February 20, 2016

February 20, 2016



Well here we are back in another airport.  This time it is the domestic part of terminal 2 in Manila en route to Laoag, our final flight on our way to the north part of Luzon.

You're all just sitting down to dinner and we're having lunch tomorrow as I type this.  You have cloudy skies and we have smoggy ones.  Temps here are 28 C and it feels good to be nice and warm.

Yesterday was LOOOONNNNGGGG!  In total we were in transit for about 27 hours by the time we finally arrived at our hotel in Manila.  Flights were all good and Korean Air was fantastic.  Seats were as comfortable as any long haul flight seat can be and service was outstanding.  Food was even okay and it was a treat to be able to eat with real cutlery on a plane!  How interesting that this small thing is such a treat! LOL.  The reason we were a little longer than we initially thought we might be was that there was about a one hour delay on the ground in Seoul and in general....we had to be places earlier than we originally thought and it took longer to get to our hotel.  There were a few stories along the way and so I'll just go back to the beginning and highlight a couple of the really good ones.

I think the most memorable has to be when a suitcase from the overhead compartment fell on Lynda and the lady beside her!  It was bad enough to knock that lady's glasses off and onto the floor, give her a bruised cheek and Lynda a bruise on her shoulder and arm.  It certainly caused a little excitement and that energy lasted right through till we were offloading in Manila where we were greeted with ground crew holding a sign with Lynda's name on it wanting to check her over "just one more time to make certain she was okay".  Yep....it was an adventure for sure.  Actually...the adventure even took Lynda forward in the plane all the way to the part where people are fully reclined in first first class as they had paperwork for her to fill out with the attendant at the front of the plane.  By the time we left the Manila airport Lynda was feeling pretty special as it seemed there was another person checking on her every time she turned around.

The next story that pops into my head is from this morning.  At arrival to the Remington Hotel last night we put in a request for a wake up call for 7:00 a.m. and it's a good thing we did or I'd still be sleeping for sure!  The call came on schedule but....our phone didn't work so they weren't able to tell that we'd received the call!  As a result the call came again a couple minutes later and then again a couple minutes after that.  Finally, a knock at the door where a young man was able to confirm that we actually had received the wake up certainly started our day off with a laugh.

Breakfast was included with our room and so off we went to the casino across the street where the restaurant was located.  While at the casino we were also able to change out a few of our large bills for smaller ones and since we were there anyway and since our room also included some free casino credits....we just had to stop long enough to win enough money to offset the overcharge we'd had from our taxi between the airport and hotel last night.  We'd had to pay 1500 pesos (about $40) while the guy behind us in the line to check in to the hotel had only paid 1/2 that!  Grrrrrr.......

Flight to Laoag (pronounced Lowag) is only an hour long so this next flight will be a breeze after yesterday!  The lady who was seated beside Lynda on the shuttle this morning won't have such an easy flight though as she was scheduled for a 10:00 a.m. departure to Singapore and she was still sitting on the shuttle at 9:45!!  Doubtful that she'll get through security checks in time to make that flight!

Speaking of security checks....we've been through more security checks in the past two days that you can possibly imagine!  In fact, we even had to go through a full check (including pat down) at our hotel!  Must be Lynda that looks like a criminal...surely it can't be me! LOL

First impressions of the little bit of Manila that we've seen include:  people are lovely and welcoming with their ready smiles but many of them smoke and there is evidence of that in the odours we found in our hotel hallways last night.  One of the realities of traveling and we'll get over our sensibilities pretty quickly I'm sure. LOL. Security security security everywhere.  Dogs, and uniformed staff, guns of all shape and size, scanners and x-Ray machines.  Construction construction construction everywhere.  And we're talking big construction...expressways and huge buildings....the construction is endless around the airport area.  Construction zones are signed for safety but to tell the truth I don't see a lot of safety practice in effect.  In fact this morning as we drove under one construction zone (yes under it) there were signs to watch for falling cement and there was evidence of that wet cement that had fallen all over the place.  Big chunks of it...can't imagine what that might feel like if it fell on you!  Traffic, traffic, traffic....all shapes and sizes.  Scooters, motorcycles with sidecars, luxury vehicles, vans, busses, jeepneys, and industrial traffic.  And of course along with all that traffic there is the corresponding smog...it is pretty thick!

Better run to catch our next flight....till next time....
Miss Lorrie and Miss Lynda (yes, that is what everyone here calls us)

Feb 20th continued....

