Good old classmates experience the wonders of three museums

Good old classmates experience the wonders of three museums

Seated, from left: Rene Ruivivar, Eduardo Dio, Ramon Estrella, Ricardo Santos, Philip H. Recto, George Cua Chi Lam and Romulo Macalintal. Standing, from left: Vernon Gamboa, Rufo Limon, Jr., Noel Felix and Fernando Gan Tiong Kang.

FEU Boys High School class ‘64 holds 59th anniversary reunion in Manila

By Philip H. Recto

The 59th Anniversary Reunion of FEU Boys High School Batch 1964 started with a whole day Museum Tour of the Philippines’s National Museum of Natural History, the Chinatown Museum and the Fort Santiago on February 16, 2023.

The National Museum of Natural History is housed in a newly-renovated building constructed in 1939. It used to house of the Department of Agriculture and later the Departmen of Tourism. It has an exciting covered dome in the center courtyard with a scenic elevator which takes one to the 5th Floor, then to go down floor-by-floor via handicapped-friendly ramps to view the exhibits. We were quite impressed with the world-class facility which was spacious and clean, a pleasant surprise for all of us.

Philippine National Museum

The Museum exhibits were very impressive and ably explained to us by the charming lady museum guide. We got to see “Lolong” – the biggest crocodile in the world at 6-meter length (20 feet), and the famous Philippine Tamaraw which cannot be tamed, also the Pangolin (ant-eater), Mantra Ray and the Pigmy Forest in Dinagat Island which is a natural bonsai hill. We also saw the Philippine Eagle which is our National Bird. It has a wing span of 11 feet, considered to be the longest in the world. The Philippine Eagles are also extremely faithful to their mates. When their mates die, they do not look for new ones.

After the Museum of Natural History, we were able to pop into the National Museum of Fine Arts to view the famous “Spoliarium” painting done by Juan Luna in 1884,  and have a group picture taken in front of it. It was such a momentous experience!

On the other hand, the Chinatown Museum is a heritage and community space that shares interesting highlights of Binondo’s history as one the oldest Chinatowns in the world, being established in 1594. We learned that Binondo was earlier referred to as “Binundok” because of its low hills. From the 1600s to the 1800s, Binondo was famous for being the Philippines’s commercial hub and the world’s crossroads. It began as a Dominican parish for the large Chinese community, and as a merchant’s quarter. Many Chinese laborers and artisans clustered here, contributing their skills to the richness of the district. Hence the nickname “Chinatown.” By the 1860s to 1930s, its location attracted Spanish, German, French, British and American businesses.

After the Chinatown Museum, the group was able to roam around Chinatown by foot, and stopping by to buy Chinese pastries at the long established Eng Bee Tin & Polland Bakeries in Ongpin St.

Then we proceeded to Fort Santiago in Intramuros, passing through the newly-inaugurated Binondo-Intramuros Bridge which is a project funded & built by the Chinese government, and where the traditional Christian New Year & Chinese New Year firework displays will be performed for audience seated at the nearby Jones Bridge.

At Fort Santiago, we were delighted to see the newly-improved facilities amidst the green lawn. Our male tour guide explained to us the history connected with the Fort, bringing us back in time to the Spanish era and the second World War. We were shown the dirty dungeons and got a feel of the horrible living condition there. We also saw a life-sized statue of Dr. Jose Rizal and the White Cross commemorating the death of 600 people killed by the Japanese soldiers at the Fort. And before we left, had a nice group picture taken with the new Binondo Chinatown in the background.

On February 18, we had a sumptuous reunion dinner at the posh Golden Bay Chinese Seafood Restaurant, and a despedida breakfast for our foreign classmates was held at the Citadines Hotel the next morning, February 19, as we bid each other goodbye until we meet again next year for our 60th Anniversary Reunion ( the “Big One”).