US Trip Series: THE AIRPORT March 18, 2006 (2200 hrs Manila)

This the day! I'm on my way to the airport, at centennial terminal of the Manila Airport to be specific. we had to be there for at least two hours earlier to make sure that we can board the plane on time. 
I'm late.... actually I arrived an hour earlier but this is the first time that I'm gonna ride a plane and I dont actually know how to check in. I saw my companion, Dindo, who is also my manager inside the check in area already.

The terminal is a little small so the guards had to check for my passport to see if I'm the one who's going to board and they won't let any guests come in.

So there we were at the check-in counter, we asked the information desk where do we go so we could get our seats and have our Luguage checked in. 

But wait! I think there is something wrong, as i can clearly see the impression on the officers face, then the officer said "do you have your tickets with you?". All along I thought what the US office faxed us was enough for us to get into the plane but instead we needed to go to the ticketing office and secure our electronic tickets!

Thank God that there's a ticketing office inside the airport since the terminal was dedicated for PAL. As we rushed to the office and secure our tickets. The ticketing officer said that we should have secured the ticket days before just to make sure! Thank God the system was up so we had our tickets secured!

Just an hour left before the plane leaves we were able to check-in. At this point I was thinking that my lugauge was much fortunate than me because it doesn't have to get through all of the security checks before getting to the boarding area.

I had to pass through so many body search and everything before I got through and at the end of the procedure, I felt that I was harassed. I even lost my belt during the process. I was right thinking that I should have worn flipflops instead of shoes so I didn't need to take them off.

so there we were at the boarding area I called up my girlfriend because we wont be able to talk that much for about a week or so. It was kind of a mixed emotions I was telling her, "This is the first time that I would ever ride a plane and the worst part is that it is for about more than 12 hours! I don't Understand the way that I am feeling right now" I said.

Then, our flight was called in for boarding.....

7 comments:

thepinaysolobackpacker said...

natuwa ako dito sa post mu. =) ako naman never pa nakasakay sa PAL. hehe

congrats Ian. =) nung 1st time ko sumakay ng plane mag-isa lng ako, kaya nag-observe lng ako at sinundan ko ang mga tao. Kala ko ok na, eh nung asa loob na ako, biglang may hippy lola na nagtanaong saken, at ang lakas ng boses nya, "Iha, san ba tau dio papasok sa eroplano? Fiorst time ko kase". toinks! d ako makasagot kase d ko din alam kung saan yung entrance, natinginana nlng samen mga pasahero. haha

ian said...

@ thepinaysolobackpacker - hahaha natawa talaga ako dun! ahahaha.... ang hirap nun noh.... haha tapos parehas nyo di alam kung papaano makakarating dun sa eroplano... haha

AJ said...

Funny ka, Ian. Buti hindi nawala ang underwear mo sa body search. :) Pero exciting, first plane ride mo long-haul flight agad!

lakwatsera de primera said...

At least ngayon babawasan ang redundant security check sa airport, infairness ang sosyal talaga ng first airplane ride mo, ako 45 minutes lang dati, mas mahaba pa inantay ko sa airport kesa pagsakay ng eroplano :)

ian said...

@aj - hahaha... lam mo na paupo nalng ako nung nakarating ako sa boarding area... nanghina talga ako.... sabi ko sa sarili ganito ba talaga sa airport... hahaha... parang narape lang ang feeling... hahaha

@lakwatsera - sana nga bawasan na nila... sobrang daming check na di naman kailangan.... nako ma'am i'll tell on my next blog on this series nababaliw na ata ako sa eroplano sa tagal.... hahaha

tnx guys

IamDP said...

@aj - hahaha... lam mo na paupo nalng ako nung nakarating ako sa boarding area... nanghina talga ako.... sabi ko sa sarili ganito ba talaga sa airport... hahaha... parang narape lang ang feeling... hahaha

@lakwatsera - sana nga bawasan na nila... sobrang daming check na di naman kailangan.... nako ma'am i'll tell on my next blog on this series nababaliw na ata ako sa eroplano sa tagal.... hahaha

tnx guys

lakwatsera de primera said...

At least ngayon babawasan ang redundant security check sa airport, infairness ang sosyal talaga ng first airplane ride mo, ako 45 minutes lang dati, mas mahaba pa inantay ko sa airport kesa pagsakay ng eroplano :)