Tuesday, July 17, 2007

Smarts vs Luck

I almost committed a classic Sheila travel booboo! Many minor mishaps have littered my path, but the last major one was 2 years ago en route to Singapore. I stood in line at the PAL check-in counter at NAIA, excited to be going on my first Singapore trip to give a lecture on the Philippine Online Gaming scene at the Asian Gaming Conference. They had my photo and credentials on their website and everything.

About 5 people away from the head of the line I take out my passport and flip to the first page. Its expired by a month. Crap.

I call my travel agency to talk to the owner and find out if there's a way around it. I try to convince her that I can usually talk my way into anything, and most certainly past Manila immigration. She counters with the threat that they will probably deport me from Singapore. I quit while I'm ahead.

I'm flying to Manila tomorrow en route to Boracay and I booked this trip months ago. In my mind, I clearly remember booking a 1:20pm flight. Finally I printed out my e-ticket awhile ago and stapled the pages together. Before I left the office I folded the ticket to put in my bag. Some weird force urged me to glance at the flight details again which is on the 2nd page. The flight doesnt leave at 13:20 or 18 hours away. It leaves at 1:20am which is 6 hours away from now. I almost missed my flight!

Thank God i bothered to check the ticket again! So am I smarter or luckier these days? I think I'd rather be smarter. :-P

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