The journey begins

Well, we had a very interesting start to our trip.  It started pouring down rain on the way to the airport.  At the airport we took the wrong tram (my fault).  I was following a couple with this great travel bag that held flippers and a mask.  Awesome bag, I have never seen any like it.  On the tram, after I found out all about the bag, Megan looked up and mentioned, “Dad, what’s our gate number?”  We were going to the wrong teWell, we had a very interesting start to our trip.  It started pouring down rain on the way to the airport.  At the airport we took the wrong tram (my fault).  I was following a couple with this great travel bag that held flippers and a mask.  Awesome bag, I have never seen any like it.  On the tram, after I found out all about the bag, Megan looked up and mentioned, “Dad, what’s our gate number?”  We were going to the wrong terminal.  At the wrong terminal, lightning struck.  After reversing direction, and giving Megan a tour of the Orlando airport, we correctly found our gate only to find the flight delayed for 30 minutes.  They couldn’t let anyone off/on the planes due to lightning.  When we were finally allowed to board, all the planes were trying to leave at once, creating a traffic jam.  We sat on the tarmac for another 30 minutes.  That got us a little worried about making the connection.

We arrived in Detroit after our connection was already boarding.  Thankfully it was only a few gates down.  We rushed off the plane, rushed to the gate and made the tail end of the boarding.  Most of our party was there waiting for us.  What a big plane.  Megan was amazed to see the stairs leading to the upper deck and the fact that the rows were 10 across.

During the flight, the 2^nd of 4 movies, there was a whole lot of activity occurring about 5 rows in front of us.  They started calling for anyone with medical experience (doctors, nurses, paramedics).  They brought a defibrillator, oxygen and started requesting an insulin tester.  One member of our team, Janice, provided the tester.  Everything settled down after an hour.

You know you’re on a long flight when you sit through a movie marathon.  We watched Hotel Marigold, Journey 2, I bought a zoo and Moneyball.  I’m tired of sitting.  I probably should sleep.  Maybe soon.

It was a bumpy ride with much turbulence.  I found it hard to sleep in that.  Megan did fine. 

We arrived in Nagano, Japan at around 5:30PM.  We didn’t see much considering it was only about a 1.5 hour layover.  Megan did feel a little unsure with so many people bowing to her.

The trip to Manila was relatively uneventful.  It was still quite a bit turbulent.  The movie was fun, “Ghost Protocol. 

We arrived in Manila tired but fine.  We took 3 buses to the hotel.  What a ride.  They appeared to be competing against each other to see who would get to the hotel first as they weaved in and out of traffic.  The hotel room was tiny compared to what we are used to but decent and clean.  I did have an interesting experience with the toilet though.  The toilet had this handle located on the seat so I pressed it down, thinking to flush.  A rod suddenly stuck out and wet my pants.  I then scrambled to shut it off.  In my haste, I pulled the lever up.  A different rod stuck out and started to spray.  Who expected a bidet, not me?

Well, good night.  One short night in Manila before the main part of the trip begins tomorrow.