Our Departure

The time was 5:00pm when we shipped out. I was told we were going on a mission. Nothing much else was said other than be prepared. And so we were, guns, ammunition, hand grenades, bayonets, and our helmets. Oh, sorry. I must have the wrong story. Watching too much TV again or was it that new movie by Ben Stiller “Tropic Thunder”, huh? I haven’t seen it yet. Anyway, back to the real world. Oh, i forgot the date again, we packed our bags (and let me tell you, it was alot of bags) and headed out yonder to leave the one posting and head for the next. Destination – you guess – somewhere out there. The paparazzi was waiting at the front of the hotel (those buggers) to grab our shots (sorry we sold our photos to “Hello” magazine ages ago for an undesclosed fee – ya I wish) and sell it to the highest bidder.

Ok, so there we were. It took us a total of 2 hours to finish packing. And, once we were done – we looked like this. As you can see, we tried to go color co-ordinated but as things turned out, the only thing that was mildly alike were our Mario Batali Crocs (do you have a pair yet?). You might also notice that I’m wearing a red poncho from Mexico (that thing is so old – anyway, it would be the only thing that would keep me warm). So apart from the wheelchair, suction machine (on the ground, in the grey bag), the notebook bag mom had, the notebook bag G., the massage table, and two other bags (clothes), oh, and if you are wondering, yes, there was Beethoven too, I’d say we had a full load. No, we couldn’t run from the paparazzi.

So, how did we manage? Well, with alot of prayer and some friends. More about them later. But first, the end of this saga. We were met at the hotel by a driver named Enrique. He has been with us since day one. A very friendly chap and really a nice man. He brought Beethoven with and we drove in two separate cars to the airport. The car was loaded. It was like we were going on an extended picnic but just without the picnic gear and more of the “we are moving gear”. So, to put it mildly – we had 5 bags, and beethoven in a kennel – on three trolleys. This is surely an adventure. So stay tuned to hear what happened next. Were we met by friends at the airport or did we have to wait 3 hours in-line before we could board. If you are wondering if I’m joking or not – I’m not. Its standard at Manila airport to be there 3 hours before departure. Why? Its called terrorism and everyone’s bags are checked and checked. So wait and see what happens next.