日本へのトランジットが9時間もあったので、中華街を通過して、イントラムロスへ。

スペイン統治時代の象徴的建築。1607年建立のサン・アグスティン教会（世界遺産）。

重厚なネオロマネスク様式のカテドラルのマニラ大聖堂。

民族独立の英雄ホセ・リサールが収監された要塞のフォート・サンチャゴなどを歩いて散策。

古いマニラの街並みが偲ばれますね。

Since I had a 9-hour layover on my way to Japan, I passed through Chinatown and headed to Intramuros — the iconic district symbolizing the Spanish colonial era.

I visited San Agustin Church, built in 1607 and designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and the Manila Cathedral, a magnificent Neo-Romanesque cathedral.

I also strolled around Fort Santiago, the fortress where José Rizal, the hero of the Philippine independence movement, was imprisoned.

Walking through these historic sites, I could really feel the atmosphere of old Manila.

サウジアラビア最後にリヤドの始まりの地であるディレイーヤ遺跡を見学。そのまま空港へ。

こちらの道路事情ですが、多いところで7車線の道路も観ましたが、それでも時間によっては車が渋滞していましたね。

総じてサウジアラビアの印象は、土地もホテルの部屋も都市の大きさも全てが大きい。地図を見ていて、意外と近くかと思っていたら、4km近く離れていて、歩くと1時間なんてこともありました。

今の季節でも34度。灼熱の中歩くのは難しいですよね。車とクーラー社会になるわけです。

この二つが揃わないと、砂漠で都市生活はできませんね。そして2030年のEXPOに向けて空港近くの大きな土地が準備されていました。

これはこれで楽しみですね。

At the end of my stay in Saudi Arabia, I visited the Diriyah ruins—the birthplace of Riyadh—before heading straight to the airport.
As for the roads, I even saw some that had as many as seven lanes, yet there were still traffic jams at certain times of day. Overall, my impression of Saudi Arabia is that everything is big—the land, the hotel rooms, and the cities themselves.
Looking at the map, I sometimes thought places were quite close, only to find out they were nearly 4 kilometers away—about an hour’s walk. Even at this time of year, the temperature reaches 34°C, so walking in such heat is difficult. It’s no wonder that life here revolves around cars and air conditioning; without those two, city life in the desert would be impossible.
And near the airport, a vast area of land is already being prepared for Expo 2030. I’m really looking forward to seeing how that develops.

昨晩からブッキングドットコムに振り回されて14時間。今朝になっても何故かオンラインチェックインができずにいました。

結果的に、なんとまだ予約が確定されていなかったのです。チケットを発行するのにメッセージでやり取りしましたが、部署を何度もたらい回しされて、10人以上に連絡しましたが埒開かず、結局クリニックからスタッフに日本の支社に20回以上電話してもらい、全く繋がらず、ようやく出た変な日本語を話す人にとにかく発券してくれと言い続けてもらい、チケット確定メールが届きました。

全く行く予定がなかったマニラで9時間トランジットして帰る事に。実はマニラは学会がなかったので初めての滞在。おすすめ観光地は無いでしょうか？

リヤドはビューが良いホテルで、レイトチェックアウト扱いにしてくれたので、気持ちを抑えてなんとかいましたが、いやー海外出張史上、初めての経験でしたね。

あ、7時間後に、まだ乗れるかどうかわかりません。昨日も航空会社には名前があったのに、チケットが代えられていなかったので。無事に帰れる様に、皆さん祈ってください。

I’ve been completely caught up dealing with Booking.com for the past 14 hours since last night.
Even this morning, for some reason, I still couldn’t check in online.

It turned out that my reservation hadn’t even been confirmed yet.
I messaged back and forth with them to issue the ticket, but I was passed around between departments countless times and ended up contacting more than ten different people — all to no avail.
In the end, I asked my clinic staff in Japan to call their Japanese branch over 20 times, but they couldn’t get through at all.
Finally, when someone with rather strange Japanese answered, we just kept repeating, “Please issue the ticket, just issue it!” until a confirmation email finally arrived.

Now I’m heading home with a 9-hour layover in Manila — a city I hadn’t planned to visit at all.
Actually, I’ve never been to Manila before since there’s never been a conference there for me.
Does anyone have any recommendations for places to visit?

In Riyadh, the hotel had a nice view and kindly allowed me a late checkout, so I managed to keep calm, but… wow, this was truly a first in all my years of overseas business travel.

