VII. Pre-flight: PR 850, CEB-MNL
I was thinking of buying souvenirs when a man approached me and asked if I needed souvenirs. He led me down to a store at the Waterfront Hotel (the hotel immediately behind the airport), where souvenirs galore were being sold. I was quickly reminded of my friend, who wanted
danggit (dried fish or squid, depending on your preference). When I asked how much it cost, he told me P200 for the dried type which does not stink and would be permissible to bring as carry-on luggage. As it was too much, I turned down the offer, and made my way back to the airport.
So far, it is only in this airport that I see an airport entrance arrangement like this one. I hope this one does have an observation deck.
Cebu Pacific check-in counters, full of passengers headed to Manila, Bacolod and Angeles City (a.k.a. Clark), greeted me upon my entry. I make my way to the PAL counters, which were not as busy, but still full of passengers trying to catch PR 850 going home.
This particular FIDS board reminds me of the FIDS used in Bacolod’s new airport.
Before falling in line, I approached a check-in agent if Tito Billy was there, hoping that I can secure a last-minute upgrade to Mabuhay Class. It turns out that Tito Billy is the morning supervisor, and that the guy I was talking to was the evening supervisor. I did confirm though if the plane was a 747, and he did. Finally, not only can I sigh relief, I can also tell Zidlakan back home that yes, PAL sends 747s twice a day (he did inform me earlier that the 11:00 am PAL flight to Cebu uses 747s, and that it was his favorite flight since the plane was large, giving him a sense of comfort).
I did fall in line and finally, when I was called, I went to counter B3. Boy, the line was long.
Check-in was swift as I had no checked luggage, and in no time I was issued my boarding pass, with seat 84A. The unusual seat number meant only one thing: PAL was sending RP-C7475, the oddball of PAL’s 747 fleet. At least it was a refurbished 747, so I can finally review the new AVOD installed in its new Recaro seats.
After paying the P200 terminal fee and security, I finally made it to the pre-departure area. The FIDS this time shows a long list of flights, the vast majority of them to Manila.
PR 850 was boarding again out of Gate 4, and an open door led me to the gate corridor where I got the chance to take a picture of RP-C3196, a Cebu Pacific A319.
The pre-departures hall was also busy, with people leaving for multiple flights converging into the limited number of silver seats. If those seats were cushioned, I’d love to try sleeping on them.
I bought myself a mango shake at Fruit Magic so I have something to consume while plugging in my computer to continue writing this TR. However, the charger did not respond when I plugged it in. Fearful that I may have broken the adaptor to the desktop back home (which is what the charger is) after bearing witness to my charger no longer willing to charge my laptop, I went into a frenzied panic until I asked the juice bar attendant if the outlets were broken. To my relief, she said they were. This meant that in order to use the Internet, I need to go to the Smart Bro-sponsored Internet café.
Sadly though, the Wi-Fi wasn’t working too well, so I struggled to find an empty socket where I can plug the computer in. I ended up only being able to find a socket in one location: near a set of stairs which would lead to the holding area for a hardstand gate below. That was where I plugged the computer in, eliciting stares from passengers bound for originally Bacolod, then Angeles City, when they came down.
In due time, RP-C7475 made a very majestic entrance to the apron, and I had to pack up and move to Gate 4. However, this plane was very late, having arrived at around 5:30 pm.
Gate 4, the very same gate I used to board PR 866 back home from the long trip to Tokyo in my first TR, was also very busy, full of passengers waiting to board. Among them included a very large Korean family, American businessmen (well, one businessman and one businesswoman), tourists and Filipinos going to the big city.
Through the sliding doors I slipped again into the gate corridor, where I just had to take a picture of the 747’s beautiful nose. Aesthetically, the 747 wins over the A380 hands-down.
Though I’d understand the context, this is no way an insurance company should be advertising their services and achievements. Air Philippines Flight 521, the deadliest aviation crash in the Philippines to date, was also where Tita Christy’s oldest son died, as she recounted to me back in Tokyo. Apparently, the reason why they won P7.2 billion for Air Philippines was because the aircraft was defective. Had the verdict not been in their favor, Air Philippines would have gone bust back in 2000, and it wouldn’t exist today. Perhaps in addition to that, the Philippines would have been downgraded to Category II, from Category I at the time.
The gate agent, incidentally the same one who called boarding for PR 866 nearly three months ago, issued the boarding call, where passengers lined up at the doors which I used to take plane pictures earlier. After being manually processed, I went down the gate, taking a picture of RP-C3197, another Cebu Pacific A319.
