Pakistan 2013: Travelling Business Class

Last month, I had the opportunity to travel for work. I went to Pakistan and travelled business class. Okay, one of my fears is the fear of the unknown so I’m always weary when it’s my first time to do something especially if I will look stupid because I don’t know what to do hehehe. So if it’s your first time to fly business class too then let me orient you on how it goes. Flying business class is different from flying economy (aside from the price you pay), first difference is that business class flyers can wait for their flight at the lounge and not at the gate. Second, business class flyers get free food and overflowing drinks (even wine). Okay, I’m a budget flyer so I always fly without the free food hahaha!

For this trip, we travelled by Thai Airways. All international flights to and from Manila is in NAIA Terminal 1 except PAL I think. Although Thai Airways has a lounge in NAIA 1, since it is NAIA 1 the lounge doesn’t look as businessy or as sophisticated as the one in Suvarnabhumi airport. Sorry I wasn’t able to take a photo. But anyway, the lounge in NAIA 1 still offered free food and drinks. When you check-in at the counter, they will give you a voucher for your stay at the lounge. After checking in for your flight, you need to pay for the terminal fee (only in NAIA) then go through immigration. After immigration are the Duty Free shops. Just follow the signs at the airport to get to the lounge. At the lounge, there is buffet of different food and drinks. I remember there was arroz caldo, pizza, fish fillet and other appetizers. And then for drinks, they serve juice, softdrinks, water. I didn't notice if they offer alcoholic beverage.

Once boarded, we were immediately given hot towels and drinks (you can choose whatever you want). And then we given this menu cards where we chose our main entrée for our inflight meal. 

 

After take-off and once the seatbelt sign is off, the food was served. First was the bread, salad and appetizer. By this time you can also choose your beverage of choice – juice, coffee, red wine, white wine, etc.

Then main course.

Then a cheese and fruit platter. You can choose what type of cheese and/or fruit that you want from what they offer or of course you can have everything.

And then dessert and coffee.

Everything was delicious. Yes, even the garlic bread they served was yummy hahaha. 

I flew from Manila to Bangkok and was served this full meal. And then we had a stop-over at Suvarnabhumi airport where I ate again at the lounge.

And then on our flight from Bangkok to Pakistan, I was served another full meal again hahaha. I was so full by the time the dessert was served on that flight. I guess that’s one of the reason I didn’t get to sleep during the flight. On our flight back to Manila (Islamabad-Bangkok and then Bangkok-Manila), I had to remind myself that I don't have to finish everything they served if I'm already full hahaha. Or I can ask not be served dessert at all, which I think I did on the flight back to Manila.

After eating you can choose to sleep, watch TV or listen to music. On the way to Pakistan from Bangkok, I really wanted to sleep since it was a night flight. I even ordered red wine with my cheese (photo above - I’m no wine connoisseur). But as much as I wanted to sleep I didn’t even sleep for a second during the flight.

I had to ask for a blanket because this wasn't automatically offered to passengers

For the budget travellers like me, this is how the business class part of the plane looks like. See how roomy?

Di ba kakulay ko lang ang Thai Airways flight attendants? LOL Photo was taken during the flight home back to Manila. I bought my top in Islamabad for P350. =) 

They also give out toiletry kits on the flight. Well, they don't actually give it out because it's already there on your seat when you get on the flight. On our way there, our BKK-ISL flight was the only one which had a toiletry kit. But on our flight back to Manila, the BKK-MNL provided toiletry kits. The kit includes socks, a mask, toothbrush and toothpaste, mouthwash, lip balm and lotion. I gave one kit to my mom, one kit to Joema, and then one for me. Didn't add up right? On our BKK-MNL flight, the  kit, the lipbalm and lotion are from Crabtree & Evelyn. I couldn't not ask my colleague for his kit when i saw that he was just going to leave his kit there. Sayang naman heehee.

Boracay Day 3

13 November 2012

Our flight back home to Manila was not until 2pm that day. But since we had to allot atleast an hour travel time from Boracay island to the airport and then another two hours for the customary check-in me before our flight, we decided to leave around 10am that day. Joy's family's flight was an hour earlier than ours but we decided to go with them when they leave. Both Joema and Miya woke up a bit late that day. I was up already by 5:30am and started to pack. They weren't awake by 7am and I was started to get a little bit worried because I knew Miya would want to swim again. Joy and her kids were up by 7am, they ate breakfast and I think was at the beach by 8am. I had to wake up Joema and Miya around that time if we want to swim that morning. I brought Miya out with me to the beach with the thought of just meeting up with Joy and her family, while Joema took a bath. Sure enough, Miya wanted to swim so we went back to our room and dressed up in our bathing suits.

Our bagong gising look

Miya playing with her bubbles

  

It looked like we're the only ones there but the beach was packed! 

Just want to add this photo because Miya looks like she's thinking hehe

We just had enough time for a quick swim, breakfast and then it was time to say bye-bye.It started to rain just before we left our hotel. Thank God for blessing us a sunny morning before we left.

Goodbye, Boracay!

