Mabuhay Lounge Cebu

Nothing special on this topic. I was just on an FB Chat last night with some of you my dear readers, about PAL's Mabuhay Lounge in Cebu. I was there this morning, here are some photos, as promised!

This is 'generally' the length of the lounge (domestic flights only, none at international wing)...

The glass door at right is the (only) passenger entrance, and immediately facing it is the attendants' counter. The walls up front, to my right (not in picture) and where I was seated when I took that photo, are lined with lounge chairs and small tables. To the left are round dining tables and the buffet island.

Which is a little bit clearer here...

Notice that wooden panel at left? Behind that are cubicles: to the left edge of the photo is a massage cubicle. There is a massage bed but the masseur or masseuse is not free - they come from the blind masseurs' group that also have a massage service corner out in the more public pre-departure area.

From the vantage of another round table, this is the buffet area...

If you notice that my camera may have been too low when taking this picture, well, it was hehe. Why? Because there were passengers scattered around who might think I was photographing them, and be offended for the wrong reasons. Remember, many of them are the "nouveau riche" and feeling entitled who could shriek and wail a litany of complaints on just about any thing! So "behave" muna ang indio!

Anyway, you can see that big black "palayok" on the buffet table, don't you?! That, for me, is always the highlight when I am inside any Mabuhay Lounge. Why? Because, it contains my favorite: Arroz Caldo!

Note that big wooden cabinet is actually a 'divider' that separates (hides) the buffet table from public view. Yep, the other side of it is the attendant's counter (front desk, if you will) that faces the big glass door as mentioned above, that anyone can see thru from outside the lounge. I also like that big mirror!

This is out front, or the far-end of the room from the first picture above...

While those two round tables are usually the last to be fully occupied, they are a prime location in the lounge (for me). Why? Because the TV sound is loudest here, it can at least drown the louder voices of people who talk on their phones as if they were alone in their bathrooms. There's so many of them!

Yes there are a lot of them, and, mostly big names in Cebu, and, mostly the 2nd or 3rd generations of those big 1 or 2 (sometimes 3) syllable surnames whose roots come from the "mainland"! Alams na! And mind you, some of them do not even have to talk on their phones, yet still, they talk mega-loudly!

"Mga mayayamang walang-modo" is a gross understatement!

Anyway, here's another area in the lounge that is going to disappear soon (says a reliable source)...

Two workstation cubicles, purportedly for the 'executives' who want to tap away on their laptops "in private" while waiting to board their flights. But they are generally useless because laptops nowadays have more "private" screens that makes it hard for anyone to snoop behind you, right? Many prefer to do it out in the open area of the lounge - include me here! So what happens is, this cubicle becomes a sleeping area of the loud people described above, who btw, snore even louder! Yes sige, gibain na yan!

Haha, I have many stories about Mabuhay Lounges and the people who use them! I'll do them later.

this article was excerpted in full from my Air Travel stories

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