The long and exhausting flight took a toll on us. Because of the time change, my mind's wide awake but my body is too exhausted to even think to write about our adventure. So here I am at 12AM Philippine time wide awake and couldn't get back to sleep. So I might as well write to make good use of my time.
Anyway, let me rewind back to when we checked in for our flight to Minneapolis, St. Paul from Kansas City Airport. If you don't know it yet, it helps to check in online 24 hours before your flight. It is termed "International Verify Passport" which allows you to be TSA checked. You just shove everything in the conveyor without the hassle of taking some stuff out of your carry-on bags and placing them in the trays. And, my favorite part, I don't have to take my shoes off, yay! I hate to be barefoot at the airport even for just a short time.
As we boarded, TSA personnel met us at the door to the tarmac and want to know how much money (currency) we are bringing out of the country. We thought that if it is less than $10,000 per person then we don't need to do that but the officer told us it's not "per person" but "per household" so we ended up reporting the combined amount we are bringing. Michael filled out a form and the money physically counted. They even have money counter machine stationed by the door to the tarmac to make the process quicker. So that was done in no time and we boarded - but keep reading because this part isn't over yet.
Twenty-three hours later we landed NAIA-Manila. The flight was on-time all the time, thank you Lord! Here's a couple of pictures taken from the air as we approached Manila. The time was 9:00 PM, Wednesday, August 19.
The forms you fill out an hour or two before the plane lands have changed. It must have been implemented less than two years since I flew. One is the "Health Advisory" form in yellow and the other is a 6X4 piece of paper that each passenger has to fill out which is the entry form. Department of Health personnel checks your yellow form before you can proceed to the immigration booth.
We carried with us sealed envelopes from the Chicago Consulate Office. These were Michael's and JJ's immigration forms. Funny thing is that the immigration officer told us that they seldom get these envelopes so it took him a while to get everything processed. Good thing about it though is that we didn't have to fight the throng of people to claim our luggage at the carousel. Once we got all our luggage in the carts we proceeded to Customs - shall we "declare" or "not declare?" that was the question. We chose the right thing. Turns out we didn't need to declare how much money we're bringing because it was supposed to be "per person" not "per household" ---- hmmmm...government overreach??? I don't want to comment but what the hey, I must say it to get it out of my system, okay?
We were picked up by our hotel's shuttle and dragged our exhausted bodies to our room. It had been 36 hours since we slept. Tomorrow is another day. Depending on where you are, goodnight or have a wonderful day and thank you for following.
The forms you fill out an hour or two before the plane lands have changed. It must have been implemented less than two years since I flew. One is the "Health Advisory" form in yellow and the other is a 6X4 piece of paper that each passenger has to fill out which is the entry form. Department of Health personnel checks your yellow form before you can proceed to the immigration booth.
We carried with us sealed envelopes from the Chicago Consulate Office. These were Michael's and JJ's immigration forms. Funny thing is that the immigration officer told us that they seldom get these envelopes so it took him a while to get everything processed. Good thing about it though is that we didn't have to fight the throng of people to claim our luggage at the carousel. Once we got all our luggage in the carts we proceeded to Customs - shall we "declare" or "not declare?" that was the question. We chose the right thing. Turns out we didn't need to declare how much money we're bringing because it was supposed to be "per person" not "per household" ---- hmmmm...government overreach??? I don't want to comment but what the hey, I must say it to get it out of my system, okay?
We were picked up by our hotel's shuttle and dragged our exhausted bodies to our room. It had been 36 hours since we slept. Tomorrow is another day. Depending on where you are, goodnight or have a wonderful day and thank you for following.
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