| An Aussie
View Of The Philippines Part 2 |
| Land Of
The Beautiful |
| by Graig Beasy |
| G'day. Continuing
on from last month, how on earth did I end up stranded in Cebu during my
six weeks there; well let me begin with my departure from Tullamarine International
Airport at Melbourne, Victoria. I was due to fly out at 11:45pm
on Tuesday June 2nd 1998. I had arrived in Victoria’s State Capital
a few days before and was staying with my sister Merryn in the eastern
suburbs. A day later I received a call from Philippines Airlines informing
me of a 2-hr departure delay, which I didn’t find to bothersome.
What my mate
Ron and I found once we confirmed our departure at Tullamarine was that
our flight had been delayed yet again until 5:30am on the Wednesday; oh
the vagaries of air travel, GRRr. “ But wait, there’s more.” |
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| We duly boarded
our flight at 5am looking forward to viewing the lights of the city as
the plane ascended into the heavens but alas; it was not to be.
Our plane waited
at its gate while the cabin crew administered first aid to an elderly passenger
who eventually was removed and sent to hospital, most of the wait was while
ground crew searched the bowels of the aircraft for his luggage.
Our plane departed
2-hrs later and while this was going on my prospective bride to be Bren,
her sister Maribeth and their father waited at Mactan Airport, Cebu-City
all day. They expected us to arrive at 10:30am, we didn’t make it to the
arrival lounge until 7:45pm.
Would you believe
Brenda and I literally shook hands in such a solemn manner accompanied
by many a reciprocal shy smile? Yes we do laugh about it now. Pleasantries
over, I thanked Ron for his assistance and we parted company. Bren, I and
the soon to be in-laws boarded a taxi for the journey to Candaguit and
yes I did get to view the lights, but they certainly weren’t Melbourne’s.. |
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| How did
I become stranded with practically no way home to Oz? Believe
it or not, all pilots and cabin crews employed by Philippine Airlines suddenly
went on strike over an increased wages/conditions claim, which had been
brewing a storm in a tea-cup for some time. Sounds a little far-fetched?
Not on your nellie, navel or toupee! Immediately the Official National
Air Carrier cancelled all flights, thus affecting thousands of air travelers,
domestic and otherwise. The strike lasted nearly a month with recriminations
from both sides and their competitors had an field day profit-wise; until
the National Government waded in with a Supreme Court order declaring the
strike illegal, leaving the Airline employees no option but to return to
work.
Fortunately
I was able to fly home on my designated departure date of July 14th. To
do so I had to go through the rigmarole of re-booking my flight, also fortunately
Philippine Airlines (PAL) honoured my patronage and didn’t demand another
payment for further services yet to be rendered. |
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Offshore
Resources Gallery
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| I did however
receive a surprising bonus. I had to fly home via Singapore with a
5-hr stopover at Changi Airport before flying direct to Melbourne on a
Singapore Airlines overnight flight. So folks, that’s how I got stranded
with no perceived way home. Incidentally by the time I did get home,
PAL had pretty much reinstated flights to all its international destinations
…. we the traveling public certainly have to be flexible, eh? Otherwise
it is a long swim and island-hop back home.
Traveling
Light: I made one basic mistake that all first-time sojourners make
when they leave for an extended overseas trip; I took far too much with
me. In my large convertible backpack/case was enough apparel, amongst other
things, to last three months and I didn’t use all of it. Plus all of the
necessary other things you take with you and a few to spare. Again unnecessary
as I was able to buy what I basically needed at any of the small roadside
shops at regular intervals alongside the national highway; be it soap,
shaving-gear, shampoo sachets or soft drinks; even cold local beer was
to be had. I even took a brand new three-person dome tent to use
as I was expecting there wouldn’t be enough room in the house; I never
took it out of its carry-bag.
I learned the
meaning of an old travel tip. |
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| Lay out on
your bed what you “think” you need to take with you, choose and
remove what you think you won’t really need and then halve what remains.
Pack it and
if you can sling your pack over your shoulder without much trouble, you
have got it fairly right. I very quickly learned another thing, be prepared
to tip reasonably generously, especially at airports in Asia. Ron and I
required a twinkle visit to the men’s rest rooms at Manila Airport. As
we were unable changed any dollars into Pesos at Melbourne, we couldn’t
tip the young lad who served us and the look we got was dark to say the
least.
The same
lad happened to serve me prior to my departure and I made a point of doubling
my tip for his services.
Next Month,
Coming to terms with Culture Shock... |
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Offshore
Resources Gallery
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| The following
is the first article Graig wrote for the magazine:
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Article
Index ~ Philippines
Index ~ |
