The day has finally arrived. Me and my friend Chie met at exactly 6 AM at our agreed meeting place. We still could not believe it was actually happening! All was going well until we approached Pasay City area. Our taxi driver thought we asked to be dropped off to NAIA 2 instead of NAIA 3. I was so worried that we might miss our flight since there were only two hours left before our departure time when we arrived. I glanced at Chie and we strongly agreed we both clearly said NAIA 3.
After a few minutes, we hopped off the cab and did not mind not getting the change. Taking a few deep breaths, the officer-in-charge at the departure area told us to relax since there was still ample time before boarding. We did as we were told and we patiently waited for our turn at the check-in counter. Surprisingly, my friend Chie’s ticket which she purchased online but was paid through LBC (cash – with receipt, e-mail confirmation and all) was said to be ‘on-hold’ and not confirmed. She was instructed to proceed to the express counter and was offered to settle a whopping 350 USD at first!
Thankfully, she asked the breakdown of those charges. Turns out they would automatically include meals, insurance, checked-in baggage fee etc in this rate. After some negotiations, she was able to just pay 150 USD for a ticket with checked-in luggage. My friend does not want our initial plans not to go as is so even if her pocket would be crying later on, she went ahead and purchased the ticket (#ouch!)
Early this year, we have actually planned to visit just Singapore. I was able to buy a round-trip ticket during Cebu Pacific’s seat sale at only almost 4000 Php all-in. However, we have decided to make this a tri-country journey. Chie just purchased a one-way ticket to Singapore and a return ticket from Bangkok to Clark (Our itinerary was SG-MLY-Thailand overland). We thought after getting our boarding passes we can now rejoice but the Philippine immigration officer questioned her for about 10-15 grueling minutes since she did not secure a return ticket from Singapore. I had no problems since I am employed by a private company and had a return ticket on hand (which i bid bye-bye also to later on). The officer just asked for my company ID and voila, I was off to Merlion City! I watched over my shoulder expecting Chie to appear behind me. I was getting a bit nervous as I watched from afar. Chie was obviously getting edgier by the minute. Good thing we had our whole itinerary, transportation and hotel reservations printed out. Since she is a businesswoman she presented proof her income and some business papers to prove that she has no plans in turning incognito or playing my Fairy God Mother (who is popular among kids because she disappears with a blink of an eye). I remember candidly she narrated that the officer smiled a bit when she read in our ititnerary: Chie and Paula’s birthday celebration to be held in Kuala Lumpur. Oh well, I guess being true to our plans helped convinced her to let my friend join me in the boarding gate. And off we were on our way to Singapore. 🙂
nerve wracking nmn yung mga eksena!
Oo nga eh..sa hinaba-haba ng preps eh muntikang nang di matuloy,,tsktsk,..good thing all went well! 🙂
we will also be going to SG-Melaka-KL end of this month and we can't wait to read your posts so we'll have some additional info for our trip.
we bought our return tickets for P7,500 for the three of us. we fly in to SG by the end of this month and return to manila via KL by the first week of December.
Hi Batangala! Yay thanks I appreciate you anticipating my next posts…You may PM me if you have some questions I'd be glad if I can be of any help before your departure date. 🙂
What an experience! I am so glad all things went well.. 🙂
Yep Ephraim we were really glad all went well. 🙂
Hay maarte talaga mga immigration officer sa Pinas, kung anu-ano hinahanap. Samantalang paglapag sa SG wala naman katanung-tanong yung immigration.
Ay tama ka dyan Cris! andaming tanong tanong…nagulat na lang din kami pagdating sa SG wala ni isang tanong, kahit bday hindi vinerify… 🙂
Hayan na hayan na. Start na ng mga bira, lols! 🙂
Nag tri-country ka pala, kaya pala medyo matagal karing nawala sa blogging lately 🙂
Ok ok, will wait for the upcoming posts Pao 🙂
Hello Edmar, yep medyo nagpahinga last month dahil sa trip na ito..:-)..eto na nga! hehe!
oh no.. but cge lng. charge to experience nlng. im sure yoiu guys had fun! 😀
Hahaha…ang mahal nga nun Wander Shugah buti may extra money sya kundi baka magisa ako sa trip na yun! waaah! we had fun! 🙂
Nakakakaba talaga minsan pag nasa immigration and I think they are really strict lalo na if sa Singapore ang punta. Buti na lang everything went well in the end. It's a good thing also that you have someone who loves to travel as much as you do, it makes the experience more fun.
Tama ka dyan Che, though bakit sa kanila wala namang issue if you are Pinoy? 🙂
I think mas strict pa nga yung immigration dito sa atin, to think na pinoy naman tayo. But when you're in SG na, no hassles naman sa immigration.
Oo Che lalo na nung nasa Malaysia-thai border na kami. Yung immigration dun eh nasa isang lugar lang…parang nagoa-autograph ka lang ng libro…hehe…mabuti dun wala na kaming naging problema rin…
it happened to me just this year… papunta naman ako ng HCMC nun. and I was alone. it took me siguro mga 5 mins para makipag diskusyunan sa immigration officer… he was questioning me bakit daw mag isa lang ako… and i didnt prepare a reason for an immigration officer bakit mag isa lang ako… at the back of my mind sabi ko "kailangan ba laging grupo?" and one more thing ang return ticket ko was bangkok… he's asking me pano ka pupunta dun? duh!!! grabe talaga yun… buti nalang nabola ko kasi nakita nya lace ng ID ko nung college… and his son ata is studying there too and we have thesame course pa!!! hahaha…
good things was it all turn out well… "yes charge to experince" =)
I hope they could be more lenient when it comes to those who really have proof that they can travel….