We had budgeted 2 hours to make the return journey from our guesthouse on Boracay to the airport at Caticlan. In the end this was one hour and forty minutes too long and we arrived laughably early for a flight which left from a tin shack. We figured a drink at the nearest bar was the best option to pass the time, and we engaged in high brow conversation and phototaking for a while.
Airport exterior.
The area in front of the plane is the entire arrivals section of the airport.
South East Asian airlines ticketing office and 'lounge.'
STD 1650 STA 1740
ATD 1700 ATA 1745
Seat 2C - Economy
Without much regard for the time we sauntered up to the checkin area and casually handed the agent our itinerary. She said the words I least expected to hear when setting out from Boracay 2 hours earlier.
'Sir, it is already too late for this flight.' And pointed to a clock on the wall. Indeed, it was 40 minutes until our STD. And checkin closed 45 minutes before STD. Gulp.
I knew we had messed up. But I protested anyway.
'We ... only have hand luggage?' I ventured. 'And this is the last flight today. We have an international flight tomorrow.' A white lie.
She sighed and shook her head while tapping at her keyboard. All hope was lost. We weren't going anywhere ...
... until suddenly the desktop BP printer sprang to life and spat out 3 boarding passes. Without eye contact these were handed to us and we were on our way.
Check in desks.
Striding to the departure area, boarding passes thankfully in hand.
There are two security screening points at Boracay airport. One prior to checkin and one at the entrance to the departure area. Our vodka was picked up in the first screening and the agent sternly advised us to check it in. I was reluctant to do this, as I believe the only reason we were allowed to check in for the flight at all was due to our lack of luggage. At the second security screening point, the agent's eyes lit up when he saw a bottle of liquor show up on the X-ray machine.
'Sir, you can't take this through, you will have to leave it here ... with me,' he said in one breath, grinning. We sighed together and began to unpack the bag to remove the offending alcohol. I handed the agent the bottle of Absolut. He frowned as he studied it.
'Hmm. Maybe you can take it back and check this bag in? It is not too late for your flight.' He clearly didn't drink vodka. We appreciated his eventual honesty and Dave ran back to check the bag, which was completed without incident.
Now we could relax.
Departure area.
Excellent spotting.
A couple of Cebu Pacific flights boarded before it was our turn. There were a few false alarms and the other Dave bought some awful chocolate milk for US$3 but all in all the departure lounge was a peaceful and relaxing place.
Boarding.
Bit of a holdup. The earliest boarders were rewarded with a solid jetblasting from a departing Cebu Pacific aircraft.
On the apron.
Our aircraft.
Always a good sign.
The configuration was a 1-2 layout. I was in the second row from the front in the group of 2. A friendly FA helped stow my oversize carryon in row 1 and even secured it with a seatbelt for me. She then manually performed the safety demonstration.
Interior shot.
Safety demonstration.
Take off was characteristically steep and fast and during the short flight I finished the remainder of the article on human immortality. Our time on Boracay had been so busy I hadn't even had time to finish a 3 page article. In flight service consisted of a bottle of water and a serviette.
Landing in MNL gave me the chance to see just how large the metropolitan area is. We were soon on the ground and walking to the domestic arrival terminal via the tarmac.
Our checked bag took a while to arrive but the previous vodka was thankfully intact. Outside the location of the meter taxi stand wasn't immediately apparent so I asked some uniformed people milling about the entrance, which lead to an interesting conversation.
Me: 'Hi there, excuse me, do you know where the meter taxi stand is?'
Uniformed lady: 'Sir, now it is peak time and it is too hard and expensive to find meter taxi. Is better to take private prepaid car.'
Me (aware of this typical Asia scam): 'Uh, ok, how much is it to Ermita?'
Uniformed lady: 'Sir, it is a flat fee of 535 pesos.'
This is over 3x the normal meter rate.
I began to laugh uncontrollably. As did my friends. Curiously, some of the uniformed staff even joined in. We must have made a pretty comical sight - 3 foreigners and 5 airport workers standing around laughing at each other.
As enjoyable as Boracay was, it was great to be back in the city. The fun had only just begun.