Day 26: the Loooonnnnnngggggg Trip Home
Sunday March 28, 2016
The events (with as many pictures as I can shove into this) of the rides home
I paid for another night at the Cebu R hotel because I didn’t want to spend 10 hours at the airport or hang out at the mall with my bags.
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I checked out at 4:30 and got to the airport at 5:00. Joevie and I were going to have dinner together before I left.
I ended up with the first driver who wanted to take me to Moalboal for 2500 P. I am so glad I didn’t. He didn’t stop talking the entire trip to the airport and commented how much fun it would be if we traveled together to Moalboal. Arrgghhh. This is after:
1. He asked if I found the darker skinned filipina attractive. I replied that I found all women attractive.
2. He pulled out his phone to show me his 18 year old sister-in-law who just graduated high school….and if I was interested.
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At the airport I sat around for a couple of hours. It turned out that Joevie was at a party with her family. When it was over she drove to the airport, just before the deadline of my entering the security lines. She showed up, we chatted for a while, agreed to keep in touch, and I moved on towards home carrying two Cebu mementos that Joevie had given me.
Cebu Airport: Of course I picked an area without air conditioning
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The flight to Manilla was nice and quick. Arriving at midnight there were not a lot of employees about so we kind of mulling through like a lost flock of sheep. We all arrived at Terminal 1. We walked to Terminal 2, and our connecting flights were at Terminal 3.
As we were traveling in a group of 6 to 8 people, I kept getting singled out by aggressive taxi drivers. The first one I avoided by sticking my foot into a closing elevator and jumping in. There were no obvious signs for a shuttle, or taxis, or where Terminal 3 was. Could we walk to it?
On the third deck I somehow ended up alone and made some bad mistakes that could have gotten me hurt (the official government position for travelers and natives is to NOT take local taxis as they frequently lead people to dark areas and robbery). I got in the taxi and immediately stated “where is the meter?” No Answer… “Where is the meter?” He replied “No meter…..airport taxi.” “It takes 15 minutes and costs 1500 p ($33.00). What the hell???? but we are now in dark parts of the city and I have no idea where we are.
I said “I don’t have 1500 Pesos.”
“How are you going to pay me?”
“I have some US dollars.”
We arrived in less than 10 minutes. The driver was a large man (also).
” I only have 20’s”
“Give me $40.”
“I’m not giving you $40 for a ten minute trip”
“I have 2 one dollar bills…for $22.00 or 1000 pesos.”
“No, we only get 40 pesos for the low denominations here in Manilla”
“No, the rate is 46 and 45 if you get less than $100 exchanged”
“Just give me $40”
“Here, I found 350 P in my pocket. $22.00 and 350 P is all I have. I am not giving you $40”
He looked at me, possibly wondering if my life was worth killing for giving him 1350 P instead of 1500.
He let me live, grunted unhappily, and I got out.
Evidently, a couple of years ago there was a shuttle between the Terminals that ran until 1:30 AM and cost 20 P. The signs were to be “evident”. I didn’t see no stinking signs.
I befriended a returning native while in line at Terminal 3. She stated that she paid 1600 P for transportation…so the (perceived) scam is for all people.
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It was midnight and the airport ticket booths didn’t open until 2:00 AM Most people were along the edges of the terminal and walkways, sitting, or laying / sleeping on their bags. I followed suit and laid down with my head resting on my bag. Interestingly, people would walk down the 100 yard corridor as normal, ignoring people on the side, until they saw me. They (all!!) would stare at me while walking, until they were by me and their head would have snapped off….then they would look forward again. I would wave to people who had concerned looks on their faces, and of course, to all the little kids. They all waived back. What the hell was a large white guy doing laying on his luggage????
People were strewn all over the edges of the concourse
Okay, Now I know why people were looking at me
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I was exhausted, full of sweat, and now out of pesos. I wandered until I found a money changer booth and the two sweet young women gladly gave me 45 P per dollar so I could buy water (taxi driver…. liar …. liar). I drank a quart of Gatorade for electrolytes (not found in toilet water… Idiocracy), and a quart of water and felt much better.
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At 2:30 AM I got a boarding pass for my 5:00 AM flight to Hong Kong. At 5:00 AM the 350+ passengers were informed that our flight would be delayed until noon, causing me to miss my connections.
