The long-haul flights are finished and they were wonderfully uneventful. The Manila airport was very busy and everything at the airport moves in slow motion. There were three different security checks. Everything had to go through x-ray upon going into the building. Then after passport control there was a second security checkpoint where everything went through the x-ray machine once again. Then at the gate, there was a third check, this one no more thorough than the previous check. Three times to unload all the pockets, take off the shoes, and get patted down because the suspenders beeped. I got the the airport about two hours before the flight and waited in line to get the luggage x-rayed, waited in line to check in, waited in line to go through passport control (a very long wait), waited in line to go through security, and waited in line to go through the final security. By that time the flight was boarding so I walked on and got into my seat about fifteen minutes before they closed the front door. The flight left on time but arrived in Tokyo about twenty minutes late.

I had two things I wanted to do in Tokyo. First was to pick up some Japanese candies (successfully done), and to buy a little pocket digital camera (also successfully done). From there I took a quick look in the Northwest Business Class lounge because Ty is flying back from Singapore through Tokyo today as well. I didn’t see him, but that doesn’t mean he wasn’t there. The flight left on time and arrived in Portland about a half-hour early. I was the fourth person off the plane and breezed through immigration. My suitcase arrived and I proceeded straight through customs and rechecked the suitcase. Now I’m at the gate waiting for my flight to Salt Lake City. I’m back on this side of the ocean but it’ll take longer to get from Portland to Pocatello than it takes to get from Tokyo to Portland!

Tomorrow morning the driver will pick me up at 5:00 a.m. (that would be Tuesday, 28 February, 3:00 p.m. Pocatello time) to take me to the airport. I’ll then make my way to Japan, Portland, Salt Lake City, and Pocatello. Another trip to the Philippines will come to an end. It’s been a very busy week at work with lots of meetings and things to do. There is no lack of work that needs to be done here. I think I’ll be back here again in a few months. I enjoy the Philippines and the Filipinos. So, it’s probably worth a few minutes to describe a couple of things that I’ve experienced over the past week.

Shortly after I got here, the President of the Philippines, Mrs. Gloria Macapagal Arrroyo, declared a state of emergency. The alleged reason was a foiled coup attempt by the Marines. A couple of people were arrested (retired General Ramon Montaño and representative Crispin Beltran) and the Daily Tribune newspaper was raided. Several other military officers were taken in for questioning. Since then everyone has been released except for Mr. Beltran — there wasn’t sufficient evidence to link them to an attempt to overthrow the government. In the meantime, a host of civil liberties have been suspended and folks aren’t very happy about that. Other than seeing military personnel at toll stations and checkpoints, there isn’t much other evidence of the state of emergency. Most folks feel that this was a manufactured event by an embattled president struggling to maintain power. Today the Philippine Supreme Court will decide on the constitutionality of the declaration of the state of emergency and it is quite possible that the declaration will be struck down. While I don’t understand the politics very well, this is a situation currently under control but that could blow up at any moment.

I’ve thought a lot about why the Philippine economy is so depressed. The population is growing at a pace faster than the economy. More than 40% of the population lives below the poverty level. A huge portion of the Gross Domestic Product comes from wages remitted back to the Philippines from Filipinos working overseas. Years of deficit spending have racked up a national debt that is soaking up about 75% of the GDP. It’s one of those countries with so much potential but the bickering, graft, and corruption prevent any meaningful growth. It actually is somewhat depressing!

The other evening I was at the Festival Mall to grab a quick dinner. A couple of young ladies came up to me and asked if I was shopping. I talked with them for a few minutes and learned that they were 20 and 24 years old. They worked every day, seven days a week, from 9:30 a.m. until 9:30 p.m. and were being paid the equivelant of $78 a month to walk around the third floor of this huge mall to invite people to come into the store they were representing. They said they were able to get about ten people a day to go into the store who wouldn’t otherwise go there. The store’s merchandise is fairly expensive and is mostly more luxury items, such as room air conditioners, vibrating lounge chairs, and such. My guess is that the profit on one sale a month pays both of their salaries. They enjoyed their job because it gave them the opportunity to meet a lot of people. The both wanted to do something different and something that would make a lot more money, but that finding a job was very difficult. Both said that they were very happy to even have a job. The both live at home. The 20-year-old lives about an hour away by jeepny. She had four brothers and two sisters (for a total of seven children). She was number 5 in line. What little money she made went to help support the family. Her father works as a laborer on rice farms around the area and her mother takes in laundry to wash, iron, and mend. Two of the three older brothers live at home. One has a job, the other is trying to find work. Her older sister is going to school and the younger children are going to school. The 24-year-old lives closer to the mall, but has nine other brothers and sisters. She’s number 7 in line. Everyone still lives at home, including two married brothers! That sounds like a real packed place to live. While I enjoyed talking with them (and was amazed at how much they would tell me about their lives), I also am not very optomistic about their future. How do they have a social life? How do they get enough education to have a hope of a better job? I’d think that they and their families are among the 40% of the population living below the poverty line, but because they have a job, they’re not among the almost 13% unemployed. However, they aren’t making any kind of a living wage and don’t have much prospect for that to improve. I’ll never see them again, so I’ll never know what will transpire in their lives. One can only hope that something in the political situation will change for the better where the government is much less of a drag on the economy. Meanwhile, I’m finishing up here and am headed home. Hurrah!

