8:17am, NAIA Centennial Terminal

Here I am once more in another airport. You’d think that after going through the process several times, I’d have everything down pat. Apparently, I don’t.

I made the wrong assumption that my ticket already includes the Philippine travel tax. It wasn’t so I had to pay the Php 1,620 at the counter. Luckily, I bought extra money to cover the travel tax. Unfortunately, I totally forgot about the Php 750 airport tax, so I had to use my taxi money for the trip back. To make things worse, I did not bring my ATM card with me, thinking that I wouldn’t need it.

I am going to Thailand for the weekend. This is sort of done on a whim, except that I’ve bought my ticket way back in August. You’d think that given that generous lead time, I’d have a concrete plan. I don’t.

We (me and my tennis-crazy friends) are headed to Bangkok for the Bangkok Open. Rafael Nadal was supposed to play, but due to an injury he got during the US Open, he was forced to pull out of the tour. However, we decided to push through with our tour, with or without Rafa and his famous ass. Nevermind that a typhoon just narrowly missed the country, we are off to conquer Bangkok. Or at least scour every mall for doll clothes and accessories.

My three travel buddies are actually already in Bangkok; Rotch and Rael flew in yesterday morning, Cla flew in late last night. Due to work, the girls are only staying until tomorrow evening, so we have a day to spend in BKK together. This is my first time to travel with them, and I’m guessing the next 24 hours is going to be absolutely crazy.

I have an hour until boarding and I am terribly bored and very sleepy. As with the other morning flights I’ve taken before, I did not sleep the night before because my work ends at 6am on a Saturday. It doesn’t help that there’s nothing to do here at the airport. There’s about 8 internet kioks here at the International wing of Terminal 2, but only 4 are functional. There’s a 10-minute limit for usage, and you need to login with your e-mail to use it. And it uses Internet Explorer 6. The horrors.

There are laptop stations scattered around, but it only has an outlet, some chairs. There’s no free wi-fi here, that’s why I’m using my time offline to concentrate on writing a blog entry. My laptop can detect several wi-fi signals, but most of them are secured. The only unsecured one wouldn’t let me connect properly. Boo.

The Centenial terminal is stark. It’s small — the International wing only have 6 gates. But then, it’s only used by one airline. It’s an improvement over the old Terminal 1, but they’re equally boring. Except Terminal 2 is a lot prettier and less crowded. Terminal 2 utilizes natural light and it’s quite lovely inside during the day. It looks rather dark and depressing at night though, and I shudder thinking how it’s like inside the terminal during a terrible storm.

I’m getting really sleepy now. I hate how there’s nothing much to do inside the airports in Manila. But then again, boring airports like this gives me time to write blog entries.

9:06am, Centennial Airport

Woohoo, turns out Airborne Access is free!


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Comments

6 responses to “8:17am, NAIA Centennial Terminal”

  1. carlo Avatar
    carlo

    yeah it’s so sad. philippine airports are so boring. it’s better to bring a book. am sure you enjoyed bangkok. bitin naman ng stay nyo. haha. hey thanks again nina for that travel insurance tip during my indochina trip this year. that would be a nice blog post for you since travel insurance isn’t something that other pinoy travel bloggers discuss. btw isn’t eric bringing you to my hometown bacolod for masskara?

  2. nina Avatar

    Carlo: Nope, no more traveling for me this year, save for a couple of already planned trips. Magastos! Maybe next year 😀

  3. Arnulfo C. Tava Avatar

    I am a passenger of flight PR 453 this morning bound to general Santos City. When pick-up my carry bag from X-ray machine, accidentally my things scattered. Upon arriving home I found out I lost my USB with Blotooth. I’m sure It was in that area I lost my USB. Its important to me.
    Please, kindly sent it to me in this address; Arnbulfo C. Tava, Glan School of Arts and Trades, Glan, Sarangani Province. Thank You..God bless.

  4. Arnulfo C. Tava Avatar

    Please NAIA 2 terminal of PAL send my USB on this address;
    ARNULFO C. TAVA, Glan School of Arts and Trades (GSAT), Glan, Sarangani Province.
    My email address: boboy_tava@yahoo.com.ph

    Daghang Salamat ! ! !

  5. arpee lazaro Avatar

    though i feel your loss mr. tava, this is hardly the venue for lost and found. good luck in finding your lost usb.

  6. JENNY GEVELA Avatar

    I wish that we can make our international airport a pleasant place to wait and relax before boarding and the officials at the airport will do away with corrupt practices. There must be open lines for internet and a 24 hour free phone call stations for emergency purposes…..

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