Oh, and even now — seven hours before my flight — I still don’t know if I’ll actually be able to board.
Yesterday, my name was on the airline’s list, but the ticket hadn’t been reissued.
Please keep me in your prayers that I’ll make it home safely.

本日リヤドの空港の国際線カウンター行ったところ、帰国のチケットが無いと言われました。年間20回、20年間で400回以上海外出張している僕でも初めての事。

どうやらbookingドットコムのスタッフがチケットのリコンファームをかけていない事が原因だったらしく、航空会社に僕の名前は入っていたのに、該当するチケットが無いという事で飛行機に乗せてもらえず。ブッキングドットコムに連絡をしても今対応してますの一点張り。そしてとうとうカウンターがチェックインの締め切りだと。

どうすりゃあいいの？と聞くと東京行きのチケットを他の航空会社で取ってもらうしか無い。と言う返事。ところが全ての便を調べても無理。リヤドに戻るしかありません。これ、きちんと英語話せ無いと詰みますね。

気分を変えようと、空港で目の前の夜景ビューの綺麗なヒルトンをネットで取り、夜11時近くなってリヤドのホテルへ。

フライトチケットがキャンセルされてしまって、リヤドに戻ってきたんだよ。とフロントの人に言うと、皆が集まってきて、それは何か理由があるんですよ。何事も神の思召しと優しい返答。イスラムを学んだこの10日あまりだったので、身に沁みました。

bookingドットコムから2時間経ってからようやく連絡があり、明日発の代替便を取りました。ホテル代はご迷惑かけた分15000円払いますと。それでよろしいでしょうか？と。

悪評は聞いていましたが、ここまでとは！ネットの書き込みみるとお金を払ってホテルを取ったら住所が草むらだったとか、もっと被害を受けた人もいるようです。しかも国外の企業なので、保証もされないと。僕も今回は日程が複雑だったので、都市をホッピングするため、初めて使いましたが、もう2度と無いですね。まあいいネタをもらったと思う様にします。

帰国は2日も遅れてしまう事になりましたが、たまたま非常勤の先生に帰国翌日に外来をお願いしていて、休日もあり、ほぼ誰にも迷惑かけずにゆけることがわかり、ちょっと安心しました。

ただ、本当にブッキングドットコムで取り直したチケット、明日フライトできるのか？

そこはいまだに不安です。

This morning, when I went to the international counter at Riyadh Airport, I was told that there was no return ticket for me. Even though I’ve traveled internationally over 400 times during my 20 years of business trips (about 20 times a year), this was the first time something like this happened.

It seems the staff at Booking.com didn’t reconfirm the ticket, which was the cause of the issue. Although my name was in the airline’s system, there was no ticket under my name, so I wasn’t allowed to board the flight. When I contacted Booking.com, they just kept saying they were working on it. And then, the counter staff told me that the check-in deadline was approaching.

When I asked what I should do, I was told the only option was to book a ticket on another airline to Tokyo. But after checking all the flights, it was impossible. My only choice was to return to Riyadh. It really hit me that without speaking proper English, I would have been stuck here.

To change my mood, I booked a room at the Hilton, which had a beautiful night view right in front of the airport. By around 11 p.m., I checked into a hotel in Riyadh.

I told the front desk staff that my flight had been canceled, so I had to return to Riyadh. As soon as I said that, everyone gathered around and said, “There must be a reason for this. Everything happens according to God’s will.” That response really moved me, especially after learning about Islam during the past 10 days.

After two hours, I finally received a message from Booking.com, confirming that they had booked an alternative flight for me for tomorrow. They also said they would cover the hotel cost, apologizing for the inconvenience and offering to pay me 15,000 yen. They asked if that was acceptable.

I had heard bad things about Booking.com, but I didn’t expect it to be this bad. After reading online reviews, I found out that others had even paid for a hotel only to find that it was in a grassy area, and some people had suffered much worse. Since it’s a foreign company, there’s no guarantee of a refund. This was my first time using it because my schedule was complicated, with multiple cities involved. But I’ll never use them again. Well, I’ll try to look at it as just another interesting story.

I’ll be two days late returning to Japan, but fortunately, I had asked an adjunct professor to take care of the outpatient clinic the day after I return, and since it’s also a holiday, I won’t be causing too much trouble for anyone. So, I felt a little more at ease.

However, I’m still unsure about whether I’ll actually be able to board the new flight booked by Booking.com tomorrow.

That part is still making me anxious.