Bangkok Trip Gone Bad (November 24, 2009)

I have a friend named James who runs a gambling business somewhere in the north. By mid of October this year, he called up to greet me a happy birthday. As a treat, he gave me his credit card details so that I can book us a flight to Bangkok by November. I instantly went to the Cebu Pacific website, keyed in our details, and then finally had the itinerary printed.

November 23, 2009 came fast. I went home from work, packed my stuff, and then headed to Mall of Asia to meet James. We proceeded to Park and Fly to deposit his car. Upon reaching NAIA Terminal 3, we ran to pay the travel tax worth P1,620. After getting the receipts, we approached the Cebu Pacific boarding area carrying all the excitement with us. I was imagining temples, elephants, Phatphong, spicy delicacies, shirt shopping, and all the good stuff. In a matter of minutes, all the excitement flew away as I was denied entry by the airport officer. It turned out that my passport is less than 6 months from expiry. The not-so-attractive Cebu Pacific representative fed us a litany of terms and conditions, airport guidelines, and other several a chu chu which simply meant that I can’t fly to Bangkok that night. With extreme prejudice, James debated with the officer ala Attorney Katrina Legarda but all effort was futile. I stood in one corner about to burst in tears because needless to say, I badly wanted that vacation. Despite both of us feeling emotionally battered, James moved on to take the flight while I hailed the very first taxi I saw. I messaged my colleagues in the office and all of them gave a sympathetic, similar response: “P@%*ng i#%!” Without a choice, I went to the Department of Foreign Affairs the following day to have my passport renewed. And I’m telling you, it was never fun. I had to double the dosage of my Stresstabs intake that day.

The moral of the story is quite obvious. If you didn’t get it, then go get a knife and stab yourself. Oh well, I’m sure the Big Guy above had his reasons. I’m OK now.