"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do... Explore. Dream. Discover."~ Mark Twain

Friday, December 30, 2011

Casa Santa

House of Santa

     Do you believe in Santa? Father Christmas? Saint Nicholas? You'd be delighted with the many figurines, dolls, objects inspired by Santa found in this house! To get there, we rode an FX from Cubao to Antipolo then took a tricycle to Casa Santa. 

     Santa Claus' story begins with Nicholas who became a bishop and then a saint. He was known for his generosity to the needy and for being the patron and protector of children, sailors and voyagers.

Gingerbread house :p

     Casa Santa is inside Jardin de Miramar, a garden-like venue for parties and different celebrations. The Jardin has different themed areas, gazebos, and function/ reception halls. 

The Owner of Casa Santa

     Casa Santa houses over 3,000 Santas in every form and size collected by the owners of Jardin de Miramar. The Casa was formerly a rest house, and was just converted into a museum in 1995. Unlike other museums, visitors can look at the items closely, even play with them! There are Santas dressed like athletes, in national costumes, as bishops and more! 


    There are home decors inspired by Santa like plates, glasses, utensils, some stuffed Santas, as well as small Santa figurines and display items. The entrance fee is 150php per person.

     In front of the house, you'll be greeted by a Santa who's seated and seems like to be inviting you to sit on his lap! There's also one by the door going up a ladder. :) There were a lot to see so we toured the house in parts! :)


LIVING ROOM

Santa's living room

Traditional Santa

     The living room was filled with figurines of Santa in his typical red suit. There were also some in pure white which looked really nice. In the middle of the room is a big Christmas tree decorated with red ribbons, gold balls and white lights! It looked so festive! :) Our favorite Santas were the chef Santa and the bowler Santa. Hehe!:p

Meet the chef!

Strike a pose!


COMFORT ROOM

     On the right side of the living room is the comfort room. We were surprised to see a Santa sitting on the toilet bowl. Haha! :D There was also one taking a dip in the bath tub! All the items in the bathroom had Santa designs like the shower curtain, soap dispenser, towel holder, and toilet seat cover. :p

Busy Santa ;)

DINING AREA

     On the far side of the room is the dining area. The table setting was of course, Santa-themed! Plates of varying sizes and Santa designs were put up on the wall, and cookie jars, mugs, salt and pepper shakers and some other kitchen stuff were displayed on shelves. 

Santa's dining room

Christmas plates! ^_^

     The first floor of the house was already overloaded with figures and images of Santa on a ton of items! Displayed on the staircase were Santa's of different nationalities. Some of the nationalities featured were British, Thai, Malaysian, Finnish and Filipino! :)

Pinoy Santa

Australian Santa

     On the landing on the short flight of stairs, a glass display full of snow globes can be viewed. They came in all sizes and with cute scenes inside! Our favorite was the one where Santa was reading to various animals. :)

Santa snow globes

Animal lover

DEN

     The first room on the left featured a small Christmas village! There were a lot of houses, trains, even a theme park and skating rink! The room was dark so visitors could appreciate the lights from the tiny village! The room just feels so magical -- this is the part of the house that we liked best! :D

Santaville

Sleds, skis, slides!

Christmas homes

Be merry! :p

BEDROOM

Santa's bedroom

     The next room featured a four-poster bed with a lot of stuff toys! Winnie the Pooh, the Grinch, Smurf and other characters were dressed in Santa suits. The bed cover, rug, wall clock, bedside table all had images of good 'ole St. Nick. There was even a toy Santa who was snoring! :p


Pooh as Santa

Snoring Santa

ATTIC

     The attic featured figures of Santa carved out of wood. Some were tall, thin, small, fat and round! There was this huge one on the wall that seemed like a running Santa. :p 

Wooden Santas

Small, Medium, Large

     Our favorite part in the attic is the Christmas-themed chessboard! Mr. and Mrs. Claus were the king and queen, a snowman was used for the bishop, reindeer for the horse, Christmas tower for the rook, and a small Christmas tree for the pawn. We had fun playing! Hehe! :)

Christmas chessboard

     A lifesize figure of Mr. and Mrs. Claus can be seen at the attic. There's also a christmas tree up there but unlike the one downstairs with the usual ornaments, this one was designed with figures of Santa. It was more like a Santa tree. :) 

Santa ornament

CASA SANTA EXPERIENCE

Santa's bedtime story

     Our long trip to get to Casa Santa was worth it! Seeing and playing with all those Santa figures was great! We found the displays, unique, interesting and some even fun! Being inside Casa Santa made us feel like kids again! There's just something about Santa that makes you fell that way. :p We hope he could still give us gifts at this age. Haha! :D


To more adventures and write-ups for 2012! 

     This is our last post for the year 2011. We would like to thank all the readers and newfound friends who have been following and posting their comments on our blog. 

     From us (MarLies Travels), a heartfelt greeting of  MERRY CHRISTMAS and  A HAPPY NEW YEAR! :) We hope you enjoyed reading our posts! Cheers! :)

Casa Santa

276 San Jose Ext., San Isidro Antipolo City 
Telephone No.: 817-1589 
Fax No.: 817-1591 
Cellphone No.: 0917-7923915 
Email: info@miramar.com.ph

9 comments:

  1. Santa overload!!! haha.. This place looks so cozy. I hope I can pay this nice museum a visit next year.. :) Anyway, have a wonderful 2012!

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  2. the museum is open until january, maybe you could try to visit Casa Santa and see it for yourself.. it is a fun place! ^_^

    have a wonderful 2012 as well! :)

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  3. oh ok, naunhan ako ni sumi sa "santa overload" comment.
    ang ganda ng collection ha, best all year round!

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  4. Wow, first time I've read about this! Hope it reopens for the next Yule season and I'll bring my daughter there :)

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  5. santa overload nga! try ko rin bisitahin to pero next year na siguro :P

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  6. @Pinay Travel Junkie: your daughter will surely love it there! lots of Santa toys to play with! =p

    @Christian & Chyng: don't forget to add Casa Santa to your itinerary this December 2012! =D

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  7. Wow! Puro Santa Claus! ^__^ Eto ata ang nakita ko dati sa tv kaso di ko nakuha ang pangalan. Sana mapuntahan ko sya kahit medyo malayo, hehe. Talagang magiging bata ka ulit pag nandun. Nakakatuwa naman. :)

    Happy New Year MarLies Travels! ^__^ Salamat talaga sa pag feature nyo ng mga hidden gems. Kung hindi nyo nafeature, hindi ko malalaman may mga restaurants palang ganyan ang concept or lugar na kakaiba. More travels and exciting adventures sa inyo. :)

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  8. Hi MarLies I would like to ask if u two know where can I find small and life sizes figurine or ceramics display..I think that was featured in Kapuso Mo Jessica Soho I dont exactly know where in rizal if it's in angono or somewhere...maybe somehow you know about it,if u have an info please kindly e-mail me at frozensha831@yahoo.com...thx a lot! gbu!

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