Corregidor: The Tadpole or The Rock? (album)

Corregidor, Philippines - The shape of the island is like that of a tadpole. It is also known as "The Rock". 

This was a day tour on December 9, 2007 (Sunday) with Keen, my fellow bisdak. We both were in the same orientation batch in HP. The tour was through Sun Cruises. Their website address is placed in a comment in one of the pictures below.




On the boat we got seated between a bunch of Americans and a lone Japanese. We talked with both nationalities, though the Americans were understandably friendlier. The Japanese guy drank SMB and complimented me on my Japanese when he overheard me giving some basic phrases to my friend Keen, who was keen on being friendly. 

When Keen found out his name was "Hiroshi", he tried to get him to open up by comparing him to the Japanese character "Hiro" in the tv series "Hero". Unfortunately, there was a generation gap since Hiroshi-san didn't watch that show claiming old age as the reason :-)

We met another interesting guy, an American who just flew in from Japan. He was in the business of disposing of unexploded firearms and shells - no wonder his camera was full of pictures of the big shells and nothing else. During lunch he shared a table with us and I had fun talking with him over classic movies and actors. He was much older than both of us, but I had the advantage of liking old movies, and poor Keen this time experienced the generation gap again.




A group of schoolgirls were in our "bus" cum tram and their teacher was trying to keep track of them all over the place. Japanese tourists went into one bus, all the other people and nationalities went into the English-speaking buses.Its the same facts and story the tour guides tell all parties, regardless of the language....at least that's what they told us. 

Some of the younger Japanese apologize after they hear the telling of the tale, some of the older ones cite reasons for doing what they did and putting in an occasional Banzai or two. I do not take sides on this, but war is war...what can you expect?

There is only one hotel in the island - its a 31-star hotel according to our joker-guide (he told us we could have as souvenir one of the gun barrels if we could lift it up). 31 star because 31 rooms. 

The whole experience seemed akin to me to the Amazing Race. We got delayed in setting off from Manila, but they didn't extend our departure time, so literally we zoomed around the island and had on the average about 10 minutes per place we visited. 

This was my regret. I could not fully savor the experience of the atmosphere - just imagine the lives and drama which unfolded on that island more than 50 years ago!




If I were given enough time, I swear I could have heard the marching footsteps of the American and Filipino soldiers who were stationed there...

I could have seen in my mind's eye how tranquil it was before the war and people living there would have gone about their daily business...playing tennis, swimming on the beach and on the huge pool...now, nobody lives on this island except for those working in the lone hotel...and they don't even have their families here.

I could have felt the despair but unflinching commitment of the Japanese soldiers who blew themselves up underneath the tunnel where a troop of American soldiers passed by...

I could have coughed alongside President Manuel Quezon as he lived with his lung ailment underneath the laterals of the tunnels and spending Christmas and his inauguration on this war-torn island...

I could have sweated hot and cold alternately when the sirens and sounds of bombing flew all over the place....and felt the melancholy of war itself...

Well, I did ...but just a little bit. 
I was more concerned in trying to capture the scenery and my mind got so full of dates, stories, names, anecdotes, quotes that I gave up in the end and just sat back and clicked away.


Camera used: Kodak V803 Easyshare.

 - Dec 12, '07 1:32 AM