Flying with The Heart of The Filipino – Philippine Airlines Flight Review: PR100 Manila to Honolulu

The Heart of the Filipino – a tagline that resonates well with The Philippines’ flag carrier, which I had the privilege of experiencing, on my 9-hour flight from Manila to Honolulu, onboard the A330-300 aircraft.

Flight details

Operator: Philippine Airlines

Flight: PR100

Route: Manila to Honolulu

Operating aircraft: A330-343

Registration: RP-C8783

Departure from Manila: 5.30pm / 7.39pm*

Arrival in Manila: 9.25am / 10.37am*

Flight time: 9h 55 / 8h 58*

(*denotes actual timings)

As with most Philippine Airlines’ international flights (excluding Abu Dhabi, Dammam, Doha, Riyadh, New York, Toronto and Vancouver), this flight departs from NAIA Terminal 2.

Perhaps as a stricter security measure for flights to the United States, the boarding gate was cordoned off; passengers had to go for a second security screening and their documents revalidated before being allowed to enter the holding area. Interestingly, this notice was stapled to my boarding pass during the documents check.

On that day, my flight was overbooked and repeated announcements were made to request for three volunteers to give up their confirmed seats. For their inconvenience, each volunteer would be compensated with a guaranteed seat on the next day’s flight, a night’s accommodation in Manila, and a round-trip ticket Manila to Honolulu or vice versa. Not bad, in my opinion, and I found myself almost wanting to take up this package, just almost.

The holding area filled up as expected, with plenty of North Asian passengers (Chinese, Koreans and Japanese) in addition to many Filipino families. There were also at least a dozen wheelchair passengers!

Economy Class boarding was executed strictly by zones, with separate queues for each zone.

Boarding the aircraft, we were welcomed onboard by the cabin crew and I made my way to my seat in the aft cabin of this A330-300. Blankets, pillows and headsets were furnished on the seats.

Personal touchscreen entertainment - MyPAL eSuite

Note the slim entertainment box occupying some of the legroom for the window seat.

There wasn’t an AC power port but a USB port was available to keep my devices happily juiced up.

I was seated by the window and with a little bit of misfortune, the aisle seat was taken by a passenger of size. “May I get an extension, please”, I overheard him whispering to the passing flight attendant. His wish was granted, and so was my 11-hour fate.

He was a nice gentleman but a hefty one; I actually felt as bad for him as I felt for myself, as his legs were so squished up against the seat in front that he just almost became part of the aircraft fixture (and thus, I was essentially Trump walled up by the window).

If being Trump walled up was bad, here’s the worse news: we were delayed for two hours before our departure! We missed our departure slot after waiting for passengers from a delayed connecting flight, resulting in an hour wait at the gate for a new departure slot. We had a short respite when we taxied to the runway but ended up waiting another hour at the edge of the runway because of an endless stream of arriving flights. I even finished a movie “Venom” during the very patient wait. Unfortunately, my seatmate (and consequently, myself) had to endure being strapped to the seats in the upright position through the entire long-suffering process.

Heart of the Nation safety video - a crowdsourced video featuring the faces of the Philippines

After the take-off, things became slightly more comfortable as my seatmate (after apologizing to the passenger behind him) reclined his seat.

Amenity kits were distributed, which comprised dental kit, socks and eyeshade.

This was followed by paper dining menus!

I was quite pleasantly surprised to receive menus in Economy Class. What a lovely touch.

Here’s the menu offering for the flight:

alcoholic beverages

WHITE WINE

Maison Sabadie Vin de France

Wolf Blass Eaglehawk Chardonnay

RED WINE

Domaine Preignes Le Vieux Syrah

Domaine Preignes Le Vieux Cabernet Sauvignon

LIQUORS

Compañero Brandy

Tanduay Rhum Dark

J&B Rare Blended Scotch Whisky

BEERS

Heineken

Asahi Draft Beer Super Dry

Brew Kettle Belgian Witbier Style

non-alcoholic beverages

COLD DRINKS

Juices

Apple

Orange

Tomato

Soft Drinks

Cola, Uncola

Diet Cola, Diet Uncola

Ginger Ale

Soda Water

Tonic Water

HOT DRINKS

Coffee – brewed, decaffeinated

Tea

Hot Chocolate

hot meal

Bread Roll and Butter

Smoked Shrimps on Noodle Salad with Mustard Dressing

Best of the Philippines Treat

MAINS

Aristocrat Boneless Chicken Barbecue (Filipino cuisine)

World-famous chicken barbecue, marinated, grilled and served with peanut java sauce, tangy atchara, and java rice

Fish Fillet in Chili Ginger Sauce (Western cuisine)

Baked white fish fillet in spiced ginger sauce served with broccoli, carrots, and buttered fettucine

DESSERT

Auro Chocolate Bar

mid-flight snack

Lemon Peppered Chicken in Pandesal

breakfast

Bread Roll and Butter

Seasonal Fresh Fruit Slices

Belvita Breakfast Biscuit

Best of the Philippines Treat

MAINS

Home-Style Pork Tocino and Egg (Filipino cuisine)

Pan-fried cured pork slices with scrambled eggs, mushrooms, tomato wedge, and garlic fried rice

Veal Sausage with Caramelized Onions and Eggs (Western cuisine)

Grilled veal sausages with caramelized onion served with scrambled eggs, mushrooms, tomato, and mashed potatoes

Menu dishes created by Glenda Barretto

For me, the meal choices were obvious – definitely going for the Filipino cuisine on this Philippine Airlines flight (especially since the catering was from home base). At that point, I didn’t know who Glenda Barretto was but later as I googled, Glenda Barretto is a culinary icon who has been described as a doyenne of Filipino cuisine. She founded Via Mare, an established restaurant brand that encompasses a Filipino café , an oyster bar and a mobile catering services provider. Glenda Barretto is also an author of several culinary books. Glad I went with my culinary instinct!

Meal service commenced and I was happy to receive my Chicken barbecue choice.

Appetiser - Smoked Shrimps on Noodle Salad with Mustard Dressing

Main course - Aristocrat Boneless Chicken Barbecue

Adding the peanut java sauce

Bread roll and butter

Auro Chocolate Bar and Best of The Philippines treat

PR100 Hot meal service video:

I also requested for Tanduay Rhum (served on the rocks), together with Cola with ice.

After the meal service, lights were turned down for passengers to rest. Passengers were requested to draw down their window shades.

Interestingly, the direction to Mecca was available in the flight path in the entertainment.

I continued my movie binge, and enjoyed a really good movie “Bad Times at the El Royale” – I really loved the superb performances of the cast and the thrilling plot.

Mid-flight, the flight attendants passed through the cabin with hot snacks, followed by drinking water. In the menu, the snack sounded like a very Filipino dish, but it was a sandwich of sorts – really tasty though!

Excited as I was, I didn’t sleep but indulged in a movie marathon – not a challenge given the extensive and diverse selection of movies in the entertainment system.

The lavatory was stocked with lotion, cologne and handwash.

Time onboard flew quickly (in confined spaces, movies work wonders) and soon hot towels were served for passengers to freshen up for the breakfast service. It was a nice touch.