Fun with Tagalog

Warning: The following material contains NO “adult content.” It is suitable for children. However, due to the technical nature of the discussion, and the fact that it requires some concentration to fully comprehend, we suggest that if you have a short attention span or no sense of humor, you may want to skip reading this newsletter. Then again, you might learn something. But we doubt it. – The authors

The local dialect is Tagalog. Along with English, it is now the national language. Original Tagalog words, i.e., words that existed before the 300 years of Spanish control, are indecipherable without help. Many Spanish words were added, for example, yelo [YEH-low] (Sp. hielo) for ice, and serbesa [sehr-BEHSS-ah] (Sp. cerveza) for beer. Time is basically told in Spanish, even though Tagalog has its own numbering system, since Filipinos were probably introduced to clocks by the Spanish. In the past 100 years many English terms such as orange juice and seat belt have crept in amongst the Tagalog.

Tagalog is an Austro-Polynesian language, so other regional dialects contain similar words, but there is absolutely no resemblance to English. So, in part, learning Tagalog comes down to knowing when to use a Tagalog word and when to use the Spanish or English word. But you would never guess that tubig [TOO-beeg] is water – unless you recall our story about the “too big” beds – itlog [EET-lohg] is egg, and pakwan [pahk-WAHN] is watermelon. Damo [dah-MOH] is Tagalog for grass, while tanglad [tahng-LAHD] is specifically lemon grass.

Steve has had some fun with this. When people ask him if he has learned Tagalog, he says words like itlogplant, tubigmelon, and lemondamo. One of his favorites is walang alumahan [wah-LAHNG ah-lew-MAH-hahn]. What he is pretending to misspeak is walang anuman [wah-LAHNG ah-new-MAHN] which is a roundabout way of saying “you’re welcome,” literally something closer to “no problem.” Alumahan is a type of popular ocean fish (mackerel, according to our Tagalog dictionary), so he is actually saying “no fish.” Santo alumahan (holy mackerel!)

Any time you’re learning a new language you will run into compound words that just don’t translate. One night Ron had obviously prepared more food than we could eat, so Steve asked Ron the term for leftovers. Ron could not think of the word tira [tee-RAH] so Steve came up with his own words, kaliwa sa itaas, [kah-lee-WAH SAH eet-ah-AHS] literally left (kaliwa), as in left/right, and over or above (sa itaas). This would have thrown Ron for a loop awhile ago, but now he’s starting to think more like Steve, which is a bit frightening. The humor is actually helping us remember more words and phrases. Using this logic, kanan sa itaas [KAH-nahn SAH eet-ah-AHS] would be “right over.” We’ll have to try that one out.

When we were in Makati some months ago we looked for flip-flops for Steve, who has size 14 feet, not an easy task in a country where the average man is less than Marcia’s 5 ft 5 inches. One store called Landmark seemed to offer the best chance, since it stocks literally tens of thousands of flip-flops, which are worn by 99.9999% of Filipinos when not at work, and probably the majority who are working as well. We managed to find a pair of 13’s, barely big enough for Steve’s feet. A young man went in the back room and managed to find 2 more pairs of 13’s and brought them out. While he and Steve were waiting for Marcia to find her own pair, he said to Steve, “Your feet are too big.” Steve replied, “No, that’s water,” (tubig) and the young man got a laugh out of it. Marcia runs into a different issue with the local flip-flops; most Filipinos have wide feet, and she has narrow feet. Flip-flops of the correct length are easy to find, but she has yet to find a pair that are not too ‘floppy’ for her.

Gabi [GAH-bee] is the word for taro, a large-leafed plant whose starchy root can be substituted rather nicely for potatoes in dishes like soup or stew. Gabi [gah-BEE] is the word for night or evening. Magandang gabi [mah-gahn-DAHNG gah-BEE] is equivalent to “good evening” (literally “beautiful evening”). Of course Steve likes to throw a “good taro” in there once in a while just to keep people on their toes. Ron has gotten wise to this, and will say gabi gabi [GAH-bee gah-BEE] for his version of the joke, since gabi gabi, [gah-BEE gah-BEE] literally “night night,” is the way to say “night after night,” or nightly. By the way, we often have a gabi gabi, when we eat taro for dinner in a delicious pork leg soup. Didn’t catch the difference between gabi gabi and gabi gabi? Read the paragraph again!

Similarly, araw araw [AH-rahw AH-rahw] means “day after day,” or daily. Araw is the word for both “sun” and “day,” which makes some sense if you think about it, especially in a place where the sun shines so much of the day. (For much of the year in central Michigan, especially October through March, the word for day and the word for cloudy should maybe be the same.) Steve thinks araw araw should be Tagalog for “Sunday.”

