Ambeth R. Ocampo's Blog, page 188

My Tokyo apartment is like Grand Central station. This week saw a succession of...

My Tokyo apartment is like Grand Central station. This week saw a succession of house guests from: New York, San Francisco, and now two from Manila. The youngest was 5-month old Theo Tanjuakio seen by my neighbor who asked:"your baby?" I replied:"No, its my nephew's." Only then did I realize that little Theo is actually my grandson. OMG lolo na pala ako! Before he left, in a landscaped Japanese garden I taught him the itik-itik dance.

My Inquirer column today, a break from a series on historical typhoons.http://o...

My Inquirer column today, a break from a series on historical typhoons.
http://opinion.inquirer.net/65851/rizals-frugal-dinners


Rizal’s frugal dinners
opinion.inquirer.net
In November 1884 Rizal received a letter from his elder brother Paciano filled with news from home that included an update on the family and how their house in Calamba almost burned to the ground:

In Ambrose Coleman "Friars in the Philippines" (1899) you will find an engraving...

In Ambrose Coleman "Friars in the Philippines" (1899) you will find an engraving from a photograph that documents a scene from Manila after a typhoon. Since structures were not as sturdy then as they are now why does the destruction look similar? Have storms and the friends they bring along to ruin our towns and cities become stronger in our time?

My Inquirer column today on typhoons that ravaged Tacloban in 1912 and 1897.htt...

My Inquirer column today on typhoons that ravaged Tacloban in 1912 and 1897.
http://opinion.inquirer.net/65685/tacloban-not-once-but-thrice


Tacloban, not once but thrice
opinion.inquirer.net
Padre Faura is an Ermita street marked “P. Faura” after the Jesuit Fr. Federico Faura, first director of the Manila Observatory, the precursor of the Manila Weather Bureau and the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa).

Padre Faura street in Ermita used to be called "Observatorio" because the Manila...

Padre Faura street in Ermita used to be called "Observatorio" because the Manila Observatory used to be on the Ateneo campus there. MO has since moved to QC. Faura invented a barometer for use in predicting typhoons in the Philippines in 1886. It was later patented and commercially available before World War II with a face in Spanish or English and I wonder when people stopped using this life-saving gadget later improved by Faura's successor Jose Algue, SJ. I used to find these barometers in Ermita antique shops and brought them to MO where Fr. Vic Badillo and I would check if they were still working by taking them up and down the elevator watching if the needle moved.

Some people think looking back on the past is useless to those living in the pre...

Some people think looking back on the past is useless to those living in the present looking forward to the future. Useless it may seem to be, but history provides perspective. Over a century ago Fr. Jose Algue, Director of the Manila Obsevatory, published a 136-page monograph on a storm that ravaged Samar and Leyte in 1897. This once forgotten work is relevant again in the wake of Yolanda in 2013.

The Illustrated London News had a correspondent in Manila in the mid-19th centur...

The Illustrated London News had a correspondent in Manila in the mid-19th century who drew how their street turned into a river during a typhoon. While it is true that the Philippines endures 20 typhoons a year on average for the last 500 years how come disaster response has not become second-nature to us? It is true that Yolanda overwhelmed everyone but why did it take a week and the US military to get relief goods to the people who need them?

My Inquirer column today.http://opinion.inquirer.net/65401/his...

My Inquirer column today.
http://opinion.inquirer.net/65401/history-repeated


History repeated
opinion.inquirer.net
Finding sympathy after a tragedy is easy; finding the same generosity in good times is not.

My Inquirer column today on the original Storm Chasers.http://opinion.inquirer....

My Inquirer column today on the original Storm Chasers.
http://opinion.inquirer.net/65289/storm-chasers


Storm chasers
opinion.inquirer.net
Watching CNN coverage of Supertyphoon “Haiyan” aka “Yolanda” was frustrating for expatriate Pinoys worrying about friends and relatives back home. The video clips were limited and repeated at every segment when CNN could’ve shared video from Philippine news organizations. I stayed up all night waiti...

Elizabeth Keith's woodblock prints of Japan are well-known to collectors but the...

Elizabeth Keith's woodblock prints of Japan are well-known to collectors but the series on the Philippines in the 1920's after her trip to the islands are works I have not seen even in our museums. I wonder if these prints came with some text.