Friday, June 01, 2007
History Weekend
My colleagues and I took advantage of last Monday's UK bank holiday by going on an overnight, company sponsored trip to
Corregidor. It was a shame that none of us had ever gone there before despite having heard of the place countless times in school during history class. Funny how it took the English (our bosses) to bring us to a place in which a large part of our country's history was shaped.
It started with a one-hour ferry boat ride to the island.
It was followed by a day tour of the island, where we happily took photos amongst the ruins and with every historical landmark we laid our eyes on.
Like true tourists, we road (go figure) a tourist bus for three long yet interesting hours.
This was my favorite spot. What used to be a mansion for the alta sociedads of pre-war Corregidor is reduced almost to rubble. Don't mind me, cam-whoring right there.
The rest of it was spent swimming, eating, lounging around in our hotel, doing a Grey's Anatomy marathon.
After a nice, refreshing two days, we sailed back to civilization. I truly felt like we were in a time warp since we were taken straight to Old Manila. Our boss just wanted to cap it all off, I guess, with one last historical stop over.
If you haven't been to that part of town, then you're missing out. The houses and structures just brought me back in time, making me feel like I was truly living in the Spanish era.
We had a hearty dinner in a lovely old house turned restaurant called Barbara's. I could almost imagine long table parties being held there where people were strategically seated depending on their social status.
There were some really old items in that house; in fact so antique that they looked creepy enough to send chills down my spine. Take the mirror in the photo for example.
Ellaine and I were almost too scared to take a photo of it, thinking we might capture
something else with it. But that's just us being the wimps we are.
It's just funny how it took our British bosses to bring us to two really beautiful historical spots. Makes me rethink how unappreciative I am of my country's rich heritage.
posted by mari_elle at
19:52