What did Jose Rizal eat? What food did he write about? Did he hunger for bagoong or mango jam while overseas? This book shares stories collected from Rizal’s autobiography, works penned by him, biographies written about him by admirers, interviews of people who knew him, and accounts written about the Philippines, Europe, and Hong Kong during his lifetime. As it gives glimpses into the man’s everyday life, this little tome reveals sacrifices made to keep patriotic advocacies his priority. Rizal’s nobleness and supreme sacrifice for his love of Filipinas becomes all the more worthy of never-ending praise.

A study of Rizal, his works, and his influence in Southeast Asia; how his contemporaries saw him; the role Rizal played in inspiring Indonesian nationalists; how the Indonesians and Malaysians appropriated him in the movement for independence, and how he figures in the region's intellectual, political and literary discourse.