There’s a reason why I love holidays: they are the only sure-fire guarantee that all activities will simply cease and that you’re free to do something that you actually want to do. Despite the hectic schedule being thrown at you, at least you know that they give you time off to go on a break, or to catch up on school work. I decided to do both: enriching my mind while taking some time off school.
There's also a reason why I'm nostalgic: in a bid to remember my experiences, I need to relive them once in a while. Reliving my experiences helps keep their memories alive, since for some reason I'm becoming more and more of an amnesiac, and I have no idea why.
In doing so, I finally decided to pursue my current dream: not just to travel independently, but to finally ride the plane of all Philippine planes: a Philippine Airlines 747, which would lead me onto a day trip to the Philippines’ Queen City of the South: Cebu, and to finally ride an airline supposedly "reborn", Zest Airways, also known as the old Asian Spirit.
Prologue
Not too long after booking tickets on Cebu Pacific to Singapore, I decided to take a good look at the Ateneo academic calendar to determine which days I’m free so that I can see whether or not I can travel cheaply (and within the same day). Though there are a lot, I decided to play it safe and settle on August 19, the founding day of Quezon City, where my university is based in, and that there would be no classes on that day. I began exhausting my options, considering hop, skip and jump itineraries until I decided not to pursue one in the absence of a PAL promo.
Then it hit me: I realized that when I booked my hop, skip and jump itinerary on June 22, I saw that PAL operated 747s on Wednesdays, all of which at the time had classes. Since August 19 was a Wednesday, I didn’t hesitate to take this opportunity to (finally) fly a refurbished 747, which I hope will be much better than the 747-200 I rode with them going to Cebu eight years ago. I then settled on going to Cebu on a daytrip, since I haven’t been there in the same span of time anyway, and based on what I saw, the city had radically transformed itself, so it was well worth the visit.
I attempted to mock-book MNL-CEB-MNL on PAL, but the ticket’s cost reached an astounding P3200 which immediately sent me searching elsewhere for the leg going to Cebu. Then it hit me again: I can finally try the new Asian Spirit, er, I mean, Zest Airways (which I have also not flown in a while)! When I tried mock-booking MNL-CEB on Z2, I was able to finally breathe a sigh of relief: the ticket was P788 all-in. “A definite bargain over Cebu Pacific anyday”, I told myself (5J was charging around P1160 for the exact same flight). Having computed the total cost of the itinerary, I called up PAL at around 11:00 pm on July 14 (Zest’s reservations hotline was already closed) to book, and after having a fairly fruitful discussion with the reservations agent over the type of equipment being used (she confirmed that PAL would use a 747, but whether or not it would be one of the refurbished ones would be a big question that would only be answered on the day of the flight), I finally proceeded to reserve a seat.
The following day, I re-checked Zest Airways’ website for the cost of my going leg since the ticket price jumped to P1149 the previous night, which led me to reconsider flying with them. Luckily for me though, the ticket price went down again to P788, which prompted me to book as soon as possible. After hunting through payphones that actually work within the Ateneo campus (two didn’t work, so I had to use the one near the cafeteria, where there was a lot of traffic), I finally gave Zest Airways a call. After what seemed to be a long hold period (I was on hold for around 4-5 minutes, which is not good when using a payphone), the reservations agent confirmed that the fare was still available, and despite the flight being wide open, I decided to book.
Classes ended at 1:30 pm due to a school event, so I was able to make my way to Makati where I would pay for the tickets. After exchanging some yen which would pay for this trip (I got P3100, which was more than enough) and depositing it in the bank (I make all my transactions through debit card), I went to the PAL office in Makati, home to horrible memories of the Real Deal fiasco. I was able though to breathe a sigh of relief when I discovered that upon my entry, the ticketing office was not full and, even better, I was next in line to be processed at the office’s domestic section. When my number was called, an older ticketing agent processed my itinerary. While she went to the cashier to ask for a receipt for me, a foreigner (presumably American) asked me if I was from Cebu. I said I wasn’t, but I did tell him that I was going there for a day trip. Soon the agent asks me to sit near the cashier and I receive my ticket and receipt not too long thereafter.
