Traveling from our home in Antipolo to the airport in Clark, I decided to take the MRT to the Quezon City Air Terminal (QCAT) from where I would be taking the Clark Airport Rail Express (CARE) to the sparkling new terminal at what is a fast growing aerotropolis north of Metro Manila. It was an easy commute from the station near my home and a convenient one considering the e-Pasahe integrated commute card that I could also use for the C5 subway line or the Quezon Avenue BRT. Soon, all the jeepneys and buses would be accepting the card for fares. 100% of taxis were already accepting the card for payments and the electric tricycles were surprisingly ahead with 90% accepting the e-Pasahe card. I made sure my card was topped up when I left the university yesterday so I could also use it to buy a drink or a meal while at the airport. The convenience of the card reminded me of the Suica and Pasmo cards I used while traveling in Japan.

Upon arriving at the QCAT, I proceeded to the check-in counters to drop-off my luggage. I had already checked-in online so I just had to leave my bag at the express lane. I was already excited about the direct trip to New York, on board Cebu Pacific’s newly delivered A380, where I would be meeting up with the wife who’s already there for a conference. Unfortunately, we won’t be on the same flight home as she was taking the PAL’s non-stop Dreamliner service to NAIA.

On-board the CARE train to the airport, I had a quick but good view of Metro Manila as the train emerged from the underground tunnel for its surface run from Bocaue, Bulacan. It was still early in the morning and the sun was just rising. It felt good to see that there was much less smog covering the metropolis. All those electric and hybrid vehicles have made a significant impact on reducing air pollution and improving air quality. I decided to have a power nap for the rest of the trip and awoke minutes later to find out everything was just a dream.

🙂

Happy April Fool’s Day!