I went to bed at midnight. I woke up at 3:30 am, too early so I went back to bed. I hate early morning flights because I hate waking up early.
The first alarm sounded, kawawa si Edmund, pati sya nagising. I felt disoriented when I stood up. For a few minutes I just stayed in my bathroom without moving. I wanted to go back to sleep.
While I was taking a shower, naisip ko bakit ba naliligo na naman ako? Kaliligo ko lang kagabi, medyo basa pa nga buhok ko.
I wasn’t sure about my get-up. The white on white top made me look like a medical practitioner. The red pants made me look like I was going on a picnic, not on a business trip. Edmund asked “‘san galing yang pants mo?”
Actually, I found this and the white blouse in my cabinet two weeks ago. I have totally forgotten that I have them. I bought them from the Mango store in Marseille, south of France in 2013. Nasa supot pa. The white blazer too. I bought it from Daffy’s in NY maybe more than 5 years ago. Nasa supot pa rin, meron pang tag-price, buti hindi pa amoy luma. Kaya ang suot ko, puro bagong luma.
I tried-on this pair of Bally loafers I bought in October 2015 from their store in Ocean Terminal, Tsim Sha Tsui.
I haven’t even left the dressing room, my feet were starting to hurt already.
We left the house at 5:25 am. I was expecting to breeze through EDSA, abah, to my surprise (or disappointment), traffic had started to build up. Dati rati, pag alas-singko ng madaling araw, walang sasakyan sa kalye, ngayon parang alas syete na.
I arrived at the airport a few minutes before 6. I checked in at counter 60. It took sometime. I didn’t know what was happening so I asked “sira ba yung computer nyo?” After about 8 minutes, I asked again, “Ano’ng nangyari?” I was worried I would be late for my flight.
Finally, I got my boarding pass and one baggage claim tag.
I went to the VIP lane (kunwari lang). If the immigration officer asks, I would say I am a senior citizen.
Manila
Look, different shoes. Instead of taking the risk of wearing a new pair of shoes yet suffering the whole day dahil masakit naman ang paa ko, I just wore my older white Ferragamo. Comfort is more important than paporma.
I’ve never seen the Mabuhay Lounge this full. They’ve ran out of chairs, and lugaw!! I attempted two times but mas mabilis yung iba nag-iintay in front of the buffet table. I saw a billionaire waiting to get congee too.
I was hungry so I got rice, siomai and siopao.
I finally was able to get a bowl of congee on my third try. Ay, ang lamig!
Minadali siguro kasi nga we were all waiting. 
The flight was full of businessmen. Someone was already occupying my assigned seat. He asked me if it’s okay to switch. Before I could say no, my friend Jun Ortiz-Luis, president of Philexport answered, “palit na kayo”. He was occupying 3D, so we ended up being seatmates.
The plane has no television sets. We were provided with mini-IPads. I still prefer large tv monitors. I don’t watch movies from my IPad.
Jun—-“Maabilidad talaga yang si Ramon Ang. Ayaw maglagay ng tv, mas mahal kasi”.
I just read the Manila Bulletin, Philippine Star, Daily Inquirer and TIME magazine with our new best friend Putin on the cover
What do we have for breakfast… I ordered bangus with rice.
The flight attendant distributed the China arrival card
Jun Ortiz-Luis was almost done eating and yet my food hasn’t arrived.
Jun—- “Eh bakit wala pa ang pagkain mo? Hindi ka yata nagbayad”.
Magko-coffee na sya wala pa rin food ko.
Jun—- “Ayaw ka talagang bigyan, nilalampasan ka. Wala ka daw food stub”.
At long last
Bangus a la pobre. Why is this dish called a la pobre?
I was not feeling well. Nakakainis naman. I took a tenth of a Bonamine tablet and I tried to split this Biogesic but I couldn’t, it was so hard. I just took the whole tablet. Para akong matatrangkaso. Ngayon pa, I am traveling.
Jun, Alfonso, Edward, and etc, were asking me how I was able to get a seat in the business class. There were only 18 seats and all were blocked before hand. Lucio Tan and Michael Tan were in the business class section and so was Atty. Opap Villonco. Ha ha ha. What’s my secret daw. They cited some billionaires who couldn’t get seats so they ended up in the back section.
They were amazed at how I was able to maneuver getting a business class seat considering that I was the last to book. Ha ha ha.
I chose to use the wrong bag. It’s not advisable to bring this bag because the leather is too heavy even when it’s empty.
After a little over four hours, we landed in Beijing. Their airport is huge. I liked the ceiling.
Welcome to Beijing.
