So Manila it was - to begin this year's overseas visits. Mabuhay apparently has many interpretations one of which is Welcome. After all these visits to the airport and chatting up with cab drivers I got to know some intricacies of the taxi world in Sydney. Even though every taxi can only charge the same amount, the type of service and the car type varies from different company to company. They have something called "Executive Service" which always has a nicer car and guaranteed to have an experienced driver behind the wheel. So now I've found a guy whom I can book to pick me up from home and the airport. The airport pickup means a saving of about 30 minutes waiting time at the taxi queue. Ok... so much for taxis.
Thanks again to the OneWorld points I was able to get a priority check-in done with no wait time. It was "interesting" to see a newbie / trainee handling a priority guest line. She had to take approval on everything she had to do. Managed to "negotiate" an aisle seat on an exit row. It was a luxury indeed. Enjoyed the Malaysian Airline lounge prior to boarding for a few hours. Came to know later on that the food served at the lounge was the same that got packed as the in-flight meal. It was an 8 hour flight from Sydney to Kuala Lumpur (KL). Then the dreaded part started. I had a waiting time from 3 AM - 8 AM in KL. Horrible time to be waiting at an airport. Neither could I sleep nor could I look around or go out. I suppose that was a trade-off to avoid an early morning flight. Got to change my strategy next time (which I already did BTW).
The flight from KL to Manila was 4 hours. Being a day flight I was able to enjoy the views of the thousands of islands along the way. It was quite interesting to see the pristine blue borders along the islands. Am pretty sure they make wonderful white sand beaches as well. Maybe sometime... Reached Manila at around 2 PM. This time I could not arrange for my company car pick up and got to take a ride with the airport taxi. Came to realize later that it was like 3 times expensive compared to a metered ride. Worst part the driver couldn't find the hotel with the address I gave. Apparently he was a newbie!! Oh well.. managed to reach my hotel after a few "on the road" enquiries. The hotel had a unique "Water Spa" to which I had a complimentary access. Apart from the usual steam and sauna it had a few herbal aroma therapy jacuzzis. The best part was the water jets around. They had specific jets to address different parts of the body. One of such spots was like standing under a water falls (almost) similar to standing under the falls at Kutraalam or Hogenakkal? There was one area which was like a cylinder with water jets coming in from different directions top to bottom - well...what can I say...had to be a little careful there. ;)
Manila as a city is very similar to Chennai in terms of look and feel. Yes there are a few high rises around but the surroundings felt very much at home. The only thing that was probably missing was the cows and stray dogs. One of the days I had to wait for about 20 minutes for a taxi outside my hotel and then started on foot to work. It was a good 15 - 20 minute walk - but not a fun thing to do in a 28 deg weather with my laptop bag and blazer on!! The next 2 days went on pretty busy. Started back to Sydney on a 1.30 PM flight via KL. Manila airport has multiple queues before one could actually get to the gate. The gate locations were not quite straightforward too. Flight back was quite Ok. Saw a movie called "The Counselor" - now if anybody can explain what they were trying to do please do ping me. Could not make head or tail except that someone gets killed for some reason.
The stopover in KL was just perfect to have a quick snack, a few photos and then headed over to the gate. Had a Chennai vaasi accompany me to Sydney. He was migrating to Australia for the first time. Being an "investment banker" he gave me some insights into the market. I suppose that might come in handy somewhere.
So long folks. Singapura - here I come next.
C
