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Zamboanga's red-gravy breakfast: grilled skewers, puso rice and a history carried across the Sulu Sea from Malay and Tausug kitchens. Written by Glenn Junsay Pansensoy  ·  Culinary  ·  15 min read You step into Zamboanga City and a few things strike at once. The barter markets hum with bargaining voices. Sardine cans are stacked in neat rows, like small metallic altars. And there is the musical lilt of Chavacano, that Spanish-born creole that has earned the city its old nickname, Asia's Latin City. But for many who live here, the true introduction comes through the nose. Before the sun has properly cleared the water, a smoky, spicy scent drifts down the street from a satti house, and the day begins to make sense. It is a simple bowl: small skewers of grilled meat, a few chunks of rice, and a flood of red sauce. And yet it carries the map of centuries in its taste. The Morning Ritual The first thing a visitor must learn is that satti is not an evening dish. It i...

Riches of Mindanao ✏️ Glenn Junsay Pansensoy  ·  📁 History  ·  ⏱️ 8 min read The Riches of Mindanao Before Spanish Colonialism The Riches of Mindanao Before Spanish Colonialism Gold, Sea Cucumbers, and the Maritime Silk Roads Introduction: A Land of Wealth and Trade Before the Spanish galleons arrived in the Philippines, Mindanao was already a thriving node in the vast maritime trade networks of Southeast Asia. The island's natural wealth—particularly its abundant gold deposits and valuable marine products like sea cucumbers (trepang)—anchored sophisticated economic systems that connected local communities to regional markets stretching from China to the Indian Ocean world. Archaeological evidence from Butuan in northern Mindanao demonstrates that the region maintained active trade connections with other parts of Southeast Asia beginning in the 10th century CE—centuries before Spanish coloni...