Ambeth R. Ocampo's Blog, page 55

Thanks to all the people who came to my last book signing for 2023 at the Ayala Museum today. Some brought whole collection...

Thanks to all the people who came to my last book signing for 2023 at the Ayala Museum today.
Some brought whole collections but Agnes had all my books from the 1990 Looking Back. RJ, a lawyer, came all the way from Catanduanes, and Mega, an Indonesian, is bringing her books back to Jakarta.
My most inspiring guest was 6 year old Renzo who requested his dad to drive him all the way from Batangas to Makati to have his books signed.
Readers like these make all my toil worthwhile. Sa...

126 years ago today the Pact of Biyak-na-Bato was signed enacting a truce between the Spanish and Filipino revolutionary forces....

126 years ago today the Pact of Biyak-na-Bato was signed enacting a truce between the Spanish and Filipino revolutionary forces. Following the signing of the pact Emilio Aguinaldo got on a train in Bulacan for Dagupan and then to Sual where they sailed on the steamer S.S. Uranus and arrived in Hong Kong on December 31, 1897. Photographed on the windows of the train (from left): Gregorio del Pilar, Wenceslai Viniegra. Emilio Aguinaldo, Vito Belarmino and Pedro Paterno.
My Inquirer column toda...

Photos from Ayala Museum Shop's post

Freud and I will be happy to meet you this Saturday @Ayala Museum.





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EXCHANGE GIFTS.My Inquirer column today is about the first contact in 1521 between Magellan and Pinoys. What he gave as gifts w...

EXCHANGE GIFTS.
My Inquirer column today is about the first contact in 1521 between Magellan and Pinoys. What he gave as gifts were mere trinkets! Ano tayo cheap?
It also gives a list of items Legazpi requested from Mexico as goods for trade with the natives and the Chinese. It seems the trade was unequal by our standards today, but not in the 16th century.



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SMOKING IN THE SENATE.The Philippine Senate today is different from before. In the past Senators were literally elder statesmen...

SMOKING IN THE SENATE.
The Philippine Senate today is different from before. In the past Senators were literally elder statesmen, they walked, talked and dressed differently. Some still spoke in Spanish and as can be seen in this photo yhey even smoked in the august halls of the old Legislative Building now the National Museum. I guess No Smoking Legislation was not in the agenda yet.



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70 years ago this year Queen Elizabeth was crowned and Philippine Airlines was already flying to London. In 2023 Queen Elizabet...

70 years ago this year Queen Elizabeth was crowned and Philippine Airlines was already flying to London.
In 2023 Queen Elizabeth's son Charles was crowned,PAL doesn't fly to London anymore, and if it did a roundtrip ticket would cost more. Inflation does make for hard-to-imagine prices.



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QUEZON USING CHOPSTICKS> When we published "Quezon's Sukiyaki" (Looking Back 12) in 2016 I didn't have a photo of Quezon ea...

QUEZON USING CHOPSTICKS>
When we published "Quezon's Sukiyaki" (Looking Back 12) in 2016 I didn't have a photo of Quezon eating his favorite sukiyaki. To a photo of Quezon at table, book designer Robbie Villegas added some contemporary elements, can you spot them.
While fixing my digital files recently I found this photo of Quezon reaching for yakinuku with chopsticks.



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Last meet and greet, Book Signing for 2023. Ayala Museum Shop on Saturday Decemberr 16 from 2-5 pm I hope you will con...

Last meet and greet, Book Signing for 2023.
Ayala Museum Shop on Saturday Decemberr 16 from 2-5 pm
I hope you will consider my book or books as Christmas gifts this year, they are cheaper than a gift basket, or even a bottle of bad imported wine :) Books can also be ordered from the Ayala Museum Shop before Saturday to be signed and personalized with your name.
It will be a pleasure to sign old books and meet readerss, Freud will be there too!



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December 8 means different things to different people at different times. Today's feast of the Immaculate Conception provided an...

December 8 means different things to different people at different times. Today's feast of the Immaculate Conception provided an excuse to look back on Legazpi's wish list to maintain 16th century Spain's furthest territory.
https://opinion.inquirer.net/168835/d...



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LEGAZPI'S EMPTY TOMB. On the left side of the main altar of San Agustin Church in Intramuros is the tomb of Miguel Lopez de...

LEGAZPI'S EMPTY TOMB.
On the left side of the main altar of San Agustin Church in Intramuros is the tomb of Miguel Lopez de Legazpi, first Governor-general of the Spanish Philippines. The tomb is actually empty, because the British are said to have desecrated his grave during the invasion of Manila and scattered his remains to the winds.
My Inquirer column today is about seeing and noticing the street names in Legazpi Village, Makati.
https://opinion.inquirer.net/168776/t......