We initially planned to maybe just spend the afternoon in City of Dreams Manila or SM Mall of Asia while waiting for our scheduled flight. At around noon, however, we decided to just check out and head straight to the airport and try to request for an earlier flight, at 2:20 pm. That way, we'll be in Iligan by 6:00 pm and I'd be able to join my family for the Sunday mass.

We stayed here patiently waiting for advice if we can be accommodated at an earlier flight.

We were advised to wait until about 1:30pm, after the last call for check-in. We had an hour or so to kill, so we took advantage of the free wifi and got some work done.

Life Lesson #1:

Use available resources and find ways to be productive. 

I needed to have some work completed. So I opened up my laptop and tapped away while waiting. After all, this will earn me more moolah for the next adventures. 😂

At about 1:30pm, we were called back at the standby counter and we were told that we can be accommodated. Yey! We were given our boarding passes and ushered to the check-in counter for our luggage and then headed to the departure area as the passengers start to line up for boarding.

Ready for boarding! :)

We were prepared to be seated at the most uncomfortable part of the plane, perhaps at the middle area where we would have to squeeze through the throngs of passengers already in the aircraft. We were chance passengers after all -- we could very well be the least priority because we were not supposed to be there in the first place.

To our surprise, we were given reserved seats. We were behind the business class seats. Haha!

We felt like princesses in the flight. Snack treats of yogurt, chicken burger, coffee and juice were filling, which was also timely because we were just going to skip lunch after a rather heavy brunch at the hotel.
This leads me to another life lesson.

Life Lesson #2: 

After we safely landed and passengers were ready to disembark, we stayed inside to have a photo of the empty aircraft and the awesome crew.




Since we were in the aisle seats, we had to move to allow other people on our row to disembark. We transferred into the business class seats while waiting. Of course, we had to take selfies! LOL.

Thank you! 💗💗💗

Thanks to the warm and friendly flight crew and entire Philippine Airlines staff on the ground, our flight home was a memorable one.

Life Lesson #3:

My biggest takeaway for this entire experience was to take chances. In this "adulting" phase we are in, it is kind of hard to intentionally let go and surrender to the spontaneity of the moment. Plans, lists and calendars are great. They help us be responsible and accountable for our own actions and productivity, but sometimes we just need to give in to the spontaneous kid inside of us. Loosen up a bit and leave it up to the universe to do its magic.


So for those of you who like to have life planned out, let this experience of chance passengers be a reminder that it is okay to take risks once in a while. Be open to new experiences, even if they are not perfect. Instead of listening to the voice that asks "what could go wrong?" try asking “what’s the worst thing that could happen?” Who knows what new world of possibilities becomes available.

Go ahead and take a chance and welcome life's surprises with open arms and heart.