Our journey to Spain was planned even before the “war.” We had already purchased our tickets back in February via our favorite route out of Manila, through Dubai. My husband held on to hope until the very last hour that Emirates would resume their flights, and they eventually did. But by then, we had already canceled and refunded our Manila–Dubai–Madrid–Dubai–Manila tickets.
So we booked new ones with Cathay Pacific. And because of the travel chaos brought about by America and Israel bombing Iran without even consulting me beforehand (hehehe), we had to reroute and buy tickets from a different airline.
We chose Cathay Pacific because it seemed to offer the fastest route to Madrid: Manila to Hong Kong, then straight to Madrid. The catch? No more business class seats available, only Premium Economy. My husband wasn’t happy. “Economy pa rin ‘yan,” he said. Mahaba kasi ang legs nya and he has back pains. As for me, I figured I could manage. I just need to sit quietly, relax, and mentally prepare myself.
We were originally supposed to fly on March 24, but we ended up moving to March 23 because the tickets for the 24th were literally double the price. Even if you were willing to pay that astronomical price for business class, fully booked pa rin. Every chance we got, we kept asking, baka merong mag-cancel, baka may mabakante, but no luck. Punung-puno ang mga eroplano.
Our flight was at 5:45 PM, but we left the house at almost 1 PM. We queued for about half an hour—medyo umikli lang because I told the guard we were senior citizens. When we got to the check-in counter, we asked again if there were available business class seats from Hong Kong to Madrid—wala na daw, fully booked.
Then the flight got delayed by an hour. By that time, pagod na pagod na ako kakaikot sa Terminal 3. From drop-off, to check-in, then climbing up to the lounges on the second floor, going back down, then walking all the way to Kenny Rogers—I was exhausted. Sumama talaga ang pakiramdam ko. I just sat there with my eyes closed.
I took some Bonamine, drank water, and tried to calm myself. Buti na lang, my friend Linda Verzosa from Union City had recently given me several bottles of scents—may lavender, may kung ano-ano. I grabbed this orange one that’s supposed to boost happiness. I kept inhaling it—para akong addict . After about an hour, I finally felt better. Nagkaroon ulit ako ng energy to face the crowded gate, eager to finally board and just get the journey going.
We decided not to stay at the airport lounge on the second floor—we were already too tired from all the walking. Instead, we just hung out near the CX departure gate.
At one point, habang nakaupo ako doon, I secretly imagined that I was rich—chartering my own plane to Madrid, traveling quietly and comfortably, enjoying every minute of the journey. But of course, hanggang imagination lang ‘yan. Not in my reality. Puwera na lang siguro kung ang asawa ko ay isa sa mga big-time contractors—baka may chance pa
Since hindi naman tayo nagtatae ng pera, ayan—upo lang tayo dito, tiis-tiis muna. So instead, I made the most of it by chatting with other passengers.
One woman works in Hong Kong but had to fly to Manila for the wake of her nephew who died in a motorcycle crash. Another woman had just retired from government service in Agoo, La Union and was heading back to Fairfield, California. She shared that she and her husband are planning to surrender their green cards because they want to stay longer in the Philippines—beyond the usual six months allowed. Her mother is already 88 years old, and she wants to spend more time with her.Besides, she said it’s hard to enjoy life in the U.S. If you don’t drive, mabo-bore ka lang kung nasa bahay ka, watching TV all day.
We had good seats from Manila to Hong Kong, thankfully. But again, we tried our luck and asked if we could upgrade from Premium Economy to Business Class for the Hong Kong to Madrid leg—after all, it’s a 14-hour flight, medyo mahaba-haba, and we really wanted to be more comfortable. Naku—wala talaga. Not even an inch of space is available. Super full daw.
At almost midnight, we were missing HK noodles so we went to the fast food area. Edmund had noodles while I had Hainan chicken rice. Hindi gaanong masarap.
The flight from HK to Madrid took off about half an hour late, at 1 am. It was smooth except for 30-minutes turbulence around Turkey. Tinulugan na lang namin. I had half-a-tablet of Bonamine which helped me sleep. Ang sakit ng katawan ko, from head, neck, shoulder, arms, bewang, back, knees, legs, feet, ay ang sikip. Even on Premium Economy, sikip na sikip ako. Siguro kasi tumaba ako kaya parang lumiit yung chairs. My husband seemed cool. When I asked him kung okay sya, okay lang daw.
When we booked the tickets, these were the only ones left. Walang ibang choice. Para bang grab it!
Para kaming sardinas. The ladies beside me were traveling from Australia. Mas malayo ang pinanggalingan. They were going to Madrid and Morocco. But they seemed calm and fine. Unlike me, super arte. Hirap na hirap ako, every time I would go to the toilet, my husband had to move his butt out of the way. Kailangan lulukso ako at gugulong to go back to my seat.
I felt claustrophobic.
The in flight service on Cathay Pacific was good. The flight attendants were friendly and efficient. The food was good too. I liked their dimsum breakfast.
We landed safely at 8:30 AM at Madrid Adolfo Suárez Barajas.
We didn’t rush to leave the airport since our hotel check-in wasn’t until 3 PM. I also chose not to book a car pick-up. I wanted more flexibility. Ma-stress lang ako thinking that a driver would already be waiting outside. So we took our time, moved slowly, and just eased into the moment after that long, exhausting journey.
Upu-upo muna kami dito, hay, sobrang pagod talaga ako. Lately, medyo mahina na ang resistensya ko. Mabilis akong mapagod. AGING!!!!!!
I don’t want to sound like a diva, pero sobra talaga akong napagod sa flight. My daughter was so worried about her dad, but in the end, ako pala ang bumigay. My husband was totally chill, while I was aching all over my body, parang nirayuma, sobrang sikip ng pakiramdam ko. Para akong si Vilma Santos in a scene in an old movie… “ayaw ko ng masikip.”
Etong blue Skechers ko, kung saan-saan na nakarating. (I think I have three pairs of the same color and style). I just found them light and comfy. Skechers daw is the favorite of senior citizens. True. I have tried all those fancy shoes, wala, nasasayang lang, back to Skechers.
When we were going out of the terminal, an airport police stopped us, he asked where we came from, and he touched my blue suitcase. I asked him “Do you want me to open it?” He said no. Edmund said if we were white, he would not stop us. My husband thinks the officer racially profiled us. Hindi ba nya alam, magkamag-anak kami? Sinakop nila ang mundo natin for 333 years tapos ngayon haharangin nya kami?
