Toil, Toil, Toil and Travel
Our flight was scheduled for 11PM so we could afford to go to work during the day. Nikki picked Mel and me up from our respective houses. On the way to pick up Ernest, we got picked up by the police for obstruction in front of Mel’s house in Recto. The police accosted us in Soler. Mel attempted to play the hero, but Nikki’s driver had already slipped the corrupt and evil police officer with P50. Was our run-in with the corrupt law enforcers a foreshadowing of all the events to come?
After picking Ernest up, we were finally on the way to the spanking new, not even fully-finished NAIA Terminal 3 where all Cebu Pacific flights are. Gene and K were already there waiting for us. Gene had come from Hong Kong 2 days prior so we could all take the trip together. NAIA 3 was quite bare but I appreciated the polished, modern look and cold AC. I really hope this airport turns out well and is maintained well so visitors can have a positive first impression of our country.
The people in the check-in counter were inordinately slow as though our check-in was a lame test run. They seemed to have no idea what they were doing and couldn’t grasp the concept that our return ticket was not from our country of first destination. On the way, my luggage weighed a measly 11kgs—winner for lightest packer. We all wondered what our luggage will weigh going back to the Philippines what with all the goodies we imagined we would bring home.
Immigration was a breeze since there was barely anyone. The others had dinner at a Seattle’s Best booth. I contented myself with a Bonamine pill. The flight left on-time and was surprisingly full. Boarding was early but the flight didn’t leave earlier. It was my first time to fly Cebu Pacific, and I was surprised by how small the plane was. There were only two rows with three seats each. Gene, Nikki and I took one side of the row with Mel, K and Ernest on the other. I took the aisle seat to lessen potential damage to my seatmates in case I barfed. Instead of showing it via a TV monitor, flight attendants acted out the safety instructions. They also went around with a plastic bag for one to throw one’s trash in. As everyone knows, food was sold not served. I was surprised they decided to spend on publishing a magazine, “Smile”. Although I did not barf and would not barf for the rest of the trip, I had trouble sleeping because of the cramped space, uncomfortable chair, and freezing AC, but the latter was really my fault since I was wearing flip-flops. There were none of the famous Cebu Pacific games maybe because it was a red-eye flight. We, save Mel and K who chatted away the whole flight, were dead tired especially Ernest who fell into a deep sleep.
Off we go!
September 4, 2008
Manila, Is That You?
Manila, Is That You?
The turbulence on the way due to heavy rains made me briefly wish that I was on a bigger plane, but we had made it to Tan Son Naht airport with a good landing to boot! Since Ho Chi Minh City (formerly known as Saigon) was an hour late from Manila, we arrived at 12:30AM after a 2.5- hour flight.
The airport was clean and simple. I think it looks better than NAIA’s Terminal Two. As it was the dead of the night, there was only a short line in immigration. At the baggage carousel, luggage was already laid out on the floor, good to grab and go. We had to exchange dollars for dong
immediately to pay for a cab since we didn’t arrange for airport transfers. There were two money changers on the ground floor. There was a bit of confusion when they gave Nikki 50USD. When she was trying to return the money, the man behind the counter, who couldn’t understand what Nikki was saying, initially just ignored her. Good thing one of his assistants was paying attention because they would’ve been short for their tally. 80USD converts to about 1M dong so basically almost all Vietnamese can easily be called millionaires. In fact, they make jokes out of it. The bills have an onion paper-like surface and seemed to me like play money because of the high denominations (Ex. 100,000 dong) but essentially low value.
Outside the airport were plenty of taxi drivers who approached us. It was hard to understand their English because of the accent. Nikki 
produced a calculator to facilitate our negotiations. Taxis normally are supposed to cost 90,000 dong maximum, but we were only able to haggle the cost to 120,000 dong. Cabs also normally sit a maximum of 4 people. Since it was nighttime, the cab accommodated the 6 of us, thereby spreading the cost. All five girls piled onto the backseat. HCMC at night looked just like Manila. There were constructions going on in the middle of the roads. The storefronts and buildings were similar to ours. We joked to each other about going all the way to HCMC to see the view from our doorsteps. The cab driver turned on the meter as we were going to the hotel, and it came to 86,000 dong. Now we knew how much it’s supposed to cost on the way back. Ernest was designated as the one who would first pay for all transport costs.
Upon arrival at the Bong Sen Annex, we looked upon our 2-star hotel with some hesitation. 
The lobby was small and spartan—a sofa set, 2 chairs with a mirror, a front desk, a small standing board which denoted “Welcome to Bong Sen Annex” and a cot where our bellboy slept. The concierge was quite strict in ensuring that the six of us would be taking three rooms. We had booked ahead online at Asiarooms.com so I think that was quite self-explanatory. We were given first floor rooms which we were adamantly against since we didn’t want to be in the same floor as the lobby, but we weren’t given a choice. Good thing the first floor was technically on the second floor. The hotel even had a lift we could use! 
There were actual keys to the rooms which we had to surrender on the way out. Vietnam was the only place where we would have a double-sharing room arrangement. Gene and I, Melissa and Nikki, Ernest and Kristine bunked together. The bellboy (who was only in slippers!) brought our luggage up to our small but essentially-equipped rooms. The beds were actually wide enough that if we put them together, they would comfortably fit three. The space was narrow in the sense that the desk was almost at the foot of the bed with TV on it. There wasn’t much aisle space, and there were no desks between beds. The bathroom though was wide and clean which pleased us. 
After unpacking, Gene and I turned off the lights and slept.
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