A Trip to Corregidor

[06 April 2011]

In April 2011, Miggy surprised me by coming home for his rest and relaxation (R&R) leave from his tour. At that time, he had been deployed in Iraq for six (6) months. I had no idea he was coming home, so we had no concrete itinerary or whatsoever. To make up for the lost times—birthdays, Christmas, and anniversaries—Miggy booked us for a day trip to Corregidor since neither of us has ever been there before.

That was exactly a year ago.

Now let me recount this memorable trip the best way I could. If I remember correctly, Miggy’s father drove us to CCP Bay Terminal around 0630H because we had to check in by 0700H. By 0730H, we were asked to board on the jet cruise. We were the first to hop on, so while we wait for everyone else to embark on the vessel, Miggy climbed up the viewing deck. Thirty minutes later, we were set to sail. I don’t get motion-sickness, so I was up the whole time, admiring the view around us. We arrived at the island an hour or so later with all these tourist guides and tramvias awaiting for us as we alighted the ferry.

Incidentally, we were requested to board Tramvia #6 with Sir Carlos as our tour guide. If I may say, he was a very interesting tour guide having known his piece by heart. Regardless, he was the best. He was very accommodating to the guests, and not once did he fail to answer the questions raised by some of the foreign tourists.

The following photos may not be in the exact order as in our tour itinerary, but I will post some of them, anyway. Please bear with me as I try to recall each stop from my memory.

These structures were one of the many barracks that housed thousands of American soldiers during the Japanese regime.

Twenty-three Batteries were set up on Corregidor and adjoining islands at the outbreak of WW II in 1941. These guns consisted of 56 coastal guns and 13 anti-aircraft artillery batteries with 76 guns.

The Pacific War Memorial Museum is right next to the remains of the Theater. It houses relics and memorabilia dedicated to World War II.

This is the Lorcha Dock, Gen. Douglas MacArthur’s famous Departure Point for Australia.

The Malinta Tunnel took ten long years in the making (1922–1932). It is 835 feet long, 24 feet wide, and 18 feet high. Gen. Douglas MacArthur set up headquarters inside the tunnel where men and women would live and work during the siege of Corregidor. Today, Malinta Tunnel offers the Light and Sound show, a recreation of World War II’s dramatic events. There were 13 laterals on the north side and 11 on the south. Each lateral had visual effects depicting various stages of the war, along with sound effects and recorded voices.

These were only a few of the many photos we took during our tour. For an hour, we had buffet lunch half-way through the tour. We had to make most of the time given for us to freshen up because as soon as lunch time was over, we were back on tour again. The latter part of the tour was spent on the Malinta Tunnel and souvenir shops. Towards the end of the tour, it was evident that Miggy had fun with our day trip (I did, too!). After a long day’s walk, it was a relief having able to get at least an hour of sleep on our way back to Manila.

Has it been a year already? It seemed like only yesterday!