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a 27-hour trip: Manila

September 10, 2012. Manila.

Since the first leg of my overseas journey was scheduled to fly a bit after 6:00 am, I had to be at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport pretty early. And so at 3:00 am, my trip from Calamba to New Orleans began.

As I walked with my luggage into the terminal, I was relieved to see that there was no queue at the first security check (as people enter the departures area at the airport). The guard, however, dampened my happy mood by mentioning that the Delta check-in queue was already long inside.

If the check-in queue at Delta was long, the line snaking towards the immigrations counter was even longer: so many pre-dawn flyers and only three immigrations officers were on duty as I took my spot in the queue. After some time, the queue moved a bit faster as more officers opened more counters; just the same, I wasn't able to eat breakfast before take-off.

But before I say that this trip was off to a slow start, let me put a positive spin on things. Thanks to the long queue and the long minutes of waiting, I learned a good thing about trolley laptop bags: they are a big convenience when walking and waiting in airport terminals. Because I was pulling my trolley bag most of the time, I didn't get the back pain that I used to get when carrying my backpack. I don't think my backpack will be seeing a lot of travel anytime soon because of this. 

My trip met a few snags early on, but as I walked towards the departure gate, I thought that the actual traveling bit was finally off to a good start.

Next stop: Japan!
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