Taipei To Hanoi On VietJet
This was flight leg #3 (Taipei to Hanoi) in my 'exceptionally complicated' circle trip.
The first interesting point was: I shot that pic at 1138H, when almost all passengers were already aboard, but our ETD was 1200H. Ah, early departure means early arrival!
Okay, tara let's go sago!
Aruu! Plane did not move, even if all passengers were already seated and waiting. A feeling of déjà vu?! Oh yes, mismo actually! Same case as my CEB to TPE departure.
Boarding = Loading!
Folks down at the belly of this plane (baggage & cargo hold) were still busy loading. Yes, it's not just about us passengers. Baggage, Cargo & Mail are also being loaded.
Not that I was in a hurry. Per booking, I had 3 hours of transfer time at Hanoi. Go ra! I instead watched whatever I could see of a rainy outside. It must be cold out there!
My phone said it was 17°C in Taoyuan and 20°C In Hanoi. Brrr! Being Pinoy from the Visayas, 26°C is my best lowest temperature. Any degree lower I go for thicker rags.
City / Airport Temperatures
That, is another 'matter' we must consider when traveling. Do you? That's important baya entawon. Yes, for your own SSCC (Safety, Security, Comfort and Convenience)!
We can't be walking around cities with improper garb, as it can affect us negatively. Well, inside airports (in Asia), I noticed it is usually an average of 20°C. Cold na yan!
But I've been observing, in the western hemisphere, even in the north, their airports' usual temperature (as I wait at the gates) play between 23°C and 25°C. Bakit kaya?
My theory: people in those cold countries want more heat - kasi ang lamig sa labas. Just like us, mga hayok sa aircon kahit electric fan pa yan, kasi ang init sa labas eh!
Anyway...
Was I properly garbed today? Well yes - as far as my 'standards' is/was concerned - because, I have this thin but hooded sweater that is always in my hand carried bag.
That's because, in a plane, it's usually 20°C, yet it can go lower at cruising altitudes.
Well, on that scene above, if there is no aerobridge, that would be really cold due to wind. Aw, another lengthy topic. Let's discuss that in detail, sometime in the future!
If you need to order food, do it ASAP!
Anyway, since it was not a truly fantastic view outside, I already looked into this:
Just getting ready. So that, when a cabin crew comes around to take orders, I would already have my choice - since I didn't pre-order online! Can't forget, this is lunctime!
Why didn't I pre-order during booking, when I knew nga, that ETD was 1200H? Well, I was thinking at that time, what if me makita akong masarap doon sa Taoyuan Airport?
But I didn't see anything, since I did not look for any of those gastronomic palatable whatevers. I was busier marveling at the various this-and-thats of the airport gates!
I do watch as to 'when will I get hungry', such that a solution must be nearby. For now, inflight food it was! Technique: if I must buy inflight meals, I order ahead of others.
Why is that? Ah, budget airlines bring only a few of those, to avoid unsold meals.
Pushback and Safety Demonstration
Pushback was 1159H, said my phone. Whoa! Aw, it may have been 12NN, their time.
Immediately the 'safety demo' ensued, which, like in many airlines from non-English speaking countries, takes time. Because they do it in two languages. I like it. Ka-liw!
In fact, I observed that in Asia, it is only in the Philippines, where the 'safety demo' is in English. Then, later while already flying, a pre-recorded Tagalog version is played.
With all other airlines like in the above picture, the style is something like: "nyok nyak tuy oink oink oxygen masks will automatically drop from the compartments above you."
Ganoon sila hehehe. Their language first, followed by English. But I like them all! I'm always curious about languages and dialects, I do not even know the reason/s why!
The Outside Views
This time, I was not seated on an emergency exit. I had a good reason - but it failed!
I wanted to be on an aft window seat, where the wings wouldn't take up space when I take pictures. Excellent plan. But it was raining heavily, I could not see anything. Da!
Really, it was a good plan. And I was even ready to sacrifice my comfort (a little) just to be able to take pics that I can post here! But the sky wasn't cooperative this time!
