Just my luck
Monday, November 20, 2006
16-19 NovemberManila
PHILIPPINES
I was a bit undecided about going home last Thursday because I actually felt tired and emotionally drained (had an argument with someone at the office for the first time). My main reason for going home is to just use my expiring tickets. It was a choice between using the Emirates ticket (DOH-DXB-MNL-DXB-MNL) that'll expire on January 12 and the Qatar Airways ticket (DOH-MNL) that'll expire on December 1. My first choice was to go on Emirates because it is already a roundtrip ticket, but at the counter, the EK staff told me that she could ensure that I will be seated on DOH-DXB but I still had to take my chance on the DXB-MNL leg since the flight was full. I did not want that.
At 1030pm, I decided to just wait for my chance on QR. Anyway, as I said earlier, I was undecided about going home. So in my mind, if I didn't get boarded on QR, I would just go home and relax and spend the weekend in bed. Hehe. Unlike my past travels, I did not request for jumpseat this time. Kung wala, wala. That was my policy last Thursday. But still, when the jumpseat approval was given and quite so obviously, my name was not there, I still felt sad. Haha. Nasa huli ang pagsisisi. Buti na lang, at 5 minutes before the counters closed, we were given seats.
I should be seated on 25K but someone else was there. We called the crew to settle the matter and so I stayed in 25k. A few minutes later, a ground staff was at our side of the cabin asking who was holding a boarding pass with 25K as the assigned seat number. I raised my hand and so he approached me. He asked if I was working with Qatar Airways and when I said yes, he asked me to go with him and told me that I would be transferred to 2F.
2F? Business class yun ah! Hehehe. So I went with him pero he left me just when I was about to enter the cabin so the crew at the J-class cabin asked me where I was going. I told her that the ground staff told me that I was going to be transferred to 2F. Just then, the ground staff came back.
Ground staff: Give her 2F.
Cabin crew: 2F is already occupied.
Ground staff: Then find her an empty seat in Business.
Cabin crew: Why are you upgrading? Business cabin is full.
Ground staff: She has to be upgraded. She's part of the Revenue Management group.
Oha! After that, I was seated in 1J, beside Carlos Agassi. Heheh.
I arrived in Manila at 1400H and was in Makati by 1500H. I just took a bath at the condo and immediately went to see Kitty. We just ate spaghetti and donuts at the food court of their building and after that, I went to see Darwin. We went to Kitaro where he, Pam and Vice ate dinner and exchanged famous lines.
At 630pm, I met V at Greenbelt because we were going to watch Rep's 'The Sound of Music'. It was nice to see and hear Cheri Gil and Monique Wilson (yes, she's back on stage again!) perform. Before we called it a night, V and I had dinner at Gerry's Grill where I saw Jenny and my favorite blogger Kate.
In the morning, I met Cutie and her son who now calls me Tita Monet instead of ninang ni Esha. Hmm. Improving, my personal appeal to kids. Sri Lankan Tiger's mom arrived later to give the package that I'd be bringing back for Tiger. I went to the supermarket to buy some groceries for myself and at 1pm, I was off to the airport again. At 130pm, an hour before the QR flight, the duty officer told me that I was late (again!) and that all seats were given out, including the jumpseats. She asked me to come back the following day because the morning flight was wide open. Hmm. With 2 and a half hours still before EK's flight, I went back to Makati and slept a while. At 4pm, I was back at the airport waiting for my chance. Guess what? You would not believe my luck but hey, I was upgraded to business class again! Haha. So there. I traveled on business round trip. :)
