My Travel Woes (part 1)

My Travel Woes…(Part 1 of two parts)


Travelling is not always that fun. Troubles may come unexpectedly. And when they do happen in one of your trips, my advice is, just maintain an open mind and consider them as part of the whole travel experience. Never let these travel woes ruin your holiday mood. Just enjoy the rest of the trip.

Hear me out and think how these hassles added thrill to my travels making them more exciting.


I lost my wallet containing banknotes, credit and ATM cards at Munich Airport

I felt my whole world collapsed when I found out that I lost my wallet with my cash, credit and ATM cards at Munich Airport. I was terrified at the thought of losing them halfway on my vacation. It’s no joke being left with almost nothing in a foreign land.

My suspect was the guy who bumped me at the airport. He distracted my attention and swiftly pick-pocketed me.

I was totally helpless. I never felt so poor my whole life. I wasted more than three hours at the Airport Police Station just to have my cards blocked, request for replacements and ask for a police report. Citibank would charge me an emergency replacement fee of USD350 per card or that would be USD700 for both Visa and MasterCard. I had to decline. It’s a highway robbery!

Instead, I asked my office to transfer money through a Western Union branch in Zurich because I would be going to Zurich in the next 5 days. I incurred USD350 conversion loss from PhP to USD to CHF because Western Union could only pay me CHF in Zurich. In Manila, Western Union wanted my office to remit in USD. My office had to buy USD using peso funds. The conversion process from PhP to USD and ultimately to CHF by Western Union was another robbery in a broad daylight. Everybody was in it for the money!


I travelled sin documentos in Argentina

This incident almost brought me to jail in Argentina. Please read my April post entitled “A Brave Yet Foolish Decision” in two parts.


I missed my Hong Kong flight

I missed my Hong Kong flight in 2004 with my business partners, Leo and Lloyds. We underestimated the highway traffic to the airport. We did not make it on time. We were rebooked on the first available flight the following day. My colleagues had to stay overnight in my flat because they don’t want that their families would know that they missed their flights. Never mind about the rebooking fee. We decided to just keep it among ourselves. Meanwhile, from the airport, an unexpected black-out in the whole Luzon occurred. When we reached my flat, the elevators were out of order. We had to use the stairs all the way from the ground floor up to my unit on the 22nd floor with our luggage. Too bad for Lloyds for using the stairways up to my unit in high-heeled shoes carrying an oversized bag.


I missed my train ride in Singapore

In 2000, Leo and I missed the night train from Singapore to Malaysia. Since the train had just left, the officer suggested that we take a taxi and catch the train at Johor Baru Station. It’s the station dividing Singapore and Malaysia. That taxi ride was equivalent to one half of our train fare to Malaysia.


My luggage was misrouted in Bologna

On my Holy Week vacation in Bologna last March 2008, I was terribly mad at the airport after I discovered that my luggage was missing. I only learned the following night that Austrian Air misrouted my luggage to Vienna.

I only had my Paul Smith messenger bag containing my travel documents, wallet and some personal stuff when I arrived in Bologna. I spent the rest of the night sleeping naked at my hotel room, anxious about the whereabouts of my personal belongings. The morning after, instead of taking a day tour, I spent half of the day shopping for clothes, underwear and toiletries.

My luggage was only delivered after 24 hours. Good enough I had a travel insurance. Philam reimbursed me PhP10,000 out of the Euro237 that I spent for clothes and toiletries. But still, the reimbursement was not enough to cover such unnecessary purchases.


My flight was delayed in Buenos Aires

A delayed flight could ruin your whole itinerary especially if you don’t have enough time for your connecting flights. Last year in Buenos Aires, my flight was delayed for three hours. As a consequence, I missed my connecting flight in Houston on my way to New York City. I got rebooked on the next available flight departing only after three hours. That was a six-hour delay combined.

My sister had to drive twice from Long Island to JFK Airport to pick me up. I didn’t get the chance of informing her about the delay because my mobile phone ran out of battery. Its charger was inside my checked-in luggage. The delays took one day of my holiday in New York.

Also, in 2004, I missed my connecting flight in Zurich with my colleague because of a two-hour delay of our plane’s take-off at London Heathrow Airport due to heavy runway traffic.

Upon our arrival at Zurich Airport, Swiss Air had to book us in one of its flights to Paris so we can catch a Cathay Pacific flight to Manila. The whole thing made it a 24-hour travel back home. It should only be 14 hours. That was ten-hour deprivation of the comfort of my home after more than a month of being away.

