We really enjoyed our trip, especially Lola Yna. The island is actually pretty small, and we were able to explore almost the whole thing. We were able to visit the ruins on the island, ride ATV's, and even go ghost hunting during the night! :)
The ferry boat that took us to the island. It is about an hour long ride.
Myself with Lola Yna getting ready to go!
Myself, Eyen, and Lola Yna before we leave to the island!
Once we arrived on the island, we hopped on our tour bus! This brought us around the whole island to explore.
These are Japanese tunnels that you can find all over the island. The Japanese built these tunnels during the war to travel secretly around the island.
A view of the ocean.
These are statues of former Presidents of the Philippines at the Manuel L. Quezon Memorial Park.
"Dedicated to the Filipino who knows how to die for love of freedom and liberty."
Lola and Eyen with the sign.
Eyen and myself at the park.
Posing with a guy dressed in old fashioned Revolutionary uniform.
Eyen and Lola Yna with the officer.
Lola Yna posing with the statue. The statue in the background is a Filipino militia man. You can tell the difference in militia and military because the militia men have a gun and a plow. The meaning is farmer by day and militia man by night.
On the opposite end of the militia man is a statue of a Filipino woman; the inspiration for the militia men. I wanted a picture of my 2 Filipino women with the statue. :)
Us on the bus during the tour!
Being a tourist in the Japanese memorial garden.
The before and after picture of Eyen's editing! She does a great job! This is a statue of the Goddess of Mercy.
Touristy with the cannons!
Boom.
I want one!
My pose is identical to the other picture..
A memorial in the Japanese garden.
A picture of some of the ruins on the island. This is a photo of some of the barracks where the American and Filipino soldiers stayed during the war.
A photo of the Filipino and American flag flying high!
The Eternal Flame monument at the Pacific War Museum. It is a beacon of freedom!
Myself and Eyen in front of the longest barracks IN THE WORLD! It is not literally a mile long, but is called the mile long barracks because the former General Douglas MacArthur would run back in forth in the barracks which made it a mile long.
This is the old movie theater on the island called Cine Corregidor. The last movie shown here was "Gone with the Wind."
The Pacific War Memorial.
This is what Corregidor looks like. It is in the shape of a tadpole.
This is a photo of Lola and myself inside of the famous Malinta Tunnel.
It looks so creepy inside!
A photo of the Filipino flag inside of the Malinta Tunnel.
It has been a lifelong dream of Lola Yna to visit Corregidor and the Malinta Tunnel. Lola was a very young girl when the war began, and she can still remember hearing the news. We are so glad Lola was able to experience this! She was so so SO happy!
Malinta Tunnel. "May linta" in Filipino means "There is a leech" because whenever they started drilling for the tunnel, a bunch of leeches came out, and the Filipino workers yelled "May linta!! May linta!!" So, it stuck. Malina Tunnel. I'll have more about the history of Malinta Tunnel further down the post.
A shot I took from the bus on the tour.
A statue of Douglas MacArthur.
A view of the ocean.
These are photos of another set of ruins. They are also barracks on the island. While the U.S. military was stationed in Corregidor Island, it was considered a military paradise. It is still so beautiful, and the ruins add a nice touch of history to the place!
Us on the bus.
A photo of me with the ruins.
You can see how big they were! And this isn't even the biggest barracks!!
A cool looking tree.
Some ruins we explored.
This room was completely pitch black dark. I used flash to see where I was going.
This is a creepy room I went into. NO LIGHT whatsoever! I was kinda scared. lol
I was in the room alone. :(
Eyen's face at the end of a cannon.
Now mine. :)
More cannons.
A picture in front of the ruins.
Since it was so hot, Lola stayed on the bus, but we made sure we took plenty of pics of her with the ruins as well!
She's so beautiful!
Lola with the cannon!
Another one.
This is a live shell. O.O
A huge cannon.
This is a bomb shelter. All of these were creepy because they're so dark.
Lola with the ruins. She stayed on the bus, but she didn't mind! She still had fun.
The mile long barracks again.
Lola Yna.
This is inside of the Pacific War Memorial. We had fun.
Eyen with her gun.
This is a statue of an American soldier helping a Filipino soldier.
This is what is says at the bottom...
Lola Yna with the ruins of the movie theater.
Myself and Lola Yna on the bus.
Eyen and Lola. Her face is priceless!
This is the lighthouse that the Spaniards built on the island.
This is the view from the top of the lighthouse! Very beautiful.
Another photo edit by Eyen! The left is the original pic!
This is the view from the terrace of the hotel where we had lunch.
Tuna sandwich with french fries.
Pancit bihon. (pan-seet bi-hone) Rice noodles with soy sauce.
Churros with chocolate!
So around 5 p.m., we decided to take a tour of some of the other ruins in Corregidor. They are said to be haunted. The next several photos are the ruins of the hospital during the war. It would be scarier during night time!
