Her flight to the Philippines was two days earlier than our flight so my husband and I took her to the airport. That’s how we learned how Cebu Pacific operates in Shanghai.

With Cebu Pacific, the maximum allowed luggage weight is 15 kilos which is already 5 kilos less than the average check-in luggage weight of 20 kilos. That’s completely fine because we learned that when we booked the tickets but Cebu Pacific doesn’t have mercy at all, you can’t go another 500 grams or so… you have to pay for that weight over 15 kilos no matter how insignificant it is. So imagine all those OFWs going home thinking that they were able to save by taking that cheap plane tickets to Manila. They have to pay incredible overweight charges! And there’s more, hand luggage were weighed too! There are these people with bathroom weighing scales standing right before you enter the immigration area. They single out people going to Manila with Cebu Pacific tickets and weigh their hand luggage one by one and if the luggage is over 7kilos, they demand it to be returned to the check in area for payment of excess weight no matter how negligible the excess weight is. Does Cebu Pacific know how their Chinese airport agents are treating their passengers? If the money goes to Cebu Pacific….I’d say it’s a filthy manner by which they do business. Better sell your tickets with higher prices! If the money goes to the Chinese Government (airport)…I’d say why why why is Cebu Pacific letting this happen. They are squeezing these poor OFWs off their hard earned money by making them choose whether to leave their luggage at the airport or pay incredible amounts!

With their cheap flights you can expect to get their even cheaper service!

I was amazed by how the people showed their support to their national teams –they painted their faces, hang their national flags (anywhere), wore patriotic shirts and funny national costumes, invented cheering songs and rhymes, paraded on the street, etc. I also remember seeing several mobile homes in the autobahn obviously being driven by sport enthusiasts from all around Europe driving to Austria (and Switzerland) to witness their teams play… not to mention the reported number of private jets landing in Vienna Airport causing major air traffic and several flight delays. And I don’t know how true this is but a friend of mine was in a train with some Italian football fans and they told her that they have quit their job (because their boss didn’t give them a longer leave of absence) just so they can follow the tournament. How crazy and extravagant!?! So really, Europeans are all out when it comes to giving support to their team.

I chose to root for Austria and my husband who is not a sports enthusiast himself was also influenced to root for his national team but when Austria was eliminated, he lost interest right away.

So anyway, after watching Austria’s first game (where they lost), I was (still) convinced that they’ve got a chance (to go up all the way to the semi final at least) and they’re not as bad as the Austrians themselves claim. The Austrian national team has the reputation of being one of the worst national teams in Europe and they only qualified to play in tournament because they were the host nation but they’re really not that bad. Their defense is excellent! If only they were also trained to score a goal (haha) and not just to stop the other team from making a goal… they would’ve made it. (I could go on and on about my opinions on the games but I am sure that you wouldn’t like to hear football analysis from someone who knows too little about football so… :-l

It was cool to be in Austria during the EM but it would have been cooler if the Austrian team won or if Austria won their match against Germany at least.

For those of you who are planning to visit China, here are some of the things you need to bring other than your camera and things that are normally in your luggage.

A little pocket dictionary: I don’t know how much this is going to help you but just expect the worst. Think that not a lot of Chinese can speak English. If you are going to big cities like Beijing and Shanghai, you probably won’t need it unless you’ll drive with the taxi.

Medicine: In China, there are all sorts of medicines for all sort of sickness but you can never know if you are buying the right one because 99% of the medicines in pharmacies have Chinese names and the dosage instructions are in Chinese too.

Ointment with Eucalyptus or Mint smell: You’ll probably want to dab this on a small part above your upper lip every now and then. Why? Let’s just say… this smells a lot better.

Once, you have these you should be ok. Now, when you arrive there are some things you have to be careful about. China is a shopping haven because every thing comes in a cheaper price especially if you have nothing against fakery. You’ll find just about anything from Old Navy to Chanel. But be careful because they also fake money here. Check the money they give you (change from taxi drivers and vendors) if these are real bank notes just to make sure that it’s real even if the person handling it out to you seems to be the most trustworthy person on earth.