Manila - Loyal & Beloved

I never had a desire to go to Manila. None whatsoever. Though admittedly, curiosity did get the better of me, especially considering Manila has one of the highest concentrations of Roman Catholic churches in Asia, second after Macau, with a very rich religious tradition.

Also, during this time, I was reading about Constantinople during her heyday as the capital of Christendom. The ecstasy, the intermingling of the divine and the profane in a square mile, all fringed by a grand harbour, somehow made me think of Manila. That and the latest Bourne movie, the Bourne Legacy, was filmed there, so I was a bit curious to see how movies and reality intersect.

(*my Macau trip was likewise influenced by watching the latest Bond movie, Skyfall, despite the fact the movie crew hardly stepped foot in Macau.)

Manila, the capital of the Philippines, is a monster of a city. Just the thought of it is enough to scare you with her sheer size. Yet, despite that, the airport leaves little to be desired. I took a last minute flight to Manila, on Christmas Eve itself, after celebrating Christmas Eve Mass in Kuala Lumpur. Timed just right, I was due to arrive in Manila at ‘absurd o’clock,’ when, hopefully, I can check-in at the hotel early and have a whole day exploring the city.

Now, the airport was a sheer nightmare. I have been to chaotic airports before. Medan Polonia is a throwback to the 70s, Jakarta Soekarno-Hatta has terminals right but departures facilities a bit wrong, especially with lounges, and Denpasar-Bali before the renovations is sheer madness. I landed at Manila International’s new Terminal 3, and the layout felt very dated, despite being operational for just around 2 years.

I have nothing against ‘different’ layouts or basic facilities. I do, however, have a bit of an issue with poorly designed arrival facilities, especially immigration. In most airports with international arrivals, there is a ‘resident/X nationals’ lane and an ‘others’ lane. In most major Asia-Pacific airports, there is even an ‘APEC/Diplomatic’ lane. In Manila Ninoy Aquino International Terminal 3, it was all muddled up, no separation of the masses.

The queue went on for miles, and with no separation between locals/foreigners at counters, understandably, first timers can easily get confused. With 3 flights arriving simultaneously and only maybe 6 out of 26 counters open with hundreds of passengers, it was a nightmare waiting to happen. I arrived at 4am, so I wasn’t expecting that many people.

In the end, I waited until 5.30 am to finally reach a counter, get my passport stamped and officially enter the Philippines. Contrary to their tourism marketing promo, everything is not more fun in the Philippines, especially waiting for more than an hour to pass immigration.

Yet after the airport hiccup, I was pleasantly surprised with Manila. It took a few minutes to adjust to the fact that they drive on the right side of the road, but otherwise, to get from Manila Ninoy Acquino International Airport to the Mandarin Oriental Manila in Makati City, it took me all of 20 minutes smooth sailing at 6.15am, costing just under US$5. The perfect way to start a pre- and traffic hour taxi ride comparison.

Most loyal and beloved? It is beloved if the traffic was as smooth sailing as that on a very regular basis.