A Weary Traveler

Finally on my way to the Philippines!!!

Here is my flight schedule:

ATL to Detroit: Leave at 11:00 am, arrive at 1 pm

Detroit to Nagoya, Japan: Leave at 3:55 pm, arrive at 3:30 pm, May 24

Nagoya, Japan to Manila, Philippines: Leave at 8:15 pm, arrive at 11:30 pm

Manila to Cagayan de Oro, Philippines: Leave at 6:00 am, arrive at 7:15 am, May 25

Flight DL629: The flight from HELL

I arrive in Detroit on schedule and get something to eat before flying out to Nagoya @ 3:55. As departure time approached, we got a message that the flight would be pushed back 30 minutes due to maintenance problems. So no big deal, 30 minutes isn’t anything to cry over. However after 30 minutes elapse, they say that they still need another 30 minutes to fix the problem. By this point I’m a little annoyed,

So I buy one of those puzzle game books from one of the shops, just trying to do something as time goes by. Then at 5:15 the lady at the desk says that the problem is going to take another HOUR! Ugh!!!!! They give out vouchers so I get a pretty nice dinner and get back just in the nick of time, only to return to them saying we are still delayed... The problem now is that there is a law that concerns the flight attendants and because of the delay they would be considered illegal to serve us therefore we had to wait for a new crew. We finally start boarding at 7:15 however we are still without a full crew. I befriend the person sitting next to me and we start talking about college, our majors, and Filipino cultures which was enlightening for myself. Unfortunately this was all while we were still on the ground in Detroit. We don’t end up leaving for Japan for another couple of hours.

Supposed time of departure: 3:55 pm

Actual time of departure: 9:37 pm

A delay of 5 hrs and 42 minutes....

We end up landing in Nagoya Tuesday around 11:30 pm. Yes, 11:30 PM. As you cross the International Date Line you gain 12 hours. We have a two hour stopover in Nagoya with the intention of leaving for Manila at 1:30 a.m. With this I still thought that I could make my connection flight to Cagayan that’s at 6 am. Little did I know that I was in for the longest and most stressful day of my life.... As we are all waiting at the gate to board around 1 am, a little musical refrain to call people’s attention chimes and a lady from the front desk tells us, “We regret to inform you that flight DL629 from Nagoya to Manila has been delayed due to a maintenance problem. Please wait until further notice.” I was thinking to myself, “Could this possibly get any worse?” .... 30 minutes later the same musical refrain returns and the lady responds with the same answer. By this time it’s already 2 am and I was getting pretty restless along with all the other passengers. Again the refrain comes and we are all hoping for better news, only to be given the same response as the two previous times. They began to give us refreshments as we eagerly awaited for the new time of departure, checking off our boarding passes as we received snacks and drinks. It’s now 2:30 and the refrain comes back. Again, “We regret to inform you that flight DL629 from Nagoya to Manila has been delayed due to a maintenance problem. Please wait until further notice.” Ugh.... Now any chance of me making my connection flight has gone out the window, as well as half the passengers on the plane. People start to complain to the front desk, telling them that they are going to miss connection flights. Unfortunately only one of the attendants spoke English, and it was broken at best. As well there was nothing that they could do about it. While that was ensuing, I found a computer and notified my parents of the situation. At 3:15 am while chatting with them another guy came on the intercom and told us that they found the problem, but it would take at least an hour to fix it. Right afterwards came a huge wave of screams that continued on and on. I did not see what was happening, but I inquired someone and they said that around 100+ people came storming to the front desk, screaming and complaining to these people who can barely understand any English. It was so hectic that the airlines had to bring four security guards up to the gate. By now we’re all delirious and just wondering if they are just going to cancel the flight. Over the next two hours came the same announcement music with the same response from the lady with the same reaction from the people.

Finally at 5:15 am Delta finally came to a decision, postponing the flight to 4:15 pm. I was in utter disbelief and anger at this point. I would have rather them tell us this three hours prior instead of just prolonging the inevitable. But what can you do? To compensate for this, Delta offered free board at a hotel just 5 minutes from the airport and two meal vouchers totalling 1600 yen to use in the airport. However the pilot informed us that we needed to return to check-in at 1:15 pm. Since the gave vouchers in the same order as how they let people on the plane, I did not receive my vouchers until 7 am. I did not see the point of going to the hotel, taking a short nap and returning to the airport at 1 pm knowing that I still had to go through customs & immigration so I opted just for the meal vouchers. After getting through customs around 8 am I just roamed around the airport for the next 5 hours, getting a meal at a bistro and a frappuccino from Starbucks, just trying to pass the time. I’m at this point just ready to get out of the airport and on a plane. Thankfully everything went according to plan and we left around 4:15 to Manila. 

Supposed time of departure: Tuesday 8:15 pm

Actual time of departure: Wednesday 4:15 pm

A 20 hour delay.....

THANK GOD FOR CONNECTIONS

After getting on the plane, I am just thankful to be on my way to the Philippines. As well I am just spent, for what was supposed to be 24 hours of travel to Manila turned into 57 hours. Additionally within those 57 hours I only got about 6 hours of sleep total. I honestly do not remember a lot of this flight from Nagoya to Manila except that I went to sleep before we even took off and I only woke up twice: to eat dinner and once we finally landed.

Thank Jesus, I finally arrived in Manila. Although I still had one more flight to go, I was just relieved to be in the Philippines. Once I got in the Philippines things started to look brighter. My dad informed me that a friend of his, Federico, who is in the Filipino military was going to meet me at customs. As I head towards customs, Federico and one of his military friends are there to greet me. Once there I saw that I had two customs checkpoints to go through, which I thought would take me a good bit. However Kuya (prounced koo-yawh, means older “brother”) Federico gave them my passport and I went past the checkpoint in no more than 10 seconds, I was pleasantly surprised. After getting my luggage I passed through the next checkpoint, again in no more than 10 seconds. Apparently Kuya Federico has a good amount of pull or something, being in the military. Once exiting the airport I met my Uncle Jesur and Auntie Bennie. They informed me that my Ate (older “sister”) Mae had gotten me a room at the Marriott where she worked at and that we would be staying there. But first we headed over to Philippine Airlines so I could get a new ticket. However I was missing some certification paper that I needed to get from Delta so I had to return the following day. We proceeded to go to the hotel and I got the key from Ate (pronounced ah-teh). We get to the room and it was amazing to say the least, it’s probably the fanciest hotel room I’ve ever stayed in. Once Ate Mae meets up with us in the room, I fall dead asleep, just hoping tomorrow would be a better day.