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Published: September 22nd 2008
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Waiting, Waiting, Waiting
Here I am sitting at NAIA for my 8 hour wait to catch my plane to Manila and then to Shanghai. The Excess Baggage Queen…
I am not what one would call a ‘light’ traveller - I never have been!!! Each and every time I travel I always tell myself that next time I will be better. Next time I wont bring that extra pair (or two) of shoes that I didn’t get a chance to wear, but were there ‘just in case’. I wont bring those extra shirts or bottoms - because I know that I will end up buying something else where ever I am, something that I just HAVE to wear while I am there.
Needless to say that this trip wasn’t going to be any different. As usual I end up doing a ‘little’ bit more shopping than I should have and I have packed a ‘little’ bit more than necessary - And so I get that usual dreaded feeling in the pit of my stomach as I wait for the interrogation by the check-in person, telling me that I have excess baggage. I have become an expert at begging for a ‘little’ (Hmm - three ‘little’s’ in a row adding up!!) more allowance, in the hope that I either (a) don’t have to pay at
A view of my hotel in Shanghai
At 1:00am in the morning - Anything looks wonderful all or (b) they reduce my excess to a more financially manageable level.
So it came as no surprise that I would be up for excess baggage as I checked in for Manila. But - lets be clear here - This is a round the world trip, crossing multiple continents & multiple seasons. - A girl just has to be prepared. When it came time for my turn - I did my usual haggle, but to no avail. I was up for an additional 27kgs excess (shocking I know!!) ….Actually before you all laugh - My allowance for London (as part of my RTW) ticket is 60kgs - so in truth I am under allowance & can therefore call myself a ’light’ traveller…Finally!!!
My father, in his infinite wisdom, bought me another bag so that I could transfer as much as I could to reduce my excess, by loading up my carry on luggage. All my positive vibes were coming into full swing as I had my things re-checked - The scales were broken or the guy checking didn’t read it properly - It didn’t matter. I got away with 10kgs…Yippiee!! I handed over my 1000 pesos ($30)
She's on the move...Finally
Finally - I am on my way to London. I really deserved that glass. Anything to help me sleep..... and made a dash for immigration.
Are we there yet? I hate waiting at airports…..I hate it even more when there is nothing to look at in the airport while waiting. Unfortunately this was the predicament I found myself in when I landed in Manila - 8 hours of nothing to do!!
NAIA (Ninoy Aquino International Airport) is brand new - so new in fact that they are still building it. There are great gaping empty halls where shops will eventually be and nothing to eat except three fast food outlets - which weren’t even very good. Thankfully my aunt packed me some home made steak sandwiches to keep me going - so I happily munched on that while waiting (okay - and the choco-peanut from dunkin doughnut).
There was no getting away from the excess baggage this time when I finally checked into my flight to Shanghai. I quietly paid up for my 27kg excess without a fuss (And this time the cost was $130 - sigh!!) and made my way to immigration and boarded my plane to Shanghai.
I arrived in Shanghai at close to midnight the same night. So far I had been
What a find!!
This is certainly a surpise find in Shanghai.....
This isnt the best photo. I couldnt get it any lighter in the toilet. But look closely at the bottom left section for the 'Wand Cleaner' button... on the go for 21 hours - having woken up at 5am to start my journey. I was exhausted!! I managed to find myself a room at the Airport Hotel after wandering around aimlessly for over 15 minutes looking for it (and grumbling irritably to any tout telling me that it was closed). I stumbled into bed and at close to 1:00am - willing myself to get a good nights sleep, whilst not thinking about my alarm, which was set to go off at 5:30am that same morning.
What a find!! Not surprisingly, I woke up somewhat disoriented and still exhausted. I quickly repacked all my things once again - so that I could check-in most of my things (I was once again back to the land of the ‘light’ traveller.) and made my way to the airport to see if I could check in early for my 11am flight.
Checking-in was a breeze. This time there were no butterflies in my stomach and not only that - this time I was given an express permit through immigration & my ticket to the business class lounge……..Aaagghhh - The only way to travel!!! I did a quick detour of
I am so tired.
Finally some time to rest what was on offer in the duty free shops - I always have to buy something at the airport. It makes me feel like I am truly on holiday! ( In case you wanted to know - It was Oolong tea & some make-up).
Once I completed the rounds, I made my way to the business class lounge for some R&R while I waited for my flight to board. It was here that I found the most interesting thing on my trip so far……
It was what I found in the toilets…….And no it didn’t float! Yikes!
As they say, a picture says a thousand things. The picture does not truly give it justice…..If you look closely - you will see my personal favourite…’Wand Cleaner’. I’m not sure what that was for or if it was meant to be in the ladies toilet. Now this is what I call personal service. There was a whole assortment of other services provided, with varying degrees of temperature & pressure.
Now I’m sure the question on everyone’s mind is did I try anything? I shall leave that up to you to figure it out for yourself.
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Manang
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Please smile...
Although I love your photos.. it would do you good to smile. You are on a round the world trip holiday whilst some of us are at work typing this message to you!!! Anyway, I love your travel blogs... can I say it again... I LOVE YOU TRAVEL BLOGS. It makes me feel I am there with you...sort of. Anthony is also waiting for the next update and wondered why he only got the Bohol section last night when you are already in Turkey.. Love lots. M