<\/p>\n
Leaving <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n \n Monday, January 18, 2016 Leaving Manila: Another fitful night\u2014probably brought on by the stress of leaving in the morning. I awake at 7. 15 am and take a shower, pack up my bags and get down for breakfast. I meet Gerald Mullins again and he was seated at a table with a Mike Anderson… <\/p>\n
\nManila:
\n<\/span>Another fitful night\u2014probably brought on by the stress of leaving in the
\nmorning. I awake at 7. 15 am and take a shower, pack up my bags and get down
\nfor breakfast. I meet Gerald Mullins again and he was seated at a table with a
\nMike Anderson who had served as an American diplomat in the Far East for
\ndecades before retiring and settling in Washington DC. We continue our
\nconversation of last night and at a very leisurely pace, I enjoy a filling
\nbreakfast of omlettes, fresh fruit and coffee and take my leave.<\/span><\/div>\n
\n<\/span>I have arranged to have the hotel\u2019s taxi pick me up at 11. 30 am for a 1.00
\npm drop off at the airport for 3.00 pm flight. But speaking with the gentlemen
\nat my table, I am persuaded to call for it half an hour earlier at 11.00\u2014which
\nI do. Traffic is insane and there are no guarantees when one will reach. <\/span>I say goodbye to everyone and return to my
\nroom, lock up my cases and call Reception to have the bell boy take them to the
\nlobby. I wait in the lobby for about 20 minutes and my car arrives and, as luck
\nwould have it, we have no traffic at all and reach the airport in exactly 20
\nminutes! I have three full hours at the airport to wait until my flight for
\nBangkok departs. It is a good time to catch up on my blogging and I do just
\nthat. Manila airport is not at all impressive and I find a quiet seat in front
\nof a fan as it is awfully hot. My flight is announced on time and I leave for
\nBangkok on Philippine Airlines. It is a very comfortable flight and I am in
\nBangkok in three hours. There is a three hour layover there as I connect to an
\nAir-India flight where I am delighted to be upgraded to Business Class on a
\nfour hour haul. Nothing could be more comfortable and I am pampered and treated
\nlike royalty with a glass of champagne for starters and the most delicious
\nIndian dinner of tiger prawns served Thai style. <\/span><\/div>\n
\narrive at Bombay airport at 11. 15 pm , clear Immigration and am out in half an
\nhour. My transport picks me up and drops me home to my Dad\u2019s place in Bombay
\nand I am all set then for another week in the city of my birth.<\/span><\/div>\n
\n<\/span>Thanks for following me on this armchair journey. I feel blessed at the
\nend of every trip about the amount of traveling I seem to be doing and the
\nnumber of places to which I have been going. Until my next trip, bye for
\nnow. <\/span> <\/span> <\/span> <\/span>