I’ve no idea how to start this entry so I’ll begin with the 1st decent photo that I took on that day. This was when we were leaving the dock. The light that you see in this picture’s the camera light from my then-phone. This may not be a postable (?) picture to some but I thought that the light from my camera phone looked like a light from a lighthouse. It gives me a melancholic feeling everytime I look at this photo. We gambled ourselves away with the weather because it was already the start of the rainy season when we went there but we’ve always wanted to go to Corregidor & that was the perfect time for us to do so. I had 4 days off so it was rest, relaxation & travel galore then :))

The ferry was half full when we went to Corregidor. We decided to go on a weekday so that there won’t be a lot of people with us on the day tour. Instead of the usual movies that you see on public utility buses, they show a video of Corregidor’s history. 30 minutes to an hour before we arrive at Corregidor, a tour guide gave us a more extensive history of Corregidor, details that weren’t covered by the video. I wish my history class then was as fun & adventurous as our trip. If I were a senator, I’d propose a bill to increase the # of filed trips that students take in a year. Hello history!

They were waiting for us! We definitely waited for us to reach the tadpole shaped island :D

This was how Grace showed her ♥ of the island, as early as docking on it.

This was our ride to & fro the island :) Initially, we thought that it had a viewing deck because when we booked for a day tour, the front desk personnel said that there was 1. I guess that was for a bigger ferry.

That’s Edwin, our tour guide. He was also the 1 who welcomed us to this beautiful island when we we in the ferry.

Someone’s exciteeeeeeeed! ;)

This was our 1st stop. More pictures below.

The main offices.

This was just 1 of the craters that the Japanese left.

This was our 2nd stop. More photos below.

Hihihi.. Who wouldn’t be scared of bombs, guns & bayonets??

These made me sad. They probably cling on to hope with the help of their own writings on the wall. I wonder what they were experiencing, feeling & thinking when they wrote these down..

I forgot what these were exactly but they were like bar codes for 1 to know which barracks 1 was in.

These are heavy artillery!

Stop #3.

This is where the elevators were. I just forgot how they ran or operated.

4th stop.

Grace & I were about to go inside but we were suddenly startled when there was a flash of light. It kind of frightened us because as far as we knew, the rest of the tourists were already in the car. We were relieved to see a live couple (!) to come out of the dark. At least we knew where the light came from.

To appear not scared, we decided to take a picture with 1 of us semi-inside the cave. Hehehe..

5th stop. This was our 2nd to the last stop before lunch. Lunch?! Yippeee!

As I remember, Edwin said that the sun usally hits this round hole at certain times of the month except for April (I hate it when I forget tourist lectures!)

Looks like an eclipse, huh?.. This is a thing of beauty & wonder..

Stop #4 was the entertainment section of Corregidor. This was where theatrical presentations were held, food & dining was & military men & their families lounging around to relax & have a little bit of fantasy in times of war.

These are pictures from the same place that I’m really proud of. I call it The Pathway (in black & white) :)

(Solarized)

(In sepia mode)

Our last stop before lunch. Climbing the lighthouse definitely prepared us well for lunch. The stairs were very steep. It was better to climb it sideways than head on. You’d probably slip & fall.

I ♥ the clouds in this picture :)

Lunch time! We had our lunch at the Corregidor Inn. Our day tour worth PhP 1,999 per person came with a buffet lunch so Grace & I made sure that we get our money’s worth. Hehehe..

I never knew that screw pine was pandan! At 1st, we guessed that it was pandan because of the taste. Of course, we wanted to be sure of what we were consuming so we asked the waiter what screw pine was. Yup, pandan it is :) Burp!

This was our 2nd to the last stop prior the Malinta Tunnel’s Light & Sound Show. The other pictures are in Grace’s camera. I was unable to get as many pictures inside because the whole place was dark except the lights from the Lights & Sound Show. Will post more pictures soon :)

I want to post a painting that portrayed exactly what & how the Filipinos suffered during the war but per Grace, paintings aren’t supposed to be posted on the Internet without the artist’s permission. Is this true? Obviously, I wasn’t listening to my high school teachers then.

