Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Bullet travel points

1. Checkpoint redundancies: why do we need three people to check that my passport and ticket match? At the other international airport, they only have one check at the main door, while at NAIA 3, you go through three! One at the main door, then right after your luggage is scanned, someone else checks that you have your documents, and just before you pay the departure tax, some man come running after you to check your boarding pass. Yeesh.

2. Cebupac still doesn't know which departure gates to print on the boarding pass. So they tell you to hover around three gates till they inform you around half an hour before the flight departs.

3. Sign on the water fountain: Water unsafe for drinking.

4. Ceiling panels continue to heed gravity and lay bare pipes and lighting fixtures. Pillars are unpainted. Sections remain unfinished, with bare bricks and cement floors open for inspection.

There remains a great deal to be done for NAIA 3, so let's remain positive and look forward to the continued improvements.

Finally, for those of us who aren't rushing around when landing in HK, there are free shuttle buses that take you to specific spots on HK island, assuming you get off on the HK side of the Airport (I'm assuming the Kowloon side has the same service). So with a 20 minute wait at the bay, I got a bus to Causeway Bay, and felt a bit better saving some money. Granted the cost of the MTR would have been $4, so maybe it was false economy. Maybe I should have used some of that spendthrift sense buy bringing an insulated bag instead of buying one at the grocery later that afternoon.

4 comments:

Katrina said...

Uh-oh...I'm really getting worried about our Davao trip next week. So, do you think much of the fault lies with Cebupac, the airport, or both?

Watergirl said...

The redundancies are the NAIA 3 mgmt, and I'm sure they are the reason why cebupac can't decide what gates they are using. Just don't stress out over it. Enjoy the new building and I nearly forgot to mention this - wear a jacket! that building is freezing!

kikas_head said...

Is there a bookstore inside the new airport? That is the one thing that has always bugged me about the regular airport is the lack of bookstore/newsstand. I know there is a tiny one in there now but they have a horrible selection & do not take credit cards which bums me out because 90% of the time I am traveling overseas which means I am not carrying any pesos. (Thinking ahead to when this airport will do international as well).

I actually do not hate the old (current) NAIA as much as everybody else does. When I arrive, it always has a pleasant smell (reminds me of the Conservatory of Flowers in SF) and I never get lost. I just wish there was a great coffee shop and newsstand.

Watergirl said...

Hi Kikas, I haven't seen any books for sale in NAIA 3, but there was a tarp-covered stall with National Bookstore signs on it. I wish we had airport stores like the ones in the rest of Asia that sold something to read.

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