on my way...

doha, qatar: so sunny and hot

written on 9/21/11, 9:27PM

i left manila on an afternoon flight at the NAIA terminal 1. there were too many people leaving and i was a bit lost as to where the entrance is. was there a queue or what? and then i realized that all those people were just either too early to check-in or were just there to send someone off.

two significant things happened to me before i got to my gate: first, i had a long interview with the immigration officer because he was asking for my company id, which i couldn't find amongst all my stuff (i even had to remove half of what's inside my backpack just to look for it but to no avail). i understand that he was just doing his job but it was so frustrating that he won't accept my social security id nor my professional id. eventually, he probably got tired of waiting for me, and he accepted my jmj confirmation letter as proof that i'm not going as an illegal worker or whatever. finally, he stamped my passport.

second, i didn't notice that i left my umbrella inside my carry-on and when i passed through the last (i mean last!) x-ray machine before getting to the departure gates, the inspectors stopped me. i had to remove my umbrella (which was so way down my pack) and leave it behind. yes, ladies and gentlemen, umbrellas are not allowed inside the aircraft if you're flying from here or even just domestically. it seems that the authorities are afraid that these things can be used as weapons inside the aircraft (i heard that there was such a case but i'm not sure if it happened here or not). yet i didn't want to leave my umbrella behind for the reason that i'd be moving around most often and i don't want to waste my time going inside a mall just to look for an umbrella. i insisted for them to let me take it inside but they won't budge. the only way that i will be able to bring my umbrella along was to go back and have it checked-in. at the counter however, they were a little hesitant of taking it in because it was such a small item and they told me to put it in a bag. i produced my grocery bag, put the umbrella inside, and they accepted. yet something good happened (well, for me, that is) and i was able to get my umbrella when i was inside the departure gate! so lucky!

so after all these troubles, i was finally off to rome. but first, an ten-hour long stop-over at doha, qatar!