I plan to take Mama to Corregidor in the future. I’m just worried about her health. In her age, I don’t think she’ll be able to take the heat & the exhaustion. Maybe she needs to train ;)

A Good-ah Dinner

Grace & I ♥ Goodah's sisig :D We're still enjoying their sisig so we've been ordering that lately. Grace tried their sweet banana. Unfortunately, it didn't taste as good as we expected :(

but their Sago't Gulaman rocked.
Poor M 'n M wanted more but we've to stop sometime, you know?..

Until the next Good-ah dinner :)

For a more detailed menu, here you go! Under the new management, the place even provides a free WiFi service :)

Saturday of Jake, Jack & a jackass

We watched Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time last Saturday. Sooo, Jake Gylenhaal was really pretty & more buff than I usually see him on magazines. I never knew that his lips were so thin like a girl's & that his hair was shiny (must be all the sand & sweat combined) & had more volume than the lady who played Princess Tamina. I liked the movie because of all the jumping, the action scenes & the suspense that it created. Other than than, the movie was okay. I think someone else could've portrayed Prince Dastan better. I don't know what was easier - choosing the boy who played little Dastan or the man who played Dastan the man. I think the casting director did a good job of finding the former. Apart from that, Persia reminded me of Egypt. No matter the heat & the miles, Egypt will always trigger this curiosity in me to experience the place. Maybe it's the gold or Princess Tamina's tan ;) What I found perplexing was Jake's demonstration of how sad, alone & angry he was for losing a family, 1 by 1. I was expecting more conflict, defiance & a remoteness in his expression when he lost his brother, Tus. A look that says I've nothing more to lose so prepare to die or something. Regardless, I left the movie with the image of J. Gylenhaal very ripped.

4 hours earlier..

We had lunch at Venetto with some Hollwood stars, namely, Brad Pitt, Kaunu Reeves, Mel Gibson, Arnold Schwarzenneger, Jean-Claude Van Damme & Jack Nicholson. Tom Cruise was also there but all of them were just plastered on the walls, sitting together, not wanting to be disturbed so I let them be. We ordered 4 clices of their Bacon Cheeseburger Pizza & Baked Zitti with meatballs. Before we got our food, we took some picture 1st of the restaurant & Ayala Center. Pictures below! Grace & I loved their pizza. It was so delicious! You didn't have to sprinkle pepper or salt on them. The pasta was just okay. It was very heavy on the tummy. The only thing that I didn't like about Venetto was the heat. They only had 2 aircons & it obviously didn't reach everyone or was it just me?.. What with the hot sauce & all, I was sweating like a pig. Obviously, their bathroom's still the same old dirty bathroom. I told Grace before that their bathroom was dirty. So, last Saturday was a perfect time for that to be proven wrong. Unfortunately, their bathroom was still the same old dirty 1. Just imagine what lurks around their kitchen when no one's looking. Oh well, just like dirty ice cream, the dirtier, the better. Just kidding..

After lunch, I admit that I had a hard time walking because of my gluttonous nature. We had dessert at Dairy Queen afterwards & took some more pictures :D

Celebrate Blizzaaaarrrrrrrrd!

We had a visitor! Eeewww! Thank God Grace noticed it immediately! It looked like it had wings. Tsk.. tsk.. tsk.. We immediately transferred to the next table which was not far. It was just a step from our table. We were on guard because we thought that it might spread its wings & fly like a butterfly. It definitely wasn't pretty like a butterfly. I then asked Grace if all establishments can always do quality control of their restaurants. They should, right? But when we sat ourselves, we thought that the place looked clean. Grace told me before that restaurants aren't always clean, that when you get to the nerves of the waiter, expect your food to have that extra taste. The frequency card that I was holding on the above photo was ran over by the cockroach. I didn't want to get it anymore because I'll be touching the card so I went to the counter to ask for another 1. What surprised me was that the cashier didn't even bother to alert 1 of them to clean the table & disinfect it! To them, it was just really all in a day's happenings. This unwelcome visitor & improper staff behavior made us leave all of a sudden.

So, I said hi to my fans. Wahahaha!
I enjoyed our Saturday because it's pretty rare that I get to spend Saturday with fun & relaxation. Til the next 1!