(With part 2)

Argentina paisajes

My Travel Vocabulary (English-Spanish)

My Travel Vocabulary

To those who are travelling to Spain and Latin Countries, I share with you my travel vocabulary and its Spanish translation.


My Travel Mates
English - Spanish
airline company - compaña aérea (Mexico- linea aérea
air stewardess, flight attendant, cabin crew - azafata
bell boy - botones
captain - capitán
commander,commandant - comandante
crew - tripulación
driver - chofer, conductor
front desk clerk - recepcionista
guide - guía
house maid - mucama
interpreter - interprete
passenger - pasajero
pilot - piloto
purser - contador
taxi driver - taxista
travel agency - agencia de viajes
waiter - camarero

The Place To Be
airport - aeropuerto
bath room - cuarto de baño
boarding gate - puerta de embarque
border - frontera
cabin - camarote
corridor,passage,pedestrian walkway - pasillo
counter - mostrador
customs - aduana
entrance - entrada
exit - salida
front desk,reception - recepcion
guest house, boarding house - pensión
hotel alojamiento - hotel
passport control - control de pasaportes
platform ( train) - anden
port - muelle
rail road - paso a nivel (Mexico- paso a desnivel)
station - estación
ticket office - taquilla
track, trail tarmac - pista
waiting room - sala de espera


Things That I Should Have and Things That I Need to Know
baggage cart - carrito
bed - litera
camera - maquina de fotos, cámara
camping tent - tienda de campana
car window, small window - ventanilla
caravan - caravana
change - cambio
control tower - torre de control
cruise - crucero
delay - retraso, demorado
excess baggage - sobrepeso
flight - vuelo
foreign currency - divisas
halt, stop - parada
information - información
itinerary, route/ (timetable- México) - itinerario
lane, route - vía
life jacket, life preserver chaleco - salvavidas
life raft - bote salvavidas
life vest, life preserver - salvavidas
line - línea
luggage,baggage - equipaje
magazine - revista
map - mapa
newspaper - periódico (Argentina – diario)
operating instructions for a flight, operational orders for a flight - consigna de vuelo
overnight bag, travelling bag - bolsa de mano
periódico - prensa
postage, post - postal
reservation - reserva
route, way - trayecto
seat - asiento
sleeping bag - saco de dormir
tax - impuesto
ticket - billete
timetable - horario
trunk, suitcase - maleta
turbulence - turbulencia
velocity - velocidad
visa - visado
visibility - visibilidad
window - ventana

How To Get There/Mode of Transport
airplane - avión
bicycle - bicicleta
bus - autobús
coach, railway, carriage - vagón
ferry - trasbordador
motorcycle - moto
ship - barco
train - tren
train coach - coche cama, ferro carril

How I Describe It…
jerky, hilly, bumpy - accidentado
aereal - aéreo
airconditioned - climatizado
comfortable - cómodo
complete - completo
spacious - espacioso
narrow - estrecho
uncomfortable -incomodo
slow - lento
luxurious - lujoso
modest, unpretentious - modesto
dangerous -peligroso
fast - rápido
normal - regular
reserved - reservado
certain - seguro
silent - silencio

To Do's
annoy - marear(se)
arrive - llegar
board - desembarcar
cancel - cancelar
change place - desplazarse
charge - cargar
check-in - facturar (Mexico- documentar)
complain - reclamar
confirm - confirmar
connect - enlazar
declare - declarar
derrail (train)- descarrillar
descend - bajar
discharge - descargar
embark, go on board - embarcar
exchange - hacer trasbordo
exit, leave - salir
fly - volar
go up, climb - subir
land - aterrizar
lodge - alojarse
navigate - navegar
reserve - reservar
ride, take - coger (Argentina, Mexico –tomar)
sail - zarpar
send-off - despedir(se)
take-off - despegar
top-over - hacer escala
travel - viajar
visit - visitar

CzechMate in Prague (fotos)

Charles Bridge



Italian Court
The small balcony with a small door built for a short king.



Leo, my business partner and friend



The Gothic five-naved Sta. Barbara Church

CzechMate in Prague (part 3)

CzechMate in Prague
17 years after the Velvet Revolution in 1989, I paid a visit to Czech Republic…


Our third day was scheduled for a visit outside the city in a town called Kutna Hora. This town experienced economic boom during the 13th century because of its silver mines. It used to mint silver coins for the monarch.

