out that the former First Family never actually slept in their supposedly bedrooms.

Below are bedrooms of the mansion that caught our attention:

This is Imelda's extravagant bedroom that elicited a huge smile from Mama Sez while examining the place.

Imelda's bath tub with a simulated view of the sea.  It was here when the conversation with our tour guide turned juicier and supposedly intimate details about the famous First Couple became the topic. 

The dragons on this unique pink vase in Imelda's bedroom caught Leon's eyes, while Zeki took an interest of the lizard design in the next bedroom.

This is the former Philippine President Ferdinand E. Marcos' designated bedroom.

The coconut-inspired bedroom with elegantly crafted wooden headboard.  Notice the "coconut" pillows on top.

One of the bedrooms attributed to a Mindanao indigenous tribe.  This huge gong surely attracts closer inspection and tapping like what Leon is doing in this photo.

This bamboo-inspired bedroom is full of ideas for those who adore bamboos for interior decorating.

Of course, we would not leave out the Butterfly bedroom.  Besides the preserved butterflies on frames, there are many butterfly-inspired decorations such as the mirror frame in this photo.

View the other photos of the Romualdez Museum that we've posted earlier:

Romualdez Museum (Santo Nino Shrine) in Tacloban, Leyte Part 1 (structure)

Romualdez Museum (Santo Nino Shrine) in Tacloban, Leyte Part 2 (dioramas)

Romualdez Museum (Santo Nino Shrine) in Tacloban, Leyte Part 3 (art pieces)

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Romualdez Museum (Santo Nino Shrine) in Tacloban, Leyte Part 3

Tacloban City, 22 March 2010 - We feature in this third part of a series of posts on the Romualdez Museum, aka Santo Nino Shrine and Heritage Museum, some priceless art pieces found in the two-storey mansion built for/by former first lady Imelda Romualdez Marcos.

This centerpiece, made up of clams and shells that are abundant in Tacloban, was placed in the Firefly Room.

The legendary Malakas at Maganda immortalized in this wood carving that took almost a whole wall is the main attraction inside the Firefly Room.

Rica and Leon's attention was drawn to this huge metal vase in one of the rooms. To the right is an art piece featuring the Risen Jesus Christ, which is placed in the main hall (chapel) of the ground floor.

These chairs with their respective emblems were used by Pope John Paul II (left) and President Ferdinand Marcos (right) during the Pope's visit to the Philippines.

An elaborately decorated cabinet in one of the bedrooms in the Romualdez Mansion Museum.

The kids found a room in the second floor with a collection of Philippine bills over the years.  I wonder how much these 20-peso bills are worth today.

Check out the first two parts of this series on Romualdez Museum by clicking the links below.

Romualdez Museum (Santo Nino Shrine) in Tacloban, Leyte Part 1 (structure)

Romualdez Museum (Santo Nino Shrine) in Tacloban, Leyte Part 2 (dioramas)

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Romualdez Museum (Santo Nino Shrine) in Tacloban, Leyte Part 2

Tacloban City, 22 March 2010 - As the Romualdez Museum is mostly about the former first lady Imelda Romualdez Marcos, the many rooms in the ground floor, variously labeled after regions in the Philippines such as the Bicol Room or ethnic groups such as the Bagobo Room or other interests of Imelda such as the Butterfly Room, contain dioramas depicting her life. Here are some highlights of her life as seen in selected dioramas.

This diorama shows a scene in Imelda's childhood, as a little girl who shows respect by kissing an elder's hand.

This scene depicts Imelda as a dutiful young woman who did household chores during the war years when life was difficult for many families in the Philippines.

A turning point in her young life was when she won in the Rosas ng Leyte pageant. A testament to her being a beauty titlist.

Imelda's charm and talent were assets during the presidential campaigns of her husband, Ferdinand Marcos. The couple sings to woo the crowd in this diorama.

Ferdinand Marcos became President of the Philippine Republic and Imelda fulfilled her role as First Lady.

This diorama depicts Imelda's success in her role in government having been recognized and honored by various entities both local and foreign.

