Zero Displacement: Destination = Fail
It was a lovely and slightly warm day. I woke up at 10, took a bath, and ate breakfast quickly in fear of getting caught in traffic and getting left behind by our plane for Dumaguete. My brother, uncle, and I; along with both my parents, left the house at 11:30 in the morning, to arrive at the airport at around 12:45pm. We had lots of time to spare so my brother and I were chatting with our uncle from Australia about techie things.
I clearly remember sitting down at 1:05, and the stewardess at the counter said that boarding would be at 2:05 for our 2:35 flight. We decide to skip lunch because we had a late breakfast, and the promise of food at our destination was foreseen.
Our plane arrives on time, and we were more or less boarding at the specified time. Great news considering past experiences with Philippine Airlines. The plane was new (at least to me), there were overhead monitors, and there was an adorable baby in the seat behind me. Perfect! Sure, we had to wait around 20 minutes inside the plane because there was an incoming plane that was about to land.
The flight was great. There was barely any turbulence on the plane, and my brother and I enjoyed a few episodes of South Park on his iPod Touch. We were also watching this Japanese version of something that reminded us of amazing race, except it was just one couple doing random things around Tokyo.
The seatbelt light turns on, and it is announced that we’re about to land in Dumaguete. We were a little bit off schedule, probably around 20-30 mins, but it was okay since the flight was quite calm. In the near distance, I spot Apo Island and point it out to my brother. The family behind us is guessing which Negros Oriental town is below us. There are clouds but the flight is still calm.
We’re turning left and I’m wondering why we are moving away from Negros. Perhaps he’s preparing to land and we are still too high up. The odd thing was, we kept on going up, and the seatbelt light is turned off. Whuuuutttt?! The pilot announces that the winds suddenly were too strong for us to land, and we’re flying back to Manila.
Whuuutttt? Being stuck on a metal bird for 2 hours to get from Manila…to Manila. We were right there! Dumaguete… So near…yet so far…
We’re flying back to Manila worried about how the hell we’re getting back to Dumaguete since all flights are booked due to the PAL promo for monday and tues.
We fly back to Manila and the flight attendance announces that they are thankful that we choose to ride Philippine Airlines, and that they welcome us to Manila. Why do I need to be welcomed to Manila. I live here! Maybe a welcome back? The flight attendant also announces something about connecting flights…uhhh… none of us have a connecting flight from Manila to anywhere! Okay…okay…get down from the flying metal bird. Thanks for taking a road trip…uhm… sky trip via Philippine Airlines.
Where to? Oh yes…arrival area…to get our baggages… In the wrong city… They didn’t even tell us which merry-go-round will spit out our bags. The Dumaguete people then converge at the only counter within eyesight, the transfer counter. We arrived at 5+, and at 6, many people have given up rebooking their flight to the nearest date possible, or getting a flight to Bacolod or Cebu. We’re waitlisted into the Cebu flight at 8, were scheduled to be picked up by my uncle’s secretary, had to find lodging for the night, only to have to wake up early to catch the ferry. Great. I want a free hotel stay.
Later on, the girl at the counter calls the remaining stuck Dumaguete people for some good news. We’re being accomodated! Hotel? Hotel? A special flight has been scheduled for us at 6am and we are to return the next day at around 4am. Calls are made to relatives in Visayas to cancel Cebu plans, and I call mom and dad to come pick us up. It’s late, it’s traffic, and we arrive home at 8pm after some quick McDo lunch/dinner on the road.
Congratulations! You have now spent 10 hours, and how many pesos on zero displacement. Destination: Fail.
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