March 22-23, 2013 - Friday-Saturday
Manila > Taipei > Amsterdam > Utrecht
After an exhausting
17-hour flight and what seemed like a thousand delays, I’m finally here in the
Netherlands!
It’s
been quite a trip, really.
Back in
Manila, 22nd of March, I got to meet my co-AIESECer from UP Manila,
Justine Lyris Bacay, who’s going to take the same internship as mine in Brno,
Czech Republic, which is SPEAK! Project – a cultural education program. And as though fate mapped it out, we were
seated next to each other on the plane!
Now,
the plane ride was OK. The 15-hour delay pissed us enough, but the entire
flight was fine, and the food just kept coming in!
Going
to Taiwan, we had fried noodles with roasted duck, macaroni salad, and some
fruit for lunch. Then going to the Netherlands, we were served some beef stew,
duck salad, and pineapple pudding for dinner, and eggs, sausages, potatoes,
fruit, and yoghurt for breakfast. They served drinks a lot too as well as tiny
snacks.
It’s
been a while since I last flew that long, so I was pretty thrilled. Haha!
The
Taiwan interlude was kind of funny. As we only had 30 minutes to deplane and
transfer to another gate, Justine and I just had to make the best of our stay.
We quickly window-shopped around, took some pictures, and just admired Taoyuan
International Airport, which is far better than our Ninoy Aquino International
Airport in the Philippines.
Having
said that, our government sure has to invest more for the
restoration/renovation of our airport, cos seriously, it needs an urgent total
revamp!
Anyway,
boredom is inevitable, especially if you’re on a thousand-mile trip above the
ground. So, thank God for air entertainment! Haha!
I
watched Life of Pi twice – sorry, can’t help it – once going to Taiwan (where
most of its parts were shot, and the home of its award-winning director Ang
Lee), and again before landing in the Netherlands. I watched the first part of
Taken 2, slept halfway through Silver Linings Playbook, watched an episode of
The Middle, and scanned through scenes of Slumdog Millionaire and Breaking Dawn
Part 2.
The music was quite good too. I was
a bit disappointed that they didn’t have indie in their genres, but listening to some Norah Jones, The Civil
Wars, Maroon 5, Alicia Keys, P!nk, and Carly Rae Jepsen kept me sane.
 |
| Our stressed faces after a 15-hour flight :)) |
Arriving in the Netherlands (10:09,
22 March local time), I instantly felt the change of temperature. The plane was
pretty cosy, although ice particles were visible through my window during the
flight. But damn, when we got off the plane, it was so bloody cold! At 1⁰C,
that’s the coldest I’ve ever felt! In the UK, the lowest temperature I got to
experience was 4⁰C. What a difference 3 degrees makes!
Schiphol’s a cute airport – cute
because of all the colourful Dutch finds that I happened to spot in closed
shops. Of course there were tulip souvenirs, klompen, those kissing Dutch
kids, and what not! They’re just too cute, and I can’t wait to go shopping for
some of those when I finally get to go out tomorrow – erm, today.
I was held at the airport’s
immigration office for a while, because I didn’t have a Dutch Schengen Visa,
which is pretty much unreasonable cos I’ve got an official invitation to visit
the country and a multiple-entry Schengen Visa. A lot of people who were held
were Filipinos and other Asians as well, which is quite offensive if you’ll ask
me. But what can I do? That’s reality.
Just before 12 am, I was fetched by
Tito Anne, the husband of Tita Laline – a family friend of ours who will be
accommodating me during my stay. With all the delays in my trip, I felt really,
really sorry, and I kept saying my apologies to them.
And so, we got to the parking lot, where this gust of cold wind blew through my face. God, it was cold! I felt
the pores on my face shut close and my lips chap. Officially, it’s spring, but
the weather’s still chilly enough to be considered winter.
From Amsterdam, going to Utrecht
(where I will be temporarily staying) is a 40-minute drive. Sheesh, they’ve got
really nice roads here! They’re so different from the polluted and congested
roads of the Philippines.
We arrived at Tita Laline and Tito
Anne’s place just before 1 am (23 March), and I’m simply exhausted. Papa
immediately called me, and Tita Laline also helped me reach mama. It’s nice to
get to hear their voices.
OK, I better rest now, as when daylight slips in, I'll be on-the-go again...
♥Andz
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