Returning to London as a tourist

LONDON — I was in London only a few months ago to visit family and revisit the haunts of a city that once harbored us in exile. It was limited to the things that touched our lives — there were the visits to Hyde Park, the church nearby and the shops I used to walk to when buying our groceries. It was very much a personal London.

On this visit, I came as a tourist being with a group of other journalists who accompanied Philippine Airlines CEO Ramon Ang to present the national airline’s return to London. After 15 years of absence, Ang made the bold move to restore what other news stories called to return the national glory it once enjoyed as a premier airline in Asia.

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On the way from Heathrow Airport to what would be our home in the Kensington Marriot for the next few days,  the guide noted what would have escaped me completely if I had gone on my own no matter how long I had lived there. Did you know, he said, that there was a brewery right in the heart of London?

Fuller’s  is the British award-winning brewery making its signature product in the Chiswick neighborhood since 1845. But of course we could not stop to have our pint just yet. Suffice it to say that its award-winning beer is loved by beer drinkers all over the world, said the guide.

It was in that building that it is made, as he peered out of the window to point out the beer factory to us. I was later to know that Griffin Brewery owned the beer-making factory. The guide meant no irony that he was escorting the guests of the largest beer factory in the Philippines.

The touring Filipino journalists were later to taste Fuller’s award-winning beer in grand style at curiously named pub “The Counting House” in the City (London’s financial district).

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It turns out that the pub called The Counting House where we had lunch the next day was Fuller’s flagship pub. I swear I would never have visited the beerhouse during our long exile. It looked more like a museum than a pub. The pub is a Grade II listed building with an island bar right in the center.

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I very nearly lost the chance to see unrivalled views of London in what is now a favorite of  tourists – the London Eye. Being afraid of heights and remembering a childhood experience of being stuck on top of a creeking ferris wheel was enough to want to resist joining the group. But I looked at it a second time and realized that although it looked like a ferris wheel it was far from the ferris wheel.  It was more like huge cable cars strung in a circle that rose high in the sky. There are a number of other such “ferris wheels” in other cities I have visited like Singapore.  With the guide’s promise that I would not be frightened once inside the very solid cable cars  that could accommodate as many as 30 passengers, I decided to ride it assured I would not get stuck on the top with only a solitary companion. I jauntily decided to join the group and overcame a lifetime phobia.

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The truth was we  nearly missed the real reason why we were invited by PAL to London in the first place.  We were invited to cover the Philippine national airline’s return to London. The presentation was held at the Corinthia Hotel in Whitehall Place. But it took us more than an hour to go through horrendous traffic. Security was tight with so many police cars circling the area of the hotel. Our guide presumed that it may be because of the South Korean president’s visit plus the rush hour.  We did several detours before we could reach the hotel.

We would only know the next day that it was neither the South Korean President nor the rush hour traffic but a demonstration that stopped all traffic for hours. The demonstration was organized by a group calling themselves “the Anonymous movement.” November 5 is the celebration in Britain of the Guy Fawkes Day.

Wearing Guy Fawkes masks,  they caused the traffic that encircled the area around Buckingham Palace and Parliament. Some 15 people were reported arrested.  The celebration of Guy Fawkes that day was a perfect cover for hundreds of protesters who lit a huge bonfire. Copying other protests in different cities, they called themselves as the “MillionMaskMarch” and announced they would conduct similar protests in Japan, Australia and New Zealand.

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We did reach the Corinthia Hotel in time for the presentation of PAL’s return to London, late and breathless but happy to see a crowded hall of Filipino leaders in the UK, travel agents and businessmen. 

Mr. Ang was beaming with pride for having pulled off what someone called “a coup in international travel.” He announced at the gathering that with the direct flights plus landing rights in Heathrow, the flying time from London to Manila would be a mere 12.5 hours, faster than its other competitors that have stopovers. Filipinos in the UK welcomed this but more especially when it was announced that there will be promotional prices for the occasion of PAL’s return to London. Economy tickets will be sold at $1,052 all in. Business class in its luxurious Boeng 772-300ER. These low fares will be on sale up to Jan. 14, 2014 and can be used from Nov. 4, 2013 to  May 2014. 

The timing of PAL’s return to London is a splendid move in the Christmas season. As Roselle Cabanero, a Filipino leader in the UK told me, there will be many takers of the promotional fare but suggested that there would be even more if PAL were to increase the luggage allowance. “

Also present in the ceremonies at Corinthia Hotel was Tourism Secretary Ramon Jimenez who was interviewed by media on the sidelines about the poor airport facilities in Manila.

It was unfortunate that with PAL’s determined drive to expand the reach of the airline, the NAIA should be named the worse airport in the world for the second time.