The Traveling Backpack--Philippines

As I was walking through the Minneapolis airport carrying our yellow backpack, it occured to me that this backpack had been on quite a few of our trips. It is has been around the world several times and has welcomed home 3 of our 4 children. We have become attached to this rather beat up bag! The mere sight of it brings back so many fond memories of happy travels, I have decided to call each post of this trip "The Traveling Backpack".





February 17, 2008--Sunday in Louisiana

We had a 6 am flight this morning, which meant getting up around 4 am. Our neighbor, Ken Juenau (thank you!), took us to the airport. I drugged myself, so I would have nothing to worry about. We were a little concerned that the flight to Memphis would be bumpy, but other than the landing, it was a very smooth flight. All our flights were on time and we fared better than we expected with 17 hrs of flight time!

February 19, 2008--Tuesday, Manila

We made it to Manila around 12:30 am. Manila is a very typical Asian city! There is something so alive about them! The people never seem to sleep and the city is active and nosiy even at 2a.m. in the morning!

The ride from the airport to our hotel was very interesting experience. After fighting to retrieve our luggage, we had to get an airport taxi to take us to the hotel. We found an airport security guard and asked where to go to get a taxi. He directed us to the signs that clearly stated that if your last name ended in A, B, or C you were to go here. I guess he felt sorry for us poor, ignorant people, so he walked us to the desk and said, "Get your taxi here!" Taxis were everywhere, so it wasn't but a matter of seconds we were on our way, or so we thought! We had only gone a little way, actually down a hill and around a curve, and we stopped at an office for the taxi service. Toby asked the driver why we were stopping, and the driver said, "You pay here!", So, Toby pays and off we go into the lurching, beeping, honking, swerving traffic. We are anxious to talk to the kids, so Toby gets out his cell and starts to call home! At this point, the driver pulls into a service station and stops. When the driver stops Toby says, "Why are we stopping?," and the driver proceeds to explain that he needs gas and we are on the phone. There was a sign at the station saying that all cell phones must be off, but the driver left the car running the entire time the gas was being pumped. Too, funny!!!! We did make it to the hotel and was in bed by 2:30 am. After 30 something hours of travel time, we were exhausted!!!!!!

We stayed at the Crowne Plaza Manila last night which is actually a Holiday Inn. We got up around 8 am and had breakfast at the 7 Corners here at the hotel. I had breakfast noodles which I love! YUM!!! After breakfast, I was reading a description of the resturant and they described eating at the 7 Corners as a "gastronomical dining experience!" Hope that doesn't hint of things to come!

Manila from our hotel window!

Our flight to Cebu City was at 4 pm this afternoon. It was a domestic flight, so we were taken to a different airport by the hotel taxi. Much nicer taxi and it went straight to our destination without stopping! Let me say now, that the domestic terminal was a DIFFERENT experience than the international airport. You are among the locals! Our driver dropped is off in front of the airport and we were immediately pickup by a "helper" to drive the cart and help us through the maze of getting checked in. He was a very helpful gentleman and well worth our pesos.

You can't enter the airport terminal without your ticket, because "well wishers are not allowed inside the airport!" Toby stood in line for the tickets while I waited with the luggage. It didn't take him long because our "helper" cleared the line for him. Once we had our tickets, we were allowed to enter and go through security. The lines were designated male and female, so we got in the correct line with the help of our "helper" of course! Then, we proceeded on to check-in, where our helper cleared another line for us. At this point, we paid him around 140 pesos (about $6) and he went on to help others. Our luggage was too heavy at check in, so they sent us down to desk # 16 to pay. Not sure how much we paid, but it was several more pesos. After our fee was paid, back to the original desk we went and the attendant gave us our boarding passes. We proceed on, pay our terminal fee of 400 pesos, go through another male and female security check, and show all our papers, boarding passes, stubs, and passports to another security check point attendant and then we were allowed to sit down and wait. After about and hour, and right when I was about to go check out the "comfort room", our gate # was called. You do not get your gated assignment until they announce whether you will be boarding at gate A, B, C, or D. C it was, so I used the lavatory once on the plane. The whole process wore me out to the point that I slept the entire flight!

Jeff and Brenda Mallory, Bro and Sis Mallory, and Bro Varnell met us at the airport in Cebu City and we ate dinner with them. It was a wonderful Italian resturant with a very nice buffet. After the meal, we were so tired that we went to bed and I was asleep by 9 pm. I was back up at 3 though. Gotta love jet lag!