With his trademark astute humor and banter with the kids, Buenaflor has been giving tourists and local families private tours of historic locales since 2011.
"Being a tour guide was the furthest thing on my mind coming back to the Philippines after 14 years in the US and Spain," Buenaflor said. "I think being a juggling trapeze artist would have been more realistic, but, I'd just noticed that my kids had no way to access Philippine history in a manner that would capture their attention."
What started out as a series of activities for his daughter and son, then aged six and four years old respectively, turned into something quite extraordinary. "First it was friends, relatives and then a friend took the whole thing quite seriously and let her friends know," he said. "Before I knew it I was contracted by a Montessori school in Quezon City."
His basic itinerary explores Fort Santiago in Intramuros, the Light and Sound Museum ("It's so kitschy - complete with animatronics - it screams, 'Only be in the Philippines!' Think Disney version of Philippine history.") and side trips to San Agustin Church, The National Museum or Museo Pambata.
Buenaflor attributes experiential learning as the foundation he rests his activities on. "Definitely, definitely the kids....and their parents....respond well when role playing and arts and crafts are involved. They just find textbooks boring. Heck, half of my guests probably don't know anymore what a textbook is," Buenaflor added.
He'd noticed that one of the things that kept people away from the historical core of Manila was security and traffic. "I guess there's more than a kernel of truth in this whole 'gates of hell' thing," he added. "Look, it's not exactly six hour traffic, but, yeah Intramuros can be a slug crawl to get to."
With that in mind, he decided to include pick up and drop off in his services. "I take car of the driving and, plus, more importantly, you get to spend more time with me and my stories," he said with a twinkle in his eyes.
Buenaflor has decided to expand the scope of his tours to keep up with the requests of his guests. "I've expanded into science-focused activities - we'd a day with a scientist that included a microbot workshop. Yeah, it's as fun as it sounds," he said.
He made sure to include this gem: "Don't let others tell you otherwise. Metro Manila is more than just about malls. It's been a while since I've heard my kids say, 'I'm bored.' There's just so much to do here. 'Gates of hell' or not."
Jay Buenaflor can be contacted at 0923 702 2777 or joaquinbuenaflor@yahoo.com
A minute to see what it's all about:
Group and Private Tours Available
Includes:
- Pick up and drop off (depending on location and number of people)
- All entrance and guiding fees
- Fun activities and games
- Snacks and refreshment
Itinerary 1: Kids-centric and enjoyed by those with creative instincts. Works for toddlers and tweeners.
- Fort Santiago in Intramuros
- National Gallery at The National Museum: Featuring the masters - Juan Luna, Hidalgo, Amorsolo, Francisco, Legaspi among many others.
- Museo Pambata
Cost: P7,700.00 minimum of three persons / P375.00 per extra person
Duration: Four hours
Itinerary 2
- Fort Santiago
- National Gallery
- Casa Manila
or
- San Agustin Church and Museum
Cost: P7,900.00 minimum of three persons / P395.00 per extra person
Duration: Four hours
Itinerary 3
Itinerary 3
- Fort Santiago
- Light and Sound Museum
Cost: P8,500.00 minimum of three persons / P200.00 per extra person
Duration: Three hours
Itinerary 4
- Fort Santiago
- Light and Sound Museum
- Casa Manila
or
- San Agustin Church and Museum
- National Gallery
or
- Museo Pambata
Cost: P10,500.00 minimum of three persons / P545.00 per extra person
Duration: Five hours
Rizal Shrine - See a piece of history!! More specifically, see a piece of Rizal!! Yup, apparently, that urn below contains a piece of Rizal's vertebra:
Light and Sound Museum (click here for more info):
The Philippine treasure known as the National Gallery at The National Museum (more info here)
The reviews are in......
"...his interactive, entertaining antics ready to keep a rowdy bunch of students interested for hours on end. And it’s great!" says Spiral Sun here.
Spunky Babe says, "...composed of gregarious story telling, fun role-playing and crazy antics" here.
Dear Reader,
Thanks so much for checking out this blog. The tours I do have been described as a "gem" and a "must do" by parents who've experienced my one-of-a-kind way of learning.
I've listed suggested itineraries above, but, do feel free to let me know you and your group's interests and let's together come up with one that works for everybody.
Sincerely,
Jay
