Korean business trip.....

I had to go to the Philippines on Friday for a meeting with one of our customers. I got up early at 4:15am, and got the shuttle limo to the airport and caught the 8:30 flight to Manilla. Economy flight was OK, with usual plane fare offered by Korean Air. Either Bibim-Bap or Chinese-ee pork. I chose the pork - I didn't fancy anything spicy, as it tends to play merry-hell with my tummy especially when out and about for any length of time. Landed at 11:30 local time, and headed out for an arranged pick-up. This was when it all started going wrong....

Upon exit from the baggage area, through the sliding doors, there were several people holding up cards looking for their charges. I looked for our names, or at least the company name that I was going to visit. nothing, no-one there. We headed out to the pavement, in case the driver was there, again, nothing. We tried to head back into the arrivals, but were blocked by a security guard. He told us to go around and go through proper entrance, where we had to x-ray our bags again! Hung around for a few minutes and made a call to Korea to contact customer to ask where driver was. We were looking a bit sorry for ourselves, when a skycap came over and suggested we go to arrivals waiting area #2. What? They have another wating area? We headed out the building once more and crossed the road, downstairs to a side road, and sure enough, our guy was there. This is where all the families meet up because they are either not allowed inside the terminal, or are too cheap to buy a parking ticket.

We headed to the plant, some 15 miles away, and our driver told us it would take maybe 2 hours! What? 2 hours to do 15 miles - was this guy crazy? As it was, the trip only took 45 minutes, but it did rain cats and dogs on the way.

We met at the plant with our hosts, and had the meeting. The building was old and dirty, but inside the production lines looked well cared for and modern. I couldn't say the same about the conference room - old, dark and dismal - spare chairs were of the plastic garden variety!. They know how to look after you and make you feel welcome - Not! My colleague popped out for a pre-meeting coffee with our host. What he told me made my jaw drop! He asked a bit about the Philippines in general, size of population etc. All the usual small talk. "Is the Phillipines safe?" asks my colleague, "Oh yes!" says our host with a really sincere look on his face, "Everyone has a gun!"

So the moral of this story is, that if you kill someone, their family will go out and find you, kill you, and then your family will.....etc etc etc and so it MUST be safe. And I thought Korean logic was screwed up...

We headed back to the airport as this was a one day trip only, and it took us the best part of 2 hours to get back. As soon as we hit the outskirts of Manilla, it was a foul-up with traffic. We fought through and got to the airport around 8:00pm for a 00:30 flight, but no desks were open to check us in. There were no restaurants or bars to sit and enjoy a relaxing glass of beer, so we just stood around and waited. This was a pit of an airport. We found the desks which were going to be opened and waited around there. Security guards told us to wait at a certain point on the floor and began to arrange and herd us like cattle into 2 lines. Korean couple, (bless them) with usual obliviousness to others around them, decided to park themselves at the check-in desk and wait until it opened. What with a long day, and even longer night flight back home, I let rip! "Oi, Yeogio!...Haji-mah!" which roughly translates into "I say, You there, Please don't do that" Couple duly obliged, but decided that to stand in front of me would be a sutiable compromise. Not likely! A quick flick of wrist with thumb pointing behind me, sent them scurrying off to the back of the line. As it was, we had to exit the line anyway, as I noted a sign though the departures gate which had a booth collecting cash for an exit tax! We asked how much this was, and were told to change some money at the money exchange. We offered up 20,000 Korean Won(about $20 USD) for around 750 Pesos, but were told this was not enough! "What's the exchange rate?" we asked. This was where I swear the guy pulled up his hankerchief over his face as a mask and started waving around his pistol. "We buy at 0.041 to the Won, and sell at 0.023!" What? "Almost a 50% mark up - are you kidding?" "That's the rate - take it or leave it" said Dick Turpin. We left it. Money was extracted form hole-in-wall machine, and we headed back to the line. The back of the line! Behind the Oblivious Koreans!

The desks opened, and we shuffled like old men towards the desks, waiting our turn. The girl on check-in looked at us, and I asked for 2 aisle seats. She must have seen the dejected and tired look on our faces. She got up and spoke to the supervisor. we got bumped up to business class! Result! We just had a weight taken from our shoulders, and looked forward to the extra glass of Scotch and tasty sandwiches in the business lounge. I have to go back in October for a follow-up visit, and I have to say, I'm not looking forward to it. I have decided I don't like the Philippines!

We got back at 05:30 on Saturday morning, but the travelling had sapped my energy, and the weekend felt like a lost one. I'll try and make up for it next weekend.