[CR Switzerland] Epilogue

September 30 – October 1, 2006
Zurich Kloten Airport - Hong Kong Chep Lap Kok Airport

Once the airport doors closed behind us, we took turns dropping into the washroom before approaching the Swiss International counter. Thankfully, as per the informantion I received via e-mail, Swiss was kind enough to allow a 12.30 PM check-in for a 10.00 PM flight departure! Checked the bags straight through to Manila, and then the ground stewardess (do they still use that term? “Ground attendant” sounds weird, and “ground crew” is a collective noun?) fixed things so that instead of my being placed five rows behind my parents, I ended up only one row ahead of them, on the opposite side of the plane. That's how full the flight was.

I asked how to find the customs booth, directions were given, and then we breezed through passport control, where I *again* asked how to find customs. The immigration official waved towards a booth beside passport control, which was closed at the time. So we decided to have lunch first, then hunt down the dayrooms so we could drop our carry-on bags.

Let me state for the record that I adore the dayroom service of Zurich's Kloten airport. Once I realized just how long a layover we would be having between our Insight drop-off and our take-off (nearly eight hours, yo!) the question of how to keep all of us sane and comfortable niggled at me. I discovered the dayroom service over the internet about six days before we were scheduled to leave, and thanks to the wonders of modern technology, was able to make a reservation for a triple room before we left Manila. Needless to say, I had printed out all the e-mails and the final confirmation in case I needed to show them; but such is the efficiency of the Swiss that it never came up.

The dayrooms are located in the depths of the airport, near Gate 80; this assures their quiet atmosphere. Check-in was perfect (imagine my shock when the concierge immediately realized who I was!); the triple room was just beside the common room (TV, books, tea, coffee, microwave!) and the communal shower/toilet facilities were in the middle of the hall. Lovely! The parents opted to nap, while I prowled through the airport looking for the open customs desk. I found it on the second level of the duty-free and noted it for reference; I wanted Ma to be with me since she was wearing the items in question! I also kicked myself for wasting time waiting for the first floor customs booth to open, when, if I had looked at the airport map more closely, I would have found the open one that much sooner. Ah, well. A taste of what it feels like to be on The Amazing Race, I suppose! :)

Before I went back to the dayrooms, I bought a few more souvenirs. Had myself a cup of tea in the common room and watched some TV with Dad before having myself a little catnap. When I woke, the parents were rested and refreshed, and ready to toodle about the duty-free area, so we started with the customs booth, where the nice man took a look at the forms, then at our faces, and waved us on our way. How simple was that?

Back to the dayrooms for another rest - I would have done anything to have been able to use the showers, but Ma was adamant that it was bad for the health to shower when tired. Blast. So I settled for washing my face instead - which put a definite bounce in my step as we went to find dinner. Back to the dayrooms after that to check out, and then on to catch the tram to the departure terminal, as indicated on the announcement board.

Imagine our eyebrows lifting when we discovered that the flight would be delayed by about 20 minutes! Something about waiting for connecting flights in Hong Kong? Ah, well, nothing for it but to walk through the duty-free , looking for things I could buy with the loose change on hand. Mostly candy, and then I the gave leftover coins to a charity box. We had just arranged our carry-on baggage to accomodate the new purchases, when the flight was finally called to board.

We took off at about 11.30 PM - Auf weidersein, Switzerland!

October 1, 2006
Hong Kong Chep Lap Kok Airport - Manila Ninoy Aquino International Airport

Nothing much to say about the flight, which means that it was smooth sailing all the way. Never would have thought that I would make up for more than six months of not going to the movies by watching three of the in-flight features! These were: The Promise (Chinese with English subs), X-Men: The Last Stand, and The Da Vinci Code. Having finally seen The Da Vinci Code, I still cannot understand the brouhaha raised over the film and the book. I can’t see how anyone could take it seriously unless they really wanted to, and if they really wanted to, I doubt if they were listening to the Church teachings anyway!

There was some slight turbulence through dinner, but nothing really inconvenient. The hot towels to freshen up, and the free chocolates before landing at Hong Kong were very nice! We landed in Hong Kong’s Chep Lap Kok airport and then I promptly missed my parents coming out of the exit tube. Did Dad think to wait for me at the washroom area? Oh, no! They went straight through the temperature control point into the main area - I found them again at the transfer desk. Be still my beating heart...

We arranged our transfers to our Philippine Airlines flight, and then Ma said I could change the leftover Swiss francs into Hong Kong dollars, to be used as "mad money" for splurging. ::insert random squeeing and bouncing here:: Went up to the restaurant level in order to have a snack, since our flight was going to be another 11.00 PM affair, and who knew what dinner would be like on the plane! Split a huge bowl of ramen between the three of us, and enjoyed the view.

Afterwards, we set out on a search for the transit lounge. The directional signs made it somewhat easy to navigate, and we popped into various stores along the way. I settled parents in the transit lounge, which was actually at the ultimate end of the building - a very long way away from the duty-free! - and then took off to scour the shops in more detail.

Looking around, I couldn’t settle on anything except the edibles that Ramon asked me to get, especially the butter shortbread. Purists may shudder, but I picked up a box of Mozart chocolates here ::sighs for the beauty of Austria:: but no tech stuff. Everything I saw was too expensive and we have as good/better at home. Besides, all the *really* good stuff is in Central/Tsim Sha Tsui anyway. Was proud to show Ma that in spite of all the loot bags, I still had a good deal of money to spare - after which I dashed off to get myself a cafe latte and two hot chocolates for the parents. Gods, but that terminal is a chiller at night!

The flight was late arriving from Manila, which fact made all the Filipinos trot out that old joke about PAL standing for "Plane Always Late". ::sigh:: We left Hong Kong around 11.30 PM and arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport without incident. Customs and immigration checks were smooth, despite the long queues. I knew we were home from the sudden rise in temperature - I could literally feel myself defrosting while waiting for the baggage to come off the conveyor belt.

In response to my jubilant text message, my husband promptly appeared from where he had been lurking with the SUV at the PAL Medical Center - about a kilometer away from the airport. We don't believe in paying for parking unless we absolutely have to do so; that's one reason we love our mobile phones - it makes it so much easier to coordinate things!

It didn't take long to load baggage and passengers into the SUV, and so on home, to the rousing welcome of the cats. Seemed like I had barely enough time to settle in, than we had to deal with the aftermath of the super-typhoon...but who cared about the rush? We had had a wonderful time and many lovely memories of a great country, and we were *home*!