A depiction of Filipino people enjoying the good life under the leadership of President Ferdinand Marcos.

Imelda is depicted in this diorama as actively involved in development projects around the country. Of particular interest to us is the Philippine High School for the Arts in Mount Makiling, Los Banos, Laguna (represented by the leftmost building), an enduring legacy on her support for the arts.

More photos in Part 3 where Romualdez Museum art pieces will be shown.

Click here for the link to Part 1 where the Romualdez Museum structure was featured.

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Romualdez Museum (Santo Nino Shrine) in Tacloban, Leyte Part 1

Tacloban City, 22 March 2010 - Not to be missed when visiting Tacloban is the Romualdez Museum, aka Santo Nino Shrine and Heritage Museum. The Romualdezes of Leyte is the family of former first lady Imelda Romualdez Marcos. The mansion was constructed in the 80's to showcase Imelda's "aristocratic taste and origins."

The intricate workmanship of Filipino artisans and wood carvers is reflected in the building itself, from the facade to the walls and ceiling, from the wooden art center pieces to the elaborate decorative borloloys.

In Part 1, we're sharing photos of the structure so that you too can appreciate Filipino talent and at the same time show how extravagant one can get if given the freedom to spend money that is seemingly unlimited.

There are obvious signs of deterioration even in the facade as only museum income is supposedly allotted for maintenance and operating expenses. This sequestered property has no additional government investments, even just to maintain the priceless art pieces collected by Imelda. This is public property going to waste!

Notice the "Banig" (woven mat) motif and elaborate artistry in this shot near the entrance to wow the incoming guests.

This is the main altar at the ground floor where the Santo Nino is located. Again, notice the grainy background due to the "Banig" motif that is actually handcrafted wood design (see below).

Details of the "Banig" walls -- wood pieces that are individually placed to achieve the desired effect. Obviously, so much skilled labor was spent to accomplish this.

The main hall of the ground floor of the museum is like a chapel with pews and religious paintings all around.

This central hall welcomes guests coming up from the ground floor via the grandiose stairs made of wood.

The grand ballroom is in the second floor. Huge chandeliers light the hall. With so much space to move, our daughter felt like dancing.

The low light level is needed to achieve the firefly effect for this room is similarly named the Firefly Room.

The dining room with a presidential table. Observe the elegant china and wood pieces on top of the "Banig"- inspired highlight of the long table.

More photos coming in Part 2 of this series of posts about our visit to the Romualdez Museum.

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Are You a Biased Traveler?

Are you a traveler with a southern bias? When given a choice between northern and southern routes of equal distance, do you pick the southern route?

A U.S. study reported in ScienceNews revealed that many people associate northern routes as being uphill and are thus more difficult than southern routes.  This southern bias is actually related to how travelers see information on a map, i.e. do they take a bird's-eye view or a first-person outlook?

Only people who look at the map from a first-person, ground-level perspective are prone to have the preference for a southern route that they perceive to be easier and faster. In this perspective, one sees as moving left or right, forward or back. In contrast, those taking the bird's-eye perspective are not prone to the southern bias as they navigate using directional terms north, south, east and west.

The researchers associated this findings from notions that develop early on as a child associating objects or targets that are in higher positions are more difficult to attain. Associating "up" with "more than" or "higher numbers" and "down" with "less than" or "lower numbers" also supposedly contributes to the "up is difficult" notion.

Subjects thus viewed routes going north as longer, potentially more scenic (perhaps associated with mountains) and requiring more calories or fuel to travel on than routes going south.

As for us when we planned this island travel adventure, we actually perceive the western nautical highway, which we intended to take going south to Davao, as more difficult but scenic as it involves more island hopping (=ferry boarding) compared to the eastern nautical highway, which we took going north to Laguna.  Well, something else went into play as I have traveled the eastern nautical highway before, but not the western one.  Familiarity made it seemed easier for us.

So I don't know if this southern bias applies to me.  Maybe not, as I am more likely to look for a shorter, faster or more efficient route to the destination, regardless of compass direction.  How about you, are you a biased traveler?

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