We were not keen on driving all the way to Ilocos Norte so we decided to fly to Laoag from Manila via Cebu Pacific. This was thus our first time to fly out of NAIA Terminal 3.
We left the house on a Thursday afternoon and we were in the airport in less than an hour. (We were expecting more traffic, I guess.) NAIA 3 is big, clean and cool, a significant improvement over the old Domestic Airport and maybe, even a bit of an improvement over the Centennial Airport (also known as NAIA Terminal 2).
The yellow banners with a photo of Ninoy Aquino (and the slightly revised quotation: Filipinos are worth dying for) caught our eye and made for good photo opportunities.
We were quite early at the airport that the counters were not open yet so we decided to explore a bit. There’s an area where you can buy food like: Yellow Cab Pizza, Dimsum N’ Dumpling, Jollibee, Mister Donut, Mini Stop, and Kopi Roti. So to kill time, the family enjoyed some fries, siomai, and donuts.
The bathrooms were spacious and clean, with toilet paper, liquid soap, and paper towels. I hope the bathrooms stay that way, even as the airport gets older.
On the way home from Ilocos on a Sunday evening, as soon as we got to the luggage carousel, we only waited a few minutes for the second of our two bags to come out. The first bag was already on the carousel just as we walked towards it. Be sure though to check your bags very well when you get them since as we walked out of the airport, no one even checked our stubs vis-a-vis our bags!
We took a coupon taxi to get to home and we didn’t even have to do any lining up. We were out of the airport area very quickly. The line for the metered taxi was long (I suppose that that would come out cheaper) but when you are tired and hungry late at night, I suppose it is better to take the first cab out.
May 21st, 2009 at 11:52 pm
Hi Angel… I loved the new terminals. We have the same sentiment re: maintenance. Sana nga they keep it the way it is.
I wasn’t sure about the coupon taxi and opted for the metered one because we were third in line… Bad news was we waited for sooo looonnngg.
You’re right, next time I will definitely use the coupon tax.
From LipadNa: Yes, time is our most expensive resource. Thanks for dropping by Auee.
September 20th, 2009 at 5:18 pm
Yeah, I was pleasantly surprised about this new terminal. Parang whoa! nasa Pinas pa ba ako nito? I just hope when it opens full blast, the maintenance people keep it in the same pristine condition. Then I can truly say, Yes! The Filipino can.