chong

You must know that having lived in the Philippines, once you are at home with the people there, they consider you a Filipino. All you have to say when you get back there is exactly what you just said. "I graduated from 'Basté' (San Sebastian)" and they'll know that you are an expatriate that went to school in San Sebastian College, near the San Beda University.

May I have the honor to say, "Mabuhay!" to you and your endeavors. I am anxious and excited to see the results of your experiments.

Lapu-lapu was a chieftain who was a renegade and did not always agree with the chiefs of the neighboring islands, although his island of Mactan was many times smaller than his neighbors. After converting to Catholicism, the other chieftains convinced Magellan to invade Mactan Island and capture Lapu-lapu.

With superior arms, Magellan thought that bolos (long knives) and sharpened bamboo spears would be no match for cannons and muskets. He was right, of course. But he made the mistake of not reconnoitering the area and brazenly attacked before sunrise, which unfortunately was at low tide. The ships ran aground at a distance which rendered their cannons out of range of shores of the island.

They decided to attack on dinghies, whereupon they were pummeled by arrows and bamboo spears. And the sheer numbers of the natives were so overwhelming, that before Magellan and the ship's captain could reach the shores on foot, they had been hit in their legs with arrows.

Instead of retreating, they pressed on and was met by Lapu-lapu brandishing a Kampilan, a long single edged broadsword, and defeated the aggressors. (It was a lot more gory than that, but in deference to the site audience, I thought it best not to elaborate.) Thus ending the conflict, and the surviving crew was able to return to Spain.

There are two kinds of fish called Lapu-lapu, named after this chieftain. One is the delicious rock fish related to the Red Snapper, and is a special treat in restaurants, or in festivities at home. Usually prepared as "Escaveche", deep fried whole fish and served with a not so sweet and not so sour sauce with thinly sliced green papaya slivers, carrots, ginger and garlic.

The other fish is a deep sea fish that can grow upwards of over 300 pounds, the Sea Bass, which is a relative of the famous Chilean Sea Bass. This is the fish that was named after the chieftain, allegedly, after he dove into the water and single handedly fought, captured and killed this large fish with his bare hands. (Well, maybe he had a knife.)

I don'tknow if this big fish is good for sashimi, but I know that pan fried steaks of this fish, with mildly spicy ginger sauce, is awesome!