During the first week of October, many Chinese folks shut
down shop to celebrate National Holiday.
For this holiday, Chris and I decided to make a trip to Palawan Island,
Philippines for six days of relaxing in the sun with our Bosch China crew. Before we kicked back, however, we made a 24-hour
trip on three planes, three cars, one train, and a boat! In order to reach our resort, we had to fly to
Puerto Princessa via Hong Kong and Manila.
The trip started on a sunny Monday. After I finished teaching my first graders, I
zoomed out of school and stopped at a Bank of China ATM to pull out some RMB to
trade for Pesos, and met up with Chris at the Maglev. We sped to the Pudong Airport, and herded
ourselves through security and immigration.
Lesson #1- everyone and their brother wants to leave China
during golden week. Don’t think you will
avoid long immigration lines by leaving the day before the national holiday
actually begins.
After a good 45
minutes in Immigration we raced to the currency exchange to pick up Philippine
Pesos.
“I’m sorry. We have
sold out of Philippine Pesos. “ the teller offered.
“WHAT?” we asked in unison
“Many people travel to the Philippines during the National
Holiday. We do not have any pesos. I am sorry.”
Lesson #2- When traveling to the Philippines, get Pesos
BEFORE you go to the airport.
My brain immediately went into overdrive. I wasn’t sure if the currency exchange would
be open by the time we reached Manila, so I decided to get some cash in Hong
Kong just in case of emergency.
 |
| I found the 200 Peso note to be oddly hilarious and creepy at the same time. What is that animal? |
The main terminal of the Hong Kong airport has some of the
best duty free shopping I have ever seen.
It also has Bo Jangles, a mediocre Italian Restaurant, and some pretty
cool museum quality exhibits in the concourse.
 |
| I really enjoyed the Cantonese Opera exhibit right next to my gate. |
After my quick fried chicken dinner, we hopped on a plane to
Manilla.
Ninoy Aquino Airport in Manila is the most confusing airport
I have ever experienced. There was no
rope maze for immigration, so people made cluster lines.
 |
| FYI, a no "Wang Wang" Zone means no one cuts in line. A rope maze would have been EXTREMELY helpful! :) |
 |
| I was sad that I couldn't sell my Philippine Disembarkation card. |
After waiting in the slowest cluster, we finally made it to
the immigration window.
Lesson #3- When traveling through the Philippines make sure
you have a copy of your itinerary with your passport and disembarkation
slip. If you don’t have it, someone else
will print it, and you will hold up the line.
Luckily, the currency exchange was still open after our
hour-long wait in immigration so we were able to get some cash!
Lesson #4- If you don’t get Pesos beforehand, the Manila
airport does have a currency exchange.
Wait to get cash until you arrive there.
At 1:00 am, I was thrilled to arrive at our hotel for a
three-hour nap. Our next flight was
early the next morning!
At 4:30, I rolled out of bed, and took a cab to the domestic
terminal of the airport.
Our cab driver dropped us off at the domestic terminal at
the airport, where we had to go through security to simply check in.
Lesson #5- the domestic terminal of the Manila airport is a
20 minute taxi ride away from the international terminal. If you are planning on making a domestic
connecting flight, make SURE you allow for an additional hour for the
transfer. Also if you are transferring
from a domestic to an international flight, you will need to collect your
luggage at the baggage claim, catch a cab to the international terminal, and
recheck your luggage.
We shuffled in the Philippine Airline line to check in for our flight. As we checked in our bags, we
were told that we had to pay for our luggage because it exceeded the 10 kg
limit. The ticket agent then told us we
had to pay 200 Pesos ($4) for our overage.
Chris went to the other end of the ticket counter to pay for our
overage. He came back livid.
Lesson #6- When flying Philippine Airlines, you can prepay
for your overweight bags. If you pay
before you check in, you will pay 200 Pesos.
If you pay while you check in, you will pay 200 Pesos per KG.
Our mood improved after we herded through security
(again). The Manila airport had Krispy
Kreme and Cinnabon! I had no idea these
chains existed in Asia!!
 |
| They had some seriously fancy doughnuts. I was SO happy for a taste of home! |
After nearly losing Chris’ iPhone, we boarded the plane and
took a 1-hour flight to Puerto Princessa, Palawan.
 |
| The Puerto Princessa Airport was tiny! |
 |
| People were walking all around the runway. I think the airport had 2 gates. |
 |
| I guess the avian flu scare is still alive and well! |
In order to reach our resort, we had to take a one-hour boat
ride from Puerto Princessa to Dos Palmas.
Unfortunately the ferry left the pier only three times daily, so Chris
and I hung out in the Dos Palmas office for two hours.
Lesson #7- When booking your trip to Palawan, book your
hotel BEFORE you book your flights. This
way you can coordinate your flights with your hotel transportation.
We finally boarded a van for a 30-minute ride to the pier
and took a 1-hour boat ride to Dos Palmas.
When I boarded the boat, I finally felt like vacation was starting!
 |
| The boats were relatively small, so we were required to wear life vests on board. The Gilligan's Island theme song played in my head during the entire ride. |
When we arrived at the island we were greeted with wooden
leis and papaya juice. The beach and
resort were definitely worth the travel hassle!
:)
 |
| We were so happy to arrive at the resort! |
 |
| Let the vacation begin!! |