Now I had planned to sleep in this morning. I didn’t have anything happening until noon and when my late-night meeting ended about 11:15 p.m. I went to bed knowing that I could sleep until I woke up. A good way to finish off the jetlag. However, I missed one small item — turning off the alarm clock. When the alarm is set, it goes off at the same time every day unless the alarm is specifically turned off. So, at 6 a.m. the alarm started beeping. I turned it off, made a quick pit stop, and went back to bed — to no avail. After tossing and turning for almost an hour, I got up and began the day. But first, I turned off the alarm because on Sunday morning I also don’t have any reason to get up at a particular time. Church is at 1:30 p.m. so the morning is mine to do whatever I’d like to do. On this occasion, I choose first to sleep in and then we’ll see what else might be possible.

This afternoon I went over to the Manila Polo Club to meet a friend and his family for lunch. Adam is a man that my parents knew when they were serving at the Manila Temple about ten years ago. I looked him up on a trip to Manila a year or so ago and found that he was running a computer programming business (among several other ventures), and we’ve done some business together. Hopefully much more business is in our future. We had a very pleasant afternoon which included doing a little shopping for pearls. I’ve succeeded in buying what my Dad wanted, so that activity is completed. After coming back to the hotel, I went to the local mall to walk around a bit and had dinner at a Japanese restaurant. The food was nice and tasted good. So now I’m back in the room, finishing up a few e-mails, and will head for bed pretty soon. No alarm clock in the morning!

I’m now in my second full day in Manila on this business trip. Soon I’ll get a full night’s sleep — perhaps over the weekend?? First problem was that my flight from Tokyo to Manila was delayed by a couple of hours. The flight itself was uneventful — except: for some strange reason, the 747-400 airplane that Northwest uses on the Narita – Manila – Narita route is a newly refurbished airplane and is in far better shape on the inside than every other 747 in the Northwest fleet. Why are they wasting this airplane on this route? Why isn’t it on the Seattle to Tokyo or the Los Angeles to Tokyo route and the old planes flying the Tokyo to Manila route? It’s just one of the very strange airline things that exist probably so I can kind of understand why the airlines are in bankruptcy while flying full planes….

As I deplaned in Manila, there was a lady standing at the end of the jetway holding a piece of paper with my name on it. I announced myself and listened as she told me that my suitcase had not made the connection out of Narita and would be delivered tomorrow. I was to go through immigration and then to the luggage office to file a claim. The irony in all this is that as I was packing on Sunday night, the one suitcase I was planning to take with me had gotten quite heavy. Nina suggested that I should take a small roller bag as a carryon and check the rest in a larger suitcase. That way I could take my ditty bag (toiletries), a change of clothes, and my breathing machine with me on the airplane … “just in case.” Of course, the “just in case” happened and I was quite happy to have the change of clothes and my breathing machine with me! At least I could get some sleep once I got to the hotel and smell reasonably decent when I got to the office.

“The luggage will arrive on a Korean Air flight on Wednesday morning at 10 a.m.,” they told me as they gave me the tracking numbers and phone numbers if I needed more information. They would deliver the suitcase to the hotel and I should expect to see it there by 2 p.m. So, yesterday afternoon about 3 I asked our Adminstrative Assistant here to call the hotel to see if the bag had arrived. I hadn’t. He called the Nothwest baggage department at the airport and was told that the bag would arrive on the 6:20 p.m. flight. I got to the hotel to find, as expected, the bag was not there. I left instructions that if the bag arrived, to keep it at the front desk and that I would check back in the morning to see if it had arrived. I had a quick dinner at the hotel restaurant, and headed for bed at about 8 p.m. I was going to get a good night’s sleep, I was sure!!

