As we waited for the plane to be made ready for boarding there were over 400 of us waiting at one end of the Nagoya Airport terminal. There were a number of food and drink stands around but almost all in Japanese so I didn't really know what they offered. I pretty much stood and looked out the window across the tarmac at what I was able to see of Komaki ( the city the old Nagoya Airport is in) through the rain.
Finally the plane was ready and we boarded for the final leg of our journey. For this last hop the plane was packed with not a single open seat. Finally around 5:30 PM local time we took to the air again and headed south. We had a flight of about 4 hours yet in front of us. Shortly after the seat belt signs were extinguished we were served a small dinner and everyone sat back to relax. Relaxing is a relative thing in economy class but we make do as best we can.
About 9:45 PM we start our initial decent into the Manila Area. This leg has thus far been extremely smooth although there was a little fuss from a few children who were very tired from travelling for many hours. All things considered it was really not too bad though. As we made our final maneuvers we were actually over Manila Bay which is absolutely beautiful from the air at night. Apparently there are a large number of small fishing vessels that go out into the bay at night and most seem to have lights mounted at the bow of the ships. It looked much like I was looking down on a sea of stars.
We then came in over the city and I got to witness a rolling brown out in one of the outlying areas of the city. I didn't realize what it was until later but as I was watching the scenery I noticed in one area the lights would all dim down and almost go out and then come back up and the next block down would dim and then come back and so on. It was a fascinating thing to watch. I realized what it was later when I found out how fragile the power grid is in some area.
Now we are on the final approach. We come in low over the city and then we pass over the fence and see the marker lights at the end of the runway. This landing was as smooth a landing as I had had up to the point and I have still not had a smoother landing in the years since. I literally did not feel the touchdown and the only thing that gave it away was the small thumps as the landing gear passed over the seams in the concrete runway at just under 200 miles an hour and then the thrust reversers were engaged. We slowed down and then came what was actually the most frightening part of the entire trip except for the air pocket over Nagoya.
We taxied to the terminal far, far faster that I was comfortable doing and as I looked around I saw quite a few other passengers that seems a bit uncomfortable with this as well. We finally made it to the terminal and pulled up to the gate and began disembarking. I was only a third of the way back so it didn't take too long for me to get up and grab my carryon stuff and head into the terminal. I waited for the other guys and we then headed to get our luggage and go through customs. That went very well and we had our luggage and were through customs in about 45 minutes. As we got near the exit there was a driver from our hotel with a sign that had our company name on it. We followed him and walked into one of the biggest shocks I had had. Remember it is February and when I left Harrisburg it was about 18 degrees so I was dressed for that weather and I kept my coat on most of the flight because it gets cold at 42000 feet. The terminals are all air conditioned so I did not realize what awaited me outside.
We followed the driver through the door and walked into an oven. It was 11:30 at night and 94 degrees with a pretty substantial humidity. Fortunately the hotel van was air conditioned. We put our luggage in the back and the driver headed off to the hotel.
We were being put up at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in the Makati section of Manila. This is an absolutely beautiful facility. The lobby is black and white marble, or it was at that time, and the staff is extremely friendly and willing to assist. We got checked in and headed to our rooms. I had at this point been up for about 26 hours with a few naps on board the planes. I got into my room, locked the door, lay down on the bed and I was out for a good 8 hours. I rarely sleep more than 8 hours no matter how tired I am. I will end this post here and pick up the next post with the actual time spent in the Philippines.
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