Home Again

We’re back in Manila now after a week in Hanoi. I enjoyed my visit there, but I really wasn’t, shall we say, fully present at all times. We have started to travel with a new netbook and were checking the Philippine weather service site several times a day, watching the approach of the second typhoon and making decisions about cancelling our return flight and going back later. (We did.) Also, we were following the news of the flood victims in the Philippines and as if that wasn’t enough, watching accounts of the extreme damage the storm was subsequently having in Viet Nam (well south of us, it didn’t affect Hanoi). Then I got sick for a few days. Quelle surprise.

Viet Nam tales yet to come. Meanwhile I have come back from the experience with a couple of “Note to Self” items.

Note to Self Number 1. Always take Philippine Airlines out of Manila – never any airline that operates out of Terminal 1. After being stuck in Terminal 1 during the storm, I am determined never to set foot in there again. The building is a complete dump. The airport has three terminals. Terminal 1 which is the old building, Terminal 2 – a newer, more reasonable building, dedicated to Philippine Airlines (which is a pretty good airline) and Terminal 3 – a spanking new, modern facility, the opening of which has been held up in litigation due to a dispute between the contractor and the Philippine government over unpaid bills and other things. This building was by now supposed to have replaced the shithole Terminal 1 but is still not fully operational.

What do I mean by shithole? Well, imagine this, as an example. In the departure area, the ladies’ room has only 3 stalls. There are no toilet seats on the toilets, no hot water coming out of the hot water taps and water floods (there’s that word again) all over the counters. A worker with a filthy mop pushes the dirt and water from one side of the room to the other. This is what it’s like on a good day. Add the chaos and power outages of that Saturday (resulting in NO water in the bathrooms) and I have to say that in two years of living in the Philippines, or for that matter, traveling around Southeast Asia, the worst bathrooms by far are in the International Airport Terminal 1 in Manila. A complete disgrace and embarassment to this country.

Nine hours stuck in that building (that’s before the nine hours stuck in the van) makes me determined never to return.

Note to Self Number 2. Never check luggage. This is really a follow up on previous quest (see Traveling Light post). I’ve become so much better at traveling light but still not there. So, now I have to submerge (oh all this water imagery!) my inner clotheshorse and figure out how to travel with a 15 pound suitcase (economy) or 22 pounds in business class. And believe me, 15 pounds is NOTHING.

If people could have seen me this morning they would have laughed their heads right off. I have been unpacking my stuff from my return last night and weighing every single thing in both my bags on a small kitchen scale. Every toothpaste tube, phone charger, bottle of OPI nail polish, Vanity Fair, camera; every item of clothing, sandals, sun visor – you name it, I know now exactly what everything weighs. My challenge now is to figure out what to eliminate/change/rethink so my bag stays with me while traveling. When my bag went missing on this trip I realized that it wasn’t so bad wearing the same clothes every day (as long as they were washed every night!), and the aggravation factor of worrying about the whole episode was just not worth it.

I plan to take my 15 pounds on a test drive at Christmas (along with a BIG purse), through Terminal 2, to wherever we end up going to.

Oh, by the way, speaking of toilets, waiting around in the Hong Kong airport yesterday we came across a brochure advertising a “concept” restaurant in town. I thought I’d seen it all with the hospital restaurant in Singapore (see Singapore Slings post ), but this really takes the cake. The advertising copy for Modern Toilet restaurant:

 We introduce toilet into dining, an idea of "Food+Toilet" concept breaking the traditional way of dining. Chairs are made of toilet bowls. Food is served in mini toilet bowls, bath tubs, washing basins and urinals! Enjoy your meal in toilet!

Check out these photos I found of the place: