Yes, I was on the last call. The last person to be called before they shut the gate. But first, let me explain the situation.

I left home at 6:45 and arrived at ParkNFly at about 8 am. When I got there, I learned that they no longer accommodate those without reservation, starting December last year. At the back of my mind I knew something like this will happen that’s why I was very early. I prayed so hard that they still have slots at Terminal 2 carpark.

And God granted my prayers. Only a few were left.

Then it rained hard. I only had my tiny and light umbrella with me and my sneakers and socks were wet. I don’t want to have smelly feet inside the plane! 😭

Check-in was smooth, no issues whatsoever. Now here’s the hard part: there were so many delayed flights so pre-departure holding area in Terminal 2 was full. Good thing I was a little over 4 hrs early so I got a seat at the laptop area and was able to write almost two stories.

The problem was there were so many people that I couldn’t hear the PSA and couldn’t see Gate 7.

And I didn’t realize that the flight to Bangkok changed from Gate 7 to 6. They keep reshuffling gates due to delayed flights from Kuala Lumpur, Shanghai and elsewhere. When I glanced at my wrist watch, I saw it was already 1:15 pm. Departure is at 1:30 pm!

Then they started calling my government name.

I quickly grabbed my laptop, chargers, and extension cord, jumped at the boarding gate, and stuffed my dangling electronics into my purse and laptop bag. Good thing people are still stuck at the tunnel because of people blocking the aisles as they shoved their heavy carry-on luggage into the overhead bins.

Whew! I AM NOT THE CAUSE OF DELAY!

That’s what I get for being too deep into writing that I totally shut off the commotion around me that I missed even the PSA. 😑

So this is why almost two stories. I was already wrapping up my second long article when I had to shut my laptop and dashed for the boarding gate.

I only changed a few pesos into THB, thinking that I can get by using my credit cards. Wrong. I’ll get back to that later.

I communicated with my Grab driver through photos so he would know who to look for…

And where to look…

I’m so tired. I just want to eat and have a massage.

A Filipino colleague based in HK arrived earlier and he messaged me that we could grab dinner at the mall across our hotel. Well, our hotel is surrounded by three malls so eating out is not a problem.

Prior to leaving Manila, I already asked him if he could check out massage places near our hotel. He did find some along the street perpendicular to Sukhumvit.

I had a Thai deep-tissue massage with Tiger balm. The masseuse was so good that she didn’t have to use so much force to remove the knots in my muscles. She just knew where it hurts and she just had the right amount of pressure. It was so lovely that I will have massages everyday.

Now you know why I need more cash. Massage places here are cash-basis only and e-wallets are for those with Thai phone numbers. Or Thai ID. Or everything is in Thai.

I think I will just spend on massages here and nothing else 😂