Part 21: A short stopover in Manila – and the horrible NAIA Terminal 1
Hotel: City Garden Hotel Makati, 40 euro/night incl. breakfast

Manila is far from Asia's greatest cities. It is overcrowded, public transport is bad, sights are limited and the airport is also far from the best to put it mildly. Yet when I searched for the cheapest one-way ticket back to Europe, flights from Manila were well over 250 USD cheaper so I didn't mind to go a bit out of my way. I have visited the city twice before, once I did an internship and some voluntary work during my studies for a few weeks, and I also visited some years later to see some old friends again on a two-day stopover on the way some nicer places in the countries such as the island of Palawan. Unfortunately, those friends who I have in town were not around this time so I just opted for a good night of sleep so I would be fresh for the long haul back to Europe in economy.

Entering the country was a breeze as I was one of the first ones off the flight and there were no queues at passport control. Singapore Airlines uses terminal 3 at Manila's airport (known locally as NAIA, the abbreviation of Nino Aquino International Airport) – which is by far the most modern and nicest of the terminals.





Queues at the taxi rank outside were however horrible – but as Manila can be a bit of a lawless city at time it is highly recommended to get an official cab instead of hailing down any random car. Summertime being the rainy, more humid season in the country, it was not a very comfortable wait.





It took an hour or so from the moment I disembarked the aeroplane until the moment I could finally step foot in a taxi for the short ride to Makati where my hotel is located. As for areas in Manila go, it is a generally modern and safe area of town and relatively well-located, with many well-priced mid-class hotels in the area. The only downside is the relatively high number of over-aged men flocking to the bars in the area to pick up a prostitute for the night.

For 40 EUR, my room was very comfortable and I fell immediately asleep after the champagne, wine and Singapore slings I consumed during the flight.



I was so tired that I missed breakfast the next morning altogether. Views from the room over the Makati skyline were lovely. For a good night of sleep the hotel surely did the trick.





The friendly hotel staff ordered a taxi for me through a local app similar to Uber. For those staying longer in town this is certainly worth looking more into given the general rip-off nature of normal taxis. It took some 20-30 minutes to reach Terminal 1 at NAIA, the oldest of the international terminals, where my China Airlines flight to Taipei would depart.

I was a bit early at the terminal and check-in was not yet open. And boy, I was shocked by the state of the terminal. Even in my memories I had bad impressions of the terminal when I last visited a decade ago in my student days – and by then I was used to general squalor being in my backpacking days. But clearly the terminal did not age well in those last ten years. On top of that, due to the recent Xiamen Air runway incident a lot of flights were cancelled in the previous two days, leaving thousands of passengers stranded. It seemed all thousands of them were still sitting in the check-in area of NAIA Terminal 1. I have never seen such crowds and such a mess at any airport in my life before, and that includes airports down in Africa or in the quirkier ex-Soviet countries.







Being early was horrible – but at the same time a blessing. I could notice some check-in agents moving some China Airlines signs and boxes around to a few check-in desks, so I immediately went there to be the first in queue at the business class/sky priority check-in counter. As the crowds after me seemingly ignored queueing altogether (let alone the priority line) that at least turned out to be a good choice as it meant I would be checked-in fast and could escape the mad crowds ASAP.

Queues at passport control and security were fortunately short. Airside, NAIA Terminal 1 also feels like stepping back 3 decades back in time. Even though the crowds were not as horrible as in the check-in area, all seats and even all space against walls were occupied by (sleeping) people. Luckily, my Flying Blue platinum status got me access to one of the lounges which surely would be better. Or was it?





To start off positively, the internet in the lounge was fast, and there were empty seats available which for sure beat the hell out of sitting in the overcrowded general gate area. Some even had some views over the airport exterior (not the tarmac and planes however).







Unfortunately, that is where all positive aspects end. Since I missed breakfast, I was quite hungry – but the food spread didn't look particularly appealing..





The only hot option available was some pasta – which seemed to be very popular among many of the lounge punters, but which I did not find looking particularly appetising.. Somehow the sign labeled it as “penne” - which it was decidedly not (more a rather bad fettuccine).



One food label was however even ten times worse. These cakes were called “food for the Gods” - which by all means some dry cakes are not, what a misnomer.. unless it is an attempt at dark humour by the lounge staff which feels equally bad about the poor food offerings?



The booze selection is rather poor, with almost no hard liquors available and the only wine which was put out being a sweet Spanish red which I'm sure would retail for less than a dollar. I downed a few San Miguel lights (since there was no proper normal beer available... light beer is really the worst American invention ever) and ate the dodgy looking meat pastries and bakpau buns (they were quite OK – and I did not get sick). Out of sheer despair and boredom I might have eaten a bit of the food of the Gods!



At this time, the lounge became really uncomfortably overcrowded. As there were no toilets inside and you had to make use of the facilities in the general area, I decided it was time to leave a I rather would walk around the terminal a bit than staying for longer.

The actual gate area of our China Airlines flight was a bit better! A part of the seating area in front of the gate was roped off for business class and Sky Priority – so at least we had somewhere to sit down (and the assurance that indeed priority boarding would be neatly observed).





In short: The short stopover in Manila turned out to be OK, as I managed a good and comfortable night of sleep which was quite needed after the long day flying SQ. NAIA Terminal 1 on the other hand is something to avoid. I would easily pay a premium for any airline flying out of any of the other terminals than having to go through the s**thole which is Terminal 1 again.

Next up: Two flights on China Airlines in economy, and the surprisingly nice China Airlines lounge in Taipei.