Umaga [ooh-MAH-gah] means morning. One of the hotel staff, whom we have known since we started coming here years ago, is named “Norming.” Now every time that he sees Norming, Steve says, “Magandang ugama” (not umaga), and Norming takes it good naturedly.

One of our favorite Tagalog idioms is tulog manok [too-LOHG mah-NOHK], literally “chicken sleep.” This is used to describe someone who is trying very hard not to fall asleep, such as watching TV when you are tired. You keep nodding off for just a second or two, and then your head jerks back up and you appear to be wide awake, but before you know it you’re nodding off very briefly again, with your head jerking like a chicken’s does when it is walking, hence tulog manok. For sound sleep, the phrase we’ve heard is tulog mantika, to sleep like cooking oil that has thickened from storage in cool temperatures. We actually saw our oil do that here in December and January!

On Wednesday we quietly and privately celebrated our 37th anniversary with a tropical get-away…in our own backyard. A little wine, a gift from Bill and Midge Kirwan, in plastic cups. Not too bad for a couple of 40-year-olds! As they say here: Ha ha ha.

Thoughts on THE PACIFIC

Tuesday, February 16, marked the 65th Anniversary of the American assault to retake Corregidor from the Japanese. A small group of us gathered at the Spanish Flagpole on Topside for a 48-star flag-raising to commemorate the event. Following two weeks of fighting, General Douglas MacArthur returned to officially proclaim the island secured. On March 2nd we are hoping for a good crowd to commemorate MacArthur’s return to the Rock with another flag-raising ceremony. If you are local, please consider joining us that day. For more information on the story of the “Rock Force,” go to http://www.corregidor.org.

Most Americans know little about the War in the Pacific. Asked to name some of the events, most would probably be able to recall something about Pearl Harbor, the battle for Iwo Jima, and that the United States dropped the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. For many in the younger generations, such knowledge has come from movies, and as you well know, the vast majority of good World War II movies focus on the fighting and concentration camps in Europe.

In case you haven’t heard, HBO will soon air a ten-part mini-series entitled “THE PACIFIC.” It is considered the Pacific counterpart to the outstanding “Band of Brothers” mini-series which aired years ago and is available on DVD (highly recommended by many). The executive producers for “THE PACIFIC” are Tom Hanks, Steven Spielberg, and Gary Goetzman. It follows three marines as they island hop from Guadalcanal to Cape Gloucester, to Iwo Jima, and finally to Okinawa. The title appears to be a bit misleading, considering that the battle for Guadalcanal did not occur until eight months after Pearl Harbor and three months after the surrender of the Philippines. We are strongly hoping that these facets of the story are covered by flashbacks or other means. Like anything done by Steven Spielberg and/or Tom Hanks, we expect this series to be top notch. Just realize that it covers a much narrower subject field – as far as we know - than its name implies, and you should not be disappointed.

We suggest watching how the Japanese are portrayed throughout the mini-series. That will be telling. Are the soldiers simply following orders, shooting back at the enemy who is trying to kill them? No one can find fault with that; that’s what soldiers are expected to do. Or will there be depictions showing their fanaticism, and the beastly treatment of their prisoners? We’re not just talking about American POWs here. Recall that the Japanese slaughtered millions in China (e.g. the Rape of Nanking) before Hitler invaded Poland in 1939. No matter what you thought of Tears in the Darkness, you’d have to be pretty dense to read that book and not come away realizing what type of enemy the American and Filipino troops faced in battle and as their captors. (There are such readers; see some of the Tears reviews on Amazon.com.)

We hope that some day Spielberg, Hanks, or someone of their stature tackles the Bataan Death March, the fall of the Philippines, the plight of the POWs – military and civilian – and the liberation of the Philippine Islands, including the Battle of Manila. This element of WW II has never been very well told on film, and most people today are likely to become aware of it only through a movie of the epic proportions and advertising budget of a “Schindler’s List” or “Saving Private Ryan.” It is hard for the former POWs of the Japanese to avoid feeling that they were ignored, first while fighting the Japanese, then while in the prison camps for over three years, next by the post-war government, and finally by the movie industry after the war. How bad was their POW treatment? Steve’s father, who was, like so many others, a POW of the Japanese for over three years, endured daily deliberate humiliation, frequent beatings, constant starvation, little to no medical care, and slave labor. He once said, “I wouldn’t take $1,000,000 to go through that for one day!”

