Filipino time is certainly something else. Either I’m of another race in my previous life or the real-time business that I’ve worked with for 9 years just completely rubbed off on me, but either way, I’ve become a stickler for being on-time…most of the time. The day of my trip to the US was pock-marked with a lot of time issues. For one, if the cab driver I’d contracted to take me to the airport had arrived on the dot as he’d promised, the 20 minutes wasted waiting for him might have kept me from standing in queue during check-in for an hour. Another is the delay in boarding and the lack of proper procedure for it. Had they echoed the process of the Royal Brunei Airlines in calling out passengers according to rows instead of sections, the plane might not have had to taxi so long as it waited to be cleared for take-off. Although it cannot be helped and no longer can be delimited to Filipinos alone, there was likewise a delay in the serving of meals en route to New York as very bad turbulence was encountered almost as soon as the plane went airborne.
In the handful of travels I’ve made over the years, I’ve never been overly impressed with the food served on board. Today’s fare was no different as it remains exactly the same as what I had a year ago. From Manila to Narita, breakfast choices were spam with egg and beef. I remembered having to choke down my breakfast of last year which was the spam and egg combo so I opted to take the beef and egg bit. While that was a smart choice, I forgot that I was among the first served so the food was too hot for me to handle. I ended up coughing through my first few bites, natch, but managed to regain control of myself. For the meal from the Narita to New York flight, I went for the Korean-style bibimbap. It lacked the pepper paste but it was still alright. One thing about the food though, is that it’s complete. They served a complete 4-5 course meal which was filling enough. Entrée was fresh green salad with a dressing that I actually liked very much then the main course comprised of the bibimbap and breaded chicken. The latter wasn’t something I finished since one of the two pieces carried with it the flavor of the ginger slices on the side (and I don’t like ginger). Desert was a chocolate mousse cake which I found so-so. Lastly served was the roll with butter. When we neared our destination, snacks were served in the form of a pineapple pastry puff, yogurt, and some mixed fruit. Since I don’t eat yogurt and was not feeling up to eating the fruit, I finished off the pastry.
We landed and docked on time at JFK International and though my itinerary said I’d be at Terminal 1, I ended up at Terminal 3. I really wanted to give the airport the benefit of the doubt and that the terminal would look better than last year however, that hope was killed when the immigration set-up remained the same. The place reminded me of the old domestic airport in Manila though the biometrics was more high-tech. It was a bit surprising to see how lax security was seeing as how I could have walked out of that airport with someone else’s luggage. No one bothered to check if the baggage ticket I had matched the one attached to my wheeled duffel. There was a bit of confusion on my pick up because my family followed my itinerary to the T and then it took us longer than usual to arrive at Clifton, New Jersey due to roadside whackos asking for death. We circumnavigated and found ourselves in downtown Manhattan before my aunt became familiar with the “back roads” to Clifton. When I was asked how my flight was, the only word I could think of was ‘turbulent’. It’s always interesting what happens whenever I travel and though it may be frustrating sometimes, it does bring a wealth of possibilities.
