- var_dump: documentation ( source)
- unserialize: documentation ( source)
<?php
$x = unserialize('a:2:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"name";s:16:"Sally Gunasekara";s:12:"birthday_day";s:1:"1";s:14:"birthday_month";s:1:"1";s:13:"birthday_year";s:4:"2013";s:6:"gender";s:1:"F";}i:1;a:5:{s:4:"name";s:16:"Lilly Gunasekara";s:12:"birthday_day";s:1:"1";s:14:"birthday_month";s:1:"1";s:13:"birthday_year";s:4:"2013";s:6:"gender";s:1:"M";}}');
var_dump($x);