Hello Magandang GenSan!
Part 2 of a series.
DAY 1.
July 7, 2010, Wednesday
The Preparations.
I am not new to travelling and I am not new to flying so I knew what to prepare and what to bring. The most important things are your ID and plane ticket. I readied mine and placed them in my bag a night before my scheduled flight. For carry-on baggage, liquids, aerosols and gels exceeding 100mL is a no-no so I bought small “made for air travel” containers so that I could include toiletries and other hygiene essentials in my carry-on baggage. Also don’t forget your vitamins and first-aid needs, although you can opt to buy them when you arrive at your destination. Tripods cannot be carried on board so they need to be checked-in. For a comfortable travel experience, don’t bring a lot of stuff, especially if they’re totally unnecessary! The night before my flight, I fully charged my camera and flash batteries, cellphones and laptop so that I could ready the chargers in my bag and not leave them behind. For clothes, just bring enough and not too much. If your travel itinerary doesn’t involve a lot of “physical” activities, clothes could be recycled so as to reduce your baggage. And yes, I did mention the word itinerary. Long before a scheduled trip, you should prepare your itinerary so that no time is wasted and your trip is maximized. If you’re travelling with a buddy, plan together. If you’re travelling alone, research, research, research and do not hesitate to seek help from friends who travel a lot and friends who live in the place you’re about to visit. Finalize your hotel bookings months or weeks before your trip. Buy maps (I recommend EZMaps) so it is easier for you to familiarize and navigate within a new place. Maps are really a big help as you could already visualize and cluster your target destinations even before your trip, it is another essential if you want to maximize your trip. For this trip, I was with Eric and for that, I wasn’t too hands-on with the preparation of the itinerary as he did most, if not all of the planning. Another thing you must not forget is CASH! Prepare some cash that would just be enough in case of a worst case scenario of having no ATMs available or ATMs bogging down at your destination. You may place your cash in an envelope in your bag. I don’t recommend placing big amounts of cash just in your wallet. My advice is to spread chunks of your cash, some in your wallet, some in your bag, some in some other places but do take note where you actually placed them as you might be scrambling around looking for your cash, that would be worse, LOL. And finally, the biggest preparation comes from WITHIN. Get enough sleep before your flight! That never happened to me as I always get too excited everytime I travel.
The Big Day! The day has finally come. Barely a month after my first out-of-town trip alone, I’ll be embarking on another journey. As my alarm rung at 7:30am, I immediately got up, took a shower, ate breakfast, double checked my bag for my ID and ticket and left the house two hours before my flight. From home, I took a pedicab or “trisikad” to the main highway and from there, I took a cab to the Mactan-Cebu International Airport.
At the Airport. As I arrived, I unloaded all my baggage and lined up for the first security check. I readied my ID and plane ticket. I went through without a hitch. Check-in counters, I readied my ID and plane ticket once again, and laid my check-in baggage at the counter. I totally forgot that I got a GO LITE ticket which means I couldn’t check-in any baggage or else I’d have to pay a penalty. I was forced to opt for the latter since tripods cannot be hand-carried. I was led to another counter and there I paid a penalty of P400. After paying, I went back to the check-in counter and I finally got my boarding pass! Next, terminal fees! Prepare P200. Next, final security check. Remove shoes. Different airports have different security standards. Don’t be surprised if you’re asked to remove all metals from your body like belts, coins, wallets, jackets, etc., in some airports. I then proceeded to the metal detector and went through without a hitch. Finally, with all security checks done, I could relax and refresh before the flight!
The flight
At 9:35am, we were finally called to board our flight. Since my seat assignment was row 16, I had to get down and go out to the tarmac only to climb a few steps again to the aircraft. Row 16 is at the middle part of the aircraft and if I insisted, I could have just gone the regular way of passing through the aerobridge but then I wanted to experience how it feels like to walk on the tarmac and it was quite fulfilling, haha.
I wasn’t assigned to a window seat but I asked my seatmates if I could take it and luckily, they said yes!
View of the Mactan-Cebu International Airport just a few moments before take-off
Somewhere in Bohol
A blanket of cumulus clouds was all that we could see for most of the duration of our flight
Mountains in Central Mindanao
During our initial descent, we passed by a peak of a mountain. I assume it was Mt. Matutum of Tupi, South Cotabato.
Some interesting farmland formations as we got nearer to General Santos.
Brgy. Fatima (formerly Tambler), General Santos City. Notice the grid-iron street layout? This was done on the American Colonial Era during the NLSA or National Land Settlement Administration days lead by General Paulino Santos.
Sitio Uhaw, Brgy. Fatima, General Santos City
The outskirts of General Santos City, Makar Wharf and Saragani Bay
A lahar field in General Santos City?
When the cabin crew announced that we were about to land, I did not quite expect what I heard. “We are about to land at TAMBLER airport”. I was like, huh, did I ride the wrong plane? LOL! But actually, the General Santos City airport is commonly referred to as Tambler ariport as it is located in Brgy. Tambler. But now, the place is now called Brgy. Fatima, so shall we expect the airport to be called Fatima Airport in the near future?
We landed safely at the General Santos City airport 20 minutes ahead of schedule!
HELLO MAGANDANG GENSAN!
(…to be continued)
