Thursday, November 19, 2009

Random views from our balcony

Hey look, a clear day!!!

Overlooking Laguna and some hills to the east of us


Day and night views of TX Roadhouse Grill


Other night views




2 views in the same direction


Rainbow over a Cathedral


I planted a tiny garden...this is parsley and basil

One tomato really took off



Fireworks for something


Sunday, November 01, 2009

Corregidor Island

Corregidor is an island in the entrance of the Philippines'
Manila Bay. Due to its position in the bay, it has served as a
focal point for the naval defenses of the capital city of Manila.


Our boat

On the way there a guide was talking about the island and it's
history in WWII, at one point they were talking about the
Australian forces and how they were real warriors.....

Ben is from Australia...
He gave me permission to post these pictures!


He was very tired smiles, smileys, emoticons


Small fishing boat

Not Corregidor island, and not sure which one of the
7,101 islands it is.

Our tramvia, the driver and our guide


The restaurant we would eat lunch at later in the day

Middleside barracks

Wes & Ben



Some of the big guns




This gun was called the disappearing gun, because it would
retract back down behind a wall after shooting

You can see the wall the gun would hide behind in this picture

Mortar shot and spray in the cement of the wall the guns
hid behind

Hole from bombing

EL FRAILE from a distance...I took this picture.

This small islet, EL FRAILE, is also known as Fort Drum.
American engineers razed the tiny rock to the water
line and a thick concrete casemate was constructed
around it to create an impregnable fortress. It was
made to look like a concrete battleship.
This picture and info taken from

Small island in the area called LA MONJA - Also known as "The Nun"




Beautiful!






Wes, Evie & Ben at Battery Hearn, this gun had a maximum
range of 29,000 yards (16 1/2 miles) and was capable of
firing in all directions.

One of many passageways through the island



Field where American paratroopers landed at night to enable
a surprise attack on Japanese forces lower on the island












The Eternal Flame of Freedom monument


Aerial view of the island - from wikipedia

Lighthouse at the topside of the island

At the top of the lighthouse

Ben




This area was once a Japanese burial grounds,
it was discovered after being lost for 50+ years.
It is now the Japanese Garden of Peace


During the Battle of the Philippines (1941–42), General
Douglas MacArthur used Corregidor as Allied headquarters
until March 11, 1942.









The ruins of the former YMCA building which served as a
recreational facility for the military personnel detailed
in Corregidor.


On our way back to Manila...
Manila from the boat
Trying to show how big Manila is
The pictures just don't show the magnitude of this city


Wes & Evie smile

Fishing houseboat?


Philippines flag on our boat


Some of the historical info was taken from:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corregidor