after a long trip, we finally landed on the nation's international airport in the capital city. it was not the destination but only another stop in this journey that many of my friends have described as a pilgrimage of some sorts. soon after taking note that we have landed on a first class airport in a third world country with a growing tourism industry, i needed to schlep my belongings to a smaller airplane about 10 minutes walk from the jumbo jet from which i just came off from. along the way i can see alot of people heading to their respective gates going to at least one of this county's 7,000 or so islands. i heard conversations that sounded like japanese, german, french,korean, chinese... and of course english of different accents. i started to wish they weren't going where i am going. anyway, the atmospere in the airport was very festive, there were alot of people but it was not congested, and there were uniformed airport staff that were smiling pleasantly as they assisted or directed each traveler to closer to their destination. and easy travelers seemed relieved to know that whatever their purpose was in coming to this country has come to a good start. as for me i just can't wait to board my plane and arrive in my island, palawan in 50 minutes.
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