I woke up this morning to learn that we were not returning to Canada via Tokyo as planned. Our flights had been rebooked to different airlines. Dale was going to fly from Hanoi to Manila via Vietnam Airlines and I was going to go two hours later via Air Philippines. They had us booked on the same flight from Manila to Vancouver but different flights from Vancouver to Edmonton. The good news is that we booked through a travel agent all with one airline so they were able to rebook Dale on my later flight and to put us on the same flight to Canada. However, given the time frame involved, we had already started for the airport when we learned of the 2:50 am flight time (not 12:30 am as hoped for). So we had a long wait until our gate opened at 11 and longer until we took off.

We have had some fun watching the crowds in the airport. A family sitting near us were there to see a family member off who is flying to Korea. There were at least 30 people to wish him a good flight. There was even a picnic basket involved. They cheered as he went off to security. We attracted a bit of attention as we played crib. A couple of parents were encouraging their kids to say hello and practice their English (and compare shoes with Dale).

We arrived in Manila at 7 am local time. Our flight boards at 9:00. We knew that we had to change terminals. Cue dramatic music. We got off the plane and started following the transfer signs when I notice a man with a sign with our names. The very helpful staff informed us that we had to fill in arrival cards (which they did for us). They were very clear that we had a tight scheduled flight and we needed to hurry. What we didn’t know was that the terminal we landed at was miles and miles away from our departure terminal. We were rushed through the diplomatic lines to get through immigration. We grabbed our bags and were escorted to the shuttles only to learn that if we took the shuttle we would miss our flight. So, we bought some local currency and took a cab to terminal 3. We then checked in and went through immigration again then through security to get into the waiting area. We didn’t have time to make good use of the lounge so we went to our gate only to go through security again. The service here has been phenomenal. The reality is without it we would be stuck in Manila for sure.

Of course, this is just the next leg of our journey home. Dale and I got booked on different flight from Vancouver to Edmonton. He leaves for home at 10 am, I get to wait until 1pm. To keep the drama going, Air Canada sent me a message saying my flight has been cancelled and nothing new has been booked yet. Then, after taking a deep breath and calling my travel agent, Air Canada sent me an oops message saying please ignore the cancellation, they just renumbered my flight. Ugh – travel can be stressful. It will be good to get home.