RC Cola's Kim Bum and Maja Salvador's TVC

I loved RC Cola first before Coke and I think I still love it more than Coke. It has the right sweetness and doesn't make me burp as much as when I drink Coke. Although Coke's TVCs are funny, familiar, and very local, this RC Cola TVC of Maja Salvador and Kim Bum is just irresistible!


Product name: RC Cola
Product Description: CSD (Carbonated Soft Drink)
Size: 1 liter, also comes in smaller bottles and 1.5L PET bottles
Price: P20 for 1 liter
Availability: Your neighborhood sari-sari store
Manufacturer: RC Cola
TRC Rating: 4 out of 5. Just love RC!

Flying Boutique! - Bangkok Airways

Whew! Has it really been a year since I last posted? My, my, my bad. My sincere apologies. When I started this blog, I promised I'd be diligent in posting consumer reviews but obviously I had not kept that promise. So, here I am again, resurrecting this blog with a post on one of the (pleasant) surprises I've had recently (and with a promise that I'd write more often!).

Two months ago, I planned for a business trip to Phuket, Thailand where our annual company training was to be held. There was an air of excitement with this trip since the past three company trainings were held in not-so exciting locations. The first company training, five years ago, was a treat since it was held in a 4-star resort in Bali, no less! The next three locations were nothing compared to Bali and so when it was finally announced by the management that it's going to be Phuket this year, everyone went ballistic! After all, "Phuket as the next location" has been consistently coming up in post-training evaluation/survey of each year's event. Finally, the training organiser had listened to the vox populi and fought it over to the management!

The participants, as with each year's training, were coming from five to six countries since our company has office in seven different countries in Asia. This is my second training that I'd be coming in from Manila since I decided to come back home from Singapore. As with our quarterly meetings, I would be the person stationed the farthest and would always have to fly the first to get to the meetings on time (e.g. 4 hrs to our HQ in Singapore!). Last year, in Bangkok where the training was held, I had to leave in the middle of our '80s themed party to get to Manila in time for a fieldwork the following day!

And so, one drawback (for me!) of holding this year's training in Phuket is the longer travel time. Since there's no direct flight from Manila to Phuket, I had to either fly to Bangkok or Singapore to catch a connecting flight (my colleagues from Shanghai flew direct from their base to Phuket!) I chose to fly to Bangkok to Phuket due to the shorter flying time to Bangkok compared to Singapore from Manila. And my biggest consideration (aside from cost of course! The company gave me only USD300 budget for airfare!) in choosing the connecting airline that would bring me to Phuket is the departure and arrival time so I would have enough transit time to catch my international flight to and from Manila.

I took a Philippine Airlines' flight from Manila to Bangkok that left Manila at 10.35am to be able to catch the 2pm BKK-Phuket flight of AirAsia. Good thing, I alerted the PAL ground crew in Manila who checked me in that I'm catching a flight to Phuket since my worry was the "usual" very long immigration queue in Suvarnabhumi Airport. Alas, as soon as I deplaned, a ground crew carrying a placard with the names of the transist passengers was there to assist us and led us to a special immigration lane for transit passengers.

A lot of hours after (8 hours approximately!), I was in our Phuket hotel at 6pm.

There was a lot of fun in Phuket. I could've detailed the best places to go to for massage or the best bargains deals I made in Phuket (where a 7-11 store exists in every 300 meters!) but there's another time and space for that. This blog is really intended for the review of the lesser known airline (at least to me, a frequent traveller to Asia!) that took me from Phuket to Bangkok to catch my flight back home to Manila.

