Let my talented niece, who came visiting here in Manila, tell you about the places her mommy (my sister) brought her and her brother to.
Check out the fun and educational places in Manila your children will love:
My Trip to Manila
(For My Tita Angeli Ang Sen)
by Kelly B. Rañoja
My mom, my brother Tyler and I (my Dada is currently out of the country and I miss him very much) went to Manila for two weeks for two reasons – our summer vacation and my Tito Marco and Tita Ai’s wedding. We went to so many fun places!
1. Kidzoona
First, me and Tyler went to a playhouse called Kidzoona in Robinsons Galleria. There are tons of things you can do there. We tried the giant slide and swam in the ball pits and played in the playground which is like a small community.
There are mini-shops where you can dress up and pretend to be community helpers such as a fireman and a mailman.Tyler dressed-up as a chef and served pretend food in a sushi bar and fast-food while I was a florist and sold flowers and became a doctor in a clinic.
We also had fun rolling inside the zorb ball.
There are also arcade and puzzle games for kids of all ages to enjoy.
2. The Exploreum
After a couple of days, we visited a discovery science museum with my Mom, my Mamita and Daddylo located inside the SM Mall of Asia called The Exploreum.
It was a fascinating experience for me and Tyler looking at all the cool inventions back then in the past (I CAN’T imagine a world without cable and colored TV!!)! We learned what a tsunami looks like in a small-scale as well as the different weather patterns. We pretended to drive a rocket, a plane and a very fast super car. We also learned about human body parts by matching model body organs to the correct positions in the body. We even got to see a short film about aliens, time travel, and space trash inside a Dome called Zuma Patrol: Down to Earth.
After going to Batangas for the wedding, we were back again in Manila and we went to two more places- the Mind Museum in BGC and the City of Dreams near MOA.
3. The Mind Museum
In The Mind Museum, they divided the place into sections like Universe, Atom, Earth and Life. The Mind Museum allows us to roam around freely, touch stuff and press buttons that made me appreciate science more.
We saw inventions that are bound to change the world, such as a friendly robot kid I met named Mimo who talks back when you ask him a question.
There is a booth where you could ask science questions that would later be answered in a live gathering. Tyler and I were so amazed with the piano stairs that actually made a sound as you stepped on them as if the stairs where piano keys.
Similar to the Exploreum, there was also the hair-raising static ball- the electricity in it caused my hair to stand on its end! It was so funny!
And I certainly won’t forget the dinosaur fossils of a T-rex.
I even got to dig for a few fossils in the sand!
I also saw a 3D show about the history of planet Earth called “Birthplace” and was made by Filipino scientists. My brother Tyler was so amazed with the exploding stars and real-life dinosaurs I could hear him say “wow” so many times during the show. I also got to see through night-vision glasses. Other things I did was make a tornado, see the Earth orbit around the Sun, learn how motion, water and wind makes energy.
After lunch we went to the science playground on the other side of the museum called Science in the Park. It has four (4) main pockets; Water; Math; Music; and Living. It is a park where you see scientific ideas being used in the playground such as musical chimes, fountains with dams actually creating energy by lighting a bulb as the water flows.
It has play areas that also serve as drums and other instruments. We went through the Music forest, did some fishing in the pond (which I think is my brother’s favourite area) and a whole lot more!
There are so many things to do but so little time. (related post on The Mind Museum )
4. City of Dreams
At the City of Dreams, everything looks very grand and sparkly. My mom said it was a newly built place.
We passed by chic shops and casinos and hotels while walking towards our main destination which is the Dreamplay, a playhouse and theme park filled with characters from Dreamworks movies like Shrek, Madagascar, How to Train your Your Dragon, Dinotrux, Kung Fu Panda and more.
There a lots of fun things to do for children of all ages. The older ones can do climbing, jumping off high places using cables and harness. For my age, there are rooms filled with activities like cooking, creating movies, library and a theatre. And of course, everyone can enjoy climbing up the ladders and sliding into different kinds of slides and crossing wobbly rope bridges (that really scared me to death!).
I also had an adventure running all over the place using my electronic bracelet looking for secret scanners to earn badges and going through secret passageways in the second level.
Tyler also enjoyed going through Shrek’s house, pretending to drive in Skipper’s plane and basically just running around all over the place. We took a picture with Princess Fiona and finished the fun with some delicious pizza, fries and drinks and I bought a shirt from the gift shop as a remembrance.
I thank my Mom and my Dad for giving me and Tyler this opportunity to visit these awesome places. I guarantee that my classmates will enjoy listening to the summer stories I have when school starts again. ♥♥♥ -Kelly Rañoja
My ten-year old niece, Kelly, has been a consistent first-honor student since preschool. She loves to see new places and meet new people. Her first trip abroad was when she was five years old. She visited her Grandma Bebot, in New York City. She has visited NYC, twice. She loves to read and yes, write. ( which is why I gave her a pen, a journal and a planner for her birthday )
Dearest Kelly, thank you for sharing with us, your talent and your beautiful trip here in Manila.
with my beautiful and talented niece, Kelly, during her birthday celebration
