Leaving on a jet plane

In true Bennett fasion we were running late to the airport, fortunately we made it just in time to be the last passengers on the shuttle from the rental car return to our terminal. When we got there it was a long line which was not moving, luckily we did eventaully catch our flight on time. Being late can be a tricky thing, it makes an uneasy feeling in my tummy waiting in the long line to check in and then through security yet it makes for a very short wait at the gate before boarding. I only had a quick couple of minutes to call my mom and talk to her on the phone for one last time before we went "off the grid" for a month. Now with Skype it will make the distanace much more tolerable, I imagine. We still do have several hours until we can reach a WiFi site therefore it was important to chat with my mom for even the few minutes I had. Once we reached our seats we were greeted with the normal blanket and pillow but it was grouped with other baged goodies as well which included a headset, slippers, and even a little tooth brush with tooth paste. This way we can continue to feel somewhat fresh throughout the several hours of traveling. I had already packed my toothbrush in my carry on this morning but was sad to realize our tooth paste was in a big container that would not be allowed. The flight also provided fun little stickers to convey if we wanted to be woken up for meal time or do not disturb, very clever.

International flights are much like domestic first class as there are many free movies to choose from, free alcoholic beverages, and free meals. With my Wall-e blanket on my lap it is like being home on a lazy day of movie watching and hardly getting out of the bed. The only thing that is missing is Hitch and Marbles which these days you can even have a virtual cat app that you can feed and will purr (but it is just not the same).

We arrived in Seoul, Korea an hour earlier than our itinerary had stated. This left us some ample time for quality people watching. It was interesting given the quantity of people buzzing around and the cutural diversity at the airport. Although quite entertaining, our eye lids were already growing heavy as we waited for the next flight. When we boarded our next flight it was about 12 AM Hawaii time but we had to try to stay up for the 4 hour flight that remained. We would arrive in Cebu, Philippines at 11 PM and would need to be able to sleep once we reached our hotel. Our bodies were aching for a nap. Luckily, once we made it through customs someone from the hotel was waiting for us at baggage claim with a sign for Mr Jess Bennett (a little was lost in translation).

Our hotel in Cebu was quite nice. Jeff opted for the slightly more expensive option for 2,600 PHP (dive internship discounted this about 1000 PHP). PHP is the Philippine peso which 42 PHP is about equal to 1 USD. The lobby was very nice, our room had air conditioning, the roof top pool and hot tub looked amazing and breakfast was very tasty. If only the little cockroach would not have greeted us in our room, I would have said the hotel was outstanding. A couple pictures are attached of the roof top hotel. Tomorrow we will tell you about our trip to Malapascua Island.