The author parasailing at Patong Beach, Phuket

I was due to leave the hotel at 5pm via a hired limo my company paid for (yehey! Despite tipping to our HR Director, who happens to be my roommate for the past 3 trainings, that there's a cheaper alternative to a hired limo to get to airport, a van that costs only THB150/head). I went back to the hotel at 3.30pm from our parasailing at the beach and shopping to get ready to leave. I had packed my things the morning before I left for parasailing so I had an hour and a half to take a bath and get dressed before the limo arrived. I finished dressing up in 30 minutes and because I can't be waiting for an hour, I decided to catch a quick full body massage! The massage was so good (and cheap at THB250) I was late for my limo for 15 minutes!



(Credit: http://www.bangkokair.com/)

The trip to the airport was a breeze. Checking-in at the Phuket International Airport was a breeze too. I booked Bangkok Airways for my flight from Phuket to Bangkok because the AirAsia flight would arrive to Bangkok an hour before my flight to Manila which is too tight. And since I know of Suvarnabhumi's notorious long immigration queues especially going out of Bangkok, I didn't take that risk. I first "heard" of Bangkok Airways from Zuji.com when I was looking for alternative flights to AirAsia. I was a bit hesitant to book it right there and then because it was the first time I heard of the airline. I "skyped" my Thai colleague to get a local's view of the airline and she just said "yeah it's ok...in fact, it's a boutique airline". I didn't understand then what she meant by "boutique airline". Sure, I know what a boutique hotel is but a 'boutique airline'? Anyways, I booked as I had no better choice.

Upon check-in, I noticed that there's a note saying that Bangkok Airways  can check in passengers to the listed airlines for their connecting flight. Unfortunately, PAL (Philippine Airlines) was not one of them. This fact the ground crew who checked me in pointed out so I asked her if she could give me a seat in front near the exit so I can get out of the plane as fast as I can. She obliged. There was nothing extraordinary in the check-in apart from the connecting flight check-in service Bangkok Airways offers which I have not noticed even with SQ (Singapore Airlines). So I realised this isn't a budget airline. A banner at one side also announces online check-in which further affirms I wasn't flying budget this time.

I was seated at the second row of Bangkok Airways' Airbus A320 flight to Bangkok. I sat at an aisle seat as I usually request to be seated (for easier access to the toilet which I often frequent in a flight). Across me was a European couple, the woman being 6-7 months pregnant. Before the plane took off, the smiling flight attendant gave the pregnant lady a small pillow to put between the metal lock of the seatbelt and her fragile tummy. The preggy woman was impressed, so was I. It was indeed an 'extra service'.

As soon as the seatbelt sign was put off, the flight attendants started serving full meals despite the short flying time of 1hr and 30 mins. It was surprising as I had been flying budget airlines for short-haul flights and normally, I'd just grab a decent meal before or after a flight. The meal was the kind they'd serve in an SQ flight so the THB500 or so fare difference with an AirAsia flight I paid was all worth it.

The only thing that turned me off was the name of their inflight magazine -- Fah Thai -- which sounds like "dead" in Tagalog! It didn't help with the fact that it was raining that night and I was feeling a bit nervous (it really made me paranoid plus seeing the words DROP and FALL on the cover page!). It then made me think maybe this is the reason why I haven't heard about this airline before -- no Filipino would want to fly an airline that reminds them of death while air borne! :) hahaha Everything was perfect with that airline except for that magazine's name. I wish they did some research on that to ensure it is not offensive in any language!

Overall, my experience with Bangkok Airways was indeed very pleasant from the ground crew to the flight attendant, to the aircraft, to the inflight meal, to the contents of the inflight magazine (sans the name!) which were very informative for frequent travelers like me. I have discovered a lot of other tourist destinations in Thailand Pattaya, (Koh) Samui, Chiang Mai & Krabi. And since my hubby and I are planning to visit The Maldives very soon, to where Bangkok Airways flies 2-3x a week, we'll definitely consider flying Bangkok Airways to Male!

Product name: Bangkok Airways

Product Description: Asia's Boutique Airlines

Size: NA

Price: Varies
Manufacturer: NA

'The Regular Consumer' Rating: 4.5 out of 5 ticks (great service, great value!)