The pier was crowded and overflowing with tourists. There was no place to stay except for a lone bahay kubo which also served as the outpost of the local officials there. It was drizzling so we tried to squeeze in. We were all told that we should all head back to the island but nobody wanted to leave. All of us were hopeful that the coast guard who prohibited all trips would change his mind, it was after all just drizzling.
After hours of waiting, we were told that there were a couple of boats that were allowed to take passengers out of the island. All of us headed out and started forming multiple queues. One lane for each boat waiting by the shore. It was a gamble as we really didn't know which boats were headed out. By this time, the rain started to get stronger. We all started to get drenched, our bags, my laptop but we couldn't care less. We were by the beach with our knees submerged in the water but we all stood our ground. We then got lucky when the boat in front of us revved it's motor. I prayed for our safety and thanked God that we would be able to finally head out. With a minor incident because a large group of Filipino family cut in line, we made it to Caticlan.
The bus that was supposed to take us to Kalibo since our flights were routed there left 5 minutes before we got there. The locals wanted to take advantage of a couple of Koreans and were asking them to take a shuttle with us. In times of crisis, it still surprises me how some people can be so selfish. I refused and kindly requested the people at the PAL office to call the driver of the shuttle to pick us back up. They refused telling us that the bus was already full. By this time, my temper is already getting the best of me. We were all wet and feeling cold. Again, I stood my ground. Finally, they relented. We were able to get on board the bus, it was half-full.
When we got to the airport, it was crowded and full but there were no announcements of any flight cancellation. Oliver and I bought something to eat and started to wait. It was about 3pm. After hours and hours of waiting, the plane finally arrived at 9pm. You can just imagine the relief on everyone's faces.
Here I am feeling oh so happy...and then the waiting happened again. We started to get worried since it's been 30 minutes and the plane hasn't taken off yet. Oliver went to the cockpit and found out that the the people working at the airport already closed the watch tower and left. We were then later asked to deplane. We had no choice but to spend the night there.
I headed out of the airport to queue for the shuttle that was supposed to take us to the hotels. Since it was already late, they were only able to get hold of 2 shuttles so the passengers had to all wait. When I was already in front of the line, the Filipino family cut in line again by talking to the guard there. By this time, Oliver blew up. The spokesperson of the family told us that they rented out their own shuttle so the passengers all retreated. When the shuttle left, we found out that it wasn't true. Hay.
The hotel they holed us in was dingy and dirty but we're just glad that we were able to finally rest our weary bodies. We woke up early the next day, headed to the airport and was able to take the flight back without any more incidents.
At that time, I was feeling frustrated and I couldn't believe what was happening. What I didn't know is that most people had it worst. When I got back to Manila and saw the news, I don't know why but I immediately felt guilty. Compared to what happened to most, we were still lucky cause we were dry at the airport. There were toilets available, a canteen was there in case we got hungry. Compared to what happened to most, we didn't have it bad.
I wasn't able to help out since I had to fly back to Singapore for work but I'm glad that Oliver and the rest of my team then at Sykes did. I saw that while some would take advantage of one's misfortunes, there were more who willingly help out.
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