The Ruins of Middleside Barracks - Beautiful Sunday
My Share for #BeautifulSunday initiated by @ace108
and #SublimeSunday by @c0ff33a
Welcome to the third part of our adventure on the historical island of Corregidor in the Philippines. If you wish to see how we ended up here feel free to check the previous parts of our trip.
Voyage to the Island of Corregidor
Exploring the Island of Corregidor
Today I will take you on a tour to the first ruins that we encountered. Bombed by the Japanese during WW2 and was left in ruins. But still it stands and is slowly being taken over by nature. Join me on our trip to explore ....
The Ruins of Middleside Barracks
An island shaped like a tadpole, Corregidor island is filled history, nature and mystery. Served as a gateway to Manila, it was a port for galleons during the Spanish colonial era.
From South Beach of the island it will take you around 27 minutes to reach Middle Side Barracks. Although it would take you longer than expected as some parts of the road goes uphill.
After the intimidating encounter with the gang of monkeys. We were all relieved that we did not experience any form of aggression from the wild monkeys. I felt like it was nature's test to see if we are worthy to pass to the next level. We pushed forward to our journey and the walk was very peaceful to the site.
The road was very quiet and the cool breeze was very refreshing. On my previous post, I shared star shaped green flowers covered parts of the road. This is the tree where the flowers falls from.
The leaves has yellow and pink colors. I have never seen this kind of tree anywhere else and I have been unsuccessful in identifying this tree.
This is the farthest my zoom lens could reach but if you would zoom in to the photo. You would see green bulbs that has not bloomed yet into the green flowers. I am not sure how many times it blooms per year, but I guess we got lucky to see the mysterious star shaped green flowers fall from the giant tree.
The trees here are ancient and has lived harmoniously with other types of plants.
I can't really say if there are just only three types of plants growing on the tree. Just by looking at nature we could learn a lot of things. Living together in peace can overcome even the strongest typhoon in life.
The green leaves growing on this trunk almost looks like green fur on an ancient mythical creature. This old tree must have witnessed a lot of action in the past.
As we came closer to our destination, we reached a fork on the road. In the middle of this fork is a wide open space with a majestic tree in the center. All the grass and plants around this area seems to be dying, but the tree is thriving.
I am not a tree expert, but it feels like the tree is absorbing all the nutrients around this area. Like a vampire that feeds on the life force of other creatures, it remains beautiful.
Here is a top view of the large tree and you could see the dried up soil around it. Other surrounding areas are lush with vegetation except for this area. To me it seems unnatural, but I guess it is just a part of the mystery of this island.
After taking the road on the right side of the fork. The enormous ruins appeared before our eyes. We were all silenced by the structure.
The Middleside Barracks houses officers, enlisted men, includes a hospital, and a service club. It also has a PX (post exchange) store which is like a convenience store in military bases. This place is huge and I learned that it even had two school houses for the American and Filipino soldiers.
The ruins is located in the middle of the island and was built in 1915 for the 60th artillery anti aircraft company, US army, 91st Coast artillery and the Philippine scouts. Advanced concrete construction was used in the two buildings that each has three stories. Each floor had high ceilings and sliding windows made from capiz shells were used. Capiz shells has been used for windows in the Philippines for centuries now. An influence during the Spanish colonial period and is still being used in some architecture today.
On December 29, 1941, the barracks was destroyed when it was bombed by the the Japanese.
Today 77 years has passed and the ruins still stand as a reminder of that fateful day.
What used to be a home for soldiers is not being reclaimed by nature. Plants and trees grows thicker everyday.
There are even signs of trees that has slowly wrapped itself on one of the posts. Although only a dried branch remains it is a sign that in the long run nature still wins.
The kids needed some rest after that long hike to this site. Tired but still you could see a smile from my daughter which means that she is enjoying this trip.
The kids doesn't get a lot of chance to go out on long hikes. But I'm pretty sure they have a lot of energy to complete this adventure.
Exhausted but I am glad we brought a lot of water to fuel our journey.
