Scary Manila

Trip Start Feb 03, 2009

Trip End Aug 23, 2009

Loading Map

Map your own trip!

Map Options

Show trip route

Hide lines

Where I stayed

Carlston Hotel

Flag of Philippines Manila, Luzon, Philippines
Thursday, February 5, 2009

We arrived here on a four hour flight and got through customs without them checking any onward flight details (just our luck!). We reclaimed our baggage and headed off to eventually find the Thai Airways office for our refund. This is when our troubles started again. The woman in Bangkok never told us that it takes two weeks processing time for the refund to be sorted and on top of that we had to visit the accounting department across the city. We were very much down in the dumps before we even started. We had no arrangements for after we landed and had a flight to Hon Kong in five days that we didn't want.

I got pro-active and we went to the domestic terminal to buy tickets to an island called Boracay. Along with that return ticket we also bought our ticket to Kota Kinabalu which is in Sabah, Malaysia in North Borneo. By that time after draining two cash machines to pay for the tickets and very, very little sleep we were wrecked and crashed out in the nearest hotel. It wasn't great or in a great part of the city and was very expensive too. The next morning we caught a taxi across town which was just uncoordinated chaos to the this accounting office. We spoke to a woman and told her we were leaving in two weeks. She said it should be processed by that time and to come in next time we're in the city. We got our receipt and were back in a taxi on our way to the domestic terminal to catch our flight. We flew with Cebu Pacific Airlines and went on a dainty, little propeller plane for under an hour to a lovely paradise!

All was well again and we were finally about to chill-out and relax!