Island Hoping

Dec. 25, 2008 - Drove 10 min. north to rent a banka (long canoe with out-riggers) to go island hoping. 

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One more thing to stress about...

... is finding good seats on international flights. Seriously, does anybody fit on those tiny seats?!?! I know I'm short... but the flight is 13 hrs loooong!!

So tomorrow, 24 hrs before the flight, I will be on nwa.com fighting for 'coach choice' seats. Yes, I have to pay extra but I'm sure it will be worth it... one of these days I will fly 1st class but until then, I will have to settle for less.

My alarm is set... right at 12pm... I will get better seats!!

12/17/2008 - it only worked halfway... still yucky seats from Detroit to Japan but exit seats from Japan to Manila.... somebody else had the same idea and beat me to it!

T- 2 days - time to pack

There's really no point on packing way in advance. Every single space in that suite case is spoken for. In fact, I'm now playing the game of what not to bring. Now that the airlines have lowered the weight of luggage from 70lbs to 50lbs, this becomes more trivial.
I've come up with a brilliant plan... I will leave some of my clothes behind and if I ran out of things to wear... I will use Joyce's clothes. This has always been the case when we travel... never planned this way, just works out... but now, I have to plan for it otherwise my mom's brownies will be lacking some walnuts and dad won't get his wireless router.
This is definitely not one of our regular backpacking trips!!!

Palawan, here I come!!

By the end of the week, I should be in Palawan, Philippines!!

This plan has been 20yrs in the making. Twenty years ago, my parents (with my siblings and I) migrated to Connecticut knowing that eventually they will be going back to the Philippines to retire. That plan came to fruition last April when they sold their house in CT and started building one in Palawan. Seven months later, the house is done and now the 'kids' are coming home!!!

Jasper (my brother) left last Wednesday and this coming Thursday, Joyce (my sister) and I will be meeting in Detroit to board our flight to Japan then to Manila. From there, another flight to Palawan!!

So, with a passport on hand, some cash, and a couple of credit cards, I'm almost ready to go... If I can only finish packing then I will be better off!!

One Way Travel Stats:
Madison to Detroit = 318 mi/1hr 20min
Detroit to Japan = 6542mi/13hrs 30min
Japan to Manila = 1717mi/ 4hrs 10 min
Manila to Palawan = 363mi/1hr 30min
Approx. time spent on airports including stop overs, custom checks, bathroom breaks, store visits, lunch, etc. = 35 hrs.

My flight from Madison leaves at 10:30am on Thursday. I will be in Puerto Princesa City at 9:30 on Saturday.

Note on time differences: The Philippines is 13hrs ahead of Madison.