Little Act of Kindness during Check-in and Touch Down

This first day includes bits of stories from departure in the Philippines. I left Manila with a heavy downpour of rains which would have been very challenging without the kindness of a friend who facilitated his driver to take me to the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 1. As always, terminal 1 was full of people yet it still surprised me to see a long queue of Filipinos at the check-in counter of Air Niugini, the national carrier of Papua New Guinea.

I started chatting to some of them asking the basic questions of how long they have been in PNG and in a polite way, where they are working. The average number of years they have lived in PNG was 5 and most of them are connected in the gas industry. The man in front of me weighed his luggage since the weighing scale was close by the queuing area which makes it convenient for passengers to check their baggage before reaching the check-in counter. His suitcase weighed 26 kilograms which was 3 kg more than the 23 allocation. He deiced to remove something which surprised me upon seeing him took out a 2-kg ariel and another 2-kg surf powder detergent. I couldn't stop myself from asking why he has to bring such item to PNG which he politely replied with ‘meron naman kaso ang mahal kasi doon’ (it’s available but very expensive there). As expected, I also had 12 kg excess baggage which I managed to reduce into 4 kg.

I got through the immigration without any question why I don’t have OEC (Overseas Employment Certificate) which I was really thankful about though prior to the immigration queue, the lady at the travel tax counter tried to ask me a few questions why I don’t have OEC. But like my other trips, I was ready with my ‘world peace’ answer.

I requested for a window seat without thinking that we’ll be landing at Jackson International Airport at dawn. Hence, being on a window seat defeated its purpose. I was also seated to a Filipino who remained quiet all throughout the trip and I decided to be the same. In-charge of the cockpit were foreigners while the cabin crews were all Papuans. The service was good and the plane was big. It has been a while since I was on a huge airbus and a proper meal on board because I have been using budget airlines when I was in Timor-Leste. The food was not unusual but I was impressed by the service. 

Upon arrival, I was impressed by the airport. Well, my benchmark was other developing countries I worked in. Again, while on queue, I chatted again to some of them and found similar responses in terms of the number of years they have been in PNG and the nature of their work. After the immigration counter, there was another queue at the customs clearance counter. A Filipino helped me lift my suitcase from the conveyor. Again, I got the chance to talk to other Filipinos. There was one who, after exchanging pleasantries and question and answer of the usual stuff, he gave me his business card. He asked me not to forget to call him so that he can take me around Port Moresby. All these little act of kindness are signs of a good start!