At this time, HBO is considering a showing of “The Making of THE PACIFIC” to media guests here in the Malinta Tunnel in mid-March, before the movie’s Asian release which is set three weeks after its March 14 debut in the United States.

This email came to us recently from a university professor friend, concerning Tears in the Darkness:

I enjoyed your comments on the Norman's book. I do think it is one of the best descriptions of the POW experience, but its fact checking was very faulty. I stopped counting errors in the Oryoku Maru section at 35. (Admittedly, most were minor.) My biggest beef was their putting Zero Ward at Camp O'Donnell. Zero Ward was at Cabanatuan. There was a somewhat comparable, "St Peter's Ward", at O'Donnell, but it, and the O'Donnell "hospital" were run very differently from that at Cabanatuan. Confusing the two meant the Normans mixed stories about deaths at the two camps.
Around the same time as this email arrived, Steve had a discussion with a visiting doctor about Tears in the Darkness. The guest commented that he was aware of a new book out concerning the Bataan Death March. When Steve told him that it was both one of the best and one of the most disappointing books he had ever read on the subject, the man asked why. Steve then told him about the great descriptions contained within the book, but also discussed the apparent carelessness regarding fact checking, and that no corrections were made prior to publishing in paperback.

The doctor’s daughter currently attends the Journalism School at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. When Steve told him that co-author Michael Norman taught journalism at New York University, the doctor was incredulous. He said that his daughter’s journalism professor gives overnight three-page writing assignments, and if he finds a single error – spelling, punctuation, grammatical, or factual – the paper is given an automatic F- grade. Given that the best-selling book was 10 years in researching and writing, and that the authors credit assistance from hundreds of experts listed in the back of the book, it makes one wonder how an NYU journalism professor and his wife, already an accomplished author and NYU professor of humanities, would be willing to sign their names to a book with so many significant problems.

The Harris Tour

On Tuesday Betsy Harris, her nephew Scott, and his wife Melba came to Corregidor for the first of three days with us. Steve was assigned as their Corregidor tour guide, so he was waiting to meet them on his tour bus. When everyone appeared to be aboard, Steve said, “Hi. I bet you didn’t expect to have an American tour guide today.” Many of the guests, including some from Wales and Poland, nodded. Then Steve said, “I’m a bit of a psychic. Is there anyone by the name of ‘Harris’ aboard?” A couple in the front row raised their hands. Since Steve did not yet know Scott’s name, he asked the man for his name. Then he turned to the wife and asked, “And you are Betsy?” The lady nodded yes. Steve asked them, “Where’s Melba?” They both looked confused and said, “We don’t know any Melba.” All of a sudden Steve was real confused. Something was terribly wrong. How could this be the Harris’s without Melba? It was then that Steve realized that his “joke” had backfired. These people were indeed named Harris, but not the ones he was expecting!

It turns out that Betsy, Scott, and Melba decided to use the CR (Filipino for comfort room, or what we Americans call a restroom) just as the other guests were getting off the ferry, so they were still on the ferry while all of this was going on. After getting a couple of rows of people to ‘skootch’ over to make room, they got on the bus and we were on our way to tour the Rock.

Betsy’s father was one of the Yangtze River Boat captains. His boat was the smallest of them, the Guam. (The movie, “The Sand Pebbles” features one of these boats, the San Pablo. They have an interesting story, but we will let those who are curious do their own investigating.) Her father sailed to the Philippines on the Luzon and was one of the POWs captured on Corregidor. He died at Cabanatuan on September 1, 1942. Since Betsy was born in 1939, she cannot remember her father. She says that he can be seen in a picture inside Malinta Tunnel which includes MacArthur and other men. Her cousin (her father’s nephew) Bill Harris was also on the Rock. He escaped with Ed Whitcomb, one-time governor of Indiana and the author of “Escape from Corregidor.” The two had a disagreed whether it was best to travel by day or by night to avoid the Japanese, and went their separate ways. Ed was able to evade the Japanese, but Bill was captured and spent the rest of the war in prison camps. He continued his military career after being liberated, and died a few years later while leading a charge up a hill in Korea.

