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Blog of a Balikbayan, Part 3
May 3, 2005
March 28, 10:45 pm. The highly-anticipated announcement blares over Korean Air's PA system - "Wilkam tu da Ni'noy A'kino Inter'nasyunal' Erport" The flight crew's English was barely comprehensible but at least she tries, for the benefit of us Filipinos, Filipino-Americans and a few foreigners on board who don't understand Korean. I immediately thought of the notion that you need to master the English language to compete with the world, to progress as a country, then quickly came to realize that this notion is bull. Majority of South Koreans don't speak English, and those who do, like flight attendants and transplanted actresses, struggle with every word even when reading from a cheat sheet, but look at how progressive their country is. And while the Philippine Congress holds their sessions in English, our major newspapers are in English, heck, I even write in English, the Philippines couldn't get out of the third world.
The announcement was repeated one more time, first in Korean, then "Wilkam tu da Ni'noy A'kino Inter'nasyunal' Erport...". At this point, I could see the lights of Manila from the airplane's window. Finally we're here, I said to myself, followed by a big sigh of relief. It doesn't matter if we will be holed up for another 6 hours before the flight to Iloilo. At least, there'll be no more airline food from here on.
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In fairness, Korean Air food gets a passing grade, it's hot and seemed fresh. Airline food has gotten some bad reputation that anything edible at 35,000 feet nowadays are already considered okay. But seriously, they're okay. You have a choice of a Korean dish called bi bim bop (I hope I wrote that right) and either beef or seafood. I tried the Korean dish once, many years ago, since it sounded intriguing like some kind of a game or a Cindy Lauper song (she bop, he bop, a we bop...). The main dish is a bowl of vegetables mixed in with a spicy paste you squeeze out of a tube. An instruction sheet on how to mix up the condiments is given to you if you don't look Korean. And I thought the only instruction sheet they give on airplanes has something to do with emergency terrain or water landing.
The beef dish is smothered with a tasty brown sauce with mashed potatoes and vegetables. A side of smoked salmon, bread and butter, and dessert, either fruits or a tiny slice of cake, complete the tray. The seafood plate is served with a side of noodles with, I'm pretty sure, the same brown sauce as the beef. I wonder if the flight crew may have their own baon on-board. You can't be eating the same brown sauce for years. I had this in mind so much so that when my mother offered some baon of hard-boiled eggs on our return flight, I quickly tucked them into my backpack. I remember when my mother used to do that when I was in elementary grades, going to some quiz bee in town. A barrio kid going to the big, big, town needs to eat. Bless my mother and all the mothers in the world. They are still the best whether you are 6 years old or 36. And while I'm at it, advance Happy Mothers Day.
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The plane touched down at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) around 11:00 p.m. We would spend another 45 minutes in immigration. I could not believe the sheer number of people coming home. There were at least 8 immigration booths, 2 or 3 specifically for returning OCW's (Overseas Contract Workers) but that did not make a difference. All the lines were filled up and immigration area was full of weary and tired travellers.
We had our passports stamped and we waited for another 30 minutes or so at the baggage claim area. Balikbayan boxes are all over the place. While waiting for our luggage, I couldn't help but read the scribblings on each box that passes by. From: Pasadena, CA, To: Kawit, Cavite. From: New Jersey to Gua-Gua, Pampanga. And all sorts of spelling of the word "Fragile".
Other than balikbayan boxes, one could see what seemed like thousands of black luggages. Here's a tip - even if you have the most expensive model of Samsonite, chances are, twenty other travellers have the same type of luggage, color and all. To save yourself from peeking into the name tag every time a baggage that looks like yours passes you by or to prevent other people from picking up your luggage by mistake, attach something for easy identification. Like a big purple and gold ribbon. Or a Mickey Mouse bobblehead. Or big stickers on each side that says "This ain't your luggage Mister, so back off!"
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From luggages to airports, it doesn't get any more confusing. By my count, Manila has 3 airports with 3 separate gates. There's the NAIA where all international flights other than that of Philippine Airlines (PAL) land and depart. There's Domestic 1 (may have an official name but let's call it that for our purposes) or the old domestic airport where domestic flights like Cebu Pacific and Air Philippines land and depart. Then there's the Centennial Airport, PAL's very own landing pad. Pretty soon, you'll have a fourth. They're still figuring out who has the most 'kickback' money from contractors of this new airport so you probably have to wait for a while. If you're flying in to the Philippines with a final destination of Iloilo, knowing how these airports interact with each other, so to speak, helps.