It's not my first time to visit Boracay but I don't remember enjoying this place as much before. I fell in love with the place. I think much of this comes from how much Miya enjoyed our trip. We'll visit again soon, Boracay!

Boracay 2012 - Day 2 Afternoon

After lunch we went to a nice spot at the beach. This is the same spot we had the afternoon before but this time we stayed under the shade of the tree. This was around 3pm already. Miya woke up while we stayed here. Just in time to eat, too. Her Ninong bought french fries for Miguel (who didn't eat lunch) so they ate that. Both Miya and Miguel feasted on french fries the entire trip haha! 

Still munching

Then it's swimming time! 

As usual ayaw paawat ng anak ko for a few minutes of picture taking. Look what happens on the next picture..

Ayan kasi ayaw pahawak hahaha! Don't worry nothing happened to her. She enjoyed doing this actually.

Jump shot!

More photos after the jump..

Boracay 2012 - Day 2 Morning

12 November 2012

Woke up late on our second day around 8:30am. I actually woke up earlier than that but since both hubby and baby were still asleep, I went back to sleep. Just goes to show how tired we all were the day before. I was woken up the ringing of our phone, it was Kyla asking us if we're ready for breakfast. But since we just woke up, I told them to go ahead and eat and we'll follow. One of the other good things about this trip is that Miya bonded with her godsister and godbrother (and Ninong and Ninang). She didn't want to leave their site. Everytime we go back to our room she always asks/says "Ninong" or "Kyky" or "Miguel". She didn't look for Joy but by the time the trip was over she knew their names very very well.

They were inseparable

After breakfast we went outside to the beach. We decided to stay at the beach just outside our hotel during the morning and then go to Station 1 in the afternoon. This way we didn't have to go back and forth like what we did the previous day.

Miya had a bathroom accident so we had to wash up earlier than usual hahaha. I think she's also sleepy that's why she didn't resist when I told her we need to wash up arleady. But the moment we're all washed she kept on asking for her Ninong so we went back to the beach. By this time, the kids were just on the shore playing with sand and they were also having merienda. Which reminded me I wanted to eat corn but look who ate it. Kidding, we shared the corn.

And then the kids (and Joy) got their hair braided. Look at my little daughter. She was so behaved the entire time. I think it's also because she's used to this, the yaya across our unit braids her hair too.

When they we're all done, we rode the tricycle  to Station 1 for lunch. On the tricycle ride, I had to feed Miya since she was asking for milk. She was so sleepy, she fell asleep on the short ride.

She slept the entire time we had lunch. We were craving for barbecue but since we couldn't find the restaurant we saw the previous night, we decided to eat at the first barbecue place we saw - Hawaiian Barbecue. Good thing, it turned out to be a wise decision. We enjoyed the food.

To be continued...

Boracay 2012 - Day 1 Afternoon

When we got to our hotel and after taking a bath, I thought Miya wanted to take a nap. She was saying that she was sleep when we were walking back to the hotel. But after feeding (yes, we're still breastfeeding), she said "Ninong, Ninong" and when I asked her if she wants to sleep first, she said "Ayaw!" hahaha. So we regrouped and headed out for lunch. Mek told us about the offer he received from Astoria and figured, yes let's eat where it's free! The buffet was supposedly only until 1:30pm so we were in a hurry to get there. It was already around 1pm when we left our hotel. We took the tricycle going to Astoria. When we got there, wow we were enamored with the place. It was so beautiful there. There swimming pool looked so inviting. There were rooms surrounding the pool. Their dining hall was big and airy. Before the start of our meal we were informed that in exchange of the free meal, we had to go through a 90-minute presentation on their club membership (I forgot the exact term they used). Since we're already there and the buffet lunch was free, we said yes. Anyways, they insisted that we don't have to commit to purchase the membership, we just have to listen.

My daughter making pa-cute to the camera

Our group

The food was good actually. And since we loved the place, we were excited for the presentation. I thought it was one of those annual membership thing where they give you GCs you can use for one year. Unfortunately, it wasn't that. The membership was for 30 years and they require you to pay on that very day after the presentation the downpayment of I think around P18,000. I don't really know the specifics because I left the function room where the presentation was held when Miya started getting cranky. She fell asleep outside the function room, just at the mezannine level of this dining hall where they had several more tables and a comfortable couch - that's where Miya and I settled in. Suffice it to say, when Joema, Mek and Joy left the function room they were already irritated with the hotel staff who gave the presentation. Joy said that she's feeling guilty even because the staff was disappointed they didn't get the club membership. Hay! First off, we're not rich people who just give you 18k right there and then without studying what you are proposing. The hotel gave them an ultimatum to decide there saying that it was a one-day deal! Secondly, if they want people to buy their membership it shouldn't take more than 2 hours to give a presentation. If at first  you get people to get excited with the deal, by the end of the hour and your presentation is not yet half way through that person will probably end up annoyed already. We were there for a vacation after all which you should know because that was one of the questions they had in the first part of the presentation (it was a Q&A portion where they ask you questions on how much you enjoy travelling etc). Funny coz when they came from the function room to get us, I told Joema I needed to pee. He was a bit of in a rush to get us out of that hotel hahaha. Too bad! Astoria Boracay is a really nice hotel in Station 1 from what we saw. But they should stop doing this to tourists! And they shouldn't say it was a one-day deal because all those times we passed by their hotel, they were offering those free buffet lunch/dinner.