Though PAL was able to process efficiently, I was literally racing against time as I left the ticketing office by 3:40. I needed to be at the Zest Airways ticketing office before 5:00, so I hailed a taxi. Traffic in Makati was horrible, and it was also raining, so it felt like it took forever for me to get to the Zest office quite conveniently located in my neighborhood. I finally arrived at around 4:05.
The Zest Airways office in Makati is a new addition to their ticketing office network (they previously had ticketing offices only at the airport and Cubao, and relied on general sales agents everywhere else), so despite being all new and bearing opening day regalia (like the obligatory celebratory balloons), the office was virtually empty, with only one other person inside aside from the three ticketing agents and the guard. I did love the office though: located in a building complex housing a branch of a bank owned by Alfredo M. Yao, Zest Airways’ president, the office was spacious with plenty of chairs and lots of Zest promotional material. One featured new routes that they opened recently, with the exception of one: Cagayan de Oro, noted by the name being scratched out of the flier.
The friendly ticketing agent retrieved my booking and warned me again (I was warned about this earlier by the telephone agent) that the fare is non-refundable, non-rebookable and non-reroutable, so if for any reason something were to pop up on the 19th, I would have thrown P800 down the drain. Being aware of the risks, I paid for the ticket, and I received it in a simple envelope with the Zest Airways logo being printed on top. Unlike Cebu Pacific’s tickets though, Zest Airways at least keeps the color in their paper stock.
At a total cost of P2402, the final itinerary looks like this:
* Z2 839: MNL-CEB; departing 8:00 am, arriving 9:15 am
* PR 850: CEB-MNL; departing 5:15 pm, arriving 6:35 pm
Since it’s been eight years since I have last stepped into a PAL 747 and around 5-6 since flying Asian Spirit (on a Let L-410 to Marinduque), hopefully this will be a very fruitful experience, and perhaps, alongside all the unlimited juice that Zest Airways currently promises to all its passengers, a zesty one as well.
I. Pre-departure: MNL-CEB
I originally set my alarm clock to wake me up at 4:30 am, but since I slept at around midnight, I couldn’t wake up on time, and I settled for waking up at 5:20 am. By about 5:40, I was bathed, dressed and ready to go. I said goodbye to Ate Mimi (the maid/clinic employee of Tita Cathy) and walked down my empty, quiet neighborhood before reaching Kamagong Street, one of the main streets of both my village and the city of Makati.
Not wanting to test the very long commute to the airport at so early in the morning (and being my prompt traveler self), I took the safe option: a taxi. The first cab that I hailed was bringing a passenger to the Fort (Fort Bonifacio), and offered me the front seat, but I declined. He must think that I was headed to NAIA instead of the Domestic Airport (which, ironically in Manila, are considered separate despite being part of the same complex). Sometime later (around 5:50), another cab (luckily empty this time) approached me, and I was on my way to the Domestic Airport.
The quiet that characterized the drive to Terminal 2 on my first trip to Japan eerily extended into the wee hours of the morning, when traffic was beginning to pick up and rush hour slowly became a reality. Through my village, we took the South Luzon Expressway, turning right onto Epifanio de los Santos Avenue (EDSA), then taking an off-ramp towards Aurora Boulevard (this is not the same Aurora Boulevard as the one in Quezon City).
Pasay City bills itself as “a healthier place to live”, but for some reason the situational irony precedes me: Aurora Boulevard, one of the more blighted areas of Pasay (actually, the running joke is that save for Bay City, where SM Mall of Asia is, all of Pasay is blighted), was lined up with pile upon pile of garbage. What saddened me even more was that these were not small piles of garbage, but
huge ones. The urban poor throwing their garbage with reckless abandon does play a role, but garbage collection and street cleaning services should be able to rectify this.
We turn right onto Andrews Avenue, and then through the Domestic Airport roundabout (it’s too small to be called a “rotunda”, but the sign does call it the Domestic Airport Rotunda) onto Domestic Road, and then finally, the “Domestic Airport”, or officially, the Manila Domestic Passenger Terminal.
