Corregidor : The Historic Tour with my Loving Wife.

Corregidor is the Philippines version of the rock and it’s small rocky island about 48 kilometers west of Manila which is strategically located at the entrance of Manila Bay. This island fortress stands as a memorial for the courage, valor, and heroism of its Filipino and American defenders who bravely held their ground against the overwhelming number of invading Japanese forces during World War II. Our corregidor tour was not made possible if weren’t for the kind-hearted of my brother-in-law where he won a corregidor overnight package for two last December 2011 from where he work. This tour is due to expire May 31, 2012 and he has no time to use this so he decided to just gave it to us at the last minute. It was a historic moments for me and wife because this was our first time to go out on a tour after 11 years since we got married. Day 1 Tour (May 25, 2012) 5:00 am – Arrived in Vito Cruz and since we don’t know yet where the Sun Cruise Dock Area so we walk and search. Stay a while in Harbour Square and took some pictures of Manila bay and skyline at the very early morning. Should you need to withdraw some pocket money BPI and PSBAnk ATM are the nearest available ATM machine in that area. 6:00 am – Arrive at Suncruise Dock. You won’t have difficulty finding this place because there is a sign along the way you can follow or you can ride the public utility vehicle (I think it is red in color) and just inform the driver to drop you in SunCruise Dock (CCP Bay Terminal A). For your information :

• You need to pay P10 for the use of their comfort room.
• Once the counter is ready you need to check-in to get the sticker as Passes for the ferry.
• I have no details in parking but I heard you can leave your car and pay a fee.

7:00 am – Boarding time in M/V Sun Cruiser II 8:00 am – Departure time from Manila to Corregidor.

If you are not accustomed in traveling at sea make sure you have anti-dizzy medicines along with you.

9:30 am – Arrive time in Corregidor/ Start of Corregidor day/overnight tour. Following are the places and details of the our tour during that time :

• Middleside Barracks were the quarters f the 60th Coast Artillery anti-aircraft regiment, United States Regular Army, and the 91st Coast Artillery, Philippine Scouts. Built in 1915 but were destroyed by Japanese bombs on December 29, 1941 (http://corregidor.org/fieldnotes/htm/fots2-101210.htm)

• Battery Way is a battery of four 12-inch mortars and was named for Lt. Henry N Way of the 4th U.S. Artillery (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battery_Way)

• Battery Hearn in 1937 Smith No. 2 was renamed in honor of Brigadier General Clint C. Hearn who had commanded the Harbor Defenses of Manila and Subic Bays in 1917 (http://corregidor.org/fieldnotes/htm/120501/fots2-120501-1.htm)

•  Pacific War Memorial was built to honor the Filipino and American servicemen who participated in the Pacific War.

• Eternal Flame of Freedom a large steel sculpture which symbolizes the Flame of Freedom burning eternally. It is located at the rear of the Pacific War Memorial dome on a raised platform which provides visitors a breathtaking panoramic view of Manila Bay, the Bataan Peninsula, and the coastline of Cavite (http://corregidorisland.com/sectors.html)

• Spanish Lighthouse at its current site, the original lighthouse was built by the Spaniards in 1836 (http://corregidorisland.com/sectors.html)

• MacArthur Statue in Lorcha Dock is where locals believe General MacArthur departed Corregidor going to Australia (http://en.wikipilipinas.org/index.php?title=Corregidor)

• Malinta Tunnel to the east of Bottomside a hill rises abruptly to an elevation of 390 feet. Called “Malinta,” it severs Bottomside from the tail end of the island. The North and South Shore roads curved from its slopes and girdled the hill and ran on down the curving tadpole tail. To facilitate passage and to create a bomb-proof shelter, the Americans drove a shaft from a rock quarry at Bottomside directly through the hill, creating the famous Malinta Tunnel (http://corregidorisland.com).

12:00 pm – Buffet Lunch which consist of the following :

• Welcome Drinks
• Steamed Rice
• Pancit Mixed Guisado
• Chopsuey Vegetable
• Chicken Adobo
• Hawaiian Pork Adobo

• Fresh Vegetable Salad

• Cream of Mushroom

• Watermelon

• Biko with cheese (this i loved!)

