Saturday, June 30, 2007
Friday 15th June 2007 - The Last Supper. (not in the biblical sense of course)
I think they liked the meal! How much? ! Thorn between 2 roses
Friday 15th June 2007
Up early and start to pack then go and get breakfast. The hotel is providing the complimentary lift back to the airport and we set off at 11.30 for our 13.20 flight. The airport is not very busy but as we approach the check in desk we see a sign that says it does not open until 12.30 and it is only 11.50. Lu gets the attention of the security guard who speaks to her and then he takes our luggage and puts it behind the check-in counter. “everything is taken care of” she tells me, “ just go back at 12.30 and collect our boarding passes and give him a little “merienda” (snack) money!” At 12.30 I return and am given 2 boarding passes for seats in row 3 a and b which have extra extra (that’s meant to be 2 extras there ok) legroom and priority removal of luggage when we arrive in Manila! Not bad for peso 180 merienda money. ( I think we might refer to it, quite wrongly of course, as a bribe.)When we board the plane row 3 does indeed have extra extra legroom. It is the row behind the business class seats and I would guess that we have about 3feet leg room! Lunch is served after take off and consists of 4 cracker biscuits and a chocolate brownie type cake. There is one thing that strikes me as remarkable during our stay on Palawan. We stayed less than 2 miles as the crow flies I guess from the airport but I never once heard any airplane noise. The airfield (you couldn’t really describe it as an airport) was right by the sea and the runway ran all the way from inland to the waters edge so I suppose all flight traffic arrived from the sea and took off out toward the sea as we did on our journeys in and out thereby avoiding noise pollution. We were also told that the local govt were in the process of obtaining funding and permission to upgrade and expand the airport as they anticipated an increase in visitors over the next 10 years. Seems it might actually be a good idea to invest here if the predictions of tourism and a property boom are correct. We land at Manila 1 hour after take off and true to his word our bag is 4th on the carousel! Another traveller tip coming up. No not offering Merienda money to all and sundry, but to do with airport transport. We hadn’t investigated how to get back to ‘Hotel Encarnacion’ because we forgot to ask if Dodie could collect us from the airport on our arrival. So we headed in the general direction of a big sign that said TAXIS. It wasn’t a taxi rank but the airport’s own taxi service together with a hotel concierge service as well. So if you are lost and alone in Ninoy Aquino International Airport Manila it is a good service to avail yourself of for relatively hassle free hotel searching, booking and travelling to. The taxis are all relatively new and supplied by Nissan, Toyota etc under a lease licence. The drivers are all smartly dressed in a uniform and carry ID cards. The fare is obviously a lot more than taking an ordinary taxi but I believe you are probably a lot safer and the fare will not be made up depending on how much the driver thinks you can afford. (especially as he’s carrying a Westerner and even if he is with a fellow Filipina countrywoman) We tell the Taxi desk clerk where our destination is and she charges us Peso 870 and fills out a fare ticket which also details how many passengers we are and how many pieces of luggage we have and we are shown to our car. When we arrive at our destination the driver unloads our luggage and asks us to sign his fare ticket to confirm he has delivered us to the correct destination and with all of our luggage. Without this he says he won’t get paid his 16% commission of the fare. We leave him a tip of the change from a 1000 plus an extra 100 as he was very helpful in answering questions I asked to give you the above information. Lu says I’m so inquisitive I must be a cat, too nosey and curious and be careful coz you know what curiosity did to the cat! Meeeow so I must have 9 lives!
So here we are back to disrupt the lives of the poor put upon household of Gerald (Jing Jing), Sheila, Rain and Tita (aunty) Del but for the last night. Lu has arranged for us to visit the family of her good friend in England, Ate Matilda so we are to leave at around 8am Saturday to see them. I ask all the Encarnacion family to join us for a good old slap up feast at a restaurant of their choosing by way of a thank you from Lu and me for their overwhelming hospitality during our stay. I also mention at about 4pm that we have to be up early and we should maybe make an early start for dinner. As is always the case in the Philippines Filipino time takes over and we leave the house around 8.15. We are being taken to a restaurant called Gerry’s Grill which is part of a popular and “hip” chain and a favourite of the smart and more middle class set of Manilenians. Unfortunately it is so popular that we have to go on a waiting list as there are no tables available and you cannot book ahead. We sit down for dinner at 9.30! By now I’m starving and rashly I had previously mentioned to Sheila to order the food for all 9 of us (Jing, Sheila, Rain, Ate Del, Ate Roma, PJ, Daniella, Lu and I) ensuring it was what all the family liked. So we had (as far as I can remember because the bill is en route via Sea Mail with all my other books and souvenir keepsakes) plain rice, garlic rice, 2 Molo (soup), shredded spicy pork adobo, pinakbet (vegetable stew), pusit (bbq squid), sugpong kinilaw (prawn salad), kilawing pusit (squid salad), bbq pork, whole honeyed chicken, sisig (pan fried diced pigs face) and crispy crablets. (small or baby crabs, dipped in batter and deep fried and were actually quite tasty though the claws were a bit sharp if you didn’t chew them properly!) Plenty of drinks although the Tower of Lager we ordered didn’t arrive so we had bottled beer instead. Most enjoyable and only Peso 2287.00! We all arrived home about 11 and Lu and I fell into bed exhausted knowing we had to rise about 6 as our lift to see Marivic and the family was at 8am! Nanite.
