The flight from Manila to Tokyo was another miserable five hours that seemed would never end. Crammed into what seem to be an ever shrinking airline seat, there was no way to get comfortable enough to be able to sleep. Though exhausted and in great pain, his spirits were rising as he looked forward to the comfort of the bed in the Manila hotel and the smiling face of his bride to-be the next day.
Unfortunately, his tribulations were not to end that easily. When he finally got through customs and walked outside of the Manila airport for the first time the reality of the contrast from the place he had left some twenty seven hours earlier and where he was now could not have been more real and surreal at the same time. The brisk 40 degree Fahrenheit weather of northern Minnesota had suddenly changed to 90 and humid. What should have been mid- day was now midnight.
He somehow managed to locate the hotel pick up van and was on his way to the downtown Manila place where he was to spend the rest of the night. Through the pain and exhaustion, somewhere in the back of his mind, he was wondering if this was real or all a dream. He was too exhausted to really dwell on the thought or really even care.