Writer's Musings

Originally posted on Subli: Islam was referred to as mohammedanism when I was growing up in the Philippines. There were several religious sects in the country and one of them was mohammedanism, not Islam. Mohammedans (Muslims) practiced mohammedanism. Most of the muslims lived in Mindanao and Sulu Archipelago. Spaniards called them moros because of their…

Originally posted on Long Island Past and Present: ? Knollwood with Garden Facade “Knollwood”, one of architects ‘Hiss & Weekes’ most beautiful country-house commissions, was owned by a number of interesting personalities. It was built between 1906 and 1910 for Charles I. Hudson, a New York City stockbroker of the Gilded Age, at Muttontown on…

Originally posted on Subli: ? ? The Philippines was ruled by various Asian empires during its early history. Trade with Indonesia, Borneo, mainland Southeast Asia, Japan, Persia and India developed shortly after the Ice Age and many merchants made the Philippines their base. Between 1500 BC and 1440 AD, the Philippines traded with several Asian…

Originally posted on Subli: Two kinds of ancient Filipino writing with approximate English equivalents  About 87 different languages and dialects are spoken in the Philippines. The ten main ones are: Tagalog, spoken in Batangas, Manila, Mindoro, and most of Luzon; Sugbuhanon, in Cebu, and parts of Mindanao; Hiligaynon, in Negros Occidental and Iloilo; Samarnon, in…

Originally posted on Subli: Battle of Bankusay, Painting by Dan Dizon. Courtesy of JDN Center for Kapampangan Studies.  Bankusay refers to the Bankusay creek located off the north shore of Manila Bay. It was here where the bloody Battle of Bankusay took place in 1571, a battle which would immortalize the heroism and extraordinary courage…

Originally posted on Subli: While everyone is thinking about the Super Bowl today, let me introduce you to a traditional, native Philippine sport. It’s not basketball which most Filipinos consider the national sport since it is played every day across the country, on the streets, in gyms, at schools and everywhere else in the Philippines.…

Originally posted on Subli: Limahong Channel – Photo Credit: ilocoshotels.com The Viceroy of Fokien, having heard of Limahong’s daring exploits, had commissioned a ship of war to discover the whereabouts of Limahong, his imperial master’s old enemy. Wang Wanggao, known in Spanish sources as Omocon, who was commissioned to capture Limahong dead or alive, arrived…

Originally posted on Long Island Past and Present: ? During the hectic months after America’s entry into World War I in the spring of 1917, the government started construction of an Army installation in Suffolk country near Yaphank on a tract now housing the Brookhaven National Laboratory. There, on more than 10,000 acres of flat,…

Originally posted on Subli: Photo Credit: fmapulse.com ? Limahong with his men constructed some boats inside the fort out of the half burnt remnants of his fleet which his men had brought into the fort at night without being detected by the Spaniards. The Chinese had made good use of the blockade also which lasted…