This WWII Museum Has a Terrifying Warning
So this is it right here. This is what I cycled all the way up here to come see. Like, C, the, uh, World War II museum. I am sweaty. They love the Blue Bolt Gatorade here in the Philippines. I've noticed a lot of blue.
Wow. That's pretty crazy. Good thing those are fake. But these, I'm guessing, are real. Was a lot of this stuff donated, or did most of the stuff get dug up in the mountains? Was dug up in the mountains.
By you or your— By my father. By your father. I only joined him when I turned 12 years old. Okay, so you have found some of this stuff. Your father, mostly. The bazookas? What? Yeah.
You— This one? These are bazookas? You dug— The battery? Crazy. So there's still probably— There's still a lot in the mountains? Crazy. We just couldn't find everything because they were covered in foliage and then soil erosion. Do you ever get worried about mines? Uh, there's no mines here.
There's no mines here? That's good. Crazy. And so all this stuff you found? You and your father? Yeah, everything in here. None of it was— Was any of it given to you? The DLLs were given by the Japanese families that came here. Ah, okay, that makes sense. That makes sense.
Like things like this? These ones are from the family heirlooms. Okay, family heirlooms. Because these ones are used for snow cones. Okay. The ice crushers. Like for— This is to make, uh, dingu and shaved ice.
All right. Crazy. And when you find things, do you usually find a lot of stuff buried in one place? Mostly individual. Individual stuff. Crazy. The uniforms and things— These uniforms were donated? This one? Oh, they're donated? Okay.
Then my grandfather's uniform during his service in the police, the military. Wow. This was his uniform during the war. Incredible. He didn't get the dog tag because he was a guerrilla. Philippine? So they just issued him— Sorry, I see.
Because he was part of the guerrilla scout. Gotcha. Okay. So mostly their missions were suicide? Yeah.
Okay. Wow. Wow. Wow.
I bet he has some crazy stories there. Wow. And the currency and the money? Yeah, these were from— This is Japanese? So Japanese pesos? Were these things that you found? Oh no, those were my grandmother's. Okay.
Okay, gotcha. Amazing. Really cool. Are there a lot of other places like this in the Philippines, or do you know? No, this is— This is the only one. I mean, you have a very huge collection of things, huh? It's really cool.
That would be kind of fun—12-year-old kid just going out there with your dad, looking for some of this stuff in the woods, in the rainforest, in the jungle. Grenades? I mean, seriously—are those—have we—have we checked those? Have we had a professional come out and, uh, made sure these aren't dangerous? So how do you know the grenades are safe? Uh, because we diffused them in the mountains. You diffused them? Yeah, my father knows a lot. Ah, I got you.
That makes sense. What a dangerous job, though. Wow. An old American flag.
An old Japanese flag. Crazy. This is all really incredible to look at and amazing to see, because I lived in Japan for 11 years, and I've visited a lot of places in Southeast Asia that Japan invaded—like Indonesia, Malaysia, Taiwan, of course South Korea. Guam. I've been to Guam.
So it's kind of cool to see all this stuff firsthand. Wow. Oh, and this guy right here—I read his book. This is a crazy story. This guy lived in the mountains for 30 years, right? Where was that, by the way? I think it's in—Rumblin? RBL? I read his book.
He lived for like 30 years. He didn't surrender? Yeah, he wouldn't surrender for 30 years. That's how dedicated the Japanese soldiers were. It's kind of a frustrating read because his family came out there, and they said, "Surrender, give up." They dropped newspapers, they dropped flyers, and he would not surrender. Yeah, he only surrendered when his former commander came and said— Yeah, he was like, "I'm only listening to the higher-ups, his lieutenants," and whatnot.
It's crazy. There were four of them, and I think he's the only one who survived. I think the second-to-last one died maybe right before—yeah, like he was about to— I think he was less than a year away. But they lived up in the mountains. Crazy. Crazy story.
