Philippines
Sitting next to a pool and reading a book sounds like something I should want to do, but my idea of vacation tends to involve art galleries, museums, theatre, live music, and food. So, when my best friend from high school invited me to his wedding in the Philippines, I was torn. I always feel out of place at weddings and resort vacations are not really what I like to do, but I've known him for over 30 years, so it seemed like I really should go.
Getting to the Philippines from Regina is a trek. Philippine Air flies direct to Manila from Vancouver, but they aren't part of the major airline alliances, so booking becomes a bit of a challenge. I was also tardy booking my trip and then my dad has a minor stroke so that delayed me further. In the end, I found something decent that went from Regina to Manila through Vancouver and Hong Kong.
I'm surprised by how much Air Canada fed us on the flight to Hong Kong. Three meals (technically one of them was a light snack, but a chicken salad sandwich feels like a meal to me) and plenty of beverages. I wasn't really hungry in Hong Kong, but really wanted something salty and crunchy like chips or Doritos. I was surprised how difficult that was to find there. Lots of chocolate and other sweet options, but not a lot of chips. (There is also a lot of high end retain in the airport. Do people buy Tiffany jewellery in an airport? I guess they must.) I was also surprised by the Cathay Pacific flight to Manila. I wasn't expecting any food, but there was an interesting chicken stuffed pastry provided. The most annoying part of that flight was that the cabin lights were on when I really would have preferred a dark cabin so I could attempt to sleep.
I do not sleep well on planes or in airports or even the night before a trip. I did get some sleep between Vancouver and Hong Kong because, despite it being a daytime flight, everyone closed their blinds and the cabin lights were off (and I had the whole row to myself) so it was sort of like it was an overnight flight, but by the time I reached Manila, I was pretty exhausted. I had booked a night at a hotel adjacent to the airport and slept a bit (not enough) but mostly was happy to shave, shower, and eat something away from airports or airplanes and walk outdoors. The wedding itself is in Boracay, so there was another flight followed by a short speed boat trip to the actual resort.
That flight was probably one of the strangest I've ever been on. When I arrived in Manila I didn't really notice anything unusual about the airport. We taxied, got out via a jet bridge, cleared immigration, and then I walked through a pedestrian bridge to my hotel. When I left, though, the flight was boarded from a bus gate. The waiting area was at ground level (and too small) and then they put us onto buses and drove us to the plane and we climbed ramps to actually get onto the plane. It's a good thing they don't have winter.
While waiting in the bus for them to actually let us on the plane, I noticed that one of the staff was patting down another staff member. Every time he would go onto or off the plane that would happen. I assume this is done to help prevent people from transporting contraband, but it seemed strange. Once on the plane, there was an even more disturbing site. The inside of the plane looked smoky.
I eventually figured out that it was just an interaction between the humidity in the air and the plane's air conditioning system. Essentially, there was a cloud inside the plane. This was also an extremely short flight (40 minutes in the air) but the airline still tried to sell snacks during the trip. They hadn't even made it half way down the aisle before we were descending.
The landing itself made me a bit nervous because it was in a hilly area and then I was surprised by the nature of the airport itself. It is really basically one runway and some support buildings. The airport isn't a whole lot bigger than a house with a luggage claim area that consists of a shelf where they put your bag and an area to arrange transportation. It felt anachronistic flying a modern jet plane into a facility like that.
The resort had drivers move us from the airport to the boat dock. Part of that drive was through a village of what I can only describe as third world housing- shoddy looking construction with corrugated metal roofs and the occasional sore thumb like the Yamaha motorcycle dealership. As soon as we reached the boat dock, I knew this resort was going to be like nothing I've ever gone to before. The waiting area had tall ceilings and free coffee and attendants who provided cool damp face cloths. When we got on the boat they helped everyone the life jackets, when we reached the pier at the resort, there were drummers to welcome us, and when we got to the lobby, there was free refreshments and a crew of people to do the check-in process and guide everyone to their rooms. It might have been a bit too much for me when the waiter helped put the napkin on my lap at dinner last night.
