Sometimes you get those journeys from hell... Yesterday was one of them...

At exactly the time we were climbing into our taxi, just after 7 am, on our way to the airport, we received a text to say our 9.30 flight would not be leaving until 12.00...

Which would mean we'd miss the only flight to Cebu that day. And we knew there wasn't a flight to Cebu the following day, because that's why we'd opted to fly on Wednesday. And the conference that is the raison d'etre for the trip to Cebu starts on Friday...

So we rebooked the whole itinerary with Malaysian Airlines.

This involved flying via Manila, so three planes rather than two. And it involved arriving in Cebu at 02.00 in the morning.

And it was a lot more expensive. So we now need to reclaim our money from Air Asia for that first, disrupted leg, and claim the difference between that and the new fare on our insurance. I'm sure neither of these processes will be trouble-free.

Having checked in and cleared security in Kuching, we realized that our digital thermometer, an electronic device, was in the hold luggage... So we felt duty-bound to enquire about that. Luckily, the battery is considered too small to be a concern, so we didn't have to retrieve our luggage from whatever holding bay it had reached by then. (We did have to take the thermometer out before travelling on from Manila to Cebu, however.)

Then, as we sat waiting, we heard our names being called for the delayed Air Asia flight...

None of the Air Asia staff we had talked to in the course of the morning had suggested we somehow cancel the electronic check-in we'd done the previous day... So Nigel went off to politely inform them in person that we would not be travelling with them. He could have said, "We will not be travelling with you because you completely screwed up the schedule and our entire itinerary." But he didn't.

Special meals need 24 hours' notice, by the way, so it was a very, very bad carb day...


Our "new" plane was also late, but not catastrophically so. We amused ourselves in KL watching a towie being put through his paces.



It being that sort of day, we also left KL 40 minutes late. And when we got to Manila, we did that thing where you fly round endlessly, as if the plane just can't bear to come back down to earth (presumably the real reason is airport congestion).

Any which way, by the time we were out of the plane, it was 22.30, our next flight was due at 24.00, and we had to clear immigration, collect our bags, get to the next terminal, and check in...

Immigration was really quick. But we lost ground waiting for the luggage, the delivery of which was inordinately slow.

We didn't have time to wait for the inter-terminal shuttle bus, which wasn't due to go until 11.30. And we were initially given a bum steer to one of the usual groups of airport taxi predators (who asked for PHP 1,700 just to take us to the next terminal, and when we said, "Err, no way," magnanimously brought the offer down to PHP 1,200...). Having wiped their dust from our feet, we found a yellow taxi that did the job for PHP 200 (still a little too much, I think, but he did do his best to hurry).

To our huge relief, the checkin was still open.

And, surprise, surprise, we left late... Once on the ground in Cebu, there was a further delay in disembarking, because the pilot had overshot the mark, and needed to be pushed back. Just one of those days... But there must be some slack in the schedule, because we were in the airport by the originally scheduled 02.00.

Luckily, we'd opted for a hotel quite close to the airport for that first night, and we'd contacted them to say we'd be well, well late... By the time we lay down to sleep, we'd been up for almost 22 hours.


This morning we taxied, through clogged traffic, to our hotel for the duration, the Golden Prince.

This is close to the Cebu Parklane, where my conference is being hosted, and to the Ayala Center, a huge mall/park/dining complex. We visited this place almost seven years ago when we were in Cebu for the first time, but as it was dark, we didn't fully appreciate how nice the grounds are:




Everyone is doing Christmas, of course.



And everywhere is super-busy:


After a disastrous food day yesterday, we were keen to look for better options today. A really nice one turned out to be Saladstop!, a Singapore-originating salad bar that has several franchises in the Philippines. We also came across these super-tasty local kale chips:


So, here we are. What will probably be my last conference is coming up. We're rapidly sinking/syncing back into the Philippines way of doing things. There's lots of interest all around us. Yesterday's ordeals have lost their power already.