Where the truth is stranger than fiction

Ripley’s Believe It or Not! It was a quirky and entertaining visit and very much worth my time. As I stepped in with curiosity, I found it quite appealing. These bizarre and original exhibits made me wonder if something so strange could really be genuine. The globetrotter founder, Robert Ripley, displayed his first collection of oddities in the early 1900’s from artefacts he had gathered from his travels to more than 200 countries. Looking back some 15 years ago, I am reminded that Ripley’s also opened its doors to the public in Shangri-la Plaza in Metro Manila.

Items on display that absolutely stood out were the Swarovski covered Crystal Mini Cooper and London’s Tower Bridge (or London Bridge as how we call it) made entirely of ordinary matchsticks, all 264,345 of them to be exact! I was intrigued on how these pieces were put together, the intricacy and effort only made me appreciate it even more. How about this one, a portrait of the stunning Lady Diana made entirely of laundry lint from clothes dryer? Or a copy of The Last Supper painted on a grain of rice, visible only through the lens of a microscope. How about speed painting, a painting of a seascape in less than one minute or a gifted horse than can actually paint? Or even wedding gowns beautifully made out of toilet paper? Or a mini pool table? Best of all was a massive portrait of Robert Ripley himself, made using thousands of brightly coloured gumballs! I was truly amazed on how some people have such talent and have so much time on their hands!

One item in the collections was the famous cardigan worn by the most photographed woman in the world, Marilyn Monroe, during her last photo shoot. Some of her accessories on display include a purse, nail polish, makeup, clutch bag, cigarettes – you name it! Any Marilyn Monroe fan would be thrilled to be at this part of the museum display, no doubt about that! Another one is the two-headed lamb and calf born just two years ago. Both animals fully functioned, but of course, with separate personalities! I wonder what that would have been like raising it? Then there was another somewhat out of the ordinary display, a man born with double pupils in each eye (whom Robert Ripley personally met). But I cringed at the thought when I learned that the world’s fattest man’s diet consisted of two boxes of sausages, 1lb. of bacon, 12 eggs, a loaf of bread, 4 hamburgers, 4 cheeseburgers, 8 helpings of fries, 3 ham steaks, 2 whole chicken, 4 baked potatoes, 4 sweet potatoes, 4 heads of broccoli (at least he ate his vegetables), but washed down with 5.5 litres of soda with every meal! Believe it or not, this was his daily intake, which is just absolutely disgusting

If that is not enough fun, an additional experience is the mirror maze challenge, a maze that consists of a series of columns and arches surrounded by hundreds of mirrored reflective passages in all directions, providing family entertainment that will appeal to all ages. This point of this maze is to get lost and find your way back, and the more people there are, the more confusing it is, but it’s the fun that counts, isn’t it? The floor lighting effect gives the illusion of continuing hallways, when in fact you may be at a dead end! Are you up for this experience?

I think The Ripley’s Believe It or Not museum of oddities will continue to be a unique experience that promises to be one of the most incredible visitor experiences with something to confuse, excite, inspire or maybe even disgust. But who knows when my next visit would be, so I took endless photographs to my heart’s content and felt that it was well-worth it! It’s a hit on how this museum just keeps on growing and growing with new things added each year. It’s made for anyone who has an interest with the odd and unusual, but there’s just nothing else like it, so enjoy life with the weird and wacky!