texas journal #1

we finally arrived here in texas yesterday, october 5, u.s time.

but, before we got here, feeling ko para kaming nag-amazing race because of what we went through. here is what happened:

our flight was scehduled last october 4, manila time, at 10:55pm. the flight was supposed to have a top-over at guam then hawaii, then off to houston & final destination is corpus christi.

we arrived sa airport by 6pm. natagalan kami ng kaunti sa check-in ng baggage kasi daw, 23 kilos na lang ang allowed sa continental for baggages. di ko alam yun! so i packed 30 kilos in 1 box. ayun, sinabihan kami na bawasan daw para ma-allow kami. ayun, bigla tuloy akong nag-imapke ng bago. buti na lang at pinayagan na rin yung baggages namin and we didn't have to pay an extra $25 for the big box.

ok na, pasok na kami sa security. grabe! ngayon ko nakita kung gaano kahigpit ang security na sa news ko lang nakikita. pagpasok pa lang, tanggal daw ang shoes and ini-isa-isa ang mga gamit to make sure na wala kang dalang liquid or gel sa bag. pati toothpaste hindi pwede.

pagkatapos namin sa security, pasok na kami papunta sa gate 2. dun na kami naghintay ng flight namin. boarding time was at 10pm. on time naman kaya ok din. pasok na kami lahat sa eroplano, ng naka-upo na lahat, biglang nag-announce ang pilot. may nakita daw na technical problem and they will have to check it to make sure no problems will be encountered. he said it will take about an hour to determine it.

one hour has passed and then he announced again na baka daw ma-extend coz they have to fix it further. ang init na sa loob ng plane coz the cooling system was turned off. so while waiting, they served the snacks already. so we thought after that, aalis na. it was already a few minutes past midnight that time.

after ng snack and ng matanggal na ang kalat, ayan na, bigla ng nag-announce. all passengers heading towards houston can no longer reach their connecting flight in guam. we were advised to go down from the plane and the customer representative of continental will advise us of the next steps.

ang dami naming bumaba ng plane. syempre, as expected, the priority was for the passengers travelling with infants/children and/or elderly. yung ibang group, they were given another option to reach their destination. some were able to take the same plane. others, bingiyan din ng ibang flight options and they were brought muna sa hotel. nung kami na, halos 1:30am na din nun.

nung kami na, ang binibigay sa amin na route was via beijing but we will arrive in corpus christi 11:59pm na ng october 5 (u.s). sobrang late na nun! we didn't want to take that option. nakipag-argue na kami dun sa isang manager. wala daw talagang ibang flight available coz fully booked lahat. she told us to talk na lang directly to her boss coz she can't decide on her own.

so kinausap namin yung boss and the manager was given an instruction to book us via nortwest airlines. 2:30am na yan and we were the only ones left dun sa may gates. the plane for guam has already left and naiwan na din kami ng papuntang hotel. may mga kasabay kaming 5 na seamen who also has to reach houston by october 5 (u.s).

the manager and her staff were kind naman coz they really helped us out. the office of northwest was not yet open by 3am which was supposed to be the time na nag-open na sila. we all went out again to the pre-departure area and waited there. we were all tired na especially my in-laws but nelo & i just pressed on with coordinating with the manager. she told us to just wait lang muna as they coordinate with northwest and she'll advise us asap.

finally, na-book din kami sa northwest. it was already almost 4:00am. now, we had to wait for the final confirmation and for our baggages which was pulled out from the supposedly earlier flight to guam.

pagod na din talaga ako and nakatulog ako dun sa chair while nelo waited. ng dumating yung baggae namin, it was past 5:00am na, october 5 na sa manila. and since that morning, ang haba ng pila sa northwest, rush agad kaming maka-pila. ng makapasok kami lagpas ng 1st step, 6:00am na! pag-punta namin sa counter, inayos pa yung booking namin with northwest including our new itinerary. natapos kami sa counter at 6:25am. that's when we knew pa lang na 6:55am pala ang flight na! the trip will be from manila to nagoya, japan then on to narita, japan and then off to houston and our final destination in corpurs christi.

imagine, 6:25am kami natapos sa counter eh boarding time na! halos takbuhin namin papasok sa gate. syempre, daan muna ulit sa security check. eh ang haba ng pila ulit doon! sus! talaga namang humihingal kami ng maka-baba kami dun sa northwest gate. andun kami ng 6:40am. isa pa ulit security check! di na natapos-tapos! ayun, nakahabol pa din naman sa boarding! hay, ibang klase yung rush na yun!

umalis ang plane papuntang nagoya japan at exactly 6:55am. the trip to nagoya was 3 hrs & 45 minutes. we were supposed to reach nagoya by 11:45am. since wala pa kaming tulog, talagang hilo na ako sa byahe sa eroplano. tulog lang ako the whole flight except when they were giving out the snack.

the flight was on sked so we got at nagoya at exactly 11:45am. pagkatapos, rush out na kami para sa connecting flight naman to narita, japan. the flight there was scheduled at 12:45pm. daan muna kami sa may check-in counter coz we were given our new boarding passes. sa laki ng nagoya ariport, we were once again rushing to reach the gate for our narita-bound flight!

the plane left at exactly 12:45pm and we were supposed to arrive at narita at 2:10pm. it was an hour & a half flight. bilis lang din. and again, on time kami dumating sa narita. that aiport is so big! i've never seen such a big airport before. (hello! as if naman ang dami ko ng napuntahan para ma-comapre ko ano! lol!)

our flight from narita to houston will now be via continental. the schedule was at 3:55am to 1:55pm. it was a 12-hour flight to houston. it was the longest time i've ever been on a plane and ang sakit nya sa p#*t ha! grabe! at wala akong ginawa sa buong flight kundi ang matulog at kumain! hahaha! di kasi ako pwede manood ng video ng matagal sa flight, nahihilo ako. the best way para di ako ma-suka is if itulog ko nag hilo ko. kaya ayun, tulog!

after ng 12 hours, ayun, nakarating din kami sa houston. and ang laki din ng airport na ito ha! after landing, we immediately proceeded to the immigration service since this is our port of entry to the u.s. the time was 1:55pm, u.s time, october 5. pero sa 'pinas, october 6 na ito!

we were all given a 6-months stay here in the u.s and we are again thankful for that! we were afraid that they might give us a lesser time especially my in-laws. buti na lang at mahaba ang time na binigay.

pero ang tagal din namin nakapila sa immigration. ang dami kasi kaming kasabay din na visitors and mostly are japanese. i think they were on a tour there kasi may guide silang kasama. eh ang flight nila mama cora & papa manuel to corpous christi is at 3:33pm. we had no idea what time it was when we finished at the immigration. we just rushed to get our baggages for our connecting flight to corpus christi.

after re-checking-in our baggages, we asked this lady at the counter what gate the flight was and she said we only had 15 minutes more to reach the flight! and it was 2 terminals away! waaahhh! we had to run again and try to catch the train that brings us to the terminal! and we had to go through another round of security check again! ang sakit sa binti na tumakbo at magmadali para lang mahabol yung flight. ibang klase talaga! buti na lang at naabutan din namin. akala nga namin eh naka-close na yung gate nun pala eh di pa nagpa-boarding. hay! talaga nga naman!

so sila mama & papa naisakay namin on time for their flight to corpus christi. kami naman naghintay ng next flight coz yun naman ang schedule namin, 7:15pm flight.

grabe! now i know kung ano ang feeling ng mga sumasali sa amazing race! talagang kailangan mong habulin ang lahat ng schedules kung hindi ay maiiwan ka! kapagod!

(to be continued...)