On Wednesday the five of us took a banca to Bataan and drove along the first section of the Death March route. After visiting such places as Mount Samat and the Balanga Elementary School, site of the General King surrender, we spent the night at Subic Bay. While we were checking into the Subic International Hotel, Steve had a little fun with Tagalog. They asked us if we wanted “two big beds.” Steve said quietly, “Water beds.” Melba, a Filipina who thus speaks Tagalog, heard Steve and said to the receptionist, “Steve likes waterbeds.” Steve gave Melba a quizzical look, the receptionist repeated, “We have a room with two big beds,” and Steve mumbled, “Waterbeds.” The receptionist said, “No, we don’t have waterbeds, we have two big beds.” Steve looked at Melba like, “Don’t you get this?” After thinking about it for a few seconds, Melba realized the joke. Tubig is the Tagalog word for water.

The main objective on our final day together was the site where Betsy’s father had died, the prison camp near Cabanatuan City. There were actually three camps, called simply “One, Two and Three”. Camp Two was closed after one day, since it had no water supply. Camp Three was open for several months before its prisoners were relocated, joining those at Camp One. Betsy could not remember if her father died at Camp One, site of the Cabanatuan Monument, identified by the concrete footings of the water tank, or at Three, of which no identifying traces remain. In any case, the name of Lt Cmdr Andrew E Harris is clearly visible on the wall of the dead.

Following our return to Manila, Betsy heads off to spend a couple of days seeing the Banaue Rice Terraces and historical sights in and near Baguio. Scott and Melba are going to spend the time relaxing in the island paradise of Boracay.

On another topic, this came to us from Chris, whose uncle is buried in the American Cemetery in Manila, and whose father fought in many of the Pacific battles:

Be sure to tell your visitors about Honor Flight which flies WWII vets free to visit the WWII monument in DC. We took Dad in November and it was wonderful and so moving to see all these Vets together and treated royally. Each Vet is provided a guardian for the day. http://honorflight.org has all the info. It is a wonderful program.

What a tremendous program, indeed! Marcia’s Uncle John retired from the U. S. Air Force after a career as a pilot. His service included the WW II years. John told us about Honor Flight a year or two ago, shortly after the organization enabled many veterans to attend the WWII Monument inauguration ceremonies. We hope that many of the surviving vets will be able to make the pilgrimage. If you know of a veteran who has never been to the memorial, this program can make it happen.

We follow the spiders

We had several reader responses about our mystery insect. Here are comments from them. We are leaving them mostly untouched, so please forgive the ‘email casual’ format, typos, and imperfections.

From Kyle, about the “critter,” and a very interesting aside about Fort Drum:

Hi steve, Me and my uncle went on the tour with you last month and truly enjoyed it. And yes me and him always do read your weekly newsletters. its the first time ill be responding because of 2 things, first the insect that you have on there looks to be related to if not the same as the african cave spider. I saw it on some discovery channel show once and the guy had to eat it.

Second is that I realized that fort drum was used as a video game map in a game i play alot, Call Of Duty in their 5th installment, World at War as a map called Battery. I immediately hopped on in the game and explored what fort drum looked like, and from images from the interwar periods did look very much the same, except it had an extra turret. Thanks very much for this newsletter, and i was wondering if you have any images of fort drum that you took yourself? that would be great to know. Thanks very much and hope i got the spider right!

How about that, all you “Call of Duty” players? We wonder if anyone else made this connection. And we did confirm that “our” creatures are close relatives of the African cave spider. It does NOT sound like a good dinner choice! Thanks again, Kyle.

More on the creature: this great reply from Philip:

First I thought that your mystery "bug" looked vaguely like a type of Arachnid native to the American South (where I was born and raised -- in Arkansas) named "Whipscorpions" or "Vinegaroons" (Order Thelyphonida/Uropygida), but they have big long tails (hence one of their common names), and a generally more leathery appearance. Your critter looked almost like some cross between a Whipscorpion and a "Daddy-Longlegs" (Opiliones). Anyway, my initial hunch was of some help, because after a bit of snooping around on the Internet this morning, I see that there's a related Arachnid Order, Amblypygi, called "Tailless Whipscorpions" or "Cave Spiders," and that must surely be what you found. Open this Wikipedia entry and see if you don't agree: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amblypygi Although I now make my living as a diplomat, I'm originally a botanist and biologist by training, so these things interest me.

And more, from Kathleen:

It is a tailless whipscorpion. go to www.spiderzrule.com and see some more of them.

And this from Eli:

Our local name for it is 'gagambang hari' or literally, 'king spider' so named because of its size but never for its ferocity. During our younger days when we hunted for spiders as a form of kid games, 'gagambang hari' and its bigger relatives, never displayed aggressiveness even towards its smaller opponents during 'combat' on coconut leaf rib but were no doubt helpful in trapping some mosquitoes and flies in its web.