As the kids were resting, I took the time to take more photos around the area.
A lot of parts of the cement are crumbling and seems be hanging by a thread.
Visitors are forbidden to enter the ruins as the floors could collapse at anytime.
I am not sure what part of the building this is with those cement walls that are evenly divided into sections.
Rehabilitation has been made on this site. I noticed that there are metal posts installed to reinforce the structure. A good way to preserve and save what is left of the site.
I could only imagine how the building looks like before it was destroyed. I just wish that a part was spared to give us a glimpse of the architecture.
It must have been very frightening during the bombing of that December day. The impact of the destruction is seen everywhere you look. Twisted metal and rocks piled up everywhere and would forever remain this way.
All the floors are gone, but stairs that leads to the third floor survived. Climbing up those stairs would surely bring you demise.
Looking at this angle kinda reminds me of the Roman Colosseum. Instead of gladiators it was soldiers who fought for their lives during the bombing.
It has been a very long time already and what used to be a busy place is now very peaceful and quiet.
But the silence is somehow very eerie and you could easily hear a whisper. Would you prefer to have the place restored to serve as a hotel and restaurant? I think I wouldn't agree as sometimes places are better left untouched and just allowed to retire from it's service.
In these windows, soldiers may have hanged out during their free time. Thinking of a loved one or wishing for the war to end.
Would be able to get a lot of great shots from the ground floor. I had to be honest that I wanted to go down there, but it is not worth it. Safety first should always triumph in making decisions.
Any of these floors could fall at anytime and crush you easily. These are reinforced cement which are very strong, but the floors could still fall even if metal reinforcements it has been already installed in the ruins.
This must be the main entrance to the building and signs are placed for a purpose. No one is around to stop you, but if you get hurt don't say you were not warned.
A view from the roof deck of the building. This is the last section of the second building of Middleside Barracks and looks to be the part that is least damaged.
Floors and walls are still intact and you could still see the paint on the walls.
Looking at the ruins made me think about a lot of things. How life was hard during the war and a lot of lives were lost during the destruction. War is ugly and I wish our world will get past it all already. We have seen a lot, but still some of us have not learned anything.
It was time for us to go and venture deeper thru this road. A road that leads to more history and mystery of this island. We still have a very long way to go to complete our goal. A lone tree blocks the middle of this road which is better than a group of monkeys blocking the way.
Thank you for joining me today and I hope you enjoyed seeing the ruins on this tour. I'd appreciate if you leave some comments and let me know what you think about the site. If you are near the area and planning to visit just let me know and I could point you to the right direction. Hope to see you again next time and if you love big guns you would be blown away by the next site that we will be visiting. Until then keep on dreaming, believing and I hope we will reach the moon soon. Cheers!
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Posted from my blog with SteemPress : http://watersnake101.steemblogs.club/2019/07/07/the-ruins-of-middleside-barracks-beautiful-sunday/
What a lot to explore all on one island, thanks for detailed tour about the plant life and history, learning something new each day about your region @watersnake101
Oh there are so many places to explore on the island and unfortunately we only got to see some of the west part of the island. I appreciate your interest in our country.
Places I have never visited are always interesting to learn about the history, fauna and flora.
I've become ridiculously obsessed with finding out what that tree is too! LOL!
I think I have to concede defeat though - in my Googling, I discovered that not only is the island considered a biodiversity hotspot, but as of 2013, they've also put into motion a plan...
(from the article - https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/387745/denr-to-reforest-corregidor)
If you ever find out though, please shout out so I can stop searching... 😂
In all seriousness, thank you for taking us along to witness the haunting beauty of this island. 💚
Told ya can't find the tree in google lol. It seems it only exists on the island lol. I guess the staff there also would have no idea. To make things easier for us let's just name the tree hahaha. I'm glad that you really enjoyed this trip with us. There are more to share as we are just almost halfway thru.