I will write more eventually, but there's a gentle breeze, birds chirping, salty sea air, the sound of waves crashing against the beach, and I am ready to go exploring (or maybe just sit by the pool and read).
Getting to the Philippines from Regina is a trek. Philippine Air flies direct to Manila from Vancouver, but they aren't part of the major airline alliances, so booking becomes a bit of a challenge. I was also tardy booking my trip and then my dad has a minor stroke so that delayed me further. In the end, I found something decent that went from Regina to Manila through Vancouver and Hong Kong.
I'm surprised by how much Air Canada fed us on the flight to Hong Kong. Three meals (technically one of them was a light snack, but a chicken salad sandwich feels like a meal to me) and plenty of beverages. I wasn't really hungry in Hong Kong, but really wanted something salty and crunchy like chips or Doritos. I was surprised how difficult that was to find there. Lots of chocolate and other sweet options, but not a lot of chips. (There is also a lot of high end retain in the airport. Do people buy Tiffany jewellery in an airport? I guess they must.) I was also surprised by the Cathay Pacific flight to Manila. I wasn't expecting any food, but there was an interesting chicken stuffed pastry provided. The most annoying part of that flight was that the cabin lights were on when I really would have preferred a dark cabin so I could attempt to sleep.
I do not sleep well on planes or in airports or even the night before a trip. I did get some sleep between Vancouver and Hong Kong because, despite it being a daytime flight, everyone closed their blinds and the cabin lights were off (and I had the whole row to myself) so it was sort of like it was an overnight flight, but by the time I reached Manila, I was pretty exhausted. I had booked a night at a hotel adjacent to the airport and slept a bit (not enough) but mostly was happy to shave, shower, and eat something away from airports or airplanes and walk outdoors. The wedding itself is in Boracay, so there was another flight followed by a short speed boat trip to the actual resort.
That flight was probably one of the strangest I've ever been on. When I arrived in Manila I didn't really notice anything unusual about the airport. We taxied, got out via a jet bridge, cleared immigration, and then I walked through a pedestrian bridge to my hotel. When I left, though, the flight was boarded from a bus gate. The waiting area was at ground level (and too small) and then they put us onto buses and drove us to the plane and we climbed ramps to actually get onto the plane. It's a good thing they don't have winter.
While waiting in the bus for them to actually let us on the plane, I noticed that one of the staff was patting down another staff member. Every time he would go onto or off the plane that would happen. I assume this is done to help prevent people from transporting contraband, but it seemed strange. Once on the plane, there was an even more disturbing site. The inside of the plane looked smoky.
I eventually figured out that it was just an interaction between the humidity in the air and the plane's air conditioning system. Essentially, there was a cloud inside the plane. This was also an extremely short flight (40 minutes in the air) but the airline still tried to sell snacks during the trip. They hadn't even made it half way down the aisle before we were descending.
The landing itself made me a bit nervous because it was in a hilly area and then I was surprised by the nature of the airport itself. It is really basically one runway and some support buildings. The airport isn't a whole lot bigger than a house with a luggage claim area that consists of a shelf where they put your bag and an area to arrange transportation. It felt anachronistic flying a modern jet plane into a facility like that.
The resort had drivers move us from the airport to the boat dock. Part of that drive was through a village of what I can only describe as third world housing- shoddy looking construction with corrugated metal roofs and the occasional sore thumb like the Yamaha motorcycle dealership. As soon as we reached the boat dock, I knew this resort was going to be like nothing I've ever gone to before. The waiting area had tall ceilings and free coffee and attendants who provided cool damp face cloths. When we got on the boat they helped everyone the life jackets, when we reached the pier at the resort, there were drummers to welcome us, and when we got to the lobby, there was free refreshments and a crew of people to do the check-in process and guide everyone to their rooms. It might have been a bit too much for me when the waiter helped put the napkin on my lap at dinner last night.
I will write more eventually, but there's a gentle breeze, birds chirping, salty sea air, the sound of waves crashing against the beach, and I am ready to go exploring (or maybe just sit by the pool and read).
