FoodMetroManila

I went on a vacation! I’m just going to keep saying that because I did not do that at all last 2015. Corregidor has always fascinated me and after confirming that the travel agency for the group of companies my dad works for has a Corregidor package we went for it. I have tried the day tour twice already in the past but never have stayed in the island overnight. Well now that’s exactly what we did and we did not see any ghosts. Sorry, this is not a ghost hunting site.

The island has one lone hotel, the Corregidor Inn. It’s at the bottomside of the Island and in the middle of North Dock and South Beach situated on a hill. The view from the inn are gorgeous. Rooms are airconditioned with bathrooms but no TVs. I do not know if they provide WiFi in the rooms because my LTE service was excellent and didn’t bother to check.

The floorboards are creaky. The receptionist, a relatively petite lady, made thunderous sounds on the wooden floors as she walked around to check if the rooms were ready. We also had some run-ins with ants in our room but aside from that everything else about the Inn was good. It provided the perfect getaway from the hustle and bustle of Metro Manila.

The day tour provides a free buffet lunch and the overnight stay provides a free plated breakfast for two (more on that later). None, however, provide free dinner for overnight guests. You either have some food packed or you buy from the La Playa Restaurant. It has a simple menu that has some high prices.

Haziel and I just ordered one dish, the Sugbahan Platter. Sugba is a bisaya term (at least my Visayan mom tells me) that means grilled. The Sugbahan Platter has pork, fish, and chicken along with some vegetables and a cup of rice. As you can see from the picture, the serving is not that generous. The price? 370 Php. Told you prices were high.

The taste of the whole dish was actually pretty decent. The pork was seasoned well but a bit tough on some pieces. The fish did not taste fresh but was cooked well. The chicken was not dry but nothing special. The sauce was the typical soy-based sauce you will get for grilled food in the Philippines. This probably won’t even reach 150 Php in the mainland but here? That’s monopoly for you.

I had wanted to join the Night Tour that includes a trip to the supposedly haunted hospital and trekking through parts of the Malinta Tunnel not part of the day tour. But the combination of not getting some sleep the previous night and the heat from the day tour got us pretty tired and we just decided to get some rest.

We woke up to a capiz window lighted up by sunshine. When I opened the window I was greeted with this wonderful view:

Clear blue skies, the calm ocean, the thousands of plants around the island, and the fact that there were little to no vehicles on the roads (it was a full hour before the day tour would be starting when we woke up). Now that’s what I call a vacation!

Breakfast only last until 10 am and we decided to have it at the restaurant instead of the room. The other guests were either eating in their rooms or already out for the morning activities so we had the restaurant to ourselves.

We were given a choice of bangus (pan-fried milkfish) and corned beef. We went with the latter based on the fish from dinner not being fresh. It also had a free round of brewed coffee. The coffee had a pleasant acidity and had hints of a berry I couldn’t quite put my finger on. They sell bags of Cafe Amadeo in the gift shop and I am guessing this is what they are serving as well. It was actually a pleasant surprise. The tea is just the basic lipton tea bag.

We went on a short walk around bottomside after breakfast, first going to see the beautiful south beach and all the way around to North Dock. We only had a short time left before check out and so we couldn’t really do much than just walk and take some pictures.

Checkout will be at 12 noon and you’ll be asked to wait until 2:15 pm for a tramvia to take you to North Dock for the Ferry Ride back to Manila. This could be a ploy for you to buy some food in the Restaurant or pasalubong from the gift shop. It worked, we bought food and a couple of ref magnets.

At 2:15 pm we were called to board the tramvia and just a few minutes later we were boarding the ferry. The same one we rode yesterday.

And so I bid farewell to the historic Island of Corregidor. It was a fun and relaxing time and I know I will be back in her shores in the future. I just can’t get enough! There are plenty more to see. I will not stop until I’ve dropped by Battery James, my namesake. Oops! I dropped my real name! Hi, my name is James and I’m a Corregidor Island nut.

We arrived at the Seaside Terminal at just about 4 pm and proceeded to have dinner somewhere in MOA. Nothing special, we just needed to eat something before heading home.

Hope you enjoyed this Corregidor trip with me! Let me know in the comments below. See you around Metro Manila!

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