Jennifer Marie J. Yang, MD

Read part 1 and part 2 to get caught up.

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Flying and Arrival

The flight was pretty uneventful, as you would like flights to be. To comply with COVID-19 protocols, the flight attendants wore personal protective equipment (PPE) which included goggles, a mask and a protective gown. All passengers were asked to wear masks for the duration of the flight, except for meal service. Philippine Airlines (PAL) had free wifi for the duration of the flight – a bit slow, as expected, but it was nice to be connected to the internet during the 8-hour flight. Flight attendants passed out customs and arrival forms for us to fill out prior to landing. I did not have anyone beside me in my row – I don’t know if these seats were deliberately blocked, or it really wasn’t a full flight. Needless to say, I enjoyed the extra space.

Upon arrival in Manila, a member of the Philippine Coast Guard and a representative from Philippine Airlines came on board to brief us about arrival protocols at MNL airport terminal 2. Passengers then proceeded through the terminal to what I would like to call arrival “stations” – manned booths or tables at which staffers would check your temperature, health documents, quarantine hotel reservation; QR code is scanned at each station. There was free bottled water in the arrival hall, which I thought was a nice touch. You then proceed through immigration, collect your luggage and go through customs, before exiting the terminal. I was pleasantly surprised at how smooth the processes were at the airport.

Unfortunately that’s where my good luck ended. Waiting for the van to take me to the quarantine hotel took a long while and multiple follow up phone calls to the transport company (Europcar) and the hotel (Seda Vertis North). Metro Manila is notorious for crazy traffic, and one way to hopefully avoid weekday traffic is to travel on a weekend. However arriving on the tail end of the holiday period – January 2 – was probably not the best idea, because lots of people were trying to get back to Manila (or exiting Manila) before regular work schedules start on January 3, Monday. I got to terminal 2’s bay 14 for pickup in a reasonable amount of time after deplaning but waited about 50 minutes for the transport van to pick me up. The hotel I chose was in Quezon City – in Metro Manila’s north, close to home. I noticed vans from hotels located in Makati, Pasay and Parañaque were promptly scooping up their passengers while I was stuck waiting for my vehicle. Perhaps the lesson here is to book a quarantine hotel close to the airport? However, choosing to stay closer to home had one advantage: it was convenient for family to send me care packages while in quarantine.

Seda Vertis North

Overall, Seda Hotels have a pretty good reputation of being clean and comfortable and this one in Quezon City certainly lived up to that. Neighbors had stayed here before and found the food decent. As an aside – that should be one of the criteria for choosing a hotel, along with distance, location and price. Seda’s quarantine package was reasonably priced and they had a hotel transfer partner, so I went ahead and booked my stay there. While there are lists of quarantine hotels available online (see here and here), I actually shortlisted and chose a hotel based on reviews from friends and family who have been through hotel quarantine in the last year. It was just easier that way.

The hotel has separate areas for normal operations and for quarantine facilities, from the reception area and lobby to elevators and dedicated quarantine floors (12 to 24). Staff were appropriately dressed in PPE. Each room had a chair in front of it for non-contact deliveries of food and other stuff. Because it is a quarantine facility, hotel housekeeping does not come to clean up after you. For example, you are issued two trash bags daily (one for recyclables and another for general trash), and you have to put these out for collection at certain times of the day. You can ask for additional toiletries or towels from guest services as well, and these are delivered to the room.

More on hotel quarantine in separate posts. Stay tuned!