We made it to the white sandy beaches of Borocay in the Phillipines.....just barely!!

We got onto our early flight, leaving the house at 4 am. We go onto our flight no problem and into Hong kong just fine. Then we had to go to a counter to get our next boarding pass for the next flight. Well we found the counter, and they said I'm sorry the flight is overbooked and you will have to take a later one.
We said thats impossible because all of our connecting flights were full and the last ones for the day. So if we dont go now we may miss all oppertunity to get to the island....plus we had people meeeting us at the next airport to take us to the island, and we had already paid for the hotel, so we would need money back... etc etc.

Nonetheless we weren't the only ones this was happening to. There was a group of 4 in front of us, and a group of 6 behind us. All in the same situation. The group in front of us was very angry and yelling and mad, so I said to Nicole lets play the opposite roll, calm, but firm.

What they did was ask anyone who would be willing to take a later flight to give up their seats and Cathay would give them something as compensation. So eventually 2 seats came available, and later another 2 so the group of 4 was on their way, so we were next. The group of 6 behind us got impatient, and started pushing ahead, angry aswell. So it turns out that 2 of their 6 seats were confirmed, but they were very angry because they wanted to travel as a group. No matter what they wouldn't decide what to do, and the plane was full and had been waiting for 20 minutes already. The counter person gave us 2 gift certificates to go grab a coffee and come back, so we did, got a drink and went right back. About 2 minutes. The group of 6 were still very angry, so they counter person types sopme stuff into the computer after talking quietly with the supervisor and quickly took away the 2 seats the group of 6 had confirmed, and gave them to us and rushed us through security, and onto the plane. Then she had to go back and tell the other people "sorry the plane has already left."

Whew, ....so crammed into our seats we went got to Manila, had 3 hours to get to our next plane. took almost an hour and a half to get through immigration....Sooo many poeple. Rushed, we got into a taxi and got to the next domestic airport. Took them a long time to get our boarding passes....couldn't find that we had already paid, and bla bla bla....but eventually got em. Then security again, one to get into the airport, one to get into the waiting area, and about 5 checkpoints for checking boarding passs, terminal fees, weapons, and a couple extra to get into the waiting area. What a tight security place... then with about 20 minutes left until take off we finally were ready to relax for another flight.

We get into our seats.... I should say honestly we squeeeezed into them, I'm sure the seats were screaming in agony as we were getting into them...too small....then another hour flight.

Then once we landed things started to smooth out....all is good now.

Its a week later since the accident. Its been a week of questions and emotions.

Life moves on.

Im so ready for Chinese New Year. I can't wait to relax and begin anew.

We are returning to the place of our engagment. The little island in the Phillipines. Boracay.

A couple of flights and boat rides and we will return to the little paradise.

Warm sand and sunshine, crystal clear waters, and little white fish that tickle your feet.

Lost a good friend two days ago.
He as at my house for the evening and we had a great time talking about everything under the sun.

We were drinking some but not a lot. He probably would have been over the legal limit, but not by much. It really didn't matter since he was on holidays for the week, and lived 2 floors above us in the same building.
At the end of the evening I said good bye and he got into the elevator and went home.

Two hours latter my cell phone rings with his name as the caller. I answered and listened as the but the hospital never tried to talk to me. Two minutes later his wife calls and tells us he is in the hospital. 2 minutes later we call back to hear his wife crying saying they are doing CPR on him.

A few minutes later he was pronounced dead.

Apparently decided he wanted to continue to have fun, and made the poor choice of driving his scooter. After a considerably more alcohol. He ended up as a mess on the road. No one else involved.

He was married to a wonderful local girl. They had just recently found out she was pregnant.

My first REAL friend in Taiwan.

My heart keeps aching, my mind questioning, and emotions from anger to despair.