Day 339 - Fight from Bangkok to Manila
Tuesday, June 11th, 2019
Everything went pretty smoothly today except when the small car with a tiny trunk arrived to pick us up to take us to the airport. Gregory was ready to cancel when the driver grabbed our suitcases and somehow fit them in the trunk. Of course, we drove with the trunk open but who cares, we had traveled with our suitcases on the top of the car in India!
OK, not that smoothly. When we got to the airport, after going through security, there was a huge line to check our luggage. Gregory was upset because, for the first time, he didn’t do the online check-in. If we had done this, we could have saved maybe half an hour. Plus we didn’t eat breakfast because we were counting on having breakfast in the airport lounge but we didn’t have much time left after checking in the luggage. We still had immigration and security to pass through and only an hour before takeoff. We had to buy overpriced, gross sandwiches near the gate and get in line to board! We were upset that we paid more for those crappy, gross, tiny sandwiches than we would have spent at a restaurant for good food. Luckily, we made it!
We didn’t know what to expect when we arrived in Manila. Sunshine and Daniel had warned me that there was nothing to see and that it was a big, noisy city. I was not excited. The airport was clean and we were happy to find out that they even had a designated area outside for Grab. We requested a car and waited. And waited. And waited. We almost canceled when the car arrived, 30 minutes later. The driver was at the airport departures area but couldn’t move. It took another hour to get to our hotel, about 5km from the airport. [Gregory's note: for those keeping score, Manila already has 2 strikes against it, and we just got here!]
I was a little worried when the we drove into a gated, residential area. I didn’t see any hotels. There was no sign. The "hotel" was more like a guest house. By the time we arrived, we were all starving but I wasn’t sure where we were going to find food. The man told us that there were some restaurants and 7-Eleven (yay) nearby. Of course, we didn't have cash. We needed to find an ATM. Gregory decided we should find a restaurant and eat, and worry about paying later. He ordered, but I was very nervous and I told him that we needed to find the ATM first. He said he wanted to eat first. I couldn't handle that so I left with Daniel in search of the ATM. Luckily, we found one not too far from the restaurant but I hate the feeling of going by myself with Daniel at night in a new, unknown place! [Gregory's note: we were far from downtown, in small, residential streets with plenty of local foot traffic. A safe area.]
Anyway, we devoured hamburgers and fries in no time. After eating and paying, we went to the 7-Eleven to grab snacks for the plane the next day. We were all exhausted to even consider exploring the city. [Gregory's note: it was night by then, and we knew traffic here was horrific. Who wants to explore?] We walked back to our guest house and then, started to find a place to stay in Puerto Princesa, where we were flying tomorrow morning. Soon all this be over, I thought to myself, and we will be in one place without having to find another place to stay! I’m sure I will miss this adventure but at that hour, time and place, I just wanted to be in my home!
We went to bed with bright light outside our bedroom and the loud noise of the planes taking off!
Everything went pretty smoothly today except when the small car with a tiny trunk arrived to pick us up to take us to the airport. Gregory was ready to cancel when the driver grabbed our suitcases and somehow fit them in the trunk. Of course, we drove with the trunk open but who cares, we had traveled with our suitcases on the top of the car in India!
OK, not that smoothly. When we got to the airport, after going through security, there was a huge line to check our luggage. Gregory was upset because, for the first time, he didn’t do the online check-in. If we had done this, we could have saved maybe half an hour. Plus we didn’t eat breakfast because we were counting on having breakfast in the airport lounge but we didn’t have much time left after checking in the luggage. We still had immigration and security to pass through and only an hour before takeoff. We had to buy overpriced, gross sandwiches near the gate and get in line to board! We were upset that we paid more for those crappy, gross, tiny sandwiches than we would have spent at a restaurant for good food. Luckily, we made it!
We didn’t know what to expect when we arrived in Manila. Sunshine and Daniel had warned me that there was nothing to see and that it was a big, noisy city. I was not excited. The airport was clean and we were happy to find out that they even had a designated area outside for Grab. We requested a car and waited. And waited. And waited. We almost canceled when the car arrived, 30 minutes later. The driver was at the airport departures area but couldn’t move. It took another hour to get to our hotel, about 5km from the airport. [Gregory's note: for those keeping score, Manila already has 2 strikes against it, and we just got here!]
I was a little worried when the we drove into a gated, residential area. I didn’t see any hotels. There was no sign. The "hotel" was more like a guest house. By the time we arrived, we were all starving but I wasn’t sure where we were going to find food. The man told us that there were some restaurants and 7-Eleven (yay) nearby. Of course, we didn't have cash. We needed to find an ATM. Gregory decided we should find a restaurant and eat, and worry about paying later. He ordered, but I was very nervous and I told him that we needed to find the ATM first. He said he wanted to eat first. I couldn't handle that so I left with Daniel in search of the ATM. Luckily, we found one not too far from the restaurant but I hate the feeling of going by myself with Daniel at night in a new, unknown place! [Gregory's note: we were far from downtown, in small, residential streets with plenty of local foot traffic. A safe area.]
Anyway, we devoured hamburgers and fries in no time. After eating and paying, we went to the 7-Eleven to grab snacks for the plane the next day. We were all exhausted to even consider exploring the city. [Gregory's note: it was night by then, and we knew traffic here was horrific. Who wants to explore?] We walked back to our guest house and then, started to find a place to stay in Puerto Princesa, where we were flying tomorrow morning. Soon all this be over, I thought to myself, and we will be in one place without having to find another place to stay! I’m sure I will miss this adventure but at that hour, time and place, I just wanted to be in my home!
We went to bed with bright light outside our bedroom and the loud noise of the planes taking off!
No pictures today! [Gregory's note: you're not missing anything. Manila's a pretty gross place.]
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