Thursday, May 13, 2010

Our Hectic Summer Vacation (PAL-MALL Blues)

It was a long hot summer but a short vacation, in my assessment at least. It seems like yesterday I was packing and checking our baggage and travel documents. And in a snap, I’m sitting in front of my computer trying to summarize what I did in my 35 days of absence.

For sure, my wife and daughter have a swell time. Bea enjoyed it very much that she wants to stay in the Philippines nalang while wifey, I think, went to almost all the malls shopping until her feet hurts. She even made a last minute (hour?) side trip to MOA on the day of our departure back here.

Malls are basically alike in terms of products and entertainment offered. What makes them unique from one another is their architectural “set-up” and ambiance. Of the 2 or 3 malls I went to or tag along, Trinoma is the least “shopping-friendly” for first-timers like me. Unlike other malls which have maps that show which stores at what level and a big arrow that says “YOU ARE HERE”, Trinoma didn’t bother to put one. Atticus was right. You’ll get lost in that mall easily if you don’t have a GPS unit. I had to ask several security guards before I could meet my family in our rendezvous point. Don’t ask why but I hate to ask for direction.

We could buy all the things we need in one huge mall like MOA or Ayala Center in Makati where several malls are clustered together. But it took my wife four days and half a dozen malls to complete the items we need. Perhaps some items are cheaper in other stores but I find the difference negligible if compared to time wasted traveling from one mall to another. Not to mention the physical stress of carrying those blasted plastic bags. And if that isn’t enough, I find cashiers annoying when they keep asking if I have an “advantage” every time I pay for a merchandize. A negative response will surely elicit an “Ay sayang, hinde nyo ma-avail”. Advantage in what? Ma-avail ang ano? But I didn’t bother to ask those questions.

All these goods we bought surely put us in trouble with PAL. We choose PAL when we went home for the sole purpose of availing on their domestic connecting flight benefit. You see, international flight baggage is carried over on your domestic flight if you fly PAL in both flights regardless if the maximum weight allowed in domestic flights is only 20 kilos/person. But since our international flight’s ETA is one hour after the last domestic flight schedule to our hometown, our domestic flight was booked one day after we arrive. The problem starts when ground crew at the check-in counter won’t honor our connecting flight because it was booked the following day. They have this notion that domestic connecting flights should be in the same day as our international flight. I had to lodge my complain to their manager before they relented. The question is; what if that happened to another OFW who doesn’t have the tenacity, poorly informed or too meek to complain?

Another thing; we’re allowed 35 kilos/person in our flight from Riyadh to Manila. Logic dictates that the same benefit should also be applied in our return trip. But no, they only give 20 kilos/person (25 kilos max) on our return trip. Alangan namang iwan namin yung bagahe naming espesyal na daing at saba na saging. Fortunately, one passenger doesn’t have a baggage except for a hand-carried backpack and the check-in personnel was kind enough. He transferred our excess baggage to that person’s ticket. To that kindly personnel and fellow traveler, I give my deepest thank you.

Enough of my rants. Next time I’ll post good things naman about our vacation with matching pictures of course.

24 comments:

  1. yung advantage points,is an advantage to the shop, not to customers, kasi the more you buy the more you pay, sa 200pesos ata may piso ka.Kung 10k ba naman ang bilhin mo, bah daku man yun.
    About yang return flight baggage limit from phils, they do that kasi from phils, pinoys tend to excess luggage, pero from international flights, may mga pasahero na handbag lang ang dala.

    Pero ang tawa ko sa babaunin mong daing at saba na saging, lol

    sabayan mo na ng litson baboy in can!

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  2. I normally shop from Megamall and Shangri-la only when I'm home. I dedicate a single day to get the stuff that I need. I have the same rant about the baggage allowance. :( Also, the size of carry on bags changes if coming from Manila. In general, they are more restrictive.

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  3. yes please BLOGUSVOX.. kakamiss ka a.. excited na ako sa philippine vacation photos nyo.. the excitement of traveling, vacationing and visiting our own country.. hay, nakaka miss talaga.. i wish i could do that now. :)

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  4. MOA is really huge, when i was there, the only place i went to is National bookstore and Razons. And one resto i dunno the name, to have eyeball with jeanny and dyanie. Congratulations for giving yourself a nice vacation.

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  5. twitwit!..ayos ang bakasyon..nasanay narin ako sa paliparan sa diskarte sa atin sa pinas...yan din ang tinatanong ko, pag pauwi 30-40 kilos pwede ang bagahe, pero pag pabalik na 20 nalang. eh mas marami nga ang pwedeng dalin sa pinas at ipagmalaki ang pagkain at produkto natin, kasi nga mas madalas na bilin ng ibang lahi satin pag magbabakasyon ay yung mga prutas, mangga, saging,atis, kasoy, santol..

    sana mayron din free na bigat para madala ang mga ito para maipagmalaki narin ang lasang pinoy sa ibang lugar..

