Surviving a living nightmare

As one of the IT administrators for our company, part of my job is to make sure that any and all changes made to our working environment is carefully planned and executed. I tend to apply the same principles in my daily life and while I wouldn’t consider myself a control freak, I do like to cover all my bases so that there are no surprises. Naturally, sometimes even the best laid plans can spontaneously combust and leave you rocking nervously in the fetal position.

I planned my final PI trip of the year with the kind of care and precision which should only result in a resounding success; instead it led to a very harsh example of how life comes with no guarantees whatsoever. The first mishap occurred on the morning of our departure; somehow the plane that we were to board later that day left its origin in Korea 2 hours late and just to spice things up a bit, heavy RAIN was forecasted. California has been in a severe drought for who knows how many months and out of all the day in the years for an impromptu shower, it just HAD to be today?

I had a connecting flight to make in Korea which only allowed an hour and 50 minutes to make the transfer and complete the last leg of the trip to Manila, so considering we were flying out of SFO 2 hours late, I was about as nervous as a first time offender in a county jail. Despite all of that, I still had a sliver of hope; the transpacific route from SFO to southeast Asia is normally billed as a 12 hour flight, but most flights take an average of 11:30 and occasionally even less. My biggest hurdle was the security check that all transferring passengers have to go through before boarding their next flight; the last time I made the trip to the Philippines, it took nearly 40 minutes to get through security. My strategy to get around this issue was to explode out of the jetway after landing in Korea with the hope of beating all of the other passengers to the security checkpoint. It was a risky plan and I honestly had little faith of its success, but it’s still better than having to wait until the next day to get to Manila.

As if things couldn’t get worse, my old man suddenly remembered an alarming issue that we had not considered when we checked in for our flight. Earlier that day, we approached the check-in counter as a group; which wouldn’t have been a problem if we had the same destination… which we did not. I was headed to Manila and they were headed to Angeles City; the check-in lady wouldn’t have known which bags should go to where unless we told her… which we did not. It was a MASSIVE oversight that had me shaking my head in disbelief; now I was responsible for claiming TWO bags instead of one and I had no idea which ones to look for at baggage claim. Not only that, but there was a very good chance that I would end up with my parents’ luggage instead of mine which would leave me without a change of clothes for at least a day.

One important tactic I’ve picked up over the years as a professional is to tackle problems one by one; to divide and conquer your way to victory. As inconvenient as the baggage issue was, I knew it could only get worse if I don’t arrive with them in Manila, so I focused my energy on making the next flight. All of the pent up nervous energy during the 11 hour flight was released as soon as the plane landed; I hastily made my way through the hordes of lethargic, middle aged folk with little to no regard for manners. When I reached the security checkpoint, I was genuinely surprised to see that the line was practically nonexistent and I was cleared in less than 5 minutes. At this point, it was already 10 minutes past the scheduled boarding time and I still had to make my way to the departure gate. Every single time I’ve made a connecting flight in Incheon, the gate was always at the very end of the very long terminal and that day was no exception. My legs were already pretty pumped out during the initial sprint to the security checkpoint, but I didn’t have a minute to spare so I summoned every last bit of energy I had to reach the gate in time. When I finally reached the gate, I breathed a long sigh of relief as I saw the words “last call” still on the boarding screen. I whipped out my boarding pass and got on the last plane to Manila. I was soaked in sweat and heaving like an obese man forced to do laps on a stairmaster, but I had a smile on my face because I had beaten the overwhelming odds.

Strangely enough, the one brief shining moment of this saga was Ninoy Aquino International Airport’s slightly improved Terminal 1. You may remember my post from earlier this year about the horrid conditions at said terminal, but they have made a number of changes during the past few months and while it’s not a night and day difference, it’s still noticeably improved. The lines through immigration are now all straight, instead of snaking around into an unpredictable shape and it was considerably cooler in the arrival area. The baggage claim section also appeared larger and more spacious; it was still pretty crowded, but not nearly as suffocating as before and there were plenty of free baggage carts to go around, which was great news for me since I had two massive bags to haul around. To my surprise, it didn’t take more than 10 minutes for my luggage to appear on the conveyors and just my luck, they were the two boxes that my parents intended to give to me relatives. Chock full of random goodies, they weighed in at nearly 50lbs each and were incredibly difficult to carry for more than a few feet; thank the Lord for the bounty of carts at NAIA!

All in all, I was able to make my way out of the terminal in less than 30 minutes; a blistering speed considering the track record of NAIA T1. Since I had larger cargo and didn’t want to deal with haggling with the metered yellow taxi drivers, I opted for the white “coupon” taxis. These are much more expensive than the other taxi options, but they use vans so they’re great for large groups or anyone traveling with two 50lb boxes and it’s a fixed rate, so no haggling necessary. As we set off for home base, I felt like my struggles were finally coming to an end but unfortunately, the nightmare was just beginning.

As I arrived in my rented condo unit, the owner’s agent implored me to “wait a while, sir” as he busily tried to get the place ready for my arrival. When I finally entered the unit, I was greeted by the pungent smell of insecticide; kuya agent must have layered it on really thick because the odor was actually burning my nostrils. I looked around at floor and noticed a number of freshly killed roaches, still twitching as they spent their final moments on earth; definitely not a good sign. Kuya agent took note of the electrical meter reading and had me sign some papers then he went on his way. I was glad that I had a place to stay and could finally relax, but the place seemed really off to me and as the next few days wore on, I learned the true meaning of “listing not as described”.