falcon

after the asean directions 2011 in KL, we were supposed to be back in manila in june 24th. we were booked for the 5 pm flight, and we were supposed to be in manila at around 9 pm. the flight from KL was one of the worst flights i've ever had, not because i had an annoying seatmate (i was actually occupying 3 seats!), but because of clear air turbulence, especially upon entering luzon.

at that time, we were already adviced that tropical storm falcon intensified and was dumping torrential rains across luzon. still, our flight got to naia around 9 pm. karen and i were still having a hearty chat, as we knew that the crew was trying their best to land safely. but to our horror, the plane was jolted by heavy rains and strong winds and we could not land. we then flew again at a higher altitude, towards clark i think. in about 30 minutes, i was just waiting for the announcement that our flight will be diverted to any of the philippine cities in the visayas. at that point, i was already pretty sure that we won't be able to land due to the inclement weather. but to everyone's surprise, we were diverted to kota kinabalu... to think that we have international airports in cebu, iloilo and bacolod. no choice at all, we then landed in kota kinabalu international airport. the captain explained that we could not land in naia even if we already saw the runway. a huge windshield was preventing the plane from landing safely and the crew did not have any choice but to divert. otherwise, catastrophe might have struck. behind us, there were about 25 flights also waiting for their turn to land, but were soon diverted as well. we spent a night in kota kinabalu, then took the 2 pm flight to manila. at about 5 pm, we finally landed in manila. it was still cloudy (as shown in the photos) and some areas still had scattered rains, but thank God, we landed safely.