Philippines Part 3 – LANDING IN ASIA
At this point in my life I had only been on three or four flights. All of them except for the domestic flight in Bulgaria were civilized. The airports in Bulgaria were small and the airport in NYC was well-organized. With this in mind, I laid back in my seat on my NYC – Tokyo flight with full assurance that everything would be all right when I landed in Manila. I mean, how chaotic could an airport be. Surely my party would be there to greet me.
After an uneventful stopover in Tokyo, I boarded the flight for Manila. It was getting on towards evening by the time I landed. I grabbed my baggage and headed out. When I had left New York, it had been winter. When I landed in Manila, it was early summer!
I walked through customs, got my passport stamped and then continued on through the doors. The airport was bustling. There were some sliding doors ahead of me. As I approached them I could feel the breath of heavy, humid Manila night air. As I walked through them, I became just a tad nervous.
There in front of me were throngs of people and beyond them were about six jam-packed full lanes of vehicles driving by and picking up people. I started to sweat a little. What was this? It was my first of many experiences outside of the first world.
I wasn’t sure what to do. I did not know what kind of car I was looking for or even who would be picking me up. I stared out into the mass for a few minutes trying to stay calm. I contemplated my next move which would be to find a payphone and call again hoping to reach someone and notify them that I had landed.
I stood there listening to the beeping and yelling and sirens as the warm Manila night wafted over me. Suddenly I heard someone yell, “Nick!” Five lanes out a car had stopped in the darkness. I ran toward the car and hopped in the back. Mr. M___was in the passenger seat.
“I wasn’t sure how I was going to find you guys,” I confessed. “I am so glad you got my message that I missed my flight. I don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t showed up.”
There was a few seconds of silence.
“What message?” asked Mr. M___.
“We didn’t get any message. We just figured we’d swing by hoping we’d see you.”
And so began my life of travel adventure…
Wow this story! It made me laugh our loud, what in the world! So different from our way of doing things 😂😂
“What in the world?!” is right. We have learned an important lesson over the years – when in Rome, do as the Romans do. It is crazy sometimes. One time the police tried to arrest me here in Bulgaria and I just told him “No”.
Praying for you guys.