Ambeth R. Ocampo's Blog, page 89

#HistoryNotTsismis Visited the T. H. Pardo de Tavera Collection at the Rizal Library last week to look into leads that have...

#HistoryNotTsismis
Visited the T. H. Pardo de Tavera Collection at the Rizal Library last week to look into leads that have been lying in my notebooks for years. Going over the recipes of Juliana Gorricho (c.1842-1892), ill-fated mother-in-law of Juan Luna. I was fascinated by the way she tried to replicate the tastes of the Philippines in the late 19th century Paris where they lived in exile. Recipes for sinigang, adobo, pancit, bagoong etc. using ingredients available to her was very chal...

Back on-site after two years!ICYMI--In case you missed it.Saturdays November 12 and 19 at the Ayala Museum.

Back on-site after two years!
ICYMI--In case you missed it.
Saturdays November 12 and 19 at the Ayala Museum.



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My Inquirer column today may be unsettling to some because it depicts the pre-Martial Law Ninoy Aquino. We only know of the mart...

My Inquirer column today may be unsettling to some because it depicts the pre-Martial Law Ninoy Aquino. We only know of the martyr, missing out on the biggest lesson we have to learn from Ninoy, as my friend Tina Cuyugan put it so well, as the process of conversion and redemption that resulted from solitary confinement and near-death experience during a hunger strike against Marcos and Martial Law.
https://opinion.inquirer.net/158051/p...



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Look what turned up during spring cleaning. There must be mire tucked away in the drawers I haven’t organized.

Look what turned up during spring cleaning. There must be mire tucked away in the drawers I haven’t organized.



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My Inquirer column today looks back on my beginnings as a collector of Filipiniana, and how one of the most extraordinary dealer...

My Inquirer column today looks back on my beginnings as a collector of Filipiniana, and how one of the most extraordinary dealers in the Philippines used me like a Truffle Hog, to sniff out treasure from trash.
https://opinion.inquirer.net/157984/i...



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Rizal in the 1877 Graduation Yearbook. Visited the Ateneo de Manila University Archives the other day to look at Rizal’s ro...

Rizal in the 1877 Graduation Yearbook.
Visited the Ateneo de Manila University Archives the other day to look at Rizal’s rosary. It wasn’t on display. So I requested the next best thing, the Solemn Distribution of Prizes for the Schoolyear 1876-1877 that had the list of graduates for 1877. Remember that while these boys were conferred a Bachelor of Arts, the Ateneo Municipal de Manila run by the Jesuits was a secondary or high school. After high school in Ateneo, Rizal proceeded to the Domi...

History by the wayside. Pandemic rules dictate that visitors access Santa Cruz church through a side entrance. Pay attentio...

History by the wayside.
Pandemic rules dictate that visitors access Santa Cruz church through a side entrance. Pay attention to the pile of granite by an untended garden [Lower Left] these are not unused construction material or "basura" but broken 18th century tombstones that remain from previous church renovations. Some of the tombstones like the one on the right are in Chinese characters!
So much history, literally strewn by the wayside.



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All floors @Ayala Museum are now open. Gave Freud a tour of the amazing Gold Collection. He asked, “if the preSpanish Philippine...

All floors @Ayala Museum are now open. Gave Freud a tour of the amazing Gold Collection. He asked, “if the preSpanish Philippines literally had a Golden Age, why are we poor today? Take note ha? Our golden age is not Martial Law!.



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Attending the Spanish National Day the other night reminded me of a very curious event in Manila in 1825 that was not taught to ...

Attending the Spanish National Day the other night reminded me of a very curious event in Manila in 1825 that was not taught to me in school.
A portrait of Fernando VII, King of Spain, was sent to "the distinguished and ever loyal city of Manila." It was during the reign of Fernando that most of Spanish America declared their independence and separated from Spain, thus he wanted to thank the Philippines and the Filipinos for their loyalty to the crown. Since he could not travel to Manila, h...

EARTHQUAKE MAP.Where is the safest place to live in the Philippines, relatively earthquake-free? You will find the answer in Jo...

EARTHQUAKE MAP.
Where is the safest place to live in the Philippines, relatively earthquake-free? You will find the answer in Jose Algue's earthquake map, part of his "Atlas de Filipinas" (1900). For his contributions to science and life in the Philippines, the Jesuit Fr. Algue is honored by a street in Tondo called "P. Algue." Just as Ermita honors Federico Faura in the street called "Padre Faura."
The Manila Observatory, as an institution, is 167 years old, it is older than the official w...