We’re not sure that Eli’s spider is the same type, since the ones we’ve seen live in tunnel or cave environments, but admit our ignorance on the matter. This may also be an outdoor ‘cousin.’

We send special thanks to Philip and Kathleen, both of whom nailed it and supplied the links, to Kyle, and to Eli for local color. From the website references, we now know that the mother carries her young on her back, and eats any baby who falls off. Just in case you thought your mother was strict! By happy accident, Marcia actually got a picture of a mother with babies “on board.” Hold on tight, kids! We didn’t even see the babies until we downloaded the photo onto Steve’s laptop…mom was so skittish that Marcia could not get the camera very close, and had no desire to get her eyes any closer! A good time for our camera with macro setting and sharp auto-focus.

On Monday, Steve guided for Sascha Jean Weinzheimer Jansen’s Return to the Philippines Tour. We wrote about Sascha last year - you can read about it at http://steveandmarciaontherock.blogspot.com/2009/03/librabry-book-sascha.html
New readers might enjoy the story of Roger Schade, who tried to return a library book that was 70 years overdue!

There were a half dozen or so in this year’s group who were returning to commemorate their February 3, 1945 release from the Sto. Tomas (Saint Thomas) University internment camp. This is another of the 65th anniversary commemorations taking place this year, ending with the signing of Japan’s formal surrender aboard the Battleship Missouri in Tokyo Bay on September 2.

One of the members of Sascha’s group had been born in Sto. Tomas. Several were old enough to remember living there. One, Sally Morgan, was born in China and was 11 when she was rounded up with her family. She has been very active with the American Ex-Prisoners of War, being its current Quartermaster and National Secretary. She posed for a photo with Steve at Battery Way.

Groundhog Day was exciting here, not because we are going to have six more weeks of the same gorgeous weather, but because Steve had a little incident with the jeep. Early in the morning, he’d sent an order with a bancero to buy 40 liters of diesel fuel and a few vegetables for us. At noon he texted the bancero to ask if the items were here, and was told “yes.” However, yes meant that the bancero didn’t fully understand the question – our stuff was still in Bataan – so Steve went to start the jeep to drive back up to the house for lunch, and the electrical system was dead. Fortunately, Michael drove by and offered to help. Eventually he traced the problem to somewhere other than under the hood. Then Budoy came along and the two were able to find that the wiring behind the amp meter was the problem. They rewired, and Steve was on his way. By then the bancero was back with our order. Once, during the ride up the hill, the jeep seemed to go dead for a second, which told Steve that there might still be a problem. Also, the fan belt was squealing so loudly that he decided to ask Michael to tighten it after lunch.

Steve dropped off the order, ate a quick lunch, grabbed a water bottle, and headed back down the hill. On his return trip, the belt was quiet and everything seemed okay…until he got within 100 feet of the level road at Middleside. All of a sudden, he heard electrical crackling, and the jeep died and rolled forward a few more feet. Then the amp meter caught fire. Staying perfectly calm?!?!?!?, he grabbed the water bottle and put out the fire. He had no choice but to leave the jeep exactly where it was, since it was on a steep incline 50 feet below the Middleside Road. After talking with Michael and Budoy, and explaining the fire, which sent them both into hysterics, they explained that all he needed was a new amp meter and everything would be fine.

The next morning, the bancero brought the part, which cost about two dollars – two more for pickup and delivery charges – Michael and Budoy replaced the part, and the jeep is “as good as old” again. In fact, it seems to start and run better than ever.

Yesterday Steve guided for 22 fourth-year students and their advisor from the Medical College of Wisconsin. They are spending some time at the Philippine General Hospital, under the University of the Philippines in Manila. Steve had lots of fun talking with students who knew where Virginia, Minnesota is, and also Superior, Wisconsin, where we lived for three years. One student even knew of our niece Angie Keseley from her hockey days at the University of Wisconsin. Another student wore a Michigan State University baseball cap, and the advisor had spent 15 years at MSU.

As you can see, Corregidor’s tourist season is now blossoming, and we’re enjoying the guests and the weather.