Very cool stuff. Yeah, you read about these—these are the bayonets. Oh man, that's scary.
Incredible. And we got some books over here. Some manuals. Wow, here we go. There's a Japanese one. Infamous Arisaka rifle.
Bayonet—Model 38. Gosh, I've never seen one of these firsthand. I've read so many horror stories of how these were used. These bayonets. Personally, what is the coolest thing you have found? Uh, the katanas.
The katanas? Yeah, this one. Oh, these right here—I didn't see those. Oh yeah, the one on top.
This one? This was used in the Japanese-Russian war? The Russo-Japanese War? Right here? And sacrificial—it's very ornate. Wild. Do you still go out there and look? Uh, no, because there's still a lot of— Inpa? Up there? There's a lot of what? A lot of terrorists. Oh, terrorists? Yeah.
What terrorists? Uh, the New People's Army. Uh-huh. Oh, Filipino—New— Oh, they were announced terrorists by the president? Okay, okay, interesting.
And like, higher up? Yeah, higher up in the mountains. Okay, so it's unsafe for anybody to go? Yeah, it's very dangerous. Okay. Especially when you're— Wait, especially when you're what? White? Especially when you're a white Oh, okay.
I thought that was only like a Mindanao thing, but here too? Here too. Okay, so stay out of the jungle. Good to know. Wow.
"Wipe fascism off the face of the Earth." Wow, how ironic is this? In this day and age, you see this—America, this is what we used to think about fascism. There's General Douglas MacArthur signing the declaration of acceptance for the surrender of Japan. So, interesting story about this guy that I was reading—this guy's father actually helped save the Philippines from Japan during World War II, right? But that guy’s father led forces—led American forces—against the Filipino fighters during the Philippine-American War. So Douglas MacArthur and Arthur MacArthur—his father—they had significant roles here in the Philippines.
One fought against the Filipino independence nationalists after the Spanish-American War and the Filipino-Spanish War. But— That dog is just chilling like, "Shut up, dude, that’s boring. Just come over here and pet me." But yeah, anyways— What’s up, man? I didn’t mean to startle you. Hey, am I boring you over here? But yeah—what a cool place. What a cool place.
Just a couple of dudes going up in the mountains, finding a bunch of random old relics. Crazy. What a pastime. Leave a donation, and then we get on our way. Getting in there—appreciate it. Thank you so much, I enjoyed it.
It was nice—thank you. See you later, dude. Oh— Oh, what about Big Mama here? These ones were covered in the mountains? In the mountains? No way. You say "in the mountains" like—you know— Yeah, deep in the mountains. 10 km? 20 km? 20 people carried that? 20 people—on the top of the mountains—then they just let it go, and it rolled down? Incredible.
Wild. Then we stopped it with the Jeep and carried it here. Yeah, that— Oh, so you—you put it—wait, what? Yeah, it still works, but the tank—it got holes, so we only use the working parts. Where did you get this Jeep? Uh, my grandfather used it. Your grandfather used it? Crazy.
Crazy. And it still works? Yeah, it still works. Wow.
This was your grandfather’s? Wild. Wild. Pretty cool place, man. We use this battle tank to store gasoline.
Oh, right here? This is the gasoline tank? Yeah, because the main gas tank got damaged. Wow. And what’s the story behind this? Uh, that’s my great-great-grand— Your great-grand— Your great-great-grandfather? Oh, my great-great-uncle.
Your great-great-uncle fought in this battalion? Yeah. Any idea what year? Uh, does it say? We talking, like, '45? This one—that’s him? Same one as the first two photos in there? Do you know around what year? Uh, 1942. Cool. Awesome, man—thank you again. Thank you.
The trees in this region are really cool. Even when I was around Silliman University earlier today, I was thinking—man, the trees on campus are really cool. Now that is a beautiful sight.
