day 1: macedonia
September 18, 2006
catesbool
06 September 2006
Woke up at 830 am to prepare for flight. Dina made sushi for me to take during the flight in case I get hungry. Went to Den Haag HS by myself, withdrew 50 euros in case I would need the money in transit and bought prepaid load for my cellphone worth 20 euros.
Adrianus was almost late. We caught the train to Schipol and had to change trains in
Leiden . Proceeded to Departure 2 to get my tickets from the ATP Counter, checked in my two baggages and went downstairs for some snacks at Burger King. Adrianus left me in Schipol at 1130 am. I went upstairs to find a comfort room and accidentally bumped with Budi who was there with some other Indonesians. He said he was going to pick up his Director. Had a little chat with him. Met his friend Michael.
At 12 noon, I went inside the gates, immigration officer took a long time studying my passport and I had to show him my residence permit. Went inside the gates and realized how far Departure 14 is: it was 5 minutes of very brisk walking. I was afraid I was going to lose my plane and they’d close the gates already. Made it, though.
They served juice and sandwiches on the plane. Didn’t eat but preferred to sleep coz I didn’t get enough sleep two nights in a row. Plane landed in
Belgrade on time.
Belgrade airport is small, I managed to walk around it in 10 minutes. I checked in for the flight 5 hours early. Waited in the lobby, reading a book until my eyes hurt. Got a big headache and the start of a sore throat so I had to take paracetamol tablet and 2 tablets of Vitamin C. Had my lunch, the sandwich from the plane and the wafer snack. When I couldn’t stand the headache anymore, I stretched out on the chairs on the side, used my bag with the laptop in it for a pillow and slept for an hour. Woke up and read again but feeling tired.
Finally, boarding time came. We were led through the gates but were not immediately allowed to go inside the plane. We had to wait for fifteen minutes before we were allowed inside the plane. Tibor sent message about somebody picking me up at the airport.
Flight was uneventful.
Belgrade from up the plane was not as nice as
Malaysia was. But
Skopje was worse. You can see from the plane that
Macedonia is not a very active country, as there were only patches of light that you can see.
Skopje airport is so small, it’s like the airport in
San Jose , the little town in
Mindoro where I was born and raised. Immigration lady was nice though and in less than 5 minutes, I was out already looking for the sign with my name on it.
Met the taxi driver Enver sent. He was nice and spoke bits of English. Asked him where I can withdraw money but he said the machines are closed so I just had to do it in the morning.
On the way to the hotel, Enver called and asked how the flight was. I said it was okay so he said that I’ll meet him in 10 minutes. Driver was a happy old chap who knew some things about
Manila . He’s Albanian and very warm and friendly.
Skopje City , or what little I saw of it on the way to the hotel, reminded me of the
province of Rizal . Old cars, cemented roads with holes, and garbage cans lying around in the street.
Motel Shell was small, with around 16 to 20 rooms. When I got there, I instantly got curious looks. Met Enver in the restaurant, where he was sitting with some guys. He introduced himself and the guys and they were all very warm Albanian people.
Somebody carried my bags inside the room. They gave me time to freshen up and invited me out to the restaurant for a drink. I brought out the sushi Dina prepared that morning and invited them to have some. They asked me if I wanted a drink and I asked for tea. Somebody offered Turkish tea and I said it’s fine but Enver thought it would be too strong for me so he changed my order to red tea. It was nice for my throat too.
Then a few more guys came and I got the picture that they were Tibor’s drinking buddies when he was there. They were all so warm and friendly but I had to excuse myself because I didn’t think they will retire early and I had to get my rest too.
The room was really basic with clean sheets and towels. There’s also TV on it. I showered and dressed and prepared for bed. Slept instantly.
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