The Quezon City I Didn’t Know

I lived in Quezon City for a significant number of years and I didn’t know that there are a few other things you can do around the city aside from the usual tour in the Quezon Memorial Circle or food crawling in Maginhawa Street until recently. So, if you have nothing to do this weekend and you’re just residing in or near Kyusi, why not visit the following spots as a cheap alternative for an out-of-town trip.

[su_highlight]Jorge B. Vargas Museum and Filipiniana Research Center[/su_highlight]

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Address	Roxas Avenue, UP Campus, Diliman, Quezon City
Telephone	(+632) 928 1927
Website	www.vargasmuseum.wordpress.com
Email	[email protected]
Operating Hours	9:00 AM – 5:00 PM, Tuesdays to Saturdays
Rates	Php 20.00 – UP students, alumni, faculty, and employees PhP 30.00 – for everyone else FREE – every Wednesday for UP students, alumni, faculty, and employees

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Aside from eating isaw and pisbols, there are more things you can do/see while you are in UP Diliman. One among many others is visiting the Jorge B. Vargas Museum and Filipiniana Research Center. With a minimal fee of Php 20 – 30 for each visitors, feast your eyes on eccentric forms of artworks by known Filipino artists that are housed in the building. The museum is open from Tuesday to Saturday and offers a bookshop, a café, changing and temporary exhibitions, book launching, poetry reading, lectures, and a lot more.

You can easily spot the museum as it is one of the first buildings on the right wing of the campus after the Main Library Building, where the famous Oblation is located.

[su_highlight]The Quezon Heritage House[/su_highlight]

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Address	Pinyahan, Diliman, Quezon City
Website	www.quezoncity.gov.ph
Operating Hours	9:00 AM – 4:00 PM, Tuesdays to Sundays
Rates	Free with permit from the Office of the Vice Mayor

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There’s more to President Manuel Luis Quezon, known as the the first President of the Philippine Commonwealth, than his important contribution and influence to Philippine governance. And of course, being that iconic face on our P20-bill. Now, we can have a glimpse of his personal life by visiting The Quezon Heritage House at the Quezon Memorial Circle. This is a replica of the old vacation house of President Quezon and was originally  located on Gilmore Street in New Manila. The two-story heritage house showcases the Quezon Family’s simple lifestyle featuring some tiles, grills, doors, and windows from the original house.

Visiting the heritage house is free, but donations for the continuous development and conservation of the heritage house is appreciated. This is also a guided tour and would require permission from the Office of the Vice Mayor of the city. So, before going there, make sure to acquire this permit as you won’t be allowed inside the house without it.

[su_highlight]La Mesa Ecopark[/su_highlight]

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Address	La Mesa Dam Compound, Greater Lagro, Quezon City
Telephone	(+632) 430 4051
Website	www.abs-cbnfoundation.com/bk/lamesa-ecopark
Email	[email protected]
Operating Hours	8:00 AM – 5:00 PM, Mondays to Sundays Closed on the 25th December and the 31st December Park may be closed without prior notice due to severe inclement weather
Rates	Php 50 – Adult above 3 feet Php 40 – QC Residents (with valid proof of residence), Non-QC Senior Citizen (with valid ID) Php 20 – QC Students (with valid ID) Free – Senior Citizen (with valid ID), Adult and Children below 3 feet *Click here for a complete list of rates.

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You need not to go far if you’re looking for an outdoor recreation area. La Mesa Ecopark is within every Metro Manila residents’ reach. It has public pools, picnic areas, bike trails, mini forests, boating lagoon, and even function halls for private gatherings. By visiting the park, you just don’t get to experience nature and spend quality time with your loved ones, you also help in the continuous preservation and protection of the La Mesa Watershed as the income generated by the park all goes to this cause. And after all, you really haven’t been to Kyusi if you haven’t been to this park.

[su_highlight]Art in Island[/su_highlight]

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Address	#175 15th Ave., Brgy. Socorro, Cubao, Quezon City, 1109
Telephone	(+632) 421 1356
Website	www.facebook.com/artinisland
Operating Hours	9:30 AM – 9:30 PM, Tuesdays to Sundays
Rates	Php 500 – Adult Php 400 – Student Php 320 – Senior Citizen (with valid ID) Php 320 – Person with Disability Free – Children below 3 feet

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Seeing a photo of yourself is fun. How about seeing a photo of yourself in wild and sometimes impossible places? Over-the-top fun, right? And that’s what Art in Island is trying to offer its visitors, experience a 3D art museum where guests can be “part of the art.” It may be an expensive (regular rate is Php 500 for each visitors) getaway, but you will surely enjoy it. Pose, click, upload! To enjoy your Art in Island visit, you gotta become actors and models as you enter the museum because each exhibits demands you to act as if you’re really part of it. This interactive museum is located at the back of Cubao Expo.

[su_highlight]Mystery Manila[/su_highlight]

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Address	Unit 9A, JW Plaza Building, 195 E. Rodriguez Jr. Ave. (also known as C5), Brgy. Bagumbayan, Quezon City, 1110
Telephone	(+632) 501 2824 or (+63) 917 582 08 08
Website	www.mysterymanila.com
Email	[email protected]
Operating Hours	1:00 PM – 9:30 PM, Mondays to Fridays 9:00 AM – 9:30 PM, Holidays/Saturdays/Sundays
Rates	Php 1300 – 2 Pax Php 1800 – 3 Pax Php 2200 – 4 Pax Php 2500 – 5 Pax Php 3000 – 6 Pax

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Unleash the inner geek in you and become Sherlock Holmes or Nancy Drew for an hour! I worked in Eastwood City for almost seven years and haven’t heard of Mystery Manila until I got the chance to personally visit it and play one of their games, Buried Bodies. Mystery Manila is the first ever live escape room game in the country and has four branches, one of which is just across the Eastwood City. I will not provide more details and clues as these may just spoil your fun, but one thing is for sure though, this will challenge you mentally, emotionally, and physically. You can tag up to five of your friends to complete any of their challenges. As of writing, Mystery Manila in QC has four mysteries waiting for you to solve.

I am now asking myself how come I waited this long to discover all these interesting spots in Quezon City. Meh. Nevertheless, it’s not that late for me and I hope all of you explore more and more of your city or hometown before anything else. As what the late Susan Calo-Medina said, “Huwag maging dayuhan sa sariling bayan.” Okay, I blabber too much.

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Many thanks to Microtel by Wyndham – UP Technohub and Acropolis for organizing this familiarization tour.

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