MNL-BAH (10h 10m)
Airbus 330-243
ETD: 11.25am (GMT + 8)
ETA: 4.35pm (GMT + 3)
The next morning, My BFF and I left
Kabayan Hotel for
Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 1 by making use of the hotel's one-way airport shuttle service mentioned in the previous post. We couldn't wait to fly to Bahrain by Gulf Air, the flag carrier of the Kingdom, which was founded in 1950 as Gulf Aviation.
As we reached the airport quite early, the queue for check-in wasn't that long yet. I recall having my electronic visa checked thoroughly.
As we had some time to kill after completing immigration and security screening, we spent most of the time charging our phones while looking at the air traffic.
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| I was glad to see our aircraft reach on time. |
I found a small kiosk near the gate where I managed to spend the rest of my coins to buy a 500 ml bottled water. A boarding announcement followed soon after that.
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| Hello, A9C-KE! It's almost 18 years old at the point of writing. |
The first thing that I noticed was the strong air-conditioning the moment I boarded the aircraft.
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| I love the 'falcons' onboard. |
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| That was my seat for the next 10 hours or so. |
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| Frankly speaking, that was probably the very first time I finished reading through an in-flight magazine. |
Given that no retrofitting has been done on this particular aircraft, I found the seat to be pretty comfortable despite the age of the plane.
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| Pretty cool, eh? |
Once most people had settled down, the flight attendants started distributing earphones and blankets, followed by the safety video being shown.
I said goodbye to Manila in my heart, thinking that I probably wouldn't be there again anytime soon.
The seat belt sign was on for a duration longer than the usual. As soon as it was switched off, the flight attendants went around to offer beverages. If I'm not mistaken, there were only three choices: orange juice, milk and water.
I wonder when was the last time I encountered a non-on-demand In-Flight Entertainment (IFE) prior to that flight.
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| I watched Capture the Flag, a Spanish animation movie produced in 2015. |
Three choices were offered for lunch, one of which was a vegetarian option. Read
here for more details.
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| Lunch main course #1: Baked Fish with Mashed Potatoes |
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| Lunch main course #2: Minced Beef with Rice |
I used the lavatory twice only throughout the flight.
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| Dirty mirror... |
It was very hard for me to fall asleep, but I managed to get just a bit of rest. Knowing that I wouldn't be able to sleep again, I read the magazine all the way from the first page till the end.
The second meal service was completely vegetarian. I suspect the main course was the same as that served during the first meal service.
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| Light meal: Stir-Fried Vegetables with Rice |
The aircraft was flying over Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates when I finished eating.
As the rest of the flight was uneventful, so let's fast forward to landing.
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| So barren... |
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| As the aircraft parked remotely, we had to take a bus to the terminal building. |
The queue for non-Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) passport holders was moving very slowly. Thankfully, we noticed that we had to fill in a disembarkation card each before reaching the immigration counter, which apparently wasn't given during the flight. As soon as my BFF went out of the queue to get the cards from the desk behind while I stayed, other people started noticing the existence of such cards too.
Once immigration clearance was done, we went to the belt to collect our luggage.
It was disappointing that Swiss International Palace Hotel forgot to send someone to pick us up. We asked for help from a friendly Filipino lady at the information counter to call the hotel regarding the free shuttle service. Thankfully, the driver finally arrived after 20 minutes or so.
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