One last photo before we left the hotel - Miya still sleeping

Anyways, moving on...As I kept on saying, nothing can hold us back in enjoying the trip. The sight of the beach can easily lift up your spirits no matter how foul a mood you're in.

Back to the beach!

Swim agad agad pag gising ni Miya

Our smiles are plastered on our faces once we hit the water

My water baby

When she's out of the water, she's playing with sand

It was a bit chilly that afternoon because of the rain so I had to put her robe on

When it started getting dark, we returned to our hotel to wash up for dinner. We ended up eating at a nearby  restaurant that served seafood buffet. Sorry no photos hahaha! The buffet was P250 per person and was totally worth it because we ate a ton of crabs (although small), shrimp (again small) and oysters. Miya immediately fell asleep when we got back to the hotel.

Boracay 2012 - Arrival

11 November 2012

For our post-anniversary celebration, we went to Boracay with our friends. We encountered a few bumps for this trip but it was all worth it seeing the smile of my daughter.

We arrived at Caticlan airport around 7:30 am. As with the usual domestic airports here in the Philippines, a bunch of people will offer you transportation to your hotel. One lady quoted us a price of P400 each for the transportation. That was too much for us and since the route and transfers is basically the same when you get it from them or purchase tickets on your own, we opted to buy our own tickets. Just across the street from airport is a small booth (looks like a small sari-sari store) where you can buy your tricycle ticket and boat ticket. One tricycle costs P100 while the boat ticket will cost you P25 per adult. I'm not sure what the age limit is but our 11year old god daughter is already considered for adult fare. So for our group we paid P225 in all. When you get to the ferry, you need to pay for the terminal fee and environmental fee. Okay this is were we had our confusion. For the environmental fee we only paid for 4 adults - P75 each. For the terminal fee, we had to pay for the 4 adults and the 11yo girl - P100 each. But we intially only paid for 4 since we thought it would be the same count as in the environmental fee. When we got to the gate to board the boat, Joema was held off because he didn't have a terminal fee ticket. Ay sus! So for future basis, when you pay the boat fare, you need to pay for the terminal fee as well. Again I'm not sure what the age limit is for the environmental fee but all 3 kids were free. When you get to Caticlan, there is a long line of tricycle which will take you to your resort. There is also a booth there for tickets so we initially went there only to find out that it was for the multicabs - rate is P250 per person. The tricycle fare is P20 per person but since our group can't fit into one tricycle, we opted to get 2 separate tricycles. I think this was considered as special trip because again we had to pay for P100 for each tricycle. Are you still with me? hehehe. Just want to get this over with as a guide to future Boracay travellers. It's not so hard to commute from the airport to your Boracay resort, you just need to be careful and ask before you ride any vehicle how much is the fare.

We finally arrived at La Carmela at around 8:30am I think. Our room wasn't ready yet so after checking in, we left our luggages at their concierge and the receptionist told us that they will just text us when the rooms are available. Joy suggested we go to mass first. So we hied off to another tricycle ride going to the church. After mass, we crossed the street and an establishment which led us to Jonah's and tadaaa....the beach!

Well hello there grotto!

When I tried putting Miya down on her feet (I was carrying her then), she didn't want to plant her feet on the sand at first. But the moment she felt that the sand was smooth and the water was nice, we couldn't ask her to leave the beach. Oh yes, I forgot to tell you, this is sans bathing suits. We were all in our travel clothes. But this didn't hinder us one bit in enjoying the beach. Keber na sa mga nag-isip na ang weird namin - Bora tapos hindi naka two piece hahaha! Good thing we had with us Miya's baby bag and I packed it with a couple of her change clothes.

Look at how happy she was!

It was drizzling when we got to Boracay. It turned out there was an LPA in VisMin area when we got there. But again, nothing can hold us back in enjoying the beach.

Look at Miya looking longingly at the sand and water. Kala mo pinagkaitan ng mundo haha!

Dark clouds

Wet baby. See I had to change her clothes only by this time we didn't have any dry clothes left.

After our merienda at Jonah's we headed on back to La Carmela. We opted to walk along the beach to enjoy it all the more. I thinks this was already around 11am. Before we reached our hotel, they called us to let us know our rooms are ready - just in time! On our way back we passed by Astoria Boracay. Mek was offered lunch buffet for free for all of us, we only had to pay for one. And it only costs P210 so after washing up and changing our clothes (Miya didn't want to take a nap), we headed out back for lunch.

On our way back to the hotel

With a view of the beach. I miss Boracay just looking at our beach photos. Look at that! Even with the dark clouds, the beach is awesome!

To be continued...

Boracay Peek

11-13 November 2012
Here's a sneak peek of our Boracay vacation. Miya enjoyed our trip! She was super duper happy!