Balay na Santiago Museum in Isabela

Right after checking in at Monte Carlo Hotel, Tutubi's other companion, Jerry, had to return to Manila and requested to proceed to Calao area and buy his return bus ticket at Victory Liner, later found out to be fully-booked, and instead bought a ticket at Baliwag Transit just across Victory Liner terminal.

Since the trio were getting hungry, Tutubi's driver asked he wanted to have an early dinner for him to rest early. Tutubi replied in the affirmative. Jerry wanted to call House 48 for their steak but Tutubi wanted something Filipino or at least taste local cuisine of Isabela. His driver suggested a bangus grill nearby where they agreed to have their dinner.

On the road going to the bangus grill, Tutubi spotted the large sign of Balay na Santiago, a museum he thought was near the City Hall, but found out is near the barangay hall of Calao West. He immediately signaled his driver to stop for him to pay a visit to the museum.


Balay na Santiago looks like a reconstruction of a bahay na bato with the facade modeled after the Aguinaldo Mansion in Kawit, Cavite.

At the museum entrance, they were told by the attendant that they're about to close since it's already 5 o'clock in the afternoon but Tutubi pleaded for him to get in telling the attendant they came from Manila and can't possibly come back the morrow. The attendant let them in and guided them to the various rooms and displays already closed with the lights off, even allowed him to photograph items on display, not so typical of other museums he's been to.


Inside the museum were pictures of Santiago City's tourist spots, old pictures of stone churches of Alicia, Tumauini and San Pablo, old furnitures redolent of a long-gone era you only find in old heritage houses, mementos from the Cordillera like their nipa huts and bulul (rice granary gods) and even giant paper mache similar to those paraded during the Higantes Festival in Angono Rizal annually on November 22 and 23.

dining room setting of an aristocratic past
reminds you of Angono's Higantes Festival, isn't it?
Bulul on display showcasing the culture of Igorots also present in Isabela

Notes:

Balay na Santiago is open from 8am to 12nn and 1:30pm to 5pm daily. Admission fee is P5 for adults and P3 for students/children.

There is the Isabela Museum and Library at the Old Capitol Building in Ilagan town and also up north is the National Museum branch in Tuguegarao with important geological and archeological findings in Cagayan Valley on display.

How to get there:
Hire a tricycle to take you to the place from the bus terminals of Victory Liner and Baliwag Transit in Calao.

Related Post:
List of Museums in the Philippines