Tori turned the TV back on and resumed the movie. Mav wakes up to the surrounding muffled commotion. Sierra stirs to a gradual sleepy-but-perky state. In another city [Dallas, TX] : in a few hours mom would finally be boarding the plane and on the final stretch to be with the kids.
We headed out the door 6am sharp. The boys helped lug the suitcases and one carry on to the back of the van. Lots of hugs and kisses. Could see the kids fighting tears. Was wishing they would just feel ok to release them. Yet, didn't want to "awkwardize" the moment for them either. My goodness, what a heart tugging moment. They kept going in and out of the garage trying to grab final hugs. Even Dylan came out with Mav in arms.
With the odd timing of the departure and payday we couldn't exactly withdraw cash until that morning. However, with tirelessly pushing the clock we thought maybe...just maybe there would be enough time to cash out at the Maverick atm. But just as we were turning into the country club at 6:10am, sure enough, the shuttle van was turning in too. The secretary had told Mike that they'd be there 6:20 leaving at 6:25. Not having been privy to their conversation, the driver wasn't willing to let Mike jet over despite just how early he was....WAY early. No, he wanted to jet too. Michael's, "Seriously?" and tone was cringing. Didn't want to start the day with an off beat over a few minutes. Worth a chortle, though.
Once checked in the laborious security process was started. A bit hair raising for me. The rebellious side wasn't quite brushed but close. Once at the gate, there was plenty of down time for Mike to call, check on the kids and make sure they were all ok. They had texted several times during the shuttle drive down. This was definitely a time when modern mobile technology was more than appreciated. The kids' emotions could be eased with the ongoing communication and this mom wouldn't yet need to feel so far away from them. Awesomeness!
The flight was full and take off was awesome. Without fail, every take off I find incredibly exhilarating and fabulously heart thumping. For lack of better words....YUM!!! Within a few minutes we were over Dewey. Wishing the kids could see me wave. Unfortunately I hadn't the ability to text or call them to run out of the house, look up into the sky and wave back. What a heart folding moment. Darn it. The plane turned over Prescott and another few minutes we were looking down on Hoover Dam and Vegas. After a total of 1 1/2 hours later touch down in San Fransisco. Major flash backs flooded the brain. The terminal was a buzz with packed restaurants and so many people. We wanted to get some lunch but I insisted on getting to the right terminal first.
We had to go out of security and back into it once we got to the international terminal. Now the laborious process was really starting to brush up against a layer of rebellion. Felt like part of the cattle complying through a lurid potential of an accusatory gauntlet. No amount of 9-11 reminders could soften the ruffled feathers. Mike graciously took it with ease as they needlessly [thoroughly] inspected him despite the obvious alarm dinging knee brace he was wearing. Ay nako! ' o ' With a few dog chasing-tail-circles we finally made it to the right gate. Apparently, the wrong gate was printed on our boarding pass. Who's fault was that, Air China or US Airways? Not that it mattered. Much to my chagrin the international terminal didn't have the same choice of restaurants and stores. Amongst the skimpy were one or two sit down restaurants and two of the same price jacking souvenir/snack store. I settled for $10 chicken chicken Caesar salads and a 2/$8 nuts and trail mix packs. Would've gladly gotten Mike some more fill for flight if the sandwiches weren't just as price gouging. But he was surprisingly gracious about it. By the time I made it back to the gate he was on the phone with Terry Ross sharing in the excitement of the trip and had Terry pray with/for us. Not sure when the last time was that I shoved a salad in my maw so fast. Didn't want to take it on the plane. Before I had gone off to find food, we had to get our boarding passes printed through Beijing. That wasn't a problem. (It's for this kind of time-taker-stuff that I'm particular about how time is spent in terminals where flight transfers are involved). It was, however, the first encounter with strongly Chinese laced English on the trip. Of the two of us, it was I that understood it better.
Now Mike was the obvious minority sticking out like the shiny sore thumb. What a laugh. It was awesome. A wee little birdie once told me their reasoning for staying away from Air China/China Air...delays being number one. We hoped for luck to be on my side both coming and going. This time, it most certainly was. We boarded on time and left the terminal on time. Maybe...just maybe half of the passengers were seated as we taxi-ed out. The rest were still getting their carry ons situated above or their tushies situated into the right row and seat. This was my kind of take off where all the repetitive formalities are set aside for everyone's convenience so as to get on with it. Totally loved it. Yah, let's get up and go everybody! Wahoo!! Chortle chortle. Tee hee hee hee......