This is the email I sent to Nina at about 2 a.m. the next morning:

It’s almost 2 am. The suitcase is finally here — four phone calls from Northwest later. They called at 9 to tell me the bag actually wouldn’t arrive until 11 pm and they would deliver it after that. I told them to leave it at the front desk; I’d get it in the morning, and went beck to sleep. They called at 11:30 to say they had the bag and would be delivering it. I told them to leave it at the front desk and went back to sleep. They called at 1 to tell me they were going to be another half hour. I repeated to leave it at the front desk and then tried to go back to sleep. The Front Desk called at 1:30 to tell me the bag was here. I told them I’d get it in the morning to no avail: they needed a delivery signature. Two minutes later there was a knock at the door; I now have the bag and have given them a signature. The suitcase is now unpacked. Everything is now plugged in. I’ve taken some asprin. Perhaps I’ll get back to sleep? The delivery was more painful than the bag not being there when I arrived.

I’m now all here. That’s good. I’m going to the Temple for a session tonight followed by dinner with some friends. After I get back to the hotel I’ve got a teleconference starting at 10 p.m. for two hours. That’ll be followed by another short night’s sleep. Some night this trip I’ll get a full night’s sleep!

I’ve arrived in Japan, safe and sound after a very uneventful flight. The flight was quite a bit longer than normal — ten hours and fifty-five minutes against a normal flight of nine hours and thirty minutes. We had headwinds in excess of 80 mph through most of the flight. We left on time and arrived in Tokyo behind schedule due to the winds, but that makes no difference as my next flight to Manila is delayed by an hour and fifteen minutes. So, I’m quite tired and have about two more hours of waiting before the flight leaves for Manila. It’ll be a short night in Manila as well as I’ll get to the airport after midnight with at least a forty-five minute ride to the hotel. I’ve got a 7:15 pickup to go to the office on Wednesday morning. I think I’m probably going to be tired this entire trip! I did post a few camera phone pictures about the trip so far.

After a very cold start to the day, I’m now in the Portland, Oregon Airport waiting for the next flight on this trip to Manila. The next stop is Narita Airport in Japan and the plane leaves in a little more than two hours from now. I’m in the Northwest Airlines Lounge which has huge picture windows looking over — the passenger concourse. We can watch the people walk to their gate or from the gate to baggage claim. There aren’t many people here. Perhaps that means the flight to Narita will be not-so-full? That definitely wasn’t the case flying here. The airplane from Pocatello to Salt Lake City (a 29 passenger turboprop) was full. The flight from Salt Lake City to Portland (a 48 passenger regional jet) had one empty seat — across the aisle from me. The SkyWest terminal in Salt Lake City was just mobbed. I think everyone wanted out of town! They must be trying to escape the cold weather. And cold it has been — although my brother Perry can claim the “We’re colder than you” prize.

Portland is a little milder — the temperature here when we arrived was 35 degrees. The sun was shining and we make a beautiful approach to the airport right past Mt. Hood. The airplane was about even with the top of the mountain and it seemed like one could reach out and touch it. However, the guy on the left side of the airplane by the window really liked the view making it impossible for me to catch more than a few glimpses of the mountain, let alone get a picture of it. The airport here is not nearly as busy as the Salt Lake airport was earlier this morning. Maybe everyone who wanted to get out of Portland has left already? Or maybe, because it’s Presidents Day, they’re taking a holiday? The long day has started OK. It helps when the flights are on time. The security folks in Pocatello did their usual check — take everything out of everyone’s carryon and check it all for possible explosives. Vigilance is at is highest at that airport!

Earlier last week the Idaho State Journal, the local Pocatello newspaper, had a front-page article about a guy who had been staying at one of the dumpy motels in town who had been arrested by the FBI for conspiracy to commit a terrorist act. He was allegedly working on a plot to blow up an oil refinery in Wyoming. That meant, of course, that homeland Security has to be even more vigilant in Pocatello. For me, that meant taking everything out of my computer bag as well as the small carryon rollerbag, wiping everything down with the explosive-sensitive wipes and checking those in the machine, and then putting all items individually through the x-ray machine. I’m really glad there were only 29 people getting on the airplane! On the other hand, by the time we were all checked, we could all feel safe with our fellow passengers. It didn’t count that about 20 of the people on the airplane work at the same company I work at and I knew them all…..