Hello, dear reader. Let's deal with the title of the today's post. While not the original, Reflections of My Life was a single released by Australian band Flake in 1967. I woke up after a very restless night last week with it in my head. I have no idea why. Jayne does have it on a compilation album but we haven't played it in years. Today's text breaks are courtesy of my last bushwalk, Starlight's Trail. Enjoy.
And so the journey commences. Transit day as we say. The Uber was on time. The queue at the check-in desk was interesting. Gate C. We didn't know it existed - it was behind the bag drop for Gates B and D (no jokes please - oh, OK, flying with Qantas is sometimes like S and M) and was tagged for flights to the USA and Norfolk Island. Neither is our destination. There were none of the usual lines: online check-in, Business, Economy. Just two lines, one for crew and the other for the unwashed masses. We arrived at just the right time and the line grew long behind us as we waited for our turn.
Raphael, from Qantas ground staff asked if we wanted our bags checked through to Rome. Given we are overnighting in Manila I questioned if this was possible. He assured me it was and then had second thoughts, (after Jayne said she would hold him personally responsible if the bags disappeared) and checked again. No deal, as they say in TV land. Unsurprising. Although he did provide boarding passes for the entire trip. It will be interesting to see if Oman Air re-issue these tomorrow morning in Manila.
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| Bushfire impact still evident. |
Security and passport check went efficiently and we were soon on the happy side of the barrier searching for the Qantas Business Lounge. It has moved due to the fact that they are refurbing the 1st class Lounge which has taken over the former Business space. The 'new' lounge is near gate 24 and was previously the staff lounge. Not sure where they've been moved to. It is a small space and it was crowded, but we secured a table and some morning tea and waited patiently for boarding.
Sydney-Manila
As we headed for our gate, Jayne saw Pat Rafter. This doesn’t count as meeting someone we know. It’s a competition. Walking around the one of the eateries, a woman pops up with “Hello, hello”. It was Julia, a former colleague of Jayne’s. She gets the points and the mythology of ‘always’ seeing someone we know at the airport lives on.
Boarding was efficient and a much-improved experience, now that Qantas has adopted boarding zones. We pushed back about 5 minutes late but landed 10 minutes early. No complaints there. The welcome champagne was, well, always welcome and uncharacteristically, I declined a second glass.
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| The Nattai River early morning. |
Our steward, Steven, was charming and cheerful and topped up glasses without being prompted. The food was excellent. Satay skewers, ginger chicken and noodles, prawn dumplings and a delightful Mencía from McLaren Vale. A red grape from Spain, finding a place in Australia.
The movie selection on Qantas is always expansive and this flight was no different. It can only set us up for disappointment on the other legs. I watched The Hail Mary Project which was quite amusing and endearing. Ryan Gosling at his best. The second movie was a commentary on race relations in the 1920s with David Gulpilil and Gary Sweet. Finally, I endured The Thing with Feathers with Benedict Cumberbatch. We saw the stage version at Belvoir last year with the excellent Toby Schmidt. The film was not far removed from the play and given its harrowing, dark, depressing subject matter, I wonder why I put myself through it again. What’s that, dear reader? I was a captive in a metal tube in the sky and needed to kill time. Yes, of course.
Manila airport, Ninoy Aquino, was manic, as expected. We were among the first off the plane, Immigration was a breeze and the mandated, essential QR code was not requested. But we had our passports stamped! Exciting. Unhappily, digital passports and electronic processing are making stamps redundant.
Our bags appeared promptly on the carousel. We were overnighting here only, so no time for sight-seeing and the hotel, Holiday Inn was about 10 a minute walk from the terminal. If you could survive the taxi touts. And there were many. “Cheapest taxi. We take card. This way sir”. When I declined, it was assumed I was heading for currency exchange and remained shadowed, until I explained I was walking to the hotel. The incredulous look said it all. Walk? He questioned, but it will take 20 minutes.
It was closer to 15 minutes than 10 because, in what is becoming a recurring problem, one of my bags was damaged. Specifically a wheel. The rubber tyre has been torn off, revealing the hard plastic wheel beneath, destroying any ability to move smoothly across the tiled floor. The other issue was construction work which reduced the footpath to narrow patches of damaged concrete with the occasional puddle into which a small child could fall and drown. It was also 26° and around 90% humidity. No, seriously, and the rain had just stopped.
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| A reflective moment. Title link. |
We arrived safely, although, in an Oscar Piastri moment, I had blown another tyre. It now makes a really cool sound when being wheeled across the tiles and doesn’t lurch like a three-legged dog. As the sweat slowly trickled down my back, a shower and bed were in sight. Not so fast. To access a hotel in the Philippines, well certainly in Manila, your bags must be security x-rayed. In all my travels, I have never seen this before. Backpack and suit case into the machine, I walked through the metal detector to be asked if I had a knife in my bag. In my backpack? I questioned, pointing to it. No, he gestured to my case. No, I replied again. Then it dawned on me. We carry a set of cheese knives. You never know when you might be assailed by a soft brie or we need to attack a tough pecorino. A proper cheese knife is the only defence. We also travel with our own wine glasses. If you ever doubted that we are snobbish wankers, these revelations should assail any qualms. Bag opened, knife set inspected, conference among security staff, knives returned and we were zipping to reception.
Check-in was fast and the hotel is gratis because I used points we accrued in Spain last year. Bargain. We discussed getting to the airport tomorrow morning. Terminal 1, not Terminal 3 where we arrived. It is the furthest from the hotel and requires transport. The hotel shuttle doesn’t commence until 6am. We need to be at the airport around 4:45am. Taxi is the answer and they only accept cash. Around 1,000 pesos should do it, about $22AUD. We needed to find an ATM or head to the currency exchange across the plaza, but first it was time to rehydrate, aqua only and drop the bags in our room.
The room aircon was set to Arctic. Unsurprisingly. It’s the same in Singapore and KL. We then headed down and spoke to some other security staff about the way forward. I didn’t really want to get the local currency. Do you have Grab? She enquired. Grab is the Malaysian and Philippine version of Uber. And yes, I do, courtesy of my working days with UNSW Global. A credit card update and we ordered a ride for 4:15am. No cash required.
We lost 2 hours in the time change from Sydney to Manila, so it was definitely time for a shower and bed.
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