Sky Journey

Assalamu Alaykum. This essay is about the things that happened during our flight to Aklan…

When we boarded the plane at 11:30 am, the first thing I did was to pray. After that, I looked out the window. The airport was really designed to be an international one. It used to be an abandoned building and now it is one of the most known airports in the Philippines. It might also be known in other countries by those foreigners who come here for a vacation.

The airport was very big and had a clear and wide glass window facing the runway so you could see the airplanes fly… I used to watch airplanes fly from that window for more than 2 hours, and now I am the one who’s going to fly. Then after 15-20 minutes, the airplane started to move. It stopped at 13 kph for 10 minutes, then suddenly flew up at 18 kph, which made it a bit harder for all of us to get acquainted with the pressure.

The plane was still slanted until it straightened when we were more than a thousand feet in the air. But before it became straight, I saw the houses, malls, other business buildings and cars. As we went farther, I saw everything like a map. The only difference was that this view of Metro Manila was moving. And I thought, “How busy this city was!”.

During the flight, I saw a lot of things. Fishing boats, big and small islands… One of the islands I saw was shaped like a curled fish. Another one was very steep. It must’ve been very hard to climb there. Then the airplane went higher until all I could see underneath were clouds. When I looked up, all I could see were some cirrus clouds. If you look up further, you could see that the earth was really round. Or maybe egg shaped..

When we were already near Aklan, after 30 minutes of flying, Cebu Pacific attendants gave some games. It is the only airline that gives games and they are known for that..

Then the airplane started to fly down. It started turning from right to left, which allowed everyone to have a glimpse of the green city of Kalibo. Full of mountains, rice and corn fields, ponds, and best of all, it gave us a very nice view of the Aklan river. The river was very wide, but it seemed to have dried up a little.

We landed at a very rural looking airport. It was a nice one. When I asked Lolo Ed what time was it already, he said it was already 12:35 pm. We took some pictures in the airport first.

12:45 pm as I recall was the end of my sky journey. It ended the moment I stepped out of the airport.

Going To Aklan

Assalamu Alaykum…

Last March 20, we went to Aklan. We left the airport at 8:30 am. The check-in finished at 9:05 am. We waited at the check-in counter for about 20 minutes. Then we proceeded to the next counter where you pay your terminal fee. The fee was 200.00 pesos each so all in all we paid 1400.00 pesos. Then we went to the part where we put our things in the second x-ray scanner. The first one was at the entrance. In this second scanner, you are required to remove your shoes too! Maybe it’s because more bad people hide weapons on their shoes already. Lol…

Then we proceeded to the waiting area. On our way, we stopped by a corner so that those who wanted to pee could go to the CR.. While waiting for the others, a fellow Muslimah asks where and how could she get to “Gate 119” (It was a long way to that gate from the corner where we were). So Inah told her to go straight ahead.

Then all of us went to Gate 119 because that was also where we would wait our flight. We waited for 3 very exhausting hours… I think it was just because the three of us were very excited. Until it was time to board the plane. Zakiran kept on asking Inah, “That’s our plane already, right?”. It was very funny to see the way they carelessly threw your baggage to the airplane.. Ombellen’s painting which had a note “Handle with care” in it was about to be thrown just like the others until the man saw everyone looking. So he simply dropped the painting slowly…

All the things I experienced during this flight is what I call, our Sky Journey…

When we arrived at the airport of Kalibo, we were greeted by the sight of green trees everywhere, fresh air, and the smell of the sea. It was really a province!

Lolo Rex and Lolo Cristin were waiting outside the airport and Auntie Melrose arrived after a few minutes to take us home.

The house was big enough to accommodate 7-10 people. It wasn’t really small, I’m just used to seeing a big house I guess.

Our days in Aklan were full of fun! And we were always with our cousins…

Feeling shy, Playing, Pillow fighting, Swimming, and the last thing they all did, was being sad because we only stayed there for 4 days. They were already making some reasons for us to stay.. But I guess it was already late. So they said, the next time we go there, we should stay longer…

Wassalam…