Thursday
We went to visit Mr. Balvino Mauricio[1]; we didn’t find him. We saw his daughter Belen and her Portuguese girl friend who ran away upon seeing us. The houses occupied by the Chinese have overhanging stairs; the doors are of the pull and push kind. The Dominicans have some 1,000 houses.
_______________________________________
[7] A “letras y figuras” painting by Jose Honorato Lozano, dated 1864, spells out the name Balvino Mauricio. Formerly in the Alejandro R. Roces Collection it is now in a private collection in Manila. The painting contains scenes of Manila landmarks: statue of Isabel II, Magallanes Monument, Puente Colgante. It also contains vignettes of what might have been Mauricio’s house, on Anloague street, now Juan Luna, that according to Jose Alejandrino was the inspiration for the house of Kapitan Tiago in the Noli me tangere.