Once again "luck" had me assigned to a window seat. Yah, baby! So ready to watch myself get pulled away from the western coast and over the Pacific. These folks don't waste time. Immediately after the pilots reached 30,000 ft. we were getting served drinks, immediately followed by supper and more drinks to go with the meal.
11+ hours later, we could not have arrived in Beijing any sooner. It was the new terminal built in time for the '08 Olympics. While it may sound like needless whining and complaining, I couldn't help but have that ongoing broken record in the mind going over and over of how the massive mega structure was an apparent waste of space and money. Beautiful as all get out.... but so wasteful. Everywhere the feet did trod, it seemed like more wide empty space barely seeing enough foot traffic to justify it's existence. Magnificent structure.
Not having been there before, we seemed to walk in circles trying to find the right gate. The gate number labeling appeared confusing. After much treading, we finally made it to the right one. It made for great exercise, though. How bizarre that all the passengers for the four-hour-plus Beijing-Manila leg were getting shuttled to the airplane when there were countless gates unused without a plane parked for loading and/or unloading.
This was it. Last take off that would lead to the final landing on the stretch. Yah, baby! Tired were we...but so ready and so excited. Especially me...wahoo!!! More beverages. Another meal. Another cat nap. The flight was only half full. So, even though we didn't have assigned window seating this time, the stewardis strongly recommended we take whatever seat we wanted. So, of course we grabbed window seats. Nothing was going to get in the way of the hopefully perfect view of that home landing. Oh, my jacked happy heart!
After four hours, the seat belt light went back on for the last time. Uncharacteristically out of compliance, 80's chimed out of the headphones from my phone as the plane turned into position with continuing decline in altitude. There it was. The greatest place in the world. Lit up as if to say, "Hello, we've been waiting 25 years for you. Welcome home, Love." Literally the tears flowed like a child too over joyed with the reunion. They flowed and the heart was busting at the seams unable to control any of it. Thankgoodness the plane was loud enough to drown out the sobs and sniffles. And there it was.... the fabulous MABUHAY painted on a neighboring building.
Apparently, there is a connection to government corruption that has resulted in the not-so-well kept terminal one of NAIA. Back in the day, this airport was fabulous, It was incredible. Immediately following the exhilaration of having finally landed back home, sadness over it's condition heavily blanketed the bouncing spirit. It would be nice to have foreigners be introduced into the amazing country through a well kept pristine terminal as it once was. I remember the days of going through the baggage claim and then walking into the "waiting lobby". Here there was one door for returning Filipinos and one for foreigners greeted by their waiting parties behind a fence. But that "fence" was no longer there. The restroom was sadly not so delightful....as in slightly run down. Clean, but not as nice as I remember.
Raymond was waiting outside by his car. How SO exciting to FINALLY meet him in person. There's a big difference between video skyping and in person. In person will ALWAYS be much better. The heavy humid after-midnight air was so yummyliciously familiar.
Air China served us well and on time. No delays. They couldn't help the one oriental toddler who cried in between sleeps from San Fransisco to Beijing. It appeared he was one that was parented with small temporary fixes and no lasting results. Well, maybe....his constant dissatisfaction. Anne's parenting classes have opened these eyes to so much. Too bad, her classes not available world wide.
Home.....Mahal kita.....
 |
| Was wishing I had the signal to call the kids and have them run outside to wave back as I was waving. The plane turned towards Vegas over Prescott. |
 |
| Very easy to recognize I-17, the overlook and it's continuing wind up/down the mountains . The interstate we often take to/from Phoenix |
We had to go out of security and back into it once we got to the international terminal. Now the laborious process was really starting to brush up against a layer of rebellion. Felt like part of the cattle complying through a lurid potential of an accusatory gauntlet. No amount of 9-11 reminders could soften the ruffled feathers. Mike graciously took it with ease as they needlessly [thoroughly] inspected him despite the obvious alarm dinging knee brace he was wearing. Ay nako! ' o ' With a few dog chasing-tail-circles we finally made it to the right gate. Apparently, the wrong gate was printed on our boarding pass. Who's fault was that, Air China or US Airways? Not that it mattered. Much to my chagrin the international terminal didn't have the same choice of restaurants and stores. Amongst the skimpy were one or two sit down restaurants and two of the same price jacking souvenir/snack store. I settled for $10 chicken chicken Caesar salads and a 2/$8 nuts and trail mix packs. Would've gladly gotten Mike some more fill for flight if the sandwiches weren't just as price gouging. But he was surprisingly gracious about it. By the time I made it back to the gate he was on the phone with Terry Ross sharing in the excitement of the trip and had Terry pray with/for us. Not sure when the last time was that I shoved a salad in my maw so fast. Didn't want to take it on the plane. Before I had gone off to find food, we had to get our boarding passes printed through Beijing. That wasn't a problem. (It's for this kind of time-taker-stuff that I'm particular about how time is spent in terminals where flight transfers are involved). It was, however, the first encounter with strongly Chinese laced English on the trip. Of the two of us, it was I that understood it better.