The counter crew was fantastic. They had 5 women and 2 men working the desk, surrounded by 50 people, rearranging everyone’s flights. I assumed I would just board the next flight at noon so I just sat and sat and watched the Warriors game on the big screen in the gate area. After 5 hours, most people had been helped so I went to the desk and stated that I missed my connection from Hong Kong to SFO. They took my boarding pass, threw it into the mix of 50 or so passes.
At noon, I was the last person helped. They got me a room in Hong Kong and had me fly out the next day. I was informed that there would be a person with a sign with my name on it, to take me to my hotel and back to the airport in the morning. Yay.
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The flight to Hong Kong was delayed an hour. Right before boarding, the wonderful ladies who booked the rest of my trip, ran up to me and gave me an option of flying from Hong Kong to Tai Pei, then 13 hours to SFO, then to Eureka…just moving forward. I looked at the additional 16 hours of flight time and nearly 24 hours more, and I declined as I’d been up 27 hours already. The trip to Hong Kong was uneventful (thankfully)
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I followed the crowd out to the terminal where the “sign-holders” were. No sign for me? I wandered the floor and then asked a security officer if there were any other areas with sign holders. At the other end of the giant main terminal area as an area ‘B’ that people exited from. I went there and my name wasn’t there. I went back to ‘A’ to double check and no name for me.
At this time I was getting exhausted…awake 27 hours and very confused. And, not many workers in the Hong Kong airport could speak English. I worked my way to the customer support booth and convinced the rep to find the local number for my airline and to check on my ride. He contacted the company and told me that they stated that I would have to see their accountant upstairs for a voucher, but no driver.
“Fuck” was all I could think. I had no Hong Kong dollars and I would have to find transportation…in my wanderings of the airport I found no taxis…only buses. How the hell was I going to get to the hotel?
29 days, 28 nights, One Bag
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I thanked the rep and went upstairs. I found the boarding agents area for the airline, and on one end were signs for “Information and Inquiries”. It was empty of customers so I introduced myself to a very nice young woman. There were a couple of conflicting sets of information that had me standing there for over an hour while the woman worked really hard. The situation was confused because:
1. I stated that I had been told to expect a sign-holding driver to a hotel.
2. The computer stated that I was to fly to LA the next day, and then nowhere else.
3. The computer stated that I was already booked to SFO and Arcata (but it was for that day already missed).
4. The scenario of continuing on that night to Tai Pei
So, when I was talking about flying out tomorrow after meeting my driver and staying at a hotel, the poor young woman had to figure out why I was scheduled for a flight that had already left and for a flight stopping at LA.
It finally got settled….I was to fly out on their airlines to SFO the next day. I would be given a voucher for a hotel and there were shuttles “downstairs”. There never would be a driver….there were no drivers???? I needed to find BO1 downstairs???
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I wandered off totally lost. I saw a money changer booth and changed $20 to $140 Hong Kong. I bought 4 bottles of water, asked directions and found that there were numbered booths for each of the hotels, and that each one had a shuttle every 20 minutes.
My hotel was the Hong Kong Marriott.
Blurry photo of what I look like ready for air travel. The vest has about 10 pounds of electronics and paperwork! (At the Marriott Hotel)
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Dead on my feet, I staggered to the shuttle and then to the hotel. It was the freaking Marriott….gigantically plush. It was on the other end of the bell curve compared to the Philippines (except maybe the Cebu Marriott if there is one). I wanted to jump in the pool and check everything out, but sense took a hold of me and I had a 14 hour sleep.
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Got up at 9.
Had a lush buffet breakfast in the dining room (free breakfast, lunch, and dinner were provided….I slept through dinner)
Made it to the plane in time.
My $6.50 Hong Kong Starbucks
AT least my photo bomber was smiling…pretty cool when I saw it.
12 hour flight. I watched on the screen on the back of the seat in front of me:
Star Wars 7
Mocking Jay Part 2
Steve Jobs
James Bond Specter
Mad Max (latest)
Arrived in SFO 12 hours later, 11:00 local time
It took over an hour of lines to get through customs, then through security (one line???). Followed by a 5 hour wait and sticker shock (dehydrated, wanted liter of water, $4.25?????). A $9.00 pre-made sandwich and SFO is the most expensive portion of the trip.
Forty-five minute flight to Arcata, shuttle home, pet the cats for an hour, then slept for 17.
I’m home.