#corregidor

Hurray! Ep 100 is here. It's also Women's History Month. So we found a movie centred around women (there aren't too many of those).

This week on Rosie the Reviewer, we discuss So Proudly We Hail, a 1943 World War II film about American Army nurses during the Japanese invasion of the Philippines. 

The story follows a group of nurses working under increasingly desperate conditions as the war closes in around them. From jungle hospitals on Bataan to the underground tunnels of Corregidor, the film attempts to show how these women tried to keep doing their jobs while everything around them was falling apart.

Sam read a lot, so you're bound to learn something new this episode.

And during Takemichi's fourth (?) return to the present, he was given a hint that Mikey went to that place where Shinichiro said to have found some good motorcycle parts -- and after days of searching, it was actually in Corregidor.

Corregidor is a small island with a tail situated between Mariveles, Bataan on the northwest, Manila on the east, and Cavite on the southeast, and is part of Cavite City's jurisdiction. Best known during the beginning of World War II as one of the fortresses that stood bravely along with the fortresses in Bataan when Japanese soldiers conquered the country -- which later led to the grim world-famous Death March. Prior to World War II, Corregidor, once named as Fort Mills, was one of the island fortresses occupied by American soldiers during their occupation in the Philippines at the turn of the 20th Century.

Prior to this, however, Corregidor has been used by Spanish conquistadores as either a QA (close to Customs check) for cargo vessels passing through the Manila Bay or a correctional island for criminals of all sizes ala-Alcatraz -- thus the name Corregidor ('corrector').

The ruins of that building where Takemichi and Mikey finally met after twelve years was actually the famous Mile-Long Barracks, so named because it was said to be the world's longest barracks at that time at an impressive 1,520 feet. What is also interesting about Corregidor is that most of the ruins, if not all, were left untouched, making the island one of top destinations by local and foreign tourists alike.

It's funny and amazing at the same time to know that the Japanese soldiers during the reign of Hirohito (Emperor Showa) were the ones who attacked the Philippines (and my father, who was seven at that time when the war broke out), while seventy-five years later, within the ruins of once the Mile-Long Barracks, Takemichi and Mikey reunited in the most tragic way possible.

Ah, so it's legit, after all, that fans would call Mikey after 12 years as 'Manila Mikey' since, after all, Manila itself is around 48 kilometers from Corregidor.

So if you have travel plans for this year, try to put Corregidor in your bucket list, and maybe from there, you'll be able to see the spirit of Mikey waving atop of those butchered car and motorcycle parts.

Photo from Reddit

#OnThisDay #OTD #TodayIs April 9, the #Philippines' Day of Valor (Araw ng #Kagitingan), we commemorate the #Filipinos who placed country above self in times of war, who embody the values of courage, self-sacrifice, and patriotism.

#GomBurZa, a historical and inspirational film that tells the story of 3 martyr priests - Gomez, Burgos and Zamora, also debuts on #Netflix.

Lagi kong sinasabi na ayaw ko sa mga beach. Hindi ko sigurado kung bakit. Pero siguro'y dahil lagi ko 'tong naaassociate sa ingay, sa madaming taong nag-uusap, nagkukulitan sa ilalim ng mainit at nakakasunog na araw. Dapat laging may masaya at nagbibiruan, dapat may ganap at dapat may positibong maramdaman. Kung wala nitong mga 'to ay kulang. Lahat yan ay nasa isip ko lang. Hindi ko talaga sigurado. Siguro ayoko lang talaga.

Pero paminsan napadaan ako sa isang beach at naglakad nang mag-isa, nang tahimik, naisip ko, "ok naman pala". Depende nga pala talaga sa laman ng puso no? Depende sa laman ng puso, kung paano nakikita at naiintindihan ang mga bagay.

Sana, ayos lagi ang laman ng akin, para patuloy kong ma-appreciate ang buhay. Pero imposible

Ay mali, erase. Sana nalang pala, bigyan ako ng tapang, matanggap at maharap kung ano man ang laman nito: saya, lumbay, pait, inspirasyon, panghihinayang o galit. Na maintindihan na hindi kinakailangan laging ma-appreciate ang lahat, Na masmakabubuting matanggap lahat ng katotohanang kaakibat nito, para masmayakap ng buo lahat ng grasyang nakahanda pa sa bukas na padating.