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After at least five years of absence, except for Ralph, we decided to go home this past December and celebrate the holidays with our families. This would have been the girls' first time to spend Christmas in the Philippines and the first time since 1990 for Joy and 1984 for Ralph. It was also Ralph's and Joy's respective high school reunions.
Any filipino, I think, is never prepared for all the shopping which translates to packing of boxes of pasalubong that it entails. This trip was no different, especially that it was the gift-giving holiday. We managed to fit into 7 large U-haul boxes all the shoes, chocolates, clothes, and anything that was not bolted down in our garage that we were bringing home. It is no wonder that Northwest has specifically excempted travel to the Philippines from their 50-lb limit and keep the usual 70 lb limit. I guess they know that a small colored tv alone weighs close to 50 lbs already! What is even more amazing is how we were able to transport 7 boxes, 1 large suitcase, 4 carry on luggages and an electric cello to the airport. We had to rent a second vehicle and disturb a friend to drive us to the airport. The attendants at the NW counters did not even weigh our boxes anymore. They just tagged it "Heavy". You should have seen the looks on the TSA personnel who had to carry the boxes into the xray machines. I'm sure they were cursing us under their breath!
Our flight to Detroit, where we would change planes, went smoothly. Ralph was so far gone before we even taxied for take off. He packed straight through the time that we left for the airport at 4 in the morning of December 16. Megan and Erin were very excited being on a plane that they didn't sleep at all, especially that Erin was trying to document everything with her digital camera. Joy was just quietly considering taking a Xanax pill to help her sleep. Excitement eventually won out and she managed to travel, straight to the Philippines, without popping one.
We thought the stars were aligned and the trip would be smooth. Little did we know that "delayed" or "canceled" became the catch word of the day. It all began in Detroit. We boarded the 747 on Gate 56 on time at 12:45 pm for a departure time of 1:30 pm to our next stop, Nagoya, Japan. We got to our seats, the 65th row of 67 rows!!!! Hey, we didn't even mind this at all, at least we all sat together. It didn't also bother us so much that as the plane took off, it shook sideways and felt like the entire half of the plane was going to come off! This is why Joy has a fear of flying! Anyway, getting back to having boarded the plane and seat belts fastened. We then hear the first ominous signs of an impending delay. "Folks, this is your purser and everybody is on board. In just a few mnutes we will be closing the hatch and will be on our way to Nagoya". Well, about 10 minutes later, he came on again letting us know that they (whoever they were) were working on the lavatory. This was followed by "we are told that the toilet is not draining and they should have the problem corrected in 15 minutes". Well, this became a half hour and finally, after having been inside the plane for an hour, they announced that we had to deplane and transfer to another plane. I think we were not so concerned about this turn of events because, really, who would want to be in an eleven and a half hour flight without a functional lavatory!
I thought that this was going to be a quick endeavor but it took another 3 hours. Well, first, we all had to gather all our carry on luggage - remember, we had an electric cello with us and carrying it over the heads of the passengers is a health hazard (for you and the irate passengers whose heads we sometimes hit), and all 443 passengers and crew had to deplane. After leaving the plane, we all immediately lined up at the next gate expecting to board immediately. The counter clerk then gave us the sobering news that this process will not only take a few minutes. They have to remove all our checked baggage (use your math; at least 400 passengers x 2 luggages each = this is where I let my math skills fail me) and move them all to the new plane. It will also be catered again, etc., etc. The bottom line is they all spelled "delay". We finally boarded the plane, now 4 hours later than we were supposed to have left. Well, since the plane was at the gate for so long and snow had started falling (what did we expect, this was Michigan after all) that they have to de-ice again! Five hours later, we finally took off and quietly prayed that we have a safe flight.
Part B. Japan to Manila
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