On the way to the airport, I noticed that this taxi issues receipts, following recent orders by the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) for all taxis to issue receipts in a bid to be more “tourist-friendly”. If they do want to advertise it though, the company which distributes the meters should remember that the past-tense form of “equip” is “equipped”,
NOT “equipt”. Philippine English appalls me sometimes.
We finally turn into the airport building, and when the guard was inspecting the cab, he noticed that my ticket jacket was from PAL. He thought I was going to take PAL, which necessitated me to take out the outbound ticket just to prove that I was taking Zest Airways and not PAL. After inspection, the taxi driver dropped me off at the section for those who want to take metered taxis going out of the airport. The cost: P85. Not bad for a cab, and with a receipt to boot.
Early morning proves to be the antithesis of the Domestic Terminal: it seems eerily empty.
After looking around, I finally enter the airport, quiet as the rest of Manila slumbers (or, in this case, prepares for the day).
II. Pre-flight: Z2 839, MNL-CEB
An empty security corridor greets me upon entering the airport terminal. Upon completing security, I enter the quiet, (thank goodness) not crowded check-in area. This was much different from when Cebu Pacific was here. In their expansion, the Domestic Terminal became extremely crowded, with passengers oftentimes forced to stand at the pre-departure area simply because the seats were all occupied. At least with their move to Terminal 3, only three airlines remain: Zest Airways, South East Asian Airlines (SEAIR) and Interisland Airlines.
Compared to the Zest counters, the SEAIR counters were virtually empty, catering only to two Caticlan-bound passengers at the time. The guy taking a picture must be writing a TR too. I don’t know though.
Even more so, the Interisland Airlines counter, the counter of a small airline which only flies to one scheduled destination: Vigan (they do however fly scheduled charters to Caticlan and Tablas Island in Romblon), was empty and unmanned.
Originally, Counter 13 was the counter designated for Cebu-bound passengers, but a Zest employee informed a bunch of people in the line (myself included) that they opened up Counter 12 in a bid to alleviate the long line. Three of us, the other two with baggage, moved to the other line, and as they were swiftly checked in with their baggage, I was finally in the front of the line.
Like at the rest of NAIA (though unlike Terminal 3), the check-in agents here were male. Since I had no baggage, check-in was swift and I was promptly issued a boarding pass. However, I noticed that I was given seat 26-D. Since I have an affection for window seats, I asked the check-in agent if I can have my seat changed, and after taking care of another passenger bound for Cebu, my boarding pass was reissued, this time with seat 26-F.
At least at this time, I can finally get a glimpse of Terminal 2 early in the morning.
Following check-in, I asked a security guard if there’s an ATM at the pre-departure area. He said there were none, which means that I will not have access to my bank account until I arrive in Cebu. After paying departure tax and a final security check (where I did not have to empty my pockets and remove my belt), I was finally at the pre-departure hall. Though it is finally less busy with the move of Cebu Pacific and PAL Express (Air Philippines moved to Terminal 2 in 2006 before moving to Terminal 3), it hasn’t changed one bit.
As I walked towards the front of the pre-departure hall, I noticed that the Domestic Terminal had a store selling jewelry and mobile phones. No other terminal at NAIA has this. Similarly, no other terminal at NAIA has a children’s lounge (I still call it a WorldKids Club since it was with Northwest that I got the experience of staying there, and I never got to have a similar experience on other airlines), although this one was very small.
I took a seat three rows from the gates proper and noticed that the terminal’s FIDS was off.
Later on, the FIDS screen (actually a computer monitor) flickered to life. This is similar to the FIDS employed at Terminals 2 and 3.
Unlike those monitors though, the Domestic Terminal monitor shows advertising as well.
I took out my laptop and began to write this TR. In the process, a couple bound for Caticlan walked past me, and I couldn’t help but notice the now-thermal SEAIR boarding pass.
As I was typing, it was announced that the Zest flight bound for Marinduque (incidentally the same flight my sister was supposed to be on, but didn’t continue due to conflicts with her school schedule) was delayed, departing at 8:00 am instead. At least it isn’t like the hours-long delays Cebu Pacific is known for.
I continued writing the TR until our flight was called to board at around 7:45. The line got quite long as people started coming to the counter in droves just so they could get on the plane.
