I got off the plane in Toronto. I found my way to the check in desk for Philippines airlines in the third terminal. I needed to do this because the airline was unable to send a boarding pass digitally. After more walking around on the moving sidewalks, I found myself at my gate. I have a free benefit to use one of the lounges. It was OK, but more people were there than I expected. Not too many chairs that were alone and I didn’t see any work stations. My boarding time was coming quickly so I headed to the gate.
I boarded early into business class. It made me feel slightly uncomfortable, but I got over it quickly. Everyone is nice and the service is excellent. A warm towel and a glass of water with lemon was provided before we even left the gate. The provided meals on this leg were excellent. I had a tuna salad and the sea bass for my first meal. I finished that off with a chocolate bunt cake.
The time in the air on this flight is over 16 hours non-stop. I had enough time to watch 4 full length movies start to finish.(the latest installments of Dune, Aquaman, Beatlejuice, and ghost busters. I also watched Furiosa, but had to shut it off with 20 minutes left as we stated to descend.)
This flight pathed over the north pole. Because it is a night flight all the shades are closed to let people sleep. So I was unable to see if I could find Santa’s workshop. (image provided by internet search)
After the first meal I was able to get 2 hours of sleep. This will turn out to be the only sleep from Wednesday morning in Canada to when I arrived Friday afternoon in the Philippines. The chair is a full lie flat so that is not an issue, but maybe the excitement of travel, or the change in routine kept me awake. They kept provided water and snacks throughout the flight. I accepted an apple and they offered a snack set that I had a little later. There was more items offered than I took, but I was not very hungry so I just took some healthier options and the blueberry cheesecake.
As we were approaching the Philippines, the passengers started to rise from their long rest. Lights were being turned back on and breakfast was being prepared. Unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures of my breakfast. It started off with more fresh fruit.(grapes, melons, pineapple) followed by a pork sigsig burrito with tater tots and a side of salsa.
Here is a picture of the meal menu. They also had a drink menu but I did not partake this time.
With breakfast done, we descended into Manila. We landed in Manila with no issue. It wasn’t too hot at 25C because it was 5:30 in the morning, but it went up to 30C by noon. You could really feel it.
