The Travelling Feet

The best part about having a brother who is based in Manila is that I can ask favors like picking us up at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3 when our plane landed from Cebu while on our way to Bangkok Since we were crazy about cheap plane fares, we had to endure the consequence. On this particular trip, we had to follow this route: Cebu-Manila-Clark-Bangkok-Aranyaprathet-Poipet-Siem Reap just to reach our 1st destination on this leg of our Thailand-Cambodia trip.

After meeting up with my brother, he dropped us off at the Victory Liner Pasay Terminal. It wasn’t far from the aiport though. I just want to “inconvenience” him so that we can save on our expenses for this trip (at least I get to bond with him. LOL).

paid P137.00 for an airconditioned bus to going DAU, Pampanga

To reach Clark Airport, which is in Angeles City in the province of Pampanga, you have to ride a bus for a minimum of 1.5 hrs depending on the traffic.

If you still got a lot of time before your flight, you can chill at SM City Clark like that little fellow below

In order to reach the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport a.k.a. Clark International Airport, you can ride a regular taxi or hire one of those airconditioned jeepneys. A regular taxi is very expensive since they only go on special trips.

the airconditioned jeepney going to Clark Airport

Hiring an airconditioned jeepney will cost you P200.00 for the trip (one way) which is why it is convenient to travel in groups so that you can split the cost of the fare. We paid P150 for this trip since we opted not to have the air-conditioning unit of the jeepney on.

The Clark International Airport opens at around 5 – 5:30pm. If you arrive here early, you can find a seat at those tent-covered benches at the departure area or wait at the benches on the arrival area.

Even if you get inside the airport premises early, you still have to wait for the counters to open at 6:00pm. This is the best time for you to have your money changed to dollars or baht (Thai currency) in case you failed to do so. However, there’d be instances when the Foreign Exchange Currency booths inside the Clark Airport would ran out of bahts. If this happens, you can have your money changed to dollars and have your dollars changed to baht when you arrive in Bangkok.

surfing the net while waiting for our flight (photo credit: Soloflighted)

After missing our flight in Cebu, we had to make sure we were early for our Clark to Bangkok flight since we couldn’t afford to miss it again. One good thing about being early is you’d get to head first to the working power outlets inside the final waiting area of the airport and plug your gadgets while you kill time waiting for your flight.

Finally! After waiting for almost 2 hours, we got our queue to board the plane. The best thing with flying from Clark is that if the aircraft is on time and all the passengers have checked in, you get to leave early. I wouldn’t really say that we got the cheapest fare on this trip but it was already cheap compared to its normal rates. I even discovered that one of my closest friend found a cheap flight to Miami and was exiting from Clark Airport too. I saw her on our way to the boarding  gates as she awaited for her connecting flight out of Clark.

in the absence of a Headware, a malong can be useful in long flights

The travel time from the Philippines to Thailand is 3 hours. I only slept for 1 hour from the previous night so I couldn’t wait to shut my eyes on this trip. After an hour or so, I woke up and saw the Thai Immigration Card which needed my attention. You have to fill in those blank spots in the immigration card since you will need to hand them over at the immigration counters of any country you are travelling.

Thai Immigration Bureau: Arrival and Departure Card

don’t forget to flip the other side since there are more things you need to fill in there

When you travel to a different country, whether you have a place to stay or not, be sure to keep an address of a place you intend to stay or just any regular address since that information is needed in the immigration card.

Alas! After 3 hours, I could already see the well-lit highways of Thailand.

Before you get out of the plane, be sure to move your clock one hour late since the Philippines’ time is one hour ahead of Thailand.

To be continued…

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This is a series of blog posts documenting my trip from Bangkok to Siem Reap and back in January of 2011. If you haven’t read the first posts, please check on the links below:

** Off to Bangkok and Siem Reap
#1 – The Accidental Trip to Bangkok and Siem Reap in 2011
#2 – Trip to Bangkok and Siem Reap: The Planning Stage
#3 – How to Create Your Bangkok to Siem Reap Itinerary
#4 – Arriving 5 Minutes Late on our Connecting Flight to Bangkok
#5 – You are reading this now
#6 – Touchdown Bangkok!
#7 – Suvarnabhumi Airport a.k.a. Bangkok International Airport
#8 – Bangkok Train Station: Waiting for our Train Ride to Aranyaprathet
#9 – My First Taste of Authentic Thai Food

Unfinished Series from my 2008 Trip…
My First Train Ride From Bangkok to Aranyaprathet
Arriving at the Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok
My First Trip To Bangkok

You might also find this useful:
Modes of Transportation in Bangkok
Things to Consider When Planning Your Travel Itinerary
The Cheapest Way to Bangkok from Suvarnabhumi Airport

Nope, that’s definitely not me  That’s my seat mate on our way back to Cebu from our recent trip to Zambales.

After Zambales, we made a detour at the R.O.X. outlet in Serendra to claim a mountain backpack that Ed won. Since we had a few minutes to spare before we head back to Clark, we decided to roam around the store and check out stuff we might find useful. Then one display caught my fancy. I immediately recognized that it was the cool Headwear that the Sole Sisters featured in their blog.

As we checked the different Headware designs, we realized that we need to buy one. Ed lost his bandana in Siem Reap and needed to have it replaced. After getting sunburned from our Anawangin, Nagsasa and Capones adventure, I also found it necessary to get one to protect my face from the sun’s rays on future trips.

There were so many designs to choose from and when I was about to decide that I’d get the Moab Folk design, I saw the only Maroon Paisley design left and immediately grabbed it. Ed, who was aiming for simplicity, chose the Black Paisley design. I guess the price increased since Chichi of The Sole Sisters mentioned in their post that a single Headware only cost Php190.00. We paid Php240 each at R.O.X. but this was already a good buy for me. I wonder though if these costs cheaper in other stores.

more ways to use the Headware

And what better way to test its functionality than by trying it on, right? Yep, that’s what Ed did. I never knew how the FAs or his seatmate reacted to seeing him like that since I was already fast asleep even before the plane left Clark.