Ambeth R. Ocampo's Blog, page 185

Melchora Aquino better known as "Tandang Sora" was born on January 6, 1812. Sinc...

Melchora Aquino better known as "Tandang Sora" was born on January 6, 1812. Since it was the Feast of the Three Kings her parents could've named her Gaspara or Baltazara and history would be different. Imagine our heroine as Tandang Gas or even Tandang Zara. She could be the image model for the hip clothing brand Zara.

New Year Resolutions to break in my Inquirer column today.http://opinion.inquir...

New Year Resolutions to break in my Inquirer column today.
http://opinion.inquirer.net/68661/10-commandments-to-be-broken


10 commandments to be broken
opinion.inquirer.net
Last year saw the commemoration of Andres Bonifacio’s 150th birthday. This year we will hopefully do more than celebrate Apolinario Mabini’s 150th birthday because the so-called “The Sublime Paralytic” scribbled a lot for a nation that does not read him. Young Filipinos do not know that during the A...

My Inquirer column today.http://opinion.inquirer.net/68541/coo...-...

My Inquirer column today.
http://opinion.inquirer.net/68541/cooking-in-the-time-of-the-philippine-revolution


Cooking in the time of the Philippine Revolution
opinion.inquirer.net
Filipino homes are festive for both Christmas and New Year’s Eve celebrations with some slight differences: Gifts are exchanged after the noche buena (Dec. 24), while media noche (Dec. 31) is lit up by sparklers (luces) and noisy firecrackers to drive away the bad fortune and spirits of the past yea...

This is NOT about the dangers of New Year firecrackers. Please suggest a new cap...

This is NOT about the dangers of New Year firecrackers. Please suggest a new caption for this frame In Rizal's komiks version of the Tale of the Monkey and the Turtle when the pagong bit the tail of the matsing so hard the pain made him see stars.

My Rizal Day article in the Inquirer today.http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/554373/...

My Rizal Day article in the Inquirer today.
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/554373/court-ordered-rizal-to-pay-p1m


Court ordered Rizal to pay P1M
newsinfo.inquirer.net
One hundred and seventeen years ago, Jose Rizal was executed after he had been tried for treason and convicted for being “the living soul of the revolution.” It was not enough to snuff out his life, however. The revolution had caused damage to the State that the court set at P1 million, to be paid f...

My Inquirer column today.

My Inquirer column today.


Christmas on the eve of the Philippine Revolution
opinion.inquirer.net
Christmas gifts have been opened, the sweets digested and the cholesterol delights of noche buena are clogging our arteries—yet many Filipinos are already looking forward to the next feast, media noche, to bid goodbye to the old year and greet the new one with hope.

My favorite nephew can now write in script and a quill. His note made me realize...

My favorite nephew can now write in script and a quill. His note made me realize my first Christmas away from home will be the last--ever.

My Christmas column today.http://opinion.inquirer.net/68043/chr......

My Christmas column today.
http://opinion.inquirer.net/68043/christmas-is-for-children


Christmas is for children
opinion.inquirer.net
When I think beyond carolers and inaanak collecting their gifts with the greeting “Maligayang Pasko,” I often wonder: How would we celebrate Christmas if Spain did not come to our shores in the 16th century? How different would Christmas be if Spain ceded the Philippines to Portugal in accordance wi...

I'm sure lechon has been around longer than recorded history. This 19th century...

I'm sure lechon has been around longer than recorded history. This 19th century watercolor reminded me of Rizal's Christmas in Dapitan in 1895 described to his mother in a letter as follows:"We celebrated Christmas merrily, as almost always. We [cooked] a small pig and a hen; we invited our neighbors; there was dancing; we laughed a great deal until dawn."
For everyone who dives into the lechon for its crispy skin tonight or wishes they had lechon on the table: Merry Christmas! What I truly miss will be the lechon ribs deep fried and sprinkled with pepper corns or lechon meat made into sinigang leaving other parts for next day's paksiw. Its truly more fun in the Philippines!

Pardon the food porn. Braved the winter cold early this evening to buy a piece o...

Pardon the food porn. Braved the winter cold early this evening to buy a piece of marbled Japanese beef to clog the arteries and keep warm. Like chicharon and everything nice its one of those foods best described as "pampabata." Merry Christmas!