A Flight Like No Other

I’m back with tons of stories to blog about! I haven’t been able to post anything for almost a month since we were busy preparing for our semi-impromptu trip back to the Philippines. We weren’t planning to take a vacation until December but due to hubby’s business requirements we decided to take a break from the island life and re-join the hustle and bustle of our native land.

Unfortunately, only hubby’s plane fare was covered by his company so for a while I wasn’t sure I would be able to join him and Raine (since Raine is below 2 her fare is only 10% of the adult rate). The plane fare from Marshall Islands is even more expensive than the fare from the Philippines to the U.S., would you believe?! Luckily, we were able to find someone who was selling his “miles” credits for half the price. The only catch was that the flight was not a direct one to Manila (i.e., Majuro-Guam-Manila), like the one Raine and I took last December coming to MI. It was a “hop-on” flight, which meant it would stopover on 4 other islands before landing in Guam and then Manila. Due to this, we were apprehensive that the flight would be too tiring for the little one. Hubby was familiar with the route and said it was pretty tiring and painful to the ears, what with the constant landing and taking off, every couple of hours. We prayed hard that Raine’s little ears would be able to take it.

The day of our departure we were up and ready before lunch for the 12:55pm flight. However, we found out that the plane was delayed and we would be leaving later in the afternoon. Continental had arranged for us and the other passengers to stay overnight in Guam due to the delay. We waited in the airport for about 4 hours as the time of departure kept getting pushed back further and further. It wasn’t a very comfortable wait since the airport didn’t have air conditioning or any form of entertainment to keep us occupied. But like most kids, Raine still found ways to amuse herself. I brought her two favorite stuffed toys and a few books to keep her entertained.

We finally took off at 5:30 pm. It was indeed a flight like no other, we felt like we were in a school bus with wings because every stop passengers would get off and new ones would take their place. From Majuro, we went to Kwajalein, then Kosrae, Pohnpei, Chuk and finally Guam. At every stop, airport security checked the plane’s interiors and made sure all the carry-on baggage were accounted for.

Surprisingly, Raine was a good baby through all those stops. She slept most of the time, even during the landings while me and hubby were busy yawning and chewing gum to relieve our ears from the pressure. She was her usual inquisitive self, leafing thru the magazines, pulling on the tray table and giving our seatmate high-fives. She was a very happy baby, thank goodness. We arrived in Guam at 3 am and were billeted at the Hilton for the night.

Since our flight to Manila was at 6 pm we had time to rest and get our strength back from the looooong flight the previous day. We enjoyed the overflowing breakfast and lunch buffets at the Hilton and were even able to take in a little bit of pasalubong shopping thanks to a friend who drove us to the outlet stores.

The delayed flight turned out to be a blessing in disguise as we were able to recharge our weary bodies from the tedious "hop-on" flight in a 5-star hotel no less! Although I hope our return flight to MI won't be delayed, another free stay at the Hilton wouldn't be so bad either.