What could I have seen, or what was I expecting to see along the way anyway? Well, 'aerial snippets' of Southern China's towns and cities would have been fantabulous!
The likes of Quanzhou, Xiamen, Hongkong, Macau and everything in between all the way to Zhanjiang. I reserved a right-side-window-seat, hoping to see any or all of them.
Haruuy! Wala eh! What I instead consistently saw was a vastness blankness of gray stormy skies, with rain tippity-tapping on my window. Plus, it was one turbulent ride!
It happens. Even if we plan well.
But as if a consolation, there were only 2 of us on Row 30 (second to the last row). I was seated 30F, the other passenger, that foot in the photo above, was at seat 30A.
Yet, there was something interesting that I caught. Ako pa?! This flight's pilot!
OUR Pilot
Shortly after take-off, he came on the PA system, telling passengers, about weather along the way and at our destination. I could discern a familiar twang in his speech.
I had a little 'mental debate' analyzing that voice. Pinoy kaya? No, baka Malaysian or Indonesian! Spoken English in these countries do sound alike. Pero, tunog Pinoy eh!
And I had this strong feeling, that VietJet wouldn't hire Pinoy pilots - since they don't fly to the Philippines. Ah to settle that, when my food came, I asked the stewardess!
Me: "Miss, what is the name of the pilot? Is he Vietnamese? Sagot ng stewardess: Oh, Captain Flawless? No not Vietnamese. He is Philippine"! Muntikan akong humalakhak!
Pigil-tawa, talking pa si miss beauty eh heheh! She said: "why sir, you Philippine too"? I said yes, and she told me things like "he very good English, very good pilot", etc, etc.!
That was one fantastic-find on so many counts. 1] Pride natin. He drives an airplane for other airlines in other countries, not necessarily flying to our inang bayan; 2] Aba magaling nga daw sya mag-English; 3] Magaling daw na piloto; and 4] Flawless sya!
Di ba? Dapat ipag-bunyi yan hahaha!
I was silently laughing but I didn't have to ask, his name is Capt. Flores, sure na yan! It was just hard for the Viet stewardess to pronounce, so she sounded like 'flawless'!
Now, to complicate matters a little bit, I was not actually sure if she was referring to the 'pilot-in-command', or the 'first officer' (since both are normally called captains).
Ang mali actually was, when I asked the stweardess, I was pointing to the airplane's speaker above me. Eh kung ang nagsasalita ay si first officer pala, hindi si kapitan?!
Her reply was only as murky as my question hahah! But the good news is/was: both the Pilot-In-Command and the First Officer of this VietJet flight were Pinoys. Wow!
Anyway, silently, I felt a sense of pride... while pigil na pigil ang bungisngis laughter.
Basta isa sa kanila, tinalo si Osang - Captain Flawless kasi sya. Ano aangal ka pa?!
My VietJet Lunch
Miss Stewardess was delivering these as we talked about the captain...
I did not forget to take pictures of my food: unopened (above), and opened, this...
I even got a close-up version. But ask me what it is, I will say "ma" as in "malay ko"!
I just pointed to it on the menu when I earlier ordered, and I asked the stewardess if it was 'sapaisee' or not. She said 'no, not sapaisee', so I said "one please"! Ganun lang.
At ano naman iyang "sapaisee" na yan? Aw, I got that term in Thailand long ago. Aba oy, English yan! That, is how they pronounce the word "spicy"! I used that here, since TH and VN are neighbors, they probably pronounce it the same way. At ganoon nga!
I like their utensil packet. Aside from plastic spoon & fork, it has a toothpick hehe!
Aba hoyy, oras ng kagipitan, sandata rin yan. Kunwari kelangan mag-reset ng phone!
I also like seeing Christmas designs on Coke cans everywhere, this is their version.
Not really sure if that's a "Christmas Edition" heheh. I just assumed since it's 24DEC!
