Aboard Philippine Airlines I ended up behind a couple despite Business Class being almost empty. Go figure. She was a somewhat attractive Filipina and he appeared to be Burmese. I would have been interested to learn how they met but meet they did and were clearly deeply into each other. It isnt a long flight but still came with a meal. On most airlines Business Class comes with a superior meal. Not so with most SE Asian carriers.
In Manila at just after 5PM I made my way next door to Philippine Airlines domestic terminal. Usually in the Philippines you must travel to a separate airport for domestic flights. Not so with Philipines Airlines. The terminal, next door, is threadbare with the only eatery being a horrid "Jollibee," the quinesential Filipino fastfood joint, located outside inbetween the two terminals. I plugged in my iPhone to a socket behind the closed ticket counter and surfed the internet.
The next morning I passed through Security and made my way to a charging kiosk to once again surf the internet before boarding my next flight. It was then that once again I found that my American passport was missing! I was sitting in between a young man on my left and a well dressed woman on my right-both Filpinos- and my initial thought was that it had been stolen. I made my way to Security, it wasnt there. I then went back out to the ticket counter to ascertain whether I had left it there. You would think that with as much travelling as I do that I would not fall prey to such confusion but this trip is a tad bit different than most for reasons I will eventually get to.
Failing to find my passport I worriedly made my way back through Security and bought myself some nondescript juice. As I sat drinking it a Security officer came and told me that in fact my passport had turned up after all. A pair of middle aged Filipinas had found it not far from the Security station. Despite their insistence to the contrary I gave them a fistfull of Thai Baht, maybe $70.00 US worth, and much relieved boarded my flight to Cebu.
In Manila at just after 5PM I made my way next door to Philippine Airlines domestic terminal. Usually in the Philippines you must travel to a separate airport for domestic flights. Not so with Philipines Airlines. The terminal, next door, is threadbare with the only eatery being a horrid "Jollibee," the quinesential Filipino fastfood joint, located outside inbetween the two terminals. I plugged in my iPhone to a socket behind the closed ticket counter and surfed the internet.
The next morning I passed through Security and made my way to a charging kiosk to once again surf the internet before boarding my next flight. It was then that once again I found that my American passport was missing! I was sitting in between a young man on my left and a well dressed woman on my right-both Filpinos- and my initial thought was that it had been stolen. I made my way to Security, it wasnt there. I then went back out to the ticket counter to ascertain whether I had left it there. You would think that with as much travelling as I do that I would not fall prey to such confusion but this trip is a tad bit different than most for reasons I will eventually get to.
Failing to find my passport I worriedly made my way back through Security and bought myself some nondescript juice. As I sat drinking it a Security officer came and told me that in fact my passport had turned up after all. A pair of middle aged Filipinas had found it not far from the Security station. Despite their insistence to the contrary I gave them a fistfull of Thai Baht, maybe $70.00 US worth, and much relieved boarded my flight to Cebu.
