Today we started our journey to Palawan to repair the roof of a missionary who has been working in a tribal people group for 26 years. