Jan 5: Adventures in Corregidor
Recovered from our Bohol trip, the next item on our itinerary was an overnight trip to Corregidor Island. I've been to Corregidor before, but not on an overnight. I recall a very interesting tour of the island, but a very hot and humid one, too. Personally, I wasn't looking forward to it, but Luis was very interested. It sort of served as our preparation for HBO's The Pacific. And knowing what I do now, I should have been more excited over the trip!
We started bright and early to make sure we made it to the dock on time. But we had to go to the reservations office first, and take a jeepney to transport us to the ferry. The trip was comfortable enough. I was a little bit freaked about getting sea sickness, but we were lucky to get a catamaran for a ferry, so the journey was relatively stable. We were well-entertained during the boat trip, with an introduction to Corregidor Island. Corregidor comes from the Spanish word "corregir", meaning to correct. During the Spanish era, this tadpole-shaped island was used as a signal station, where bonfires were lit to alert Manila of a galleon. It is significant to our history, because it is an island at the mouth of Manila Bay, making it a focal point of the naval defenses of Manila. Its historical value occurred in World War II, when it fell to Japanese forces and recaptured by the United States -- led by none other than, Gen. Douglas MacArthur!
Before landing on the island, the instructions were that we were to board different tour buses based on the following criteria: overnighters, Japanese speakers and everybody else! The tour guides were upfront that the Japanese-speaking group get a slightly different tour than the others, naturally. But it wasn't quite clear how the story was different. Anyway, the tour was alright. We visited the key places, such as MacArthur's memorial, the Malinta Tunnel, the Japanese Garden of Peace, the Middleside Barracks, the different batteries -- Way, Hearn and Crocket, the Topside (a.k.a. Mile Long) Barracks, the Pacific War Memorial, and the Spanish Lighthouse. However, the tour was just very "tourist-y". It provided a lot of facts, but not very much insight or making it an the experience.
After the tour, we had lunch at the Corregidor Inn and checked into our rooms. During the check-in, I signed up for more activities in the afternoon, since there's not much to do on the island anyway. So we took a little nap, and joined a bunch of activities that started with the Sunset Experience. The Sunset Experience allowed us to catch the sunset at Battery Grubbs. It was perfectly timed because we were able to watch the sun go down until it was nowhere to be seen! The whole experience made the post-processing difficult, since I couldn't decide which sunset picture to choose, so I posted them all!
From Battery Grubbs, we proceeded with a night visit to the Corregidor Hospital. This one was a bit spooky with the entrance of the hospital being swallowed by a balete tree, which in Philippine culture is believed to host spirits and demon-like creatures. I actually took several pictures that would take ghost adventurers out for a loop, since it contained a lot of orbs (not that I believe in those things). What scared me more was the Jabidah massacre, that happened at the hospital. Thankfully, I didn't have any paranormal encounters.
The highlight of the evening was the Night Lateral Visit, or a night time hike through one of the Malinta tunnel laterals. This one was the most educational and experiential activities of our trip. We explored the tunnel closely resembling how it would have been navigated or explored during World War II -- with very little light and/or no light at all! All I could think of was how brave the men and women who were in these tunnels were. I probably would have broken down and just cried. I almost did it since the flashlight I got went out of battery power fast! Good thing Luis lent me his LED cap. There was no way we were joining the midnight ghost hunting tour!
After the tunnel, we returned to the Corregidor Inn for dinner. The Inn did a good job with serving authentic Filipino cuisine. Luis enjoyed his adobo, while I had sinigang na bangus. We walked off our dinner by exploring the beach and attempting to do some star gazing. It was a great night to do so, since there were no clouds. Luis was amazed at how clearly you could see the stars. I regretted not bringing a blanket or a towel, because my neck ached from looking up. But all in all, it was romantic!
From there, we called it a day -- a very long day! But we learned a lot and got some exercise, too!
We started bright and early to make sure we made it to the dock on time. But we had to go to the reservations office first, and take a jeepney to transport us to the ferry. The trip was comfortable enough. I was a little bit freaked about getting sea sickness, but we were lucky to get a catamaran for a ferry, so the journey was relatively stable. We were well-entertained during the boat trip, with an introduction to Corregidor Island. Corregidor comes from the Spanish word "corregir", meaning to correct. During the Spanish era, this tadpole-shaped island was used as a signal station, where bonfires were lit to alert Manila of a galleon. It is significant to our history, because it is an island at the mouth of Manila Bay, making it a focal point of the naval defenses of Manila. Its historical value occurred in World War II, when it fell to Japanese forces and recaptured by the United States -- led by none other than, Gen. Douglas MacArthur!
Before landing on the island, the instructions were that we were to board different tour buses based on the following criteria: overnighters, Japanese speakers and everybody else! The tour guides were upfront that the Japanese-speaking group get a slightly different tour than the others, naturally. But it wasn't quite clear how the story was different. Anyway, the tour was alright. We visited the key places, such as MacArthur's memorial, the Malinta Tunnel, the Japanese Garden of Peace, the Middleside Barracks, the different batteries -- Way, Hearn and Crocket, the Topside (a.k.a. Mile Long) Barracks, the Pacific War Memorial, and the Spanish Lighthouse. However, the tour was just very "tourist-y". It provided a lot of facts, but not very much insight or making it an the experience.
After the tour, we had lunch at the Corregidor Inn and checked into our rooms. During the check-in, I signed up for more activities in the afternoon, since there's not much to do on the island anyway. So we took a little nap, and joined a bunch of activities that started with the Sunset Experience. The Sunset Experience allowed us to catch the sunset at Battery Grubbs. It was perfectly timed because we were able to watch the sun go down until it was nowhere to be seen! The whole experience made the post-processing difficult, since I couldn't decide which sunset picture to choose, so I posted them all!
From Battery Grubbs, we proceeded with a night visit to the Corregidor Hospital. This one was a bit spooky with the entrance of the hospital being swallowed by a balete tree, which in Philippine culture is believed to host spirits and demon-like creatures. I actually took several pictures that would take ghost adventurers out for a loop, since it contained a lot of orbs (not that I believe in those things). What scared me more was the Jabidah massacre, that happened at the hospital. Thankfully, I didn't have any paranormal encounters.
The highlight of the evening was the Night Lateral Visit, or a night time hike through one of the Malinta tunnel laterals. This one was the most educational and experiential activities of our trip. We explored the tunnel closely resembling how it would have been navigated or explored during World War II -- with very little light and/or no light at all! All I could think of was how brave the men and women who were in these tunnels were. I probably would have broken down and just cried. I almost did it since the flashlight I got went out of battery power fast! Good thing Luis lent me his LED cap. There was no way we were joining the midnight ghost hunting tour!
After the tunnel, we returned to the Corregidor Inn for dinner. The Inn did a good job with serving authentic Filipino cuisine. Luis enjoyed his adobo, while I had sinigang na bangus. We walked off our dinner by exploring the beach and attempting to do some star gazing. It was a great night to do so, since there were no clouds. Luis was amazed at how clearly you could see the stars. I regretted not bringing a blanket or a towel, because my neck ached from looking up. But all in all, it was romantic!
From there, we called it a day -- a very long day! But we learned a lot and got some exercise, too!
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