Despite being a highly urbanized city, Marikina still manages to retain a sense of history, nature, and culture. The “Shoe Capital of the Philippines” is a bike-friendly city that possesses a quiet, small-town charm. Heritage buildings are preserved, the streets are clean and well-maintained, there are actual designated bike lanes, a number of public recreational spots, and green spaces, and lots of charming homegrown garden restaurants, unique shops, and hidden gems here.
Whenever I bike around Marikina, I feel like I’m biking around a small town in the province. While the rest of Metro Manila feels grimy, congested, and overly developed, you still get the feel of the simple provincial life in some spots here. Marikina feels like a modern-day pueblo where family-run businesses are still the norm and cultural heritage is still present. Here’s a look at some of the fun and unique things you can do in Marikina.
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Bike, jog, and admire art by the riverbanks
The Marikina River Park is a system of parks, trails, open spaces, and recreation facilities along an 11-kilometer (6.8 mi) stretch of the Marikina River. This area is popular for jogging, biking, skating (there’s a dedicated skating rink in the area), fishing, picnics, and outdoor recreational activities, not just among Marikina residents but also for those from nearby cities in Metro Manila.
The area is one of the most bike-friendly biking destinations in the city especially for newbies because motorized vehicles aren’t allowed to pass by the riverside.
One of the newer attractions is a display of 16 Mosaic Art pieces of nature scenes located on the same side of the riverbanks as San Antonio de Padua Church. The mosaic artworks are made from materials like glass tiles, bottle caps, stones, plastic bottles, foam bits, slippers, plastic clothespins & more. The displays made by members from different barangays from Marikina was put up just last December 2019 as a way to turn trash into art.
Marvel at shoes at the footwear museum
The famed Marikina Footwear Museum is a small museum that highlights former First Lady Imelda Marcos’ 749 pairs of shoes. The museum also displays pairs from other political figures and celebrities, such as the shoes of Imelda’s husband and former president Ferdinand Marcos, King of Philippine Comedy, Dolphy Quizon, and more. This museum also used to hold the Guinness Record for the World’s Largest Pair of Shoes, before the shoes were located to a gallery in the Riverbanks complex. The museum building itself is more than 200 years old and used to serve as a granary during the Spanish regime, and as an artillery storage during the Japanese occupation.
Marikina Footwear Museum, J. P. Rizal St., San Roque, Marikina City, Metro Manila. Entrance Fee: P50/head
Visit other quirky museums devoted to books, miniatures, and more
Aside from the Show Museum, Marikina has a few other small, but interesting niche museums. Another one you can visit is the Book Museum cum Ethnology Center, an eclectic museum containing a collection of limited edition books and published materials from all around the world, including travel artifacts from different regions of the Philippines.
The Book Museum cum Ethnology Center. 127 Dao Street, Marikina Heights, Marikina City. Entrance Fee: P300 inclusive of P100 consumable at the James Dean Café.
Those into miniature models and dollhouses might also like the kid-friendly Museum of Miniatures right in the Riverbanks complex. This small museum displays the collection of the late Aleli Vengua, an artist who handcrafted most of the pieces herself from scrap items such as plastic, wood, aluminum, fabric, and glass. The gallery is right next to a collection of Nativity Scenes, which are also worth a look. The Philippine Science Centrum is also within the same complex, so you can check that out as well.
Museum of Miniatures. 2nd level, E-com Building Riverbanks Center, Barangka Marikina City. Entrance Fee: P75/person.
Go on a Photowalk of city landmarks
Many of Marikina’s old houses and landmarks highlight the city’s rich history. Most are located near each other and can be easily visited on a DIY Photowalk or biking tour. The Bahay na Bato is a Spanish heritage site declared as a National Shrine in 1968. More than 200 years old, this structure was where the first pair of shoes were designed in Marikina City. It’s owned by Kapitan Moy, considered the Father of the Shoe Industry in the Philippines. It now houses restaurants like Cafe Kapitan & Cocina and is usually booked as a venue for weddings, debuts & other events.