About 40 minutes after departure, I was done with lunch. Nothing to do but read the inflight magazine and/or snooze. But as said before, I am not a "plane ride sleeper" :)
So I read the English part of their inflight magazine, for this 3 hour ten minutes ride.
Two Hour Flight or Three Hour Flight?
Hmm, if you're observant, you may be asking: how did this become a 3hr 10min flight when ETD was 1200H and ETA was 1410H? Ah, time zones, you still remember that?
Yup, we have discussed that a number of times before, like here.
Two items to remember:
1] Countries we fly from/to, may be at different Time Zones. In this particular case, Taiwan is situated at GMT+8 (like the Philippines), while Vietnam is at GMT+7. That means, any moment, places at GMT+8 are always 1 hour ahead of those at GMT+7.
2] Airlines are required to always use local times of flight origins and destinations. On this flight, ETD was 1200H. Meaning Expected Time of Departure from Taipei was 12NN Taiwan time. ETA (Expected Time of Arrival) at Hanoi was 1410H Vietnam time.
Therefore, when this flight departed 1200H from Taipei, it was only 1100H in Hanoi. Add to that 3 hours and 10 minutes of flying, the plane would arrive at 1510H as far as Taipei (and Manila) are concerned. But that was only 1410H in Hanoi, local time.
Ganun yan. Pag binaliktad mo (pabalik na flight) mas lalaki ang mata mo!
Anyway, after almost 3 hours of flying, I saw land - meaning we were in Vietnam!
Do you see the land that I saw? Yep, that tip of a mountain below the plane's wingtip.
FYI, I took that shot at 1:48PM. Teka teka, kaninong oras yan, Taiwan o Vietnam?!
"Adjust your clocks" no more!
Since we talked about time zones above, let's linger on that topic a little bit more. In recent past, we needed to adjust our timepieces upon arrival at different time zones.
Not only wristwatches. That included other gadgets that had timekeeping elements in them - such as laptops, tablets, photo / video cameras and of course, cellphones.
This flight as an example, where we left Taiwan at GMT+8 and arrived in Vietnam at GMT+7, everybody would naturally tend to their gadgets to subtract exactly an hour!
Nowadays though, fewer people still do that, because of 'technological progress' on almost every gadget that we use, with things like GPS and NTP. Do you know those?
Actually, if you do not know much about Global Positioning System and/or Network Time Protocol yet, that means you didn't tinker with that function of your phone yet.
Then that should be good! How come? Well, most gadgets like phones or cameras, even the latest wristwatches do have Location Services and Automatic Time Zone Adjustment already factory-set. They work well hanggang pinakialaman mo. Ganun!
So, if you are like me who happens to be atrevida, check the settings of your phones and cameras when crossing to another time zone. If they didn't auto-adjust, do that!
Aw, I just discovered that I didn't touch that function of my phone after all. Take that pic above as an example. Its exif data says I took that shot at 1348H, Vietnam time.
How did I know? I asked the stewardess, she confirmed it was 1:48PM in Vietnam.
How does that work? Ah, I asked a geeky-friend sometime ago, he told me that: the location services program in your gadget (i.e., phone) allows the system to access GPS data to determine your precise location on earth; then it matches that location with the correct 'coordinated universal time', which it uses to set the system-time of the gadget.
Ang hi-tech 'no? Ay, nose-bleed pa nga eh. But I now understand what that means!
So, nothing to care about. My fone was already set to the proper local time of where I was, Vietnam. If at that point I checked with anyone in Taipei, I was an hour behind!
I therefore knew from that photo above, that my flight was still 20 minutes to ETA!
But just 2 minutes after I took that cloudy shot with the tip of a mountain, I saw this:
Whoah! Already that low and seeing familiar city sights, I was sure we were landing.
So that was it pusit! Touchdown at 1357H - 13 minutes ahead of scheduled arrival!
And I welcomed My Royal Highness to Hanoi's Noi Bai International Airport. Yey!
Our VietJet plane parked at the eastern edge of the International Terminal (Terminal Two). I was on a right-side window-seat I could see almost the full building's length!
