I don't like Manila

I had heard bad stories about a traveler being strained in Manila airport. Every officers asked him for bribe and he lost his boarding pass when taking a nap. Not a problem to have a replacement, if he could afford to pay the fee...

That's really not a big deal, I said to myself. The hotel is going to pick me up, I don't think I need to withdraw any pesos for this 3 day trip in Manila. The airport is old and seems like it hasn't be properly renovated after Phillipine's hay days in the 70s. No big deal. I hoped on the limo and went straight to the Manila Pennisula.

There is actually no high way connecting the airport with the city. The road was not even, the car went pass quite slumy areas until we were at the heart of the financial district. 15 minutes ride costs me 1400 peso, which is around 30 bucks. Wow, this is close to the Manhattan taxi fare from LaGuardia. The hotel is very nice, what surprised me was the limo had to go through a security check at the gate. After dropping me off, my handbag and luggage were searched again. There are around 3 security guards, 5 valet parking guys and 4 bellboys standing around the entrance to the lobby. It seems like they don't have anything more interesting to do.

I was going to meet with Kate Porter at the breakfast loundge before going to the bank. 2 days in a row, Kate and I both asked for coffee and I have got the lousy filter coffee when Kate is getting the fresh brew straight from the expresso machine. I was really getting annoyed the second day and asked the waiter why I am getting different coffee? I pushed away the filter coffee and said please bring me the fresh coffee. Is Manila Peninsula training their staff not to serve fresh coffee to orientals because they don't know how to appreciate it?

Everything is about peso. My hotel room costs twice as much as in Kuala Lumpur but what I feel is insult. Not until I checked out, did I realise that breakfast was not included. This is again not clearly stated when I checked in, or Manila Peninsula think it is the right way to do business?

I was informed that there is a "departure tax" imposing on any traveler leaving Manila airport. But I was really disgusted by this country and couldn't want to run my credit card to withdraw cash. I asked the hotel to settle the tax for me. There is a small fee associated with it, that's fine with me as long as I don't need to go out to the cash machine where lots of people hanging around aimlessly. The taxi is arranged, I walked straight to the taxi and got to the airport, again, with Manhattan taxi fare.

The airport is definitely chaotic. It is not well lit, there are things stuffed in every stackable place. There are security guards wearing no uniforms but a badge in different size and age. The queue is moving like snail crawl but no airport personelle seemed to mind. There are large group of oversea workers trapped in one corner in the airport, I have no idea what are they waiting for, but everyone has a very huge luggage. The check-in line moved as slowly as any other line. The funny thing is that there are 2 large weight scales blocking the real entrance of the check-in queue, as if the situation is not chaotic enough. The JAL people need to weight every passenger's check-in luggage. Oh, that is because there is no scale in the check-in counter. Gee....

After 1 hour wait and I've checked in and you cannot imagine what type of ecstatic state I was in. I went to the counter to show the officer that I have paid my airport tax, he was scratching his head really hard. Oh, no, no, no, the hotel charged me for the fee but they are supposed to give me the cash advance so to pay for the tax. The idiot at the check out didn't give me the money! I was almost bursting into tear in front of the officer, thinking that I might miss my flight and I have to spend one more night in this country?

They let me call the hotel, who has realised their mistake and said that they can give me the money through their representative office. But that's in the arrival level! Panicking, I ran across the queue toward the only exit of the departure level. The floor was so nicely cleaned that my boots' heel skipped and my left ankle sprained. I didn't realise how bad it was, trying to stand up with only one thought that my flight is leaving in 30 minutes, but my left ankle was so wounded that it couldn't stand the pressure. I fell again, really hard this time. I limped through my journey back to Tokyo with tears. I don't want to go back to Manila.