We meet some interesting people

Living on Corregidor has given us opportunities to meet some interesting folks. While having lunch recently at the Corregidor Inn, Armando the tour guide introduced us to one of his guests. Paul Phillips then joined us at our table, and told us a little about his father who had been at Clark Field when war broke out and was captured in Mindanao five months later. As with most POWs captured in the Philippines, he was eventually transported out of the country by means of unmarked Japanese ships. When we asked him which Hellship transported his father, Paul said he didn’t know for sure but it was one that had been sunk by the Americans. Steve asked him if it was possibly the Oryoku Maru, to which Paul replied, “I’m not really sure, I’ll ask him.” Paul pulled out his Blackberry, sent an email to his father in Denver, Colorado, and minutes later, he received the response that his father had indeed been on that notorious ship. We commented to Paul how amazing it is that his father survived the voyage and that Paul had ever been born, and encouraged him to learn more about the Oryoku Maru story. We recommended the book Father Found by the late Duane Heisinger, which tells about Duane’s search for information about his own father who died days before reaching Japan. He’d been one of the 1,609 POWs who left Manila on the Oryoku Maru. Fewer than 500 of them reached Japan alive, and about half of those men died before liberation eight months later. We are only guessing, but feel that Paul’s father is probably one of no more that 10 or 20 men still living from that group.

Another interesting man is Harvey Dean. Harvey’s father had been captured on Bataan and began the Death March. However, on the second day he slipped away from the march – not uncommon since there were so many captives and relatively few guards – and managed to get to the shore at Cabcaben. After dark on April 10, he swam the six miles to Corregidor and was then assigned to Ft. Frank/Carabao Island which is also in Manila Bay, just off the coast of Cavite. He was captured there and brought back to Corregidor after the surrender of the Philippines about a month later. Before his death, he returned to the Philippines with Harvey, and showed him the spot from which he’d begun his swim.

Later Harvey repeated his father’s feat, and this year did it once again. We discourage swimming across the North Channel of Manila Bay, but if - like Harvey - you ever feel compelled to do it, please make arrangements with the Philippine Coast Guard to be accompanied by a boat the entire way. Harvey had the privilege of spending some time on Corregidor with his father, and he wanted to return to some of the places they’d gone together. So Steve and Harvey, who are less than a year apart in age, spent a day wandering around to some of the island’s gun batteries and tunnels. As we have reported before, Carabao Island is very difficult to access, and scrappers have removed all of the guns that were there. However, Harvey managed to get onto the island years ago to see it for himself. See if you agree that Harvey might be able to pass for Steve’s slightly older and shorter brother.

Bill and Midge Kirwan, regular visitors to the Rock, came back to spend a week. Their son Jason and his wife Jill joined them for a few days. On Thursday the six of us took a trip to Bataan to visit the Death March marker that Bill and Midge sponsored a year or so ago. We took a banca across the bay, then took a hired van to the marker, which lies on the road from Bagac to Balanga, considered the secondary route of the beginning of the march. A couple of miles from their marker is the Pantingan Bridge. The Pantingan massacre – where 400 mostly Filipino officers were beheaded at the whim of the Japanese – occurred within a few hundred yards of that bridge. We then headed up to the National Shrine on nearby Mt. Samat, which is located along the last line of defense in Bataan, and which is home to the 300-foot tall cross. Unfortunately the elevator in the cross was out of order so we were not able to go up inside the cross structure, but the view from the foot of the cross on this crystal clear day was still great. One of the panels on the base of the cross bears several images from Corregidor, including a two guns and the landing of the 503rd Parachute Regimental Combat Team. Later we went to Balanga where we visited the site of General King’s surrender and then had lunch at Jollibee.

After returning to Corregidor, Steve took Jason and Jill on a couple-hour excursion around Battery Wheeler, an area where he has taken several guests in the past couple weeks. All of a sudden, Jill, who was walking behind Steve, stopped and asked, “What’s this?” She bent over and picked up a small black and red object that she’d heard emitting a very high-pitched squeal, something Steve had not heard. It was some sort of ultrasonic insect repeller, something that another guest had lost about 10 days ago during a trek - still squealing away. The previous guest was quite upset about losing it, since his wife had just given it to him as a gift. We never thought we’d see it again, since the guest had searched the area diligently. We are hoping to return it.

While inside Wheeler Tunnel, Jill spotted a weird bug on a wall. Steve took a picture and has including it. It sort of looks like a spider but we don’t think that’s what it is. Surely one of our readers should be able to tell us what it is, or refer our question to an entomologist. It is rather large, at least three to four inches across its leg span.

Steve and Marcia on the Rock


P.S. We have just passed the 700 mark on our reader list. Some people pass it on and some people probably just chuck it in the trash, so who knows how many people actually read it each week?