Wow! That meant, to the left of the aircraft was already Terminal One or T1 which, is now the Domestic Terminal, where I'm supposed to go, for my next flight to Danang.
Hmm hehehe, if only I could just walk to that terminal. It is probably just 300 to 400 meters away. But as you will see later.., the way going there is not as simple as that!
We were at a 'remote parking bay', but the buses they use here are not just like ours.
That bus is big and very long, just like what modern airports of the world have. That isn't what you'd see at Manila or anywhere in the Philippines - kung di ka pinag-lakad!
It is a modern take on ferrying passengers from/to airport buildings to/from remote parking bays. That bus is conveniently low and probably as long as our MRT coach!
It can comfortably carry all passengers of an Airbus A320, with no staff shouting ah pasok pa so loob, akyat pa sa taas! Atrasi lang atrasi! Ipinagsisiksikan tayo, at galit pa!
Don't drool, pag naluma yan o naging obsolete na, magkakaroon tayo nyan. Pramis!
O ha! At me ganito pang naka-sulat sa lahat ng maraming pinto ang bus na iyan...
Ano? Di mo gets? Grabe ka, parang ako hehe! But I guess it means: huwag sandalan!
Alright, one last glance at the plane that brought me to Hanoi from Taoyuan.
Oh, ito pala ang "last last" glance - in case makita ko ang Pinoy na Flight Deck Crew!
Wala, 'di dumungaw sila Captain Flawless! But I saw something uniquely interesting.
Look at the left portion of that picture. Beyond the car, below the aerobridge, there's a man in a bicycle. Have you seen anything like that in the Philippines? Wala, di ba?!
But come to think of it, why not 'no? Is there (after all) any danger with biking around a tarmac instead of driving cars? Parang wala. Wag mo lang i-i-itsa ang bike dun sa engine ng plane! Hmm, now that should also make motorcycles probably viable. Da!
More plane sightings, as our bus made its way to deliver us to the arrival area...
You already know those merry mix of ground equipment all around the planes, right?
That blue plane is Vietnam Air, a "full service airline", "flag carrier of Vietnam", and a competitor at least on some routes, since VietJet is low-cost carrier or budget airline.
Less than 5 minutes on that bus, here we were at the arrival concourse of their T2.
Excited! This was the first time I was using T2 which is fairly new (opened in 2015). Of course everything is of international standard since it's a new international airport.
Wheelchairs waiting! I liked this view while walking along the arrival concourse.
An LED Wall is surrounded by flower pots. Parang stage! Very Viet in character.
And I reached Hanoi Noi Bai International Airport's Arrival Immigration.
Being new, I think they have an admirable number of immigration counters. Actually, I'm not very sure of that, since I didn't have much time to look around. But it is wide!
Well there is something unique I spotted (beside that left-most pillar in the picture): amidst the horde of humanity queuing up, there are a number of seats (three rows)!
Not many immigration areas in the world have that kind of 'convenience'. And I had to ask my friendly immigration officer about it! She smilingly told me "for old people"!
Nice one!
After that, I grabbed my bag from the arrival carousel, as my 3-hour 'international to domestic transfer' was ticking. I was still to move my royal self to another terminal.
But let's talk about that in my next stroy.
Soon. Promise!
Okay, tara let's go sago!
Aruu! Plane did not move, even if all passengers were already seated and waiting. A feeling of déjà vu?! Oh yes, mismo actually! Same case as my CEB to TPE departure.
Boarding = Loading!
Folks down at the belly of this plane (baggage & cargo hold) were still busy loading. Yes, it's not just about us passengers. Baggage, Cargo & Mail are also being loaded.
My phone said it was 17°C in Taoyuan and 20°C In Hanoi. Brrr! Being Pinoy from the Visayas, 26°C is my best lowest temperature. Any degree lower I go for thicker rags.
City / Airport Temperatures
That, is another 'matter' we must consider when traveling. Do you? That's important baya entawon. Yes, for your own SSCC (Safety, Security, Comfort and Convenience)!