As you can see in these photos, there is writing on the wall. This isn't graffiti. These are names of Muslims who were training on the island after the war. All of the Muslims (anywhere from 50-200 persons) were executed on the island by the Philippine Armed Forces. It is known as the Jabidah masacre (or Corregidor massacre). There was only a sole survivor. This is what is believed to have been some of the cause of the religious discrimination in the Philippines.
The photo on the right shows where part of the hospital was hit with a bomb during the war.
A pose on the stairs.
Eyen and I in a creepy hallway.
OoooOOoooOo!
I actually wasn't too scared while being here... Until I noticed a huge hole in the floor of one of the rooms that led to a place that looked like an underground room. I don't think there was a basement. I didn't attempt to go down there because it was wet and didn't look safe. And because it's SCARY!
After visiting the hospital ruins, we went to Battery Grubbs to watch the sun set. A battery is a unit of guns or cannons. It is named after Ltn. Hayden Y. Grubb.
Eyen with her umbrella.
It is known as the disappearing gun because it can pivot up and over it's siding, then back to its position, hiding it from enemy ships.
A few sunset photos. The bottom right photo is Bataan. It is shaped like an alligator head.
Once it started to get dark, we went back over to Malinta Tunnel to hunt for some ghosts! :) So, some history about Malinta Tunnel. It was a bomb proof storage and personnel bunker built by the Americans. The former General MacArthur and his family actually stayed here one Christmas during the war. At one point, the Japanese took control of the island. Once the Americans and Filipinos re-gained the island, the Japanese trapped themselves inside of the tunnel and detonated explosives, killing themselves as to not dishonor their emperor. So, Japanese soldier died in this tunnel, and there are still bones you can see, therefore, probably spirits! I had my salt and matches ready in case I came in contact! (My mother will probably be the only person to understand the reference. haha)
I'm geared up and ready to go!
The walls are made of limestone.
The ground.
Some places we had to bend down to get through.
As you can see in this photo, there are rods and wires sticking out of some of the walls.
These 2 photos are of a huge hole in the roof of the tunnel. This is a hole the Americans and Filipinos built on top of the tunnel while the Japanese were trapped inside. They poured gasoline down the hole, so that whenever the Japanese detonated their explosives, it would be a bigger explosion.
A HUMAN TIBIA BONE!!!!
I would be the only person smiling after seeing that.
Exploring.
She was a trooper.
I ain't afraid of no ghost! *Ghostbusters*
I thought she would be scared doing this, but she had a lot of fun like I did! I'm glad she liked it.
One of the lateral tunnels that we explored.
Next is the hospital lateral! Corregidor Island was named Fort Mills by the Americans while they were occupying the land.
Us in our hard hats.
Old artifacts.
Typing away.
It looked so creepy behind these doors!
This is a photo of me in front of the psych ward lateral.
heh heh hehhhh!
Do you see that little hole at the top-ish left? That was the only working toilet in the hospital wing. O.O
We had a ton of fun exploring the tunnel at night. It was perfect because it was really dark and also raining, so it kinda added some creepiness to it. We didn't encounter any spirits or ghosts (that we know of), but we did get to experience complete darkness. The soldiers were trapped in there like that for MONTHS. I cannot imagine having to do that. We also had to attempt to walk in complete darkness, but that didn't work out too well. I also hit my nose really hard when I got attacked by a bat. (I didn't really get attacked, I just thought I did) All in all, that was a really fun part of the trip!
For breakfast we had corned beef with scrambled egg and rice.
For Eyen's coffee. O.O
Lola and Eyen with the awesome view.
I got a little sun burned. lol
ATV time!
She was excited.
Eyen rode the black one and I rode the red one.
She is a mess.
She had a blast on the trails.
I really like this picture. You can see how awesome the sky is and how beautiful the greenery of the island is.
You can barely see her in the left pic. At one point, she went the wrong way on the trail and coming straight for me. haha
We had fun!
This is the chapel on the island. There is not priest, so therefore no mass. The island actually has no inhabitants. There are no houses or places where people live. It is strictly a tourist destination now.
Lola wanted to visit the beach, but since the hotel was located on a really steep hill, she wasn't able to go... Until Eyen and I found someone to drive her down so she could see it. :) It made her really happy.
It is a small beach, but it was still ok.
Lola Yna admiring the view. <3
Myself and Lola admiring the view from the hotel.
This is a photo on our way back to Manila Bay once we left Corregidor.
This was a really awesome trip. Lola has been wanting to come here her whole life, and her dream finally came true. I was very happy to see the history of Corregidor and how it relates to my own culture and history. Since the island is so small, I won't need to visit the island again, but it is definitely a beautiful and fun place to visit. I hope you all enjoyed the photos.
I'm not sure where we will be going next. Possibly Bohol, maybe Puerto Princesa.. We have been talking about a safari is Subic or seeing the volcano in Tagaytay! We will see what happens, but I will keep everyone informed! :)
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