There's no problem if you're flying in from the west coast and via PAL. You land and depart at the same airport (Centennial). After you passed by immigration and customs, you only have to wheel in your luggages a few feet to the domestic departure area. You don't get charged for excess in weight of your luggages (international and domestic flights have different weight restrictions). I would have had the same luxury had we paid $400 more per ticket to fly PAL. Since we, and for the most part those who flew in from the midwest or the east coast, had to use a different airline, we had to take a taxi from NAIA to the PAL domestic terminal. No service or courtesy shuttle whatsoever (another strong argument why you have to send your heavy, bulky balikbayan boxes ahead of time). That's PAL's stupid way of telling you, you need to fly PAL from the US, not Korean Air, not Northwest, not Japan Air Lines. In our case, for $1,200.00 more? Who are they kidding? A taxi ride costs Php120.00, roughly $2.50.
Or if you're not flying PAL from the U.S. and taking a taxi is too much of a burden for you, you can take either Air Philippines or Cebu Pacific to Iloilo. I was told they have a courtesy shuttle from NAIA to the old Domestic Airport.
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This is the second time we've been to the Centennial Airport. It's the newest and the best of all the airports, not to mention the coziest, well, if it's not midnight and you're stuck outside because the doors are still closed.
Yes, we arrived at the Centennial Airport at around 15 past midnight and because of extra security measures you are no longer allowed inside unless you're checking in. We would like to but the doors don't open until 2:00 am. So we're stuck outside without seats as the handful of seats were all occupied by horizontal, snoring, drooling bodies.
My wife and daughter sat on our luggages while I walked the stretch of the outside of the airport, from one comfort room to the other. There are only 2 comfort rooms outside, both on opposite ends of the airport. You can basically start walking from one washroom and by the time you reach the other, your bladder is full again. Not to mention at least 4 security guards asking "where are your going?" along the way. To their credit, the washrooms have permanent attendants, who I think are linguists when it comes to local dialects. First, they ask where are you from in Tagalog, while handing you a tissue to wipe off your hands. How's that for service, huh? Then when you mention your province, they speak your local dialect. All the more to impress you for, well, a bigger tip. If they had hot towels and a little massage while you answer the call of nature, I would have thought I was along Timog Avenue and drunk.
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While still waiting for the doors to the pre-departure area to open, I managed to strike a conversation with the older woman I mentioned in the previous column. The woman with 5 balikbayan boxes and, I presumed (correctly), 2 grandchildren. She first caught my attention at Incheon Internation Airport in Seoul, South Korea because the Lola had a hard time chasing and looking after the kids, alone. It turned out she's an Ilonggo from a town a jeepney ride away from the city. She was coming back from a vacation at her daughter's place in Chicago. She said that the 2 kids, one 5 years old, the other 3 are her daughter's who, together with her husband are U.S. permanent residents. They have no time to take care of the kids as they both work. So they decided to send the children with Lola back to Iloilo.
Say what you want, but I have a hard time understanding this. How can parents send their children away to relatives for a simple reason that they couldn't take care of them themselves? Sure, both of you are working hard, but you decided to have children, should that be part of your responsibility too, aside from racking up overtimes? I say this because I can't imagine sending my daughter anywhere. "You only love your daughter more," my wife would say. But isn't that unfair to other parents? I assume all parents love their children as much as I do. That they want to be there if a child has fever, or when they start singing the alphabet?
Perhaps, there are other reasons too, say, your regular pay may not be enough that you need to work overtime therefore depriving your kids of the attention they deserve. They will be better growing up in the Philippines, well taken care of and above all, learning Filipino values. Sounds reasonable, but I still feel for the children (not from growing up in the Philippines but from being away from their parents). We have one daughter ourselves, with absolutely no help from grandparents, relatives (they're all back in P.I.), or babysitters. My wife and I don't work overtime so we can alternate watching over her. Our basic salary together is not much. But we don't aim for a lifestyle that is way beyond our basic salaries. I think most parents here can do that.
I am not saying we are necessarily better parents because we are not. I just don't understand it. Perhaps, someone can enlighten me.
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We finally entered the gates and the security area at 2:00 a.m. We boarded our Philippine Air Lines flight to Iloilo at 5:15 a.m., March 29. We saw the sunrise from above the clouds. It was beautiful. We saw (for the first time in a long, long time) Filipina flight attendants. They were beautiful too.
An hour from home to O'Hare. 3 hours at O'Hare. 13 hours from Chicago to Seoul, South Korea. 3 hours at Incheon International Airport, Seoul, South Korea. 4 hours from Seoul to Manila. 6 hours in Manila. An hour from Manila to Iloilo.
Count it. It's thirty-one (31) hours.
We didn't care. Finally, we're home.
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To be continued.
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Views expressed on this column and any other by-lined articles on this site are the authors' own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the organization or its members.
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