We can't be walking around cities with improper garb, as it can affect us negatively. Well, inside airports (in Asia), I noticed it is usually an average of 20°C. Cold na yan!
But I've been observing, in the western hemisphere, even in the north, their airports' usual temperature (as I wait at the gates) play between 23°C and 25°C. Bakit kaya?
My theory: people in those cold countries want more heat - kasi ang lamig sa labas. Just like us, mga hayok sa aircon kahit electric fan pa yan, kasi ang init sa labas eh!
Anyway...
Was I properly garbed today? Well yes - as far as my 'standards' is/was concerned - because, I have this thin but hooded sweater that is always in my hand carried bag.
That's because, in a plane, it's usually 20°C, yet it can go lower at cruising altitudes.
Well, on that scene above, if there is no aerobridge, that would be really cold due to wind. Aw, another lengthy topic. Let's discuss that in detail, sometime in the future!
If you need to order food, do it ASAP!
Anyway, since it was not a truly fantastic view outside, I already looked into this:
Why didn't I pre-order during booking, when I knew nga, that ETD was 1200H? Well, I was thinking at that time, what if me makita akong masarap doon sa Taoyuan Airport?
But I didn't see anything, since I did not look for any of those gastronomic palatable whatevers. I was busier marveling at the various this-and-thats of the airport gates!
I do watch as to 'when will I get hungry', such that a solution must be nearby. For now, inflight food it was! Technique: if I must buy inflight meals, I order ahead of others.
Why is that? Ah, budget airlines bring only a few of those, to avoid unsold meals.
Pushback and Safety Demonstration
Pushback was 1159H, said my phone. Whoa! Aw, it may have been 12NN, their time.
In fact, I observed that in Asia, it is only in the Philippines, where the 'safety demo' is in English. Then, later while already flying, a pre-recorded Tagalog version is played.
With all other airlines like in the above picture, the style is something like: "nyok nyak tuy oink oink oxygen masks will automatically drop from the compartments above you."
Ganoon sila hehehe. Their language first, followed by English. But I like them all! I'm always curious about languages and dialects, I do not even know the reason/s why!
The Outside Views
This time, I was not seated on an emergency exit. I had a good reason - but it failed!
Really, it was a good plan. And I was even ready to sacrifice my comfort (a little) just to be able to take pics that I can post here! But the sky wasn't cooperative this time!
What could I have seen, or what was I expecting to see along the way anyway? Well, 'aerial snippets' of Southern China's towns and cities would have been fantabulous!
The likes of Quanzhou, Xiamen, Hongkong, Macau and everything in between all the way to Zhanjiang. I reserved a right-side-window-seat, hoping to see any or all of them.
Haruuy! Wala eh! What I instead consistently saw was a vastness blankness of gray stormy skies, with rain tippity-tapping on my window. Plus, it was one turbulent ride!
It happens. Even if we plan well.
But as if a consolation, there were only 2 of us on Row 30 (second to the last row). I was seated 30F, the other passenger, that foot in the photo above, was at seat 30A.
Yet, there was something interesting that I caught. Ako pa?! This flight's pilot!
OUR Pilot
Shortly after take-off, he came on the PA system, telling passengers, about weather along the way and at our destination. I could discern a familiar twang in his speech.
I had a little 'mental debate' analyzing that voice. Pinoy kaya? No, baka Malaysian or Indonesian! Spoken English in these countries do sound alike. Pero, tunog Pinoy eh!
And I had this strong feeling, that VietJet wouldn't hire Pinoy pilots - since they don't fly to the Philippines. Ah to settle that, when my food came, I asked the stewardess!
Me: "Miss, what is the name of the pilot? Is he Vietnamese? Sagot ng stewardess: Oh, Captain Flawless? No not Vietnamese. He is Philippine"! Muntikan akong humalakhak!
Pigil-tawa, talking pa si miss beauty eh heheh! She said: "why sir, you Philippine too"? I said yes, and she told me things like "he very good English, very good pilot", etc, etc.!