Lou and the Loppers

The Philippines lie on a major fault line. There have been several times in the past 15 months where we have suspected that we felt very minor tremors, but there is really no way of knowing for sure. However, a week ago Tuesday, we believe that we felt a very brief and mild earthquake a little after 6 o’clock in the afternoon. To Marcia, who was outside at the time, it sounded and felt like something jumped or fell onto the dirty kitchen roof above her, shaking the whole structure. It was similar to having someone jump on the floor in a room above you. Steve was lying in bed using his computer, and for a second it felt as if he were on a waterbed. The next day, a visitor told us that there had in fact been a minor quake reported at that time.

Since Corregidor is susceptible to major quakes – the last one was almost 20 years ago – we wonder just how strong a quake would have to be to inflict substantial damage to the remaining ruins here, especially Middleside Barracks and the many buildings around Topside. The other thing we wonder is whether the quake we felt on Tuesday was in any way related to the one that devastated Haiti around the same time. Since Haiti is on the other side of the world, you wouldn’t think so, but maybe one of our readers knows if this is in fact possible, and could let us know.

The temperatures have been cool enough at night that we’ve actually been a bit chilly in bed. It’s hard to believe that 72 degrees can almost feel cold, but with the high winds, that is indeed the case. It has been so windy for the past two weeks that the Coast Guard has restricted some travel on Manila Bay, especially with the smaller bancas, the double outriggers that are so common here. So far our ability to get supplies from the mainland has been unhindered, but if the winds get any higher that may not continue to be the case. On the other hand, yesterday seemed to be a bit less windy, so maybe it’s finally calming down.

By the way, for those of you thinking of some day coming to Corregidor to spend a part of your vacation, this is a great time of year in our opinion. It is not too hot or humid, seldom rains, there’s almost always a breeze, and it’s a great time to get away from the cold of the Upper Midwestern US and other wintery spots for a bit.

One man who seemed to have fallen in love with the place is Lou Fielack. Lou owns Fielack Electric Corp on Long Island in New York. Lou’s wife Terry grew up in Mariveles, Bataan, which is only five miles off the western shore of Corregidor. They, along with some of Terry’s relatives, came by banca one day last week, and we enjoyed a walk with them on Tailside and the Malinta Hill trail. Lou offered to come back and work for a couple of days.

So this week Lou came back with three of Terry’s brothers, an uncle, and a close family friend. They set up tents on the south beach – a very economical way to stay – and began to work around the MacArthur House on Tailside. If you remember, Benny and the Bolos cleared out that area, which includes the houses used by General Douglas MacArthur, High Commissioner Sayre, and President Manuel Quezon in late 1941 and early ’42. When Benny was done, it was still not possible to see the MacArthur House from the road, so the first thing that “Lou and the Loppers” did was to clear the brush between the house and the road, making it visible from the tranvias used on the day tours. They also excavated a staircase just feet from the main road, and the sidewalk that led to MacArthur’s House. In addition, they cleared out Battery Kysor itself, which is at the tip of Infantry Point. While there, they found many shell casings and bullets, along with assorted buckles and other items that have been buried for at least 67 years. Lou readily agreed to the standing policy that any artifacts uncovered by the group would be given to the Corregidor Foundation for possible display in the Pacific War Museum on Topside.

Soon a road sign will be installed, identifying the three houses as well as the nearby 92nd Philippine Scouts Headquarters. Our hope is that the tour guides will make a brief stop here to explain the significance of these recently excavated buildings to their guests.

We are very grateful to Lou and the Loppers for volunteering their time and efforts to make this possible. This is a wonderful way to contribute to Corregidor, and we encourage any individual or group wanting to participate in a project like this to inquire. Last year a group of Boy Scouts spent a morning clearing Battery Morrison, for example.

For the second time in less than a year, Steve has been chosen to write the cover story for the AmCham Journal, the monthly magazine of the American Chamber of Commerce in the Philippines, Inc. Last March they featured Steve’s story of our climb up Mt. Pinatubo. This year he was asked to write an article about Corregidor for their annual tourism issue. All photos, including the cover, will be Steve’s. As usual, Marcia’s editing was necessary and appreciated. We hope that this article will lead many more people to see The Rock as the exciting tourist attraction that it is.

P.S. Several readers have pointed out that the area in the Philippines known for its spicy hot food is Bicol, not Bohol. We knew that, but had a memory lapse while putting the newsletter together. We apologize for any indigestion this may have caused you. On the other hand, it’s nice to know that some readers paying close attention.

The Red Hot Chili Peppers of Jurassic Park

A part of the former Corregidor Aviary lies a few hundred yards behind our house – the former aviary caretaker’s residence – and down a steep hill. The very large flying-cage frames and some of the netting remain. We’re not sure how long it was in use or why it was closed – probably due to damage from a typhoon – but it looks like a scene from one of the Jurassic Park sequels in which they go back and see the remains, so we call it Jurassic Park. The aviary was still open in 2002 when Steve and his sister Paula, and then the two of us in 2003, visited the island, but had been shut down before we returned in 2006.

