This was at 5 am yesterday. Filipino immigration people at NAIA are so infamous for their power plays that they even force people to bring their school yearbook to prove their identity that they indeed graduated from so and so school, which is irrelevant to the purpose of flying out of the country. Many have posted on social media about their woes of missing their flights because of the caprices of immigration staff.
And they’re causing the choking at the gates.
I think the recommendation of being three hours ahead of your flight should be changed to four.
This is the reason why I also keep on flying with PAL, because they’re assigned to Terminal 2 and Terminal 1. This T3 is a living hell, starting from its development by PIATCO—which was riddled with corruption, hence, the shoddy construction, etc. It’s that terminal that keeps on losing power during critical days like New Year, Labor Day, and the latest one was just recent. One of the top corporate lawyers in this country told me that the PIATCO concession contract was the dirtiest he has seen in his entire life.
Another issue with T3 is the choking at the immigration gate. The people assigned there are power players. One of my reporters last month was taken into custody for futher questioning because he keeps flying in and out of Jakarta. He had to take out his contract to prove that he is working for our company. I told him they can call me to get an earful from me. I can report them to their bosses at DFA if they keep on harrassing him.
That’s another reason why I don’t dress like a hitchhiker when I fly out of the country. They do a profiling of everyone based on his/her appearance. If I look like trash, I would be mistaken as someone who couldn’t afford this trip or that trip, hence, I am doing something illegal, like human trafficking. I kid you not. I wear jewelry, bring out my expensive bags, I put on makeup even if I’m there at 3 am—as I learned through the years of traveling for work and leisure. I should look like I have money to travel. So far I haven’t been questioned that much so whatever I’m doing is working.
Now that I ditched PAL, I am now exposed to T3. OMG, such a living hell.
But with a better airline this time. I didn’t sleep during this flight because I was able to finally watch The House of Gucci from their in-flight entertainment. When I fly out on Friday, I will watch Everything Everywhere All At Once.
My desire to check for sales and deep discounts is not that great because I just indulged in the 4th of July sale in the US. Yep, I shopped online and was awake until 5 am to check out items that were originally priced/valued ~USD 400 to more than half of it. I will have it delivered to an Oregon address (tax free!!!) by ShippingCart (which is owned and operated by LBC) and then delivered to my address in the Philippines. I did that years ago when I bought art kits from Amazon for my girls and my Sony Walkman (TM) mp3 player, which is still going strong up to this day.
So no need to buy from parallel importers here in Singapore (which what I originally planned on doing) and just go straight to the official online stores of fashion brands like Coach, Kate Spade and Tory Burch. Shoes might be tricky because of sizing issues so I better shop for that personally in Singapore. My last two shoe purchases were from Tangs at Orchard.
Given the extravagance I just had, I restrained myself from going over my shopping budget 🤣 I just keep on justifying my insanity by telling myself that it is for work and today I will be meeting the regional head of a Japanese trading house/conglomerate. At least I should be on the same level as these guys in suits—at least on the outside. 😂
I don’t know when I drifted off to sleep last night. I was so tired.