Right outside the Marikina Footwear Museum nearby, you can find a century-old acacia tree that was uprooted by a freak tornado in 2018. Instead of getting rid of it, the residents used bonsai techniques to revive and restore what remained of the tree. Today, new growths sprout from the trunk. For locals, the tree has come to symbolize resilience & survival. It’s a reminder that whatever calamity we face, it’s still possible to find new life.
The Cityhood Park, located at the corner of Sumulong Highway and Shoe Avenue, is another one of the Marikina’s major landmarks. The park has a Spanish inspired facade that resembles a church. It has 12 bronze cup-shaped bells imported from Italy that are scheduled to play a melody every hour from 8:00 am to 6:00 pm.
Teatro Marikina serves as the center of performing arts of Marikina and eastern Metro Manila.
Spot a vintage train along the road
Did you know that there used to be a Marikina train line that used to operate from 1906 to 1936? It started from the Tutuban central train station in Manila, passing through Pasig, and trains went all the way to the towns of Marikina and Montalban. The recently opened Daang Bakal Train Park right across Teatro Marikina along the road formerly known as “Daang Bakal” street features a vintage “Marikina Express” train. It really reminds me of the Hogwarts Express from Harry Potter films.
The train serves as a beautiful historic reminder of the former railway route and hot it was a part of early 20th-century locomotive transportation. You can also spot the old Riverland Express Train near the Riverbanks Mall facing the side of Marikina River.
Shop for vintage bikes and parts
Marikina is very bike-friendly and you can find lots of shops and stalls selling vintage bicycles and accessories. You can find folding bikes and classic Japanese bikes for sale in the Japanese surplus shops along J.P. Rizal Street right in front of John Wilkies Bike Shop and near the Marikina Footwear Museum. There are also specialty shops like Bzkleta Marikina, and stalls along Tumana Bridge and along the riverbanks area.
Have brunch at a hidden garden cafe
There are a lot of unique places where you can eat in Marikina, but if I had to pick just one, I’d recommend Rustic Mornings for the ambiance and food. This lovely secluded garden restaurant offers a bit of peace and nature in the middle of the city.
It has an al fresco area and is currently open for socially distanced dine-in with safety and sanitation measures in place. Reservations are recommended for specific time slots.
Dine at a retro shoe factory-turned-restaurant
Industriya Marikina is another notable restaurant in the area, offering a bit of history and culture along with food. This large restaurant and events place was repurposed from a former shoe factory and tannery. The owner Dr. Alfredo Cheng and his family revived the building from a sorry state into a place that celebrates Marikina’s glory days back in the 1960s and 70s.
You can still see traces of the factory in the industrial equipment, machinery, and shoe-inspired details of the restaurant complex. The food is a bit of a mixed bag, but the venue itself is a beautifully designed space with indoor and outdoor dining sections and a large parking area.
Play Wizard’s Chess in between your meals
Another Marikina institution, Pan de Amerikana has been offering pandesal since the 1950s. It’s also the first and only chess-themed restaurant in the country. This quirky restaurant offers budget-friendly eats and a distinctive ambiance that has made it a favorite for themed celebrations and impromptu photoshoots.
The restaurant features 3.5 feet (1.1 meter) high chess pieces, a life-sized windmill, a rope bridge, and European ruins, so make sure to bring your camera with you.
Take home some unique eats
Aside from the restaurants mentioned aboce, there are a lot of other places where you can grab a bite to eat. Mama Chit’s Cafe is a popular Marikina institution known for its burgers and comfort food and unique vintage diner vibe. This cafe is popular with bikers since the cafe is located right next to a bike shop.
Right across the street in J.P. Rizal, you can find a row of roadside stalls offering great local kakanin like kutsinta, sapin sapin, suman, along with fish crackers, bottled products, and other treats. Aling Remy’s Special Delicious Puto at Kutsinta has been around since the 1930s and is said to have popularized puto with cheese. You can find numerous stalls selling all kinds of goodies including “everlasting” Marikina’s signature meatloaf dish.
I know we’ve all been deprived of travel for the last 6 months, but I hope this article shows that there are beautiful and interesting destinations and places that we can go to right within our cities too, or just nearby. Hop on a bike to explore places around you and you’ll see just what I mean.