We woke up early for our three hour drive. The drive alone to Kutna Hora was already a treat. I marvelled at the beauty of landscapes and sceneries in springtime. The view was awesome.

We visited the Gothic Church of Sta. Barbara, the Italian Court where the royal family once resided and where the silvers were minted. It is also in this town where the Sedlec Ossuary can be found. It contains 40,000 to 70,000 human bones neatly piled, some were creatively arranged to form a chandelier, a cross, décors, and hangings on the wall.

Each of these places offered unique experiences. The Gothic Sta. Barbara Church displayed a peculiar charm because it has five naves. The small royal bedroom and the cute balcony, built for a short king at the Italian Court was amusing. Having an ice cold Czech beer in a bar near the Court was as good as the centuries-old silver coins displayed at the Court Museum. The bones at the Ossuary freaked me out. I never saw tons of skeletons like that. I started counting the skulls but after several attempts, I gave up. The guide informed us that scenes from the movie Dungeons and Dragons were filmed there. I can’t explain that eerie feeling inside that dungeon full of skeletons. After that Sedlec trip, it took me months to eat beef ribs or some boned-dish or that famous Filipino Bulalo soup with an abundant amount of cow’s leg bone for that matter.

We returned to the city past five in the afternoon. We got-off near Mala Strana, took some photos and ran like a wind to St. Vitus Cathedral to buy some rosaries and bambino pendants. The cathedral shop closes after six if I may recall. Leo bought a lot of religious stuff. He is a Catholic follower and he has two elderly aunts, both are nuns under the order of Sisters of Charity.

For him a cathedral visit serves two purposes. He goes there to pray as well to appreciate architecture and art . On my part, being a non-Catholic believer it’s more on the latter. He took time to pray, while I busied myself taking photos. We hurriedly went to the cathedral’s shop for the rosaries, pendants and other souvenirs. On the street going back to our apartment, he found out that he left his camera at the shop. He panicked.

He ran as fast as he could. I could imagine how he prayed so hard to all the saints for him to have his camera back. I can hear him say, “San Antonio de Padua…. “

His prayers were answered. He found his camera still lying at the counter of the shop. He must have prayed so hard!

Back in our Apartment, we took time to rest and prepared ourselves for our dates with the Czechs in the evening. It was not a usual kind of boy’s night out with hot girls ending in a usual question for the climax of the night, “Your place or mine?” It was different because our dates were all dead Czechs. We were going on a ghost hunting trip that night.

I needed extra energy and courage for that. So I thought, there can be no better answer save for two bottles of famous Czech beer and a steak. Czech beer is very good, one of the best beers I have tasted so far. I have to give it to them. They really make very good beer. But wait, “What’s this whip cream doing on my steak?” A sweet tasting steak. It was horrible! Okay, I said, “Beer for the Czechs and steak for the Argentines.”

Ghost hunting was never that scary after all. In fact I found it funny. Our tour guide took us to places where frequent encounters with ghosts happen. So there was this story about the headless soldier, the green man, the white lady and all those ghosts I can imagine. I expected to see real ghosts, but I ended up hearing ghost stories instead. What made it funny to me were the reactions of the tourists while listening to the stories. For instance, I saw how the story of a lady floating in the air frightened a young British girl. Okay, with her imaginations and all that, it was understandable. She is just a kid, so ghost stories can easily scare her. But wait a sec, “Why is this white man in his mid- twenties, with a body passable for a rugby player, can display a frightened look while hearing the story of a headless soldier?” I don’t understand it. Can any one give me a better explanation?

For the rest of the week, we were on our own. No more guided tours. I spent two early morning jogs, looked for a cyber café to check my e-mails and shopped for some clothes. Our last free day before hitting the road to the airport was such a perfect day, the sun was up and the weather was tolerable. We had some bottles of beer. The best part was when we came across this Argentine restaurant in Prague called El Gaucho. They served the perfect steak for me, just the way I wanted my steak should be. Saludos!

Leo and I parted ways at the airport. He was on the last days of his grand tour that time after visiting South America and other European countries. As for me, Prague was just my first destination. I was heading to Munich, Barcelona, Switzerland, Rio de Janiero, Miami, Chicago and New York.

Looking back in 1989, at the cross road of my life, I can say, I chose the right direction. Now, I am happy and hope that I forever will be. Friends come and go. Losing a good friend is a sad thing and finding a new one is a gift, a blessing worth keeping.

