In her shoes: former Filipino first lady Imelda Marcos's life of excess is uncovered in Marikina

About halfway there, I start to regret my decision. The trip is only 15 kilo­metres long, yet I’ve already been in a hot taxi for 45 minutes. Am I really spending this long in horrendous Manila traffic simply to look at a heap of shoes? Yes, yes I am. And less than an hour later, I’m glad I did.

You see, for me, the footwear at Marikina Shoe Museum is not the point of this trip. They are not the attraction, they are symbolic, a representation of an extraordinary period in Filipino history and of the remarkable woman who stood at the centre of this era.

The word “remarkable” is often used as a compliment, to suggest something or someone is better than ordinary. Your thesaurus may list words such as amazing, marvellous and wonderful among the possible synonyms for remarkable. They don’t fit here. In this instance, rather than better than ordinary, remarkable is intended to mean out of the ordinary. This is in reference to one of the most unusual and fascinating women in modern Asian history, someone who captivated a global audience. Yet this person has also been convicted of crimes such as corruption, offences that tarnished the reputation of her nation and held back its people. Few people have conflicted the citizens of the Philippines as greatly as Imelda Marcos.