airport stories: fact or fiction?

"....just read your posting at the Asingan Message Board... Are you serious about those "extra fees" at the airport? Is it necessary to give them or is it even legal for them to ask? Just curious. .... Are you done packing yet? " written by a friend from the Asingan Message Board


........ Those are not legal, but you know how it is in the Philippines..Some people there want to ask ( more like begging ) just to augment their income...You do not really have to give anything..My elder sister hates doing that because it seems you are spoiling those customs inspectors...she said.If your luggage is light, then you do not have to...But some balikbayans bring home everyything or anything but the kitchen sink. Sometimes a custom officer would threaten to open the luggage if you do not give them something...

I usually fold the fiver inside the passport. When the employee opens it up, ( boy, she must have a good sleight of the hand ) the $ just dissapears..Heard from sources there is a box under the counter where the bill is dropped. At the end of the shift, they said, the damned box is full of green bills and thus, there is a sort of "partihan" sharing of the spoils among many of the customs ( cus-tong ) people working in that shift.

I have started my packing, but won't be able to finish it today.....First are my "tools of the trade" or my toys..The digicam is most important. I wanna get as many photos as possible. (good artistic ones. Like the ones I see printed in glossy magazines). I like to go to a farm and take some nature photos there..Especially in the early morning. The creative eye is still working well at that time. I would like to shoot some flowers or knotted tree branches, etc. when the temperature is still comfortable. And the lighting from the sun is just right...

But when the sun is already high and I start sweating like a pig ( pardon the colloquial ) then the creative urge vaporizes too. Thats the time I prefer to keep the camera away, search for company and start drinking, eating and swapping tall tales. That's what writers are noted for: drinking, chewing the fat, and spinning ridiculous yarns....!!


Vic