Museum of the Filipino People, Manila, Philippines

Boring. Nerdy. Ignorant. Call me any or all of these and I will agree with you. Boring because I'd rather go to museums than malls. Nerdy because I like learning (but have no patience to read the lengthy descriptions in an exhibit). Ignorant because I didn't know until early this year that we have the Museum of the Filipino People.

The Museum of the Filipino People is part of the National Museum. It is in the old Finance building located behind the National Art Gallery.

The San Diego was a galleon built in Cebu in 1590 by Spanish, Chinese, and Filipino shipbuilders. It sunk near the province of Batangas in 1600. The wreck was discovered in the early 1990s with more than 30,000 artifacts recovered. The exhibit toured around the world before becoming a permanent exhibit in the Museum of the Filipino People.

This gallery contains a collection of burial jars and vessels unearthed from various caves around the Philippines. Here, you will see jars and pots of different designs (there were burial jars shaped like heads) and learn how our ancestors buried their dead.

Clockwise from top left: a diorama of the discovery of burial jars in a cave; Manunggul jar, a burial jar discovered in Tabon Cave in Palawan; and Masuso pots (look closely it's got breasts!) ...... (follow the instructions below for accessing the rest of this article).