Less than 30 meters away from the Archdiocesan Museum of Cebu is USPF's Jose Rizal Museum. We didn't go inside. Instead, we watched a live theatrical performance portraying one of the many revolutions during the Spanish era.
Before we proceeded to our next destination, we ate tuslob buwa for dinner. It was by far the best tuslob buwa I tried. The pop up food stall was located at the end of Colon Street corner Mabini St.
After dinner, we walked towards the Yap-Sandiego Ancestral House and passed by the Heritage of Cebu Monument, a massive monument comprising of different statues of significant people and historic events that shaped Cebu as we know it today.
At the back of the monument is the one of Cebu's historic gems, the Yap-Sandiego Ancestral House, an ancestral home of the Yap-Sandiego clan that was later on turned into a museum. It is dubbed as one of the "oldest houses in the Philippines built during the Spanish colonial era" and the "first-ever Chinese house built outside of China"[]. Hence, it is expected to see hints of both Spanish and Chinese influence in this structure.
Guide to the Philippines mentioned the following noteworthy information about how this museum got its name:
Built between 1675 and 1700, the house originally belonged to a wealthy Chinese merchant, Don Juan Yap, and his wife, Doña Maria Florido, together with their three children, Maria, Consolacion, and Eleuterio. In the 1880s, Maria, their eldest daughter, married the Parian Cabeza de barangay, Don Mariano San Diego. The house got its name from their marriage.
If you hear the last name Yap/Sandiego in Cebu, it equates to art and culture. In fact, Val Sandiego, the current family taking care of the ancestral house, is known for his passion in joining festivitals like Carcar's Kabkaban Festival and Philippines' biggest madri gas, Sinulog.
Although it was my first time going inside the ancestral home, it's not my first time seeing it in person. I've seen it more than a hundred times when I passed by Parian area. But this particular night was different, I'm no longer just passing by.
Entering the house felt like setting foot into a new world. For someone who has mild OCD, the perfect description for this house would be pleasingly chaotic. You'll get what I'm talking about as we go along.
First order of business was a toilet break. The toilet was located at the back of the house; its adjacent to the kitchen and the garden filled with ornamental plants, ferns and a few big trees. They tried to make the toilet ancient looking but it's evident that most are made of pieces of wood that weren't originally there when this was built back in the day.
In one of the walls, we saw this gigantic family tree that gives all visitors an idea of this family's lineage.
Just basing from my personal experience, I felt that there were parts of the house that didn't really feel as genuine as they're supposed to be. If you pay attention to the details, you'd notice that some displays look old but in reality they're not, like the rattan/bamboo balls, fans made from light materials that they hanged on the first floor's ceiling, seashells and sands, I could go on if I want to. I'm not sure if it was a deliberate move by the current owners but personally, it just didn't feel right. It's making the entire experience less genuine and creates confusion as to which of these displays are truly part of the original house or at least from that particular era.
In the adjacent room, dolls dressed in colorful gowns filled the room. I'm pretty sure these dolls are new. From what I understood, each doll represented each reinas of Flores de Mayo.
I started seeing the more authentic side of this ancestral house when we stepped into its main dining room in the first floor. I've stpotted dilapidated silverware, hardwood long table and benches, rusty armchair rests, paintings and portraits of people who used to live here; all of these gave birth to the classic question when visiting a museum "How did all these survive the harsh passing of the years?"
If you can remember, in 2021 Super Typhoon Oddette hit Cebu and other provinces in the Philippines leaving homes and establishments with irreparable damage. I was wondering why this house stood still amidst the stronger typhoon that ever hit the Philippines and Cebu in past years. This could've collapse into pieces but there I was, roaming around as if the house had never been through any of these extreme weather disturbances.
Wait, there's more!
After surviving the steep wooden staircase, a graceful second floor unfolded before us. I was still able to spot a few things here and there that I'm pretty sure, are not older than 5, 10 years since its creation but it was bearable this time.
The second floor is overlooking the streets of Parian filled with museum-goers just like my boyfriend and I. Im not sure if what we saw on the second floor was the original layout of the house; nonetheless, on the right side was a huge living area (although I didn't spot a couch) or it could be an extension of the dining room in the first floor. I can't tell which is which but I've seen at least five tables that came in different shapes and sizes all protected with white knitted cloths.
The museum houses a number of glassware collection used to hold tea, alcohol, food and other things back in the day. I spotted a grand piano attached to one of the walls, too.
Aside from the glassware collections, one thing that had consistently drew my attention was the wooden furniture present wherever you look. I saw cribs, tables, chairs (different usage, size and shape), bedframe with posts, bedside table and chair, rocking chair, and the list goes on.
More photos taken from the left side of the 2nd floor where the bedrooms are located:
They hanged colorful strips of cloth in one of the trees in the garden; this added to the festivity vibes of the entire house.
For me, the Yap-Sandiego Ancestral House was a lot to take in. Unlike the Archdiocese Museum of Cebu which was well-curated, sleek and organized, I felt the opposite when visiting the Yap-Sandiego Ancestral House. It's not necessarily a bad thing, rather an observation (and ultimately, a preference) when I visited the place. Maybe it's a big factor that the one running this site is not an organization but the new generation of the Sandiego family.
If you ask me if it's worth the visit, I'd say if you are near the area why not give it 20-30 minutes of your time. But if you've been to bigger ancestral homes or museums in the Philippines, it would suffice to give you an idea how Filipinos, especially the filthy rich ones, lived in the past even without a quick visit in this house.
Then again, this is just my experience and my opinion and we might not be on the same page and that's okay! Be sure to keep an eye on my next post still covering Gabii sa Kabilin. ❤
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