My Trip to the Philippines

Destination: Philippines

I was supposed to keep a journal of this trip for my reading class but I was not able to (Sorry Mrs. Thompson!) I was busy having so much fun. We always have something to do, places to go, and people to meet and I didn't want to miss any of those. So now I am relying on the pictures my mom, dad, and aunt took. I will try my best to tell you about my trip through these wonderful pictures.

On December 12, 2007, my family and I went on a trip to Philippines. I left the Philippines to go to the U.S. when I was only 11 months old so I didn't experience Christmas and New Year. This trip was a chance for me to enjoy those exciting family traditions.

Cathay Pacific Airline

We flew through Cathay Pacific. Even if we had to drive for 3 hours going to New York, my dad preferred to go Cathay instead of Northwest Airline. He said aside from having a brand new plane (Boeing 777-300ER which was delivered to Cathay just last year), the service and the staff are great. He was right. I loved the plane and the Flight Attendants (FAs) were really nice, polite and approachable. I get to ask them for more drinks and they give extra food when you get hungry. They would walk around carrying trays of drinks like water and soda and sometimes warm noodles even after serving us our meals. My dad said, the FAs looked like they love their job and don't look like they're "forced to do community service."

This is the actual plane that flew us to Hong Kong International Airport. But we are not on this plane. I just want to show how big the plane is and how big the engine is compared to the window.

This is how our plane looked like from the inside. Each seat has its own PTV (Personal Television). Sweet! It's an Audio/Video on Demand.

JFK Airport, HK International Airport, Ninoy Aquino International Airport

On the trip, my family and I get to land on these three airports. And believe me, they are all big. On our way to JFK airport, we had limo service. The drive took about 3 hours. I wished it was a stretch limo so we would look cool, but instead we got a huge van. It had enough room to carry us, our carry-ons and 4 huge and heavy luggages. At the JFK airport we didn't have to wait in a long line because my dad did an online check-in two days before our flight. We only had to check-in our heavy luggages, got our boarding passes, went through security check (I had to take off my shoes and socks here!), and waited for the plane. While we waited, my mom bought us McDonald's meals for breakfast. When we boarded the plane, I was as excited as much as I was when I saw the Transformers movie for the first time. I wanted the window seat because I wanted to see everything below. The roar of the jet engines sounded like a lion. It was loud! We were in there for about sixteen and a half hours. The destination was the Chep Lak Kok International Airport but you can also say Hong Kong International Airport. From there, we transferred to another plane, still fron Cathay Pacific, that flew us to the Ninoy Aquino International Airport for about two hours. The plane was loud too, but wasn't as fun as the first one because they have old PTVs and some aren't working.

Taken inside the van on our way to JFK Airport.
Back: Me (MJ) and my older sister Yna. Front: My baby sister Maria Danica or Dani for short.


That's William, our driver. He's a Samuel L. Jackson look-alike. And on this photo, we're near Terminal 7 where Cathay Pacific Airline is.


My dad took this photo. It's the wing of the plane we're in while it's flying. See the clouds?


That's me playing a video game. Awesome! :)


That's the video game I was playing. I also watched TV shows and movies, and listened to music anytime I wanted. Cool huh!

After over 16 hours of flight, we finally arrived at Hong Kong International Airport. We were really tired.

I believe we came from Gate 42. We stopped here at Gate 30 for bathroom breaks and to take some pictures. We needed to walk to Gate 1. Imagine how huge the airport was. It was a really really long walk and I was really tired. But I had fun on the walkways. It's like an escalator except it's flat. You don't need to walk. You just stand there if you want to. But I still had to walk or I'll be left behind.

We arrived!

We didn't have pictures taken at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport. Nobody remembered to take pictures! That's okay. I know everyone in the family is very tired from the long flight and when we saw our relatives we were just so happy. We hugged and kissed everyone. Everybody was there to welcome us. My Lolo (grandpa) Daddy, my dad's dad was there. His name is Allan but we like calling him Lolo Daddy instead of Lolo Allan because the first is cooler. My Lola (grandma) Mommy, my dad's mom was there. Her name is Herminia and you know why we call her Lola Mommy. Because it's cool. My Tita (aunt) Myla who is single and very pretty was there. My Tito (uncle) Lito, he's my Tita Chelin's husband and who drove the Toyota Innova, was there. Tita Chelin stayed home making everything in the house all tidy and ready for us. Tita Alma, Tita Myla's best friend, was there too and she drove the Toyota Altis. Cousin LA was there too! She's about my age. Everyone was happy and excited to see everyone except for Dani. She was having stranger anxiety. She was scared of everyone and didn't want to go near them, but later on she got used to them.