That was one fantastic-find on so many counts. 1] Pride natin. He drives an airplane for other airlines in other countries, not necessarily flying to our inang bayan; 2] Aba magaling nga daw sya mag-English; 3] Magaling daw na piloto; and 4] Flawless sya!
Di ba? Dapat ipag-bunyi yan hahaha!
I was silently laughing but I didn't have to ask, his name is Capt. Flores, sure na yan! It was just hard for the Viet stewardess to pronounce, so she sounded like 'flawless'!
Now, to complicate matters a little bit, I was not actually sure if she was referring to the 'pilot-in-command', or the 'first officer' (since both are normally called captains).
Ang mali actually was, when I asked the stweardess, I was pointing to the airplane's speaker above me. Eh kung ang nagsasalita ay si first officer pala, hindi si kapitan?!
Her reply was only as murky as my question hahah! But the good news is/was: both the Pilot-In-Command and the First Officer of this VietJet flight were Pinoys. Wow!
Anyway, silently, I felt a sense of pride... while pigil na pigil ang bungisngis laughter.
Basta isa sa kanila, tinalo si Osang - Captain Flawless kasi sya. Ano aangal ka pa?!
My VietJet Lunch
Miss Stewardess was delivering these as we talked about the captain...
I did not forget to take pictures of my food: unopened (above), and opened, this...
I even got a close-up version. But ask me what it is, I will say "ma" as in "malay ko"!
At ano naman iyang "sapaisee" na yan? Aw, I got that term in Thailand long ago. Aba oy, English yan! That, is how they pronounce the word "spicy"! I used that here, since TH and VN are neighbors, they probably pronounce it the same way. At ganoon nga!
I like their utensil packet. Aside from plastic spoon & fork, it has a toothpick hehe!
I also like seeing Christmas designs on Coke cans everywhere, this is their version.
About 40 minutes after departure, I was done with lunch. Nothing to do but read the inflight magazine and/or snooze. But as said before, I am not a "plane ride sleeper" :)
So I read the English part of their inflight magazine, for this 3 hour ten minutes ride.
Two Hour Flight or Three Hour Flight?
Hmm, if you're observant, you may be asking: how did this become a 3hr 10min flight when ETD was 1200H and ETA was 1410H? Ah, time zones, you still remember that?
Yup, we have discussed that a number of times before, like here.
Two items to remember:
1] Countries we fly from/to, may be at different Time Zones. In this particular case, Taiwan is situated at GMT+8 (like the Philippines), while Vietnam is at GMT+7. That means, any moment, places at GMT+8 are always 1 hour ahead of those at GMT+7.
2] Airlines are required to always use local times of flight origins and destinations. On this flight, ETD was 1200H. Meaning Expected Time of Departure from Taipei was 12NN Taiwan time. ETA (Expected Time of Arrival) at Hanoi was 1410H Vietnam time.
Therefore, when this flight departed 1200H from Taipei, it was only 1100H in Hanoi. Add to that 3 hours and 10 minutes of flying, the plane would arrive at 1510H as far as Taipei (and Manila) are concerned. But that was only 1410H in Hanoi, local time.
Ganun yan. Pag binaliktad mo (pabalik na flight) mas lalaki ang mata mo!
Anyway, after almost 3 hours of flying, I saw land - meaning we were in Vietnam!
FYI, I took that shot at 1:48PM. Teka teka, kaninong oras yan, Taiwan o Vietnam?!
"Adjust your clocks" no more!
Since we talked about time zones above, let's linger on that topic a little bit more. In recent past, we needed to adjust our timepieces upon arrival at different time zones.
Not only wristwatches. That included other gadgets that had timekeeping elements in them - such as laptops, tablets, photo / video cameras and of course, cellphones.
This flight as an example, where we left Taiwan at GMT+8 and arrived in Vietnam at GMT+7, everybody would naturally tend to their gadgets to subtract exactly an hour!
Nowadays though, fewer people still do that, because of 'technological progress' on almost every gadget that we use, with things like GPS and NTP. Do you know those?
