Ambeth R. Ocampo's Blog, page 62

LOOKING BACK, the title of my newspaper column, was given to me by my mentor E. Aguilar Cruz when he introduced me to the editor...

LOOKING BACK, the title of my newspaper column, was given to me by my mentor E. Aguilar Cruz when he introduced me to the editors at the Daily Globe in 1987, the column first appeared in the Lifestyle pages and later moved to Op-Ed.
Looking back moved to the Inquirer in 1991 and has been there ever since. One foreign scholar commented that having a regular opinion editorial page column on history is quite unique (until the advent of Xiao Chua and Jorge Mojarro in the Manila Times), while an...

Is this man being scolded?State of the art English language instruction in 1953 required proper tongue displacement. American J...

Is this man being scolded?
State of the art English language instruction in 1953 required proper tongue displacement. American Jesuits in Manila had all the modern methods, that look odd to us today.



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My Inquirer column today on spies in the Philippine-American War resulted from the endless discussion on the imagined need for "...

My Inquirer column today on spies in the Philippine-American War resulted from the endless discussion on the imagined need for "confidential funds."
https://opinion.inquirer.net/168004/e...



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ILOILO is one of my favorite cities in the world, and I hope Iloilo considers me its favorite historian :)Lecture and Booksigni...

ILOILO is one of my favorite cities in the world, and I hope Iloilo considers me its favorite historian :)
Lecture and Booksigning next Tuesday.



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I am a frustrated bookseller. I have long dreamed to own and run a bookstore. This inspired my Inquirer column today on the book...

I am a frustrated bookseller. I have long dreamed to own and run a bookstore. This inspired my Inquirer column today on the bookstores of my youth.
https://opinion.inquirer.net/167929/f...



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Modern memorial parks are so generic and dull compared to the Manila North Cemetery where you will find amazing mausoleums like ...

Modern memorial parks are so generic and dull compared to the Manila North Cemetery where you will find amazing mausoleums like the white pyramid of the Tuason-Legarda-Valdez-Prieto families guarded by a pair of Sphinxes.
Sphinxes asked the famous riddle: what creature walks on four legs in the morning, two legs in the afternoon, and three legs in the evening? Do you know the answer? If you don't, youre dead!



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Time Travel: Gilarmi Apartments, Makati. The Gilarmi Apartments on Ayala Avenue is no more. It was replaced by Discovery Pr...

Time Travel: Gilarmi Apartments, Makati.
The Gilarmi Apartments on Ayala Avenue is no more. It was replaced by Discovery Primea that was thoughtful enough to name its ground-floor piano bar the Gilarmi.
While browsing over old magazines, I came across a photograph of Armi Kuusela (Left) Miss Finland, who won the very first Miss Universe Pageant in 1952. She married Virgilio Hilario, a Filipino businessman, and chose not to continue her term. She relinquished the Miss Universe Crown an...

Imagine a time when fried chicken could be had for P5 and a serving of dinuguan for 0.80! Before we had Jollibee Chickenjoy...

Imagine a time when fried chicken could be had for P5 and a serving of dinuguan for 0.80!
Before we had Jollibee Chickenjoy (established 1978), fried chicken to a Pinoy meant Max's (established 1945). The original "house that chicken built" still stands on Scout Tuason (formerly F Street) Quezon City but its prices are not the same anymore.
It is hard to imagine a time when you could get a whole fried chicken for five pesos (P5) and side orders of arroz caldo or pancit for fifty centav...

While fried chicken for P5 and a serving of dinuguan for 0.80! Before we had Jollibee Chickenjoy (established 1978), fried ...

While fried chicken for P5 and a serving of dinuguan for 0.80!
Before we had Jollibee Chickenjoy (established 1978), fried chicken to a Pinoy meant Max's (established 1945). The original "house that chicken built" still stands on Scout Tuason (formerly F Street) Quezon City but its prices are not the same anymore.
It is hard to imagine a time when you could get a whole fried chicken for five pesos (P5) and side orders of arroz caldo or pancit for fifty centavos (0.50c)! The Max menu is...

The Pinoy aversion to Blackness. Martial Law Babies like me were fed on a TV diet of reruns from vintage black and white Sa...

The Pinoy aversion to Blackness.
Martial Law Babies like me were fed on a TV diet of reruns from vintage black and white Sampaguita and LVN films. One of the films I remember was "Cofradia: Ang Mahiwagang Sinderela" (1953).
Based on a komiks serial the film revolves around Cofradia, a girl born black as charcoal ,played by Gloria Romero (right) who is the subject of constant mocking and ridicule she loses her self esteem and is afraid to love. But when she lights a magic candle her bl...