Another weekend, another museum. I was unaware how many museums we have access to until I started digging. There are SO many at our finger tips! The National Museums are a great starting place. The National Planetarium re-opened last month and a brand new national museum,  Museum of Natural History, is set to open later this year. I cannot wait! University Of The Philippines Manila - Museum Of A History of Ideas has been on my list for years. The museum chronicles and explores the contributions of the university to the intellectual life of the Philippines. Launched in late 2014, the museum is committed to tracking down the ideas that UP has spawned since its establishment in 1908. (Information provided by the UP Museum of Ideas guide.)

The museum itself is quite small and packed with style. The stark black and fresh white intermingled with modern art displaying historic artifacts is as much a feast for the brain as it is the eyes. We had the museum to ourselves this particular Saturday, which in my opinion, is the perfect circumstance for a museum visit.

A very well produced video can be viewed at the start of your visit. This is the big picture conversation that lays out all the ideas and their early 20th century history showcased at the museum.

Exhibit 1: Recognizes the birth place of the movement for higher education in The Philippines.  Exhibit 2: Introduction to the University of The Philippines new beginnings.

Exhibit 3: The tide of progress allowed the modern to be the university's very soul. The expansion of modern education comes full speed in this exhibit. Exhibit 4: After America colonized the Philippines the foreign rulers(*) had great distress over the local diseases such as dengue, leprosy and small pox. They sunk their efforts into finding treatments for these tropical diseases.

Exhibit 5: Universally free primary and secondary Education began seeping into all economic levels; with this came the emergence of a citizen, designated "Filipino".  Exhibit 6: Secular education is implemented and local culture is adapted into the education. 

Exhibit 7: A rise of Filipino leadership is seen all over the archipelago due in part to the ideas created from UP. 

Things To Know:

• University of the Philippines Manila Museum Building, Philippine General Hospital Compound, Padre Faura Street, Ermita

• Manila, Philippines 1000

• 0916 796 4117 / 0926 036 1044

• Tuesday To Saturday Hours 10:00AM - 5:00PM

• historyofideas@upmanilamuseum.com

• Entrance fee was around 70php I believe.

• Group tours can be arranged. You can also reserve the museum for a photo shoot space.

• No food allowed and bags must be checked in at museum entrance. Photos are allowed but not flash photography please.

• We went on a Saturday and no one was around. We had to ask the security guards to guide us in and after a few minutes a museum worker showed up. I didn't mind as I was just happy it was open and they let me in. :)