Now Mike was the obvious minority sticking out like the shiny sore thumb. What a laugh. It was awesome. A wee little birdie once told me their reasoning for staying away from Air China/China Air...delays being number one. We hoped for luck to be on my side both coming and going. This time, it most certainly was. We boarded on time and left the terminal on time. Maybe...just maybe half of the passengers were seated as we taxi-ed out. The rest were still getting their carry ons situated above or their tushies situated into the right row and seat. This was my kind of take off where all the repetitive formalities are set aside for everyone's convenience so as to get on with it. Totally loved it. Yah, let's get up and go everybody! Wahoo!! Chortle chortle. Tee hee hee hee......Once again "luck" had me assigned to a window seat. Yah, baby! So ready to watch myself get pulled away from the western coast and over the Pacific. These folks don't waste time. Immediately after the pilots reached 30,000 ft. we were getting served drinks, immediately followed by supper and more drinks to go with the meal.
Thanks to Air China's technology, between movies, passengers could see the current plane location on the globe. So, we never really flew over the Pacific. Instead, we went along the Alaska, over the Bering Sea, down the Sea of Okhotsk and on to Beijing. After a kitty nap, I woke up in time to see what appeared to be Anchorage below [as I quickly flipped through the memory imagery files from over ten years ago]. Close by was the majestic....Mt. McKinley?? Why....yes!!! Wow....just wow...Wow....WOW! Gloriously breath-taking.
 |
| There is more of Mt McKinley to see from the sky than from the ground |
11+ hours later, we could not have arrived in Beijing any sooner. It was the new terminal built in time for the '08 Olympics. While it may sound like needless whining and complaining, I couldn't help but have that ongoing broken record in the mind going over and over of how the massive mega structure was an apparent waste of space and money. Beautiful as all get out.... but so wasteful. Everywhere the feet did trod, it seemed like more wide empty space barely seeing enough foot traffic to justify it's existence. Magnificent structure.
This was it. Last take off that would lead to the final landing on the stretch. Yah, baby! Tired were we...but so ready and so excited. Especially me...wahoo!!! More beverages. Another meal. Another cat nap. The flight was only half full. So, even though we didn't have assigned window seating this time, the stewardis strongly recommended we take whatever seat we wanted. So, of course we grabbed window seats. Nothing was going to get in the way of the hopefully perfect view of that home landing. Oh, my jacked happy heart!
After four hours, the seat belt light went back on for the last time. Uncharacteristically out of compliance, 80's chimed out of the headphones from my phone as the plane turned into position with continuing decline in altitude. There it was. The greatest place in the world. Lit up as if to say, "Hello, we've been waiting 25 years for you. Welcome home, Love." Literally the tears flowed like a child too over joyed with the reunion. They flowed and the heart was busting at the seams unable to control any of it. Thankgoodness the plane was loud enough to drown out the sobs and sniffles. And there it was.... the fabulous MABUHAY painted on a neighboring building.
Apparently, there is a connection to government corruption that has resulted in the not-so-well kept terminal one of NAIA. Back in the day, this airport was fabulous, It was incredible. Immediately following the exhilaration of having finally landed back home, sadness over it's condition heavily blanketed the bouncing spirit. It would be nice to have foreigners be introduced into the amazing country through a well kept pristine terminal as it once was. I remember the days of going through the baggage claim and then walking into the "waiting lobby". Here there was one door for returning Filipinos and one for foreigners greeted by their waiting parties behind a fence. But that "fence" was no longer there. The restroom was sadly not so delightful....as in slightly run down. Clean, but not as nice as I remember.
Raymond was waiting outside by his car. How SO exciting to FINALLY meet him in person. There's a big difference between video skyping and in person. In person will ALWAYS be much better. The heavy humid after-midnight air was so yummyliciously familiar.
Air China served us well and on time. No delays. They couldn't help the one oriental toddler who cried in between sleeps from San Fransisco to Beijing. It appeared he was one that was parented with small temporary fixes and no lasting results. Well, maybe....his constant dissatisfaction. Anne's parenting classes have opened these eyes to so much. Too bad, her classes not available world wide.
Home.....Mahal kita.....
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