I experienced a bit of traffic on my way to Manila International Airport Terminal 3 around 12:30 AM of Sunday morning but after struggling for 30 minutes of slow movement in specific part of Aguinaldo Highway, the overall travel was smooth and I was thankful for it.
I arrived at the airport around 1:30AM, I found lots of passenger in the terminal, probably thinking the same thing I was thinking, many people trying to avoid travel rush for the Holy Week which is a major holiday in the country as it is used to have long holiday aside from Christmas.
I checked the information in the monitor screen that I passed on my way to travel tax desks. After I saw the check-in counter information, I queued and paid my travel tax and walked towards the entrance of my check-in counter. Because of too many people, I fall in line in the queue thinking that it was the same line to enter the check-in counter for my flight. That decision was based from my past flights in that airline. The said airline tends to make one line for all their flights regardless of your destination and time of your flight. I didn’t notice if there was sign that separates Guam flights to the rest of their flights.
I got nervous because the queue for check-in was crazy, it even passed the whole counter area. But I had some doubts because I have this impression that US flights will not have that many passengers compared with other flights. I went to the entrance of the counters and I asked the airline crew for check-in counter of Guam flight. The crew confirmed my suspicion that queue for Guam is different. I wasn’t able to see the sign immediately because it was partially obstructed by people queuing near the entrance. I felt relieved and was glad that it’s at the opposite side. I showed my printed flight itinerary to the crew and she allowed me to go inside the counter area and queued along with few other passengers. I queued for few minutes and it was my turn to check-in, the process was finished without a hitch. Since it was still early, I spent hours waiting at the boarding gate.
Then boarding time came and I followed other passengers to board the plane. Inside the plane, I was sitting in window seat and alone in 3 seat row at left side of the plane and there was another passenger at the right side window seat, same with me alone at his row. The flight in overall was smooth except for sometime that I felt a turbulence outside the plane. I napped from time to time since I didn’t have enough sleep before my flight. I woke up and saw my meal has already been served.
After more than 4 hours flight, we arrived at the island which is a USA territory not really far from my country at the right most side in the Pacific Ocean. After disembarking the plane, I walked straight to immigration and queued the visitors lane. My lane was slow since it’s only one officer assisting us at first. When all USA residents passed immigration, visitors lanes moves faster as other immigration officer helped out until I reached my time to face one of them. I had my face captured, my finger print recorded and after few questions, I passed the immigration without glitch.
First thing to learn when I went outside the airport was the transportation was not immediately available as most likely other passengers went out before me took all those waiting cab outside. I walked to the taxi kiosk’s counter near the entrance/exit of the airport but it was closed. I tried to enable my data roaming and started browsing but nothing happens like no internet in my phone. It’s good thing that they have some employees in the ground and someone asked me if I need a cab and I responded in agreement.
I waited only few minutes, the cab arrived and I jumped into it. I was very thankful that he was a Filipino and we talked at bit on the way to my hotel. The fare was $18. We arrived in the hotel that I booked around past lunch time. I asked the hotel clerk if I can check-in at the time that I arrived but the hotel clerk said it will be at 2 PM. I asked the hotel if the pocket WiFi that I rented in Guam has arrived in the hotel and I was glad that it was already there. After I received the pocket WiFi, I used it to browse where can I go while in Guam. So technically I was browsing internet at the hotel lobby while waiting for my time to check-in.
After I checked-in to my room. I stayed there to prepare my adventure plan in the island for the next coming days. I decided to rest since I haven’t had enough sleep the night of my travel. I had my dinner to fill me in and down to bed with my first day in Guam.
Until then.