To the Czechs, "Your Velvet Revolution had inspired and led me to the right path, this I thank you. 'Till we meet again."

CzechMate in Prague (part 2)

Part 2
CzechMate in Prague
17 years after the Velvet Revolution in 1989, I paid a visit to Czech Republic…

Leo, my business partner and I, rented an apartment along the street of Soukanitzka. The building was very old, a silent witness I guess to the decades of political and economic events that shaped this country.

At present, Prague belongs to the Czech Republic. The Czechs and the Slovaks divided Czechoslovakia in 1993. As a result, the countries of Czech Republic and Slovakia were established. It is a charming ancient city. It is one of the most beautiful cities of Europe with 10 of UNESCO’s list of World Heritage Sites.

We joined a city tour. Our tour guide had a very good command of British accent. I remembered how he narrated that during the Communist rule, they had to queue for bread and grains for their daily ration. It was tough according to him. He said, a television set would cost them their annual leave pay so when his family decided to get one, they worked one year straight, forgoing their annual vacation just to have that box in their living room. He recalled that when the Communists left the country, they found out that Czechoslovakia has been producing so many grains, more than enough to feed the whole population. But the largest portion of the production was being shipped to Moscow, the capital of Russia.

The guide took us to the Astronomical Clock or the Prague Orloj located at the old town square. This clock is noted for “The Hourly Walks of the Apostles.” Moving figures of the Apostles and other sculptures come out every hour. It’s one of the coolest things I saw there. The Prague Orloj is a must see for every visitor.

Then we went to the famous Charles Bridge of King Charles IV. It is made of stone and was constructed in the 14th century. It crosses the Vltava River. We had a good view of the river and the bridge because part of the tour was a river cruise. It was in this cruise where we met two lovely ladies, a British blond and an Australian beauty. Cool girls. The whole tour could have been boring without their coquettish stories, gestures, and smiles.

Another interesting stop was at the Wenceslas Square. It is one of the main squares where businesses and cultural communities are located. We saw a lot of shops selling Swarovski Crystals. I can see how tourist ladies spent so much time looking at the crystals. Some were already busy doing their retail therapy on these shops.

Part of the whole day tour was a visit to the Jerusalem Synagogue. It is the biggest Jewish place of worship in Prague. Our guide mentioned some statistics about the Jew population before and after the Holocaust. He told us horrifying stories about purging the of the Jews. I was crying inside while listening to him. I wished that my college friend was there with me hearing his stories. Our friendship paid the price for our opposing political beliefs. However, we may have parted ways but I surely knew that we never lost our respect for each other. (With part 3- last part)

CzechMate in Prague (part 1)

(PART 1)
17 years after the Velvet Revolution in 1989, I paid a visit to Czech Republic…

I was a sophomore at the University of the Philippines in the Visayas in Iloilo City when the events that were unfolding in Central Europe brought me to a turning point. Those events influenced me in making a hard decision: of rejecting Communism, of parting ways with a very close friend who had completely embraced it and had persistently encouraged me to do the same.

It was in December of 1989 when the Velvet revolution in Czechoslovakia had succeeded. A month before that, weeks of civil unrests in East Germany led to the fall of Berlin Wall. The reunification of East and West Germany followed.

I wished my friend understood me. How can I try this ideology when Europe had already rejected it? The Berlin wall had collapsed. The Czechoslovakians revolted and freed themselves. Two years later, the mother country of Communism collapsed when in December of 1991 the Soviet Union fell.

After we parted ways, I did not see my close friend in the University again. He became a full time insurgent, living in the mountains of Iloilo. I heard that he took the task of lecturing the recruits.

A year later, I graduated from the University. The UP College of Management proved to be effective in harnessing my business skills. I joined the corporate world. Six years later, I became a Capitalist, running my own logistics outfit. I partnered with a new found friend.

I worked so hard to make our business venture a success. Events happening in the world worked on our favour. Philippines has opened its doors to Globalization. I saw enormous amount goods coming in and out of the country. Good for our business. One day I woke up realizing that we are already running a company with 45 names in our payroll. Tough.

It was in the second half of 2006 when I decided to visit Prague with my business partner, the place where the Velvet Revolution took place. I have to thank the Czechs for opening my eyes, for helping me chose a path. For if not from them , I could be in the mountains now fighting for a cause or worse, I’m already six feet below the ground. (with part 2)