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  6. welcome back! i can understand very well why your wife went on such a shopping spree. kung wala lang limit ang bagahe, siguro, puno ang bagahe ko ng sardinas, patis, toyo, among other things :)

    but you were extremely lucky with that other passenger's generosity. ang weird naman ng luggage allowance ng PAL. so inconsistent. write them a formal letter nga.

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  7. Francesca, ay alam mo kung magkano ang saba na saging dito? 12 pesos ang isa. Ganun din ang kamote, kaso walang tanim na kamote sa lupa namin.

    Ms.Jo, you're right. Mas mahigpit ang airport personnel sa atin basta papuntang Middle East. Bubulatlatin pati pitaka mo.

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  8. Ms.Loida, at least thru our fellow bloggers, makikita mo ang nami-miss mong inang bayan.

    sheng, hinde lang huge ang MOA, high-tech pa when it comes to info and theater.

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  9. ever, sa palagay ko, yung extrang "load" nakalaan sa mga negosyanteng nagpapadala ng produkto sa M.E. at the expense of the OFW.

    Mimi, oo, nakonsyensia nga ako't hinde ko man lang na suklian yung kabaitan nya. Kahit man lang kape sana doon sa "smoking area".

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  10. Sa tingin ko sa binabayad ng customer para makakuha ng 'advantage card' na 'yan kumikita na ang mga malls. Simple Math, sa isang libong kukuha ng card multiply sa PhP250 per card. Whew! Paano kung isang milyon ang kukuha? Kaya hindi ako kumuha ng card na 'yan noon.

    Have you voted for Halalan 2010, Kuya Blogusvox? For Noynoy? o",)

    Aabangan ko ang mga photos niyo.

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  11. thank you for sharing, keep it up!!

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  12. RJ, yes but my "manok" was an underdog. Hinde nanalo. : )

    world news, thanks for dropping by.

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  13. wahaha! thank you, thank you. at least di lang ako ang nalito sa set up ng trinoma.

    teka, andito kayo nina misis at ng baby girl mo, di ko man lang alam? aba, bakit ganoon?

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  14. Atticus, sorry JJ, gahul sa oras. mabilisan ang shopping namin. Besides, we just borrowed our cousin's driver and vehicle to drive us around.

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  15. Nag mall hopping pala kayo sa Pinas. Ako rin ayoko ng design ng trinoma, parang ang baba pa ng ceiling di ako makahinga hehehe.

    Buti kami may libre pa-box from Pinas to Japan kaya pag ako namili, puro bagoong at daing din hehehe, plus sardinas at corned beef wala kasing mabili dito.

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  16. ang sarap talaga pag nasa sariling bansa ka ang sarap ng feeling. but we have to face the reality na we need to earn also.

    btw bro paki sama sa prayer Para Sa Pinakamamahal Nanay Namin thank you.

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  17. kita mo, nagbakasyon pala kayo di ko man lang alam, nakapagpadala sana! I am sorry, i honestly missed coming here to your blog, but i was so busy the past few months, and hope to find more time now. Thanks for the wonderful friendship. Please always remember, me and my wife look up to you. Hope to see you someday, and kahit nawawala ka sa Trinoma, sa SM City North na lang, kasi we were able buy a small piece of house near that 2 Malls. hehehe

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  18. by the way, we encounter the same problem when we comeback here. 20 Kilos lang din samin, hays, bakit maalwan from Saudi to Manila? What pala ang airlines niyo? Wala lang, baka pareho samin, and nagpromise kami na di na sasakay sa plane na yun, hehehe.

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  19. I also found Trinoma's layout to be quite confusing the last time I was in Manila. I don't even plan on coming back there the next time I'm in the country.

    In spite of the hassles, I'm glad that you and the family had a fun trip back to the home country. Take care.

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  20. Sardz, true, para din akong sinasakal sa dami ng tao.

    LifeMoto, hoping everything will be okay with your dear Mom, bro.

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  21. Kenjie, I'll never forget you and sheila where ever you maybe.

    Panaderos, 'musta na pards? It's been a while ah. I'm glad you're back to blogging again.

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  22. Its nice to meet another fellow blogger in Saudi. This is Chris po from Alkhobar. You can visit my blog, medyo dyahe nga lang at www.dcharmedone.worpress.com

    Im linking you.

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  23. Makes sense to travel with provincial connection on PAL. Also The PAL terminal in Manila is also waaay better than the other airport.

    I am always pissed at the stupid rules by airline offices in Pinas. It seems that they make their rules at their own convenience. Many years ago when Canadian Airlines was still around, I changed my flight at their Makati office and was asked to pay $100 Canadian dollars. Okay, so I gave 100 C$ and the cashier told me - sir, we accept only US dollars or Phil pesos. ugh..

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  24. chris, thank's for dropping by.

    bw, not only its better. It's convenient as well because PAL's international and domestic terminals are connected together in one building. You just have to walk to the other side for your domestic or international flight.

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