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Flying Thru Guam29 May 2005
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Guam
Guam
Beach at Guam
After packing and slipping out the back door of the Ryokan (doors are locked until 7 a.m.), I went to Kinko's to do updates. The server was down for a 30 minute update. Ugh. I wanted to get coffee but decided to get it at the airport. The information desk at the train station had told me that the best way to get back to the airport was to take the subway to Nippori, then catch the train from there. I decided to take the slow train and save $10. It was a milk run that stopped at every station between Nippori and the airport.
There are two terminals at Narita. I arrived in Terminal 1 -- the final stop on the train -- and reasoned I would be flying out from the same terminal. I arrived at the terminal at about 8:20 a.m. and headed upstairs to find Continental. When I didn't see a Continental sign, I asked at the information desk. Of course, Continental flies out of Terminal 2. (She looked very embarrassed to have to tell me that. Ha, you would think I would be the one who was embarrassed. Don't you love Japan?)
There was a free bus that took me to Terminal 2, though no one seemed to be in much of a hurry. I got checked in and still had time for coffee and a scone at Starbuck's before clearing security and heading to the gate.
The flight was nice: I was in a row by myself. We arrived in Guam on time. Since I had a 4 hour lay-over, I cleared customs and grabbed a taxi. The girl at the information desk suggested I go down to the beach in the main tourist area. There were several resorts along the beach. I took off my shirt (scary thought, I know) and my shoes, and walked along the beach for about an hour. Guam is very beautiful, but I kept thinking there must be places a bit more secluded and a bit prettier. Perhaps with a little more time...
Apparently, there are about 200,000 people living on the Island. It had a very tropical flavor to it, not all that different from Molokai in Hawaii. The American flag is flying everywhere, and every sign I saw called the island Guam, U.S.A.
I tried to find a local cafe, but ended up eating a burger at the Hard Rock Cafe, Guam. Oh well...
I boarded the plane for Manila. Again, I had a row to myself. The plan was to meet Allen Jackson (my major prof at NOBTS) with a student from the Manila Alliance Seminary at the airport.
Manila was not what I expected. The airport was nice, clean, even orderly. Who knew? (Allen said it was because I came in on Sunday. He had come in the night before and claimed the airport was totally crazy.) I picked up my luggage and went out to meet Allen in front of the building. They have this interesting system where you stand under the letter of your last name so people can find you. My flight arrived a little early, and Allen wasn't there to meet me, but arrived moments later. We piled into a car and headed to the guest house. I was dead. I had been traveling since about 6:30 a.m. and arrived in Manila at 8:30 p.m. Time change was only one hour, though I'm not sure if that made it an hour more or an hour less of traveling.