When we walked down the pathway soon after arriving here in 2008, we discovered some small red pepper plants. The peppers are no more than an inch long when ripe and really pack a punch. Because of our fondness for spicy-hot foods, we transplanted a couple of plants behind our house.

Most Filipino food is not served spicy hot, although there is one area south of here called Bicol where the people enjoy that type of food. These particular peppers, sili labuyo (wild chili peppers), are killers if you try to eat them alone and raw. However, they add a very nice heat to many foods. Another way to use the peppers is preserving them in a jar of vinegar. You can then sprinkle the spiced vinegar on your foods, or remove a few and add them to your vittles.

We want to caution any of you who might happen upon sili labuyo that the juice is very potent. The first thing you absolutely must do after handling is to scrub your hands with soap at least twice. Anyone who has forgotten to immediately wash his hands, and has subsequently touched his eyes or nose, knows exactly what we are talking about. Picking peppers has even caused Steve to walk with a temporary limp on occasion.

Whenever Steve thinks of hot foods he recalls his first encounter, which was in his mother’s home town of Virginia, Minnesota, at his grandparents’ house. Steve’s family moved into this house in 1968 after his grandmother died. There was a bar/restaurant one block up the hill on 13th St North called Chuck-Els. They sold something called “South Americans.” As best Steve can remember, it was a jar of spicy tomato sauce with onions, garlic, and hot peppers. He thinks it was even served on Fridays, meaning it was meatless. It seemed incredibly hot, and it’s possible it was, but it’s also possible that it only seemed so at the time because he was not used to spicy food. The only way he recalls it being served was as a sauce over bread, essentially a semi-wet sandwich.

What seems so odd about this is that Steve never met anyone in Virginia who liked hot food. Virginia, in the heart of the Mesabi Iron Range, is less than 45 miles as the crow flies from Canada, and is in the coldest area in the 48 States, located between International (aka Frostbite) Falls and Embarrass, one or the other of which makes the national weather news for being the coldest spot in the Lower 48 at least 30 times a year. Virginia was once a sawmill and mining town. The largest white pine forest in the country is lone since gone, but Minntac, one of the largest iron ore mines in the world, is in Mt. Iron, just few miles west of Virginia. The people who settled the area to work the logging camps and iron ore mines were ethnically Scandinavians, Italians, and Slavs, especially Slovenians and Croatians, none of whom are known for their love of spicy foods.

Steve’s mother Mary Anne used to be in a couple of bowling leagues, and he would sometimes go down to watch. Often the gals would bring finger foods for everyone to munch on. Someone once brought nacho chips and mild salsa to the bowling alley. The salsa was so mild, in fact, that Steve, still not a spicy food lover, thought it no hotter than ketchup. He can remember one of his mom’s teammates taking a bite, and then begin to jump up and down while waving both hands at her tongue, her mouth apparently emitting invisible flames, and gasping, “Water, water, WATERRRRRRRRR!” Suffice it to say that if the average Iron Ranger so much as licked one of these hot peppers he would die, or maybe only wish he had.

Steve’s father, originally from Duluth which is 60 miles south of Virginia, disliked ketchup and mustard, and used margarine for his condiment of choice. He ate salad with plain oil-and-vinegar dressing, seasoned with salt and a little black pepper.

Steve’s mother, Mary Anne, still lives in that same house in which she was born and has lived for most of her life. Any weather over 75 degrees Fahrenheit and she is miserable. It is not unheard of for overnight temperatures in Virginia to drop to 40 below zero in the winter, Fahrenheit or Celsius, take your pick. Spit can freeze before it hits the ground. We sometimes hear island folk complain how cold it is here at a breezy 82 degrees. There is no way to explain to Filipinos or others who have never in their lives felt temperatures below 70 degrees what cold weather really feels like.

This particular winter is especially cold and snowy, and we can’t say we miss it in the least.

Mary Anne sent the following poem to us:

WINTER IN MINNESOTA

It's winter in Minnesota
And the gentle breezes blow
Seventy miles an hour
At thirty-five below.

Oh, how I love Minnesota
When the snow's up to your butt
You take a breath of winter
And your nose gets frozen shut.

Yes, the weather here is wonderful
So I guess I'll hang around
I could never leave Minnesota
I'm frozen to the ground!