Actually, if you do not know much about Global Positioning System and/or Network Time Protocol yet, that means you didn't tinker with that function of your phone yet.
Then that should be good! How come? Well, most gadgets like phones or cameras, even the latest wristwatches do have Location Services and Automatic Time Zone Adjustment already factory-set. They work well hanggang pinakialaman mo. Ganun!
So, if you are like me who happens to be atrevida, check the settings of your phones and cameras when crossing to another time zone. If they didn't auto-adjust, do that!
Aw, I just discovered that I didn't touch that function of my phone after all. Take that pic above as an example. Its exif data says I took that shot at 1348H, Vietnam time.
How did I know? I asked the stewardess, she confirmed it was 1:48PM in Vietnam.
How does that work? Ah, I asked a geeky-friend sometime ago, he told me that: the location services program in your gadget (i.e., phone) allows the system to access GPS data to determine your precise location on earth; then it matches that location with the correct 'coordinated universal time', which it uses to set the system-time of the gadget.
Ang hi-tech 'no? Ay, nose-bleed pa nga eh. But I now understand what that means!
So, nothing to care about. My fone was already set to the proper local time of where I was, Vietnam. If at that point I checked with anyone in Taipei, I was an hour behind!
I therefore knew from that photo above, that my flight was still 20 minutes to ETA!
But just 2 minutes after I took that cloudy shot with the tip of a mountain, I saw this:
So that was it pusit! Touchdown at 1357H - 13 minutes ahead of scheduled arrival!
And I welcomed My Royal Highness to Hanoi's Noi Bai International Airport. Yey!
Wow! That meant, to the left of the aircraft was already Terminal One or T1 which, is now the Domestic Terminal, where I'm supposed to go, for my next flight to Danang.
Hmm hehehe, if only I could just walk to that terminal. It is probably just 300 to 400 meters away. But as you will see later.., the way going there is not as simple as that!
We were at a 'remote parking bay', but the buses they use here are not just like ours.
It is a modern take on ferrying passengers from/to airport buildings to/from remote parking bays. That bus is conveniently low and probably as long as our MRT coach!
It can comfortably carry all passengers of an Airbus A320, with no staff shouting ah pasok pa so loob, akyat pa sa taas! Atrasi lang atrasi! Ipinagsisiksikan tayo, at galit pa!
Don't drool, pag naluma yan o naging obsolete na, magkakaroon tayo nyan. Pramis!
O ha! At me ganito pang naka-sulat sa lahat ng maraming pinto ang bus na iyan...
Alright, one last glance at the plane that brought me to Hanoi from Taoyuan.
Oh, ito pala ang "last last" glance - in case makita ko ang Pinoy na Flight Deck Crew!
Look at the left portion of that picture. Beyond the car, below the aerobridge, there's a man in a bicycle. Have you seen anything like that in the Philippines? Wala, di ba?!
But come to think of it, why not 'no? Is there (after all) any danger with biking around a tarmac instead of driving cars? Parang wala. Wag mo lang i-i-itsa ang bike dun sa engine ng plane! Hmm, now that should also make motorcycles probably viable. Da!
More plane sightings, as our bus made its way to deliver us to the arrival area...
Less than 5 minutes on that bus, here we were at the arrival concourse of their T2.
Wheelchairs waiting! I liked this view while walking along the arrival concourse.
An LED Wall is surrounded by flower pots. Parang stage! Very Viet in character.
And I reached Hanoi Noi Bai International Airport's Arrival Immigration.
Well there is something unique I spotted (beside that left-most pillar in the picture): amidst the horde of humanity queuing up, there are a number of seats (three rows)!
Not many immigration areas in the world have that kind of 'convenience'. And I had to ask my friendly immigration officer about it! She smilingly told me "for old people"!
Nice one!
After that, I grabbed my bag from the arrival carousel, as my 3-hour 'international to domestic transfer' was ticking. I was still to move my royal self to another terminal.
But let's talk about that in my next stroy.
Soon. Promise!
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