How can so much happen in such a short time?!  Since last writing here we've been adopted, been forced into vehicles much too tiny for my body, and found accommodation that is at best "iffy".  We're going to try to like it here and really....we are just here for two nights so how bad can it be?  LOL. The story getting here was worth any disappointment we may have with the accommodation though so don't feel too sorry for us.  Oh ya....and perhaps the fact that we have an entire beach (seriously our room is right on the beach) to ourselves isn't too hard to take either.  That and the fact that our room was about $50 CAD/night (so $25 each) makes it easier to take as well.  Actually, the only thing wrong with it is that it is pretty small and a little unkempt (but it is clean), there is no hot water (I haven't told Lynda that tidbit yet...am saving it for when she's having a shower or when she reads what I've written here, whichever comes first), and the bar only has warm beer ($1.50/bottle) or brandy (that only costs about $4.50/bottle so might be some kind of local hooch), no ice, no mix, and well....not much at all.  There is no key to get bottled water out of the cooler (that is not cool), no one here knows the wifi password, the bagged chips are also under lock and key and the person with the key and the code is not here right now.  The restaurant has a good menu but....with no people here how fresh will their product be?  But who knows...maybe our luck will hold out and we'll have happened upon some of the best food in the Philippines.  I'm getting ahead of myself though so will go back to the time that we arrived in northern Ilocos (the province we're currently in).

We enjoyed an inflight lunch of "beef corned" encased in a doughy white bun during the 50 minute flight. (Enjoyed may be too strong of a word...it was okay but maybe enjoyed might be stretching it a little) Upon touchdown we climbed down the stairs from the plane in Laoag and were welcomed by perfectly toasty temperatures and almost gale force winds.  The wind had provided our pilot with something to focus on during the landing and passengers a bit of a wild ride for the final two or three minutes of the flight.  I loved it though...the wind is my favourite and warm winds are the best of the best in my estimation.

Of course the onslaught of taxi drivers were all over us as soon as we were out of the airport terminal (I'm using the word terminal pretty loosely here LOL) and within moments of beginning conversation with two of them about the possibility of getting a bus to Pagudpud (which they had already informed us there were none of and that we would need to make arrangements to hire a private van) a much tattooed man from Denmark intervened by asking if we knew either of the guys we were talking to.  The potential drivers knew in an instant that they were likely out of luck on getting us to agree to a private hire.  Our new friend (we actually never did get his name) is originally from Denmark, is well travelled, and has lived in the Philippines for much of the past twenty years.  In fact, his wife and family live in Laoag full time and he works in New Orleans (as a chef) for one month and then commutes back to Laoag and then back to N.O. and so on.  His wife and family were there to meet his plane and so of course...they wanted to give us a ride to the bus station (yes....there are buses to Pagudpud....those taxi guys were feeding us a line of BS!). We met all the family (wife, daughter, son, and another friend) climbed into the car with the rest of the family and off we went for a mini tour of the city and ultimately to the bus station.  Since we are the luckiest people we know...the bus to Pagudpud was just leaving as we drove up behind it and our driver, Jeanette (the wife), honked and honked until the bus stopped, loaded our bags, and added us to the already full load of passengers who were on board.

Luck continued as there were only two empty seats and they were on the left hand side of the bus - the side we'd hoped for as that would be all the views of the water as we made our way north.  It was a two hour trip and the windows were wide open so the breeze was "strong".  Lynda wrapped her head in her shawl and I simply loved every minute of it.  Interesting asides for you are that: our bums are slightly bigger than the average Philippino's bottom and so Lynda ended up with one cheek hanging over the edge of our seat, putting your elbow on the window sill is dangerous business as the oncoming traffic whizzes past with millimetres to spare, either the road is very bumpy or the bus has no shocks (remember Lynda's bum is hanging over the edge!), the bus slows down for the corners and then guns it so by the time the next corner hits he's built up some pretty significant speed (at least 90K/hr is my guess), and as much as I enjoyed having the windows open it was so windy that I had to take my earrings off for fear of them blowing off my ears!

We passed miles and miles of scenic views where windmills were lined up like massive white soldiers along the shore (this region is famous for it's wind farms).  Local vendors manned rustic little stalls where salt and strings of garlic were the featured products. Farmers worked the fields and rice paddies around their homes.  Skinny white cows and sturdy little goats were also a common site.  Trucks filled to overflowing with people of all ages, construction workers labouring on road upgrades and repairs, and people living their village existence lives were also sights along the way.

So....here I sit with the sound of the waves the only reminder that we are at the edge of the sea.  The sun has gone to bed and I'm about ready to see if we can find something for dinner before heading off for an early night.  It still feels a little like I'm still moving (either leftover from all the travel these past couple of days or the pineapple juice I had was fermented and I'm a little drunk.). Just joking. LOL. Time to sign off.....till next time.
L & L