Up early and start to pack then go and get breakfast. The hotel is providing the complimentary lift back to the airport and we set off at 11.30 for our 13.20 flight. The airport is not very busy but as we approach the check in desk we see a sign that says it does not open until 12.30 and it is only 11.50. Lu gets the attention of the security guard who speaks to her and then he takes our luggage and puts it behind the check-in counter. “everything is taken care of” she tells me, “ just go back at 12.30 and collect our boarding passes and give him a little “merienda” (snack) money!” At 12.30 I return and am given 2 boarding passes for seats in row 3 a and b which have extra extra (that’s meant to be 2 extras there ok) legroom and priority removal of luggage when we arrive in Manila! Not bad for peso 180 merienda money. ( I think we might refer to it, quite wrongly of course, as a bribe.)When we board the plane row 3 does indeed have extra extra legroom. It is the row behind the business class seats and I would guess that we have about 3feet leg room! Lunch is served after take off and consists of 4 cracker biscuits and a chocolate brownie type cake. There is one thing that strikes me as remarkable during our stay on Palawan. We stayed less than 2 miles as the crow flies I guess from the airport but I never once heard any airplane noise. The airfield (you couldn’t really describe it as an airport) was right by the sea and the runway ran all the way from inland to the waters edge so I suppose all flight traffic arrived from the sea and took off out toward the sea as we did on our journeys in and out thereby avoiding noise pollution. We were also told that the local govt were in the process of obtaining funding and permission to upgrade and expand the airport as they anticipated an increase in visitors over the next 10 years. Seems it might actually be a good idea to invest here if the predictions of tourism and a property boom are correct. We land at Manila 1 hour after take off and true to his word our bag is 4th on the carousel! Another traveller tip coming up. No not offering Merienda money to all and sundry, but to do with airport transport. We hadn’t investigated how to get back to ‘Hotel Encarnacion’ because we forgot to ask if Dodie could collect us from the airport on our arrival. So we headed in the general direction of a big sign that said TAXIS. It wasn’t a taxi rank but the airport’s own taxi service together with a hotel concierge service as well. So if you are lost and alone in Ninoy Aquino International Airport Manila it is a good service to avail yourself of for relatively hassle free hotel searching, booking and travelling to. The taxis are all relatively new and supplied by Nissan, Toyota etc under a lease licence. The drivers are all smartly dressed in a uniform and carry ID cards. The fare is obviously a lot more than taking an ordinary taxi but I believe you are probably a lot safer and the fare will not be made up depending on how much the driver thinks you can afford. (especially as he’s carrying a Westerner and even if he is with a fellow Filipina countrywoman) We tell the Taxi desk clerk where our destination is and she charges us Peso 870 and fills out a fare ticket which also details how many passengers we are and how many pieces of luggage we have and we are shown to our car. When we arrive at our destination the driver unloads our luggage and asks us to sign his fare ticket to confirm he has delivered us to the correct destination and with all of our luggage. Without this he says he won’t get paid his 16% commission of the fare. We leave him a tip of the change from a 1000 plus an extra 100 as he was very helpful in answering questions I asked to give you the above information. Lu says I’m so inquisitive I must be a cat, too nosey and curious and be careful coz you know what curiosity did to the cat! Meeeow so I must have 9 lives!
So here we are back to disrupt the lives of the poor put upon household of Gerald (Jing Jing), Sheila, Rain and Tita (aunty) Del but for the last night. Lu has arranged for us to visit the family of her good friend in England, Ate Matilda so we are to leave at around 8am Saturday to see them. I ask all the Encarnacion family to join us for a good old slap up feast at a restaurant of their choosing by way of a thank you from Lu and me for their overwhelming hospitality during our stay. I also mention at about 4pm that we have to be up early and we should maybe make an early start for dinner. As is always the case in the Philippines Filipino time takes over and we leave the house around 8.15. We are being taken to a restaurant called Gerry’s Grill which is part of a popular and “hip” chain and a favourite of the smart and more middle class set of Manilenians. Unfortunately it is so popular that we have to go on a waiting list as there are no tables available and you cannot book ahead. We sit down for dinner at 9.30! By now I’m starving and rashly I had previously mentioned to Sheila to order the food for all 9 of us (Jing, Sheila, Rain, Ate Del, Ate Roma, PJ, Daniella, Lu and I) ensuring it was what all the family liked. So we had (as far as I can remember because the bill is en route via Sea Mail with all my other books and souvenir keepsakes) plain rice, garlic rice, 2 Molo (soup), shredded spicy pork adobo, pinakbet (vegetable stew), pusit (bbq squid), sugpong kinilaw (prawn salad), kilawing pusit (squid salad), bbq pork, whole honeyed chicken, sisig (pan fried diced pigs face) and crispy crablets. (small or baby crabs, dipped in batter and deep fried and were actually quite tasty though the claws were a bit sharp if you didn’t chew them properly!) Plenty of drinks although the Tower of Lager we ordered didn’t arrive so we had bottled beer instead. Most enjoyable and only Peso 2287.00! We all arrived home about 11 and Lu and I fell into bed exhausted knowing we had to rise about 6 as our lift to see Marivic and the family was at 8am! Nanite.
Labels: adobo, Hotel Asturia, Ninoy Aquino Airport, Palawan, pusit, sisig
# posted by desmond22 @ 7:45 pm 
