Philippine Travels

Much like the province of Oriental Mindoro to which it belongs, Puerto Galera is very rich in history. Literally meaning "Port of Galleons," it became popular among seafarers during the prosperous years of the galleon trade starting with Chinese traders from the 10th century. Owing to its excellent natural harbor - which until now is considered one of the most beautiful and safest in the world - Puerto Galera became a regular stopover for merchant vessels sailing along the important trade routes of the Near East, Indian coast, Indo-Chinese coast, China, Philippines, Sumatra, and Java. The local community was founded by the Spanish with the consecration of the Church in 1572. The Muelle Bay area, in particular, was used extensively for dock repairs and as a safe anchorage for all types of sailing vessels. Here, too, a lot of merchant ships docked to trade with the natives. Puerto Galera was such important port that some historians even believe the name "Mindoro" w...

A great blog and Facebook page that has amassed a good collection of stories and posts on the history of the Philippines. I have enjoyed following him and his posts over the years and I hope you do too. As he says :"A collector of vintage postcards, cigarette labels, pop culture materials, coins and paper money, who wants to share his passion." link to : Pinoykollektor.blogspot.com   Link to : Pinoy-Kollektor Facebook page

Japan under our skin Toshinao Urabe, ambassador of Japan, led us through a delicate dinner at his residence recently, which made me realize that the Japanese really eat with their eyes. An elaborate dinner service, fine lacquerware and creative plating of each dish delighted our senses before the food was actually tasted and consumed. This was cultural diplomacy at its best. As they say, one of the best ways into people’s hearts is through the belly. Ambassador Urabe is no stranger to the Philippines. He has been here as a child, enrolled in Jose Abad Santos Memorial School. As a child he met Emilio Aguinaldo in Kawit; and he has a black and white photo to prove it. While enjoying the meal, I remembered that Philippine-Japanese relations form a long and complex history that predates the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1946. It predates the horrors of the World War II, where Japanese soldiers were our enemies. When I was looking at old maps in the context of our territ...