Sunday, March 16, 2008

Day 1 - Macau: Getting There

4:00 - alarm sounded off
5:00 - finally decided to wake up, received a text from minnie, she's on her way to the airport already
6:00 - left the house, hailed a cab to NAIA Terminal 1

6:30 - saw minnie, got our boarding pass, checked in two baggage (my backpack and a tripod) at CebuPac counter. paid travel tax P1,620. paid terminal fee P750. queued for immigration but have to fall in line again because we did not fill up the embarkation form (?).
7:30 - minnie bought Smart Prepaid Sim auto-roam for P300
8:00 - we boarded the plane from Gate 1. Keng sat from the window seat with me squashed in between her and minnie.
8:30 - we ate the donuts i bought last night and bought C2 on the plane for P50. eventually fell asleep.
9:50 - we landed on HK Airport 10mins earlier than expected. We searched for the transfer-in desk and stayed clear off immigration.
10:45 - Saw turbojet's ticketing counter and purchased 3 12:15 economy tickets to macau for HKD180 each, thanks to my visa.

11:00 - we ordered our lunch at Pak Loh Chui Chow Express, two noodle dish good, a bottle of water all for HKD120. No dollars yet so we paid in plastic.

12:00 - we went to Gate10 and was able to board the transfer bus to the ferry fifteen minutes after. before that, i was informed that one of our baggages seemed to be missing. couple of minutes has passed, they told me all our baggages are accounted for.
12:45 - after filling up macau's immigration form, we immediately fell asleep as we turbojet to macau.
1:30 - still in one piece, attempting to get my bearings back on a foreign land, checking our "itenirary" we soon realized we needed money for our taxi fare to the hotel. foreign exchange in macaus' ferry terminal said no to pesos. what to do, what to do? No such luck with my plastic for I do not know my CA PIN. luckily minnie has a debit card and miracolously knows her CA pin. Cashing out HKD300 we hailed a cab to hotel taipa.

Lesson learned:
Try to be at the airport 2hrs prior to boarding time
Don't forget to fill up the blue immigration form before proceeding to immigration booth
Bring US Dollars or buy the local currency of your destination
When paper fails, plastic can save you

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