If you were able to read my birthday blog last year entitled
“Silver”, you must have know that I celebrated my 25th birthday with
a BANG! Well until now that is..
Now let me take you back to October 2011. I just got my
first ever credit card! Oh yeah! I was never planning to use it but since I did
have one already, I decided to look for promo flights that would take me abroad
or elsewhere. So I was there, surfing away, exploring this airline website. And
then, VIOLA, I was booked to go to Singapore on my birthday until Sunday. I was
just like that. And I like it that way.
I have never been out of the country ever in my entire life
and the thought of celebrating my birthday out of the country was more than
welcomed! Plus I have already have my passport for more than a year so I
figured that it was an all systems GO for me then!
Originally, I was supposed to be make this trip on my own
but two of my best friends, Mahal and Josette, decided to join. By the time
they booked their tickets, I knew that the fun trip would be even BETTER! Since
my best friends are coming with me and that Kuala Lumpur was just a few minutes
away decided to visit too! Now would you look at that, two countries in one
trip!
May 15: I was rushing to do all my deliverables from work.
Although the thought travelling was elating, the thought of leaving work was worrisome
to the nth level! This was because I have a new principal and she has a lot of
questions. Aside from the principal inquiries and reports, I also have to make
sure that the number are coming in. It’s actually hard to do cause I was
already excited about the trip but the workaholic side of me refused to be
ignored. So with all my might, I did my best to finish everything but was still
left with a few things to think about which I eventually left on a space in the
office. Who would want to go on a vacation still thinking of work right? Well,
I would (hehehe). When I got home, I started packing my things inside a luggage
borrowed from a friend. I thought 12 pcs of shirts, two pants 3 shorts, undies,
and toiletries would be just right plus a few delicacies to bring to my former
student council advisor and second mother for being gracious enough to open her
space for our accommodations. By my measurement, everything weighed 9 kilos. I
was all set.
May 16: The big day! I got up on my normal time and excited
as ever! Was greeted my family with “happy birthday”s and “ingat sa byahe(safe
travels)”. By around 10:30 am, me and my best friends a.k.a. BBs (best beks)
were in the airport waiting for our 1:00pm flight to SG. It seems early for the
flight but better early than late right? I have always dreaded the immigrations
for some reason. Mainly because of the stories that I hear from friends who
have already travelled. So after filling up a departure form, I presented my
passport and ticket to this female immigration offer:
F.I.O: Ah, punta ka
ng Singapore (So, you’re heading to Singapore)?
Me: Opo (Yes).
F.I.O: Sino ang
kasama mo (Who are you travelling with)?
Me: Mga friends ko po. Ayun po sila<me pointing at
BBs> (I’m travelling with friends. There they are).
F.I.O: Ano gagawin nyo sa Singapore (What will you be doing
in Singapore)?
Me: Birthday ko po kasi. Dun po kame magce-celebrate (It’s
my birthday you see. We’re going to celebrate there).
F.I.O: Ah, oo nga ano (I see)! Happy Birthday!
Me: Thank you po!
F.I.O: October pa pala itong ticket mo (You bought your
ticket last October)?
Me: Yes po.
F.I.O: Pahingi ng company I.D. (Please present your company
ID).
Me: Ai! Naku. Hindi ko po dinala (Oh, I didn’t bring it)
F.I.O: Dapat dinadala mo yun parati. Hindi kami nagpapaalis
ng hindi naming nakikita ang ID kasi baka mag TnT na dun (You should always
bring your ID with you. We don’t allow people to leave if we don’t see their
company ID because they might be illegal immigrants there)
Me: Meron po akong dalang TIN(tax identification number) ID
dito (I have my TIN ID with me)
F.I.O: OK na. Birthday mo naman tas yung ticket mo nung
October pa (It’s OK. It’s your birthday anyway and you bought your ticket last
October).
<F.I.O stamping my departure card and passport then hands
it out to me>
Me: Thank you po!
We’ll I guess this trip was meant to be!
We waited for our plane to arrive, boarded, then flew to
Singapore for around 2 hours and 45 minutes. This was the longest flight that I
have ever had so luckily I was able to sleep.
The airline that we took, Cebu Pacific, always had a short
game after takeoff to liven up the passengers. I was actually excited about the
game since I have never won anything when I rode their planes. When they were
getting ready, I readied myself to participate. My BBs were awake at that time
since we were chatting rather noisily. The flight attendant began to speak:
F.A: Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen. We will be having
a short game to liven things up. But before that, we have a passenger on board
who is celebrating his birthday...
I was like “crap, they know it’s my birthday!”. I didn’t
want to publicize it to other people so I slowly slouched down and looked at my
BBs and they were all smiles. They told on me! That was when I realized that I
had nowhere else to go lest jump off the plane (hahaha!).
F.A: We would like to call Mr. Ian Quitadio and greet you a
Happy Birthday!
<I raised my hand>
F.A: Oh, there you are sir! Since you are celebrating your birthday
today, we will giving you the first prize. Happy Birthday again sir!
<Me getting the prize>
I looked at my friends and they were holding out a mango
graham cake then they said “Happy Birthday!” . It was a nice surprise indeed!
It would have been embarrassing if the F.As coaxed everyone to sing me a Happy
Birthday song. I would have jumped off the plane if they did! HAHAHAHAHAH. We
devoured the cake and decided to sleep afterwards.
After around 2 hours and 45 minutes, we finally arrived at
Singapore! Yey! I was itching to get my first out of the country experience.
After walking through Singapore’s Budget Terminal, we were greeted by Ate
Mitch, one of my BBs sister who was already based there. She led us to the bus
that will take us to the train stations.
to be continued..
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