1:00 pm – Continuation of tour after lunch.

• Japanese Garden of Peace this garden was built as a memorial to the Japanese soldiers who served and died on the island during WWII. The park includes a praying area, shrines, markers and a small pavilion that houses photographs and memorabilia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corregidor_Island)

• Filipino Heroes Memorial one of the most recent additions to Corregidor is the Filipino Heroes Memorial located in the Tail End. This 6,000-square meter complex has 14 murals depicting heroic battles fought by Filipinos from the 15th century up to the present day (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corregidor_Island)

2:00 pm – End of day tour / Check-in at Corregidor Inn / Free time for overnight tour. Overnight Tour. Sunset Viewing / Sunrise Viewing / Post-Army Hospital / Japanese Tunnel Hike Tour (this tour is not included in the overnight tour but you may choose to avail for P250 each) 5:00 pm – Call and boarding time in Tranvia. Start of Day 2 Sunset viewing and Post-Army Hospital tour. 5:15 pm – Departure time. 5:30 pm – Post-Military Hospital with 1000 bed tour. 6:15 pm – Battery Grubbs where the best place to view the sunset. 6:45 pm – Lateral tour inside Malinta tunnel. 7:30 pm – End of day 1 tour. Day 2 Tour (May 26, 2012) 5:00 am – Call time and start of Day 2 Sunrise / Japanese Hike Tour. 5:30 am – Sunrise viewing tour near Eternal Flame of Freedom. 6:30 am – Japanese Tunnel with short hike. 7:30 am – End of Day 2 Sunrise / Japanese Hike Tour. 8:00 am – Activities you can do during free time :

• Free use of swimming pool (small pool and the deepest is 5ft)

• Photography (Bird, Portrait, Landscape and others)

• Beach (however, I don’t quite recommend this area for swimming because garbage is quite visible along the shorelines. Hope they clean this area because is not pleasing to the eyes of our tourist friends).

• MacArthur’s Cafe is your alternative eating place if you don’t like to eat in LA Playa Restaurant. Just a walking distance from the hotel (go outside the hotel walk straight and turn right).

Make sure if you’re going to order make it clear beforehand. We order for a TAPSILOG (P320) for breakfast which is good for two person already but when they’ve served our orders to our surprise we saw RICE not a FRIED RICE in TAPSILOG since were thinking since when the TAPSILOG become a RICE they should have instead called in “TAPKALOG” for TAPaKAninitLOG. Cook told we should have inform in the first place that we want a fried rice to avoid argument we just ate the TAPKALOG since we are super hungry already.

• MacArthur’s Cafe.

• MacArthur’s Cafe (menu for the day).

• MacArthur’s Cafe (souvenir items).

• TAPSILOG or should I say TAPKALOG.

12:00 pm – Day 2 Check-out time. Things you can do while waiting after you check-out in Corregidor Inn :

1. Watch TV near the lobby. 2. Go to MacArthur’s Cafe and eat something like Pancit Canton (P120) and Coke (P25) it is good for 2-3 person to consume. 3. Photo shoot with the trees beside MacArthur’s Cafe. 4. Sit and wait at the lobby until you were pick-up by Tranvia to bring you to Ferry.

We check out from the corregidor inn and they gave us the sticker as ‘Passes’ in the ferry and boarding time is still at 2PM. After we check out from the hotel, staff did not bother to ask or offer us any thing that we can do during those 2 hours waiting time. I think this hotel should be trained more in terms of customer service because you really won’t feel that you are welcome during your stay and especially after you check-out in their hotel. However, over-all it was a fun and memorable experience for me and my loving wife that we are able go around the island and spend time alone for the first time.

Disclaimer : This travel blog was composed with not much given emphasis on grammatical correctness but rather sharing the experience and information to others. Should you need to suggest or correct any grammatical error, please feel free to post comment. GOD BLESS!!!