Bye, Ilocos! Hello, Stress!!!

We were down to the last two destinations before wrapping up our Ilocos adventure. When we arrived at St. William Cathedral, it started to drizzle. Since we experienced torrential rains days before, that didn’t bother us anymore.


After taking some photos of the cathedral’s façade, we decided to go inside to say a little prayer for our safe travel back home.


After that, I asked Boyet that I’d just find a restroom because my bladder couldn’t hold it any longer. I just spent a couple of minutes inside the restroom, and before I knew it, it was already raining harder.

I initially thought that Jeff and Joie were still inside the cathedral. But I got a text message from Joie telling me that they already went ahead to the Sinking Bell Tower. Kuya Lenzer told us that he couldn’t bring the van to the SBT because it is a one way street. The rain was so heavy that Jeff and Joie needed to ride a tricycle just to cross the street and return to the van. So suffice to say, I left Ilocos without seeing the Sinking Bell Tower. Bwisit na pantog ‘to!!!

Now, here’s where the real FUN starts!!!

Since there was no sign that the rain would be stopping soon, we just decided to have McDonald's drive-through for (super late) lunch. Kuya Lenzer was so kind to stop a few meters away from the airport so we could eat. Siyempre, nilibre namin siya. Final kwentuhan na rin before we say babay. Hindi ko alam bakit, pero mas masarap ang McDo spaghetti sa Ilocos!

We arrived at the airport around 4 PM. That’s very early for our 5:50 PM flight. I thought that checking in would be a breeze. But apparently, we have a couple of items that are not allowed to be hand-carried. Airphil convinced us easily to check-in our leftover tinubong. But there were a few discussions with the miniature windmill I bought from Bangui. They wanted me to include it in my check-in baggage, but they kept on reminding me that they are not liable when it gets broken. Hindi nga ako bumili ng suka dahil alam kong bawal, pati windmill ko papakealaman nila?! :p

Anyway, Manong Guard suggested that he’d just wrap my windmill in a transparent plastic bag and put a FRAGILE sticker on it. Hay, buti pa si manong, concerned sa windmill ko!


Fortunately, there's free WI-FI in the waiting area. TV was also turned on and tuned in to ABS-CBN. A couple of minutes before our flight, Airphil made an announcement that our flight would be delayed. Joie said, “So, what’s new?” It was for me. Compared to my Cebu Pacific flights which were ALL delayed, it was my first time to experience such an inconvenience with Airphil. Oo, ALL sa Cebupac, as in 100% delayed lahat ng flights ko sa kanila.

To kill time, we’ve tried some of the (overpriced) pastries being sold at the airport. Joie was already starting to get grumpy, but I was still laughing each time she’d voice out her disappointments. My Ilocos experience was such a pleasant one so a delayed flight couldn’t ruin my mood. Kaso na-realize ko dumating kami THE BUZZ ang palabas. Aba, RATED K na, nandun pa kami? Naiisip ko, aabot ba kami ng GGV dito?! At ang nakakaloka, may Ilocos feature ang RATED K! Mwahahahaha!!!

We talked to an Airphil ground crew member and asked her what caused the delay when in fact, the 8 PM PAL flight was already boarding. She told us the usual, “Traffic po sa Terminal 3 e. Terminal 2 po kasi ‘yung PAL” Joie asked if we could just have the PAL flight instead. She just laughed! Asa ka pa kasi Joie!!! :p

My husband asked, “Hindi nyo man lang ba kami papakainin?” The ground crew member said that the food would be served in a few minutes. After a few minutes, they gave a one-piece Jollibee burger steak meal to each passenger. Another reason I refused to be stressed out by our delayed flight: I wanted to experience being stranded in an airport. There, wish granted! :p

Fast forward. When we landed to Manila, we rushed to the baggage carousel. We got all our bags in no time since there were only a few passengers on our flight. Then we realized that my windmill was missing! Boyet asked the man peeking from the carousel if they saw a windmill. I saw that a guard was holding it and handed it to the other guy. He gave it Boyet when he realized that we saw them. Lintek, dedekwatin nyo pa ‘yung pinaglaban ‘kong windmill?! 

Here’s a funny thing. I wasn’t stressed with the delayed flight. But those NAIA3 people really got into my nerves. And to make things worse, I got a text message from Joie telling me that the airport taxi overcharged her and refused to use the taxi meter. :| Oh dabah? Ang bongga ng post-Ilocos adventures namin?! :p