Kimoot be putting me on one of them side roads again. Where are you taking me, Kimoot? So, a lot of people have been telling me I need to come check out Dwin, and that’s where I’m at. That cow—like, what you doing back here, Whitey? Oh, thank you, Komoot, for another interesting detour. Oh—that’s what it wanted me to see. It wanted me to see the basketball court.
Overgrown, though. There’s the beach. How you doing? And what do you know—an old Spanish Catholic church. You see a lot of those here.
They are everywhere. Hi, how are you? Good. Do you serve food? Yeah? All right, I’m hungry.
Damn, that looks really good. So, I went with the Parmesan-crusted fish. They said it’s cream dory. I’ve never heard of that fish, but I’m sure it’s good.
Yeah—that’s good. That sauce is delicious. Thank you, La Tortu—I think that’s how you say it.
Thank you for the delicious lunch. From here, I’m going to head to a campsite—something that looks promising on the map. Should have a nice beach.
It’s about 49 minutes away. Says the road’s not too bad—four lanes, got a bike lane most of the time over here on the shoulder. Road conditions—nice.
Weather—nice. Got a little bit of a tailwind. Can’t complain.
Welcome to—I don’t know what town. Welcome to—I don’t know what town I’m in, but I’ll put the name up. Nice park in the middle of town. Another statue. Another fountain—no water. Christmas tree—another common theme.
What’s up? What is the name of this town? Where? No, no—the city? Philippines? That’s the country. What is it? Zambo? Hi, Zambo. Your name? My name is Nick. My name is Chris Marlex.
Chris Marlex, where are you from? I’m from the U.S. USA! USA! Hi, guys! Here’s your chance—here’s your shoutout. Is this on? Yeah, it’s on—say hello. Hello! Hi, guys! Hi, guys! Welcome to my vlog! I’m Sean Kelvin V. Gravador!
I am Janer! I am G! Shoutout to Living in Zamb Elementary School! Shoutout to my mom! Yay! Nice. Shoutout to my papa and kuya! There you go, there you go. All right, guys, y’all be good.
I’ll see you. What’s your name? Nick. Nice to meet you, Nick. Where you going? I don’t know. I’m going to see your city, man.
Okay! Wow, bike? This—on a bike? On a bike. Check it out. Oh, it’s an Osmo.
Check it out. No stickers, man—I’m sorry. Not yet. I’ll get ’em, though.
Three statues—no information, at least from this side. I’m guessing one guy is Rizal—you see his statue just about everywhere. Spanish Catholic church number 54.
Now there's a spooky one for you. Wonder what happened here. That’s a big one too. This way to T. Baybay—right there. I think this is it. Camp T. Baybay.
Looks nice. Hi! Hi, how are you? Hi, thank you. So, I’m cycling the Philippines, and tonight I’m just looking for a campsite. Oh, here—this one is good.
Yeah? I’ve got a tent and everything. Oh yeah, that’s good. Okay. Yeah, I will ask the lady here who’s in charge.
Uh-huh. Yeah, you can get in. Cool. Okay, yeah, yeah—thank you. Now I can see why— I don’t remember who I was talking to, but they were like, “Oh, if you’re going to Dwin, you should probably go there first and then go to Siquijor.” Because if I go to Dwin after Siquijor—well, you’re going to be disappointed.
I can kind of see why. It’s not as good, obviously, as Siquijor. But it’s still nice, I guess. That’s why you see so many stray dogs around. Yep.
But I’m pretty much all set up. I set up in that little restaurant table area. Just kind of put my tent toward the far back. But yeah, that might be the end of the video. I might go down there and get some food, see what they’re cooking later. Might take you with me—we’ll see.
But if I do end it here, thanks for watching. Hope wherever you are, you’re doing well and staying safe. Subscribe if you haven’t.
Like. Do all that jazz. And yeah—the bike tour in the Philippines continues tomorrow.
Check you later. Peace.
2025-03-18 19:41