That sounds like a plan - you come up with a name, and that's what we'll call it from here on out! LOL! And wow, only about halfway through? Quite the trip, and I can't wait to travel vicariously again through your adventures! 😊
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Thank you very much for the amazing support. A big thank you to you guys!
Wow! Fantastic photos of the ruins. I am assuming that many people died during the bombing? Those trees are great, but I especially love seeing the photos of the kids. They are growing up so quickly! Bearkid is now a beautiful young woman!
Yes people died and I haven't mentioned yet about the hauntings on the island. I'm going to save it for my post lol. I haven't noticed how they have grown. I still see my daughter with that bear costume in my head, we never got to make another bearkid episode. I do not know if she would still want to do it lol. Studies taking most of her time these days. Hugs from all of us here!
Doing well in school should be her number 1 priority!
I can't wait to hear more of this story.
Almost felt like I was there. Always interesting how nature wins out in the end.
Oh man I could be a tour guide lol. It's the most I could do, share our experiences the best way I can.
What a fascinating trip that must have been! I agree with your thoughts about how Roman the ruins looked; I was thinking the same even before I read your thoughts about it. How neat!
I knew it! It does have that Roman coliseum feel to it at an angle. It really was a fascinating experience.
Looks like quite a lot of walking. I wonder if they allow you to bring bicycles there.
Too much walking and we were barely halfway on this tour lol. On the ship some brought bicycles which is a very good idea but on the island I saw a shop that rents out motor bikes too.
This is how a positive approach towards adversity looks like
Happy to see a blog starting in such a fashion and also it have nice and short introduction with some geographical location photograph to realize the importance of this blog. You have really a good observation skill which is evident from the way you mentioned about the trees.
And rest of the blog has been interesting with some good photographs showing the different shapes and its location of the ruins. Is it inside a forest like area (Sorry I did not gone to your previous posts) and do there anyone to look after or guide the visitors. It really looks like a ghost house.
Overall this blog seems to be a fine experience in a place that have no chances for me to have a visit there, in that way I loved it.
Thanks and Cheers
Thank you I appreciate your very kind words. It is like a fuel that makes me want to share more of our country and experiences. I always try to give a positive approach, just need to see the good side and benefits of the obstacles that we encounter. Most of the introduction about the island was in the previous posts, I wanted to give an idea for those who missed it. I am very glad that you enjoyed the post. It does look like a ghost house and there are so many haunted stories on the island. One is a haunted hospital that we also explored which I would share soon. I hope there would be a spark of hope for you to visit our country one day and experience the journey, nature and our history.
Paaaaare..... Now you know I am familiar with your country and I love it too. I was having many friends from your place as my co-workers - Allen, Jonathan, Carmel Du Forte etc. - Philippines and Manila is close to a favorite country. I really love and admire you people, the love between them, their selflessness to help each other etc.
one reason I gone through your blog in detail was due to the above. Moreover the photo was also looks interesting and in a way it is rare too. Surprised to know that there was a hospital too. Let me see if I can visit your other previous blogs to get some more knowledge, and more pictures about that place.
Have a nice day. Regards to you and family...
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Quite surprising that you spent some time in Manila. I appreciate how you love our people and country. May you have an amazing week my friend.
You people are amazing, The only problem with them is that it is does not easy or comfortable with them to leave from their comfort zone of their local groups to mingle freely with other nationalities, say Indians like me...But once they they are amazing prople...they do all the help and also what I found that they are honest, dedicated and hard working...
Thanks and Have a nice day
I liked the way you shared your journey dear @watersnake101 !
From seeing the beautiful nature around those ruins, your personal experience, and of course the barracks itself!
It was like I'm traveling with you all the way, sometimes felt amazed and sometimes exhausted!
But in conclusion, and when the journey ended, I was just thinking when will be the next one?! It was really EXCITING!
Thanks for sharing!
♥
Thank you very much for joining the tour. I have still so much to share and each has it's charm. I'm a bit excited to share one of the most haunted place on the island. Maybe a few weeks from now until we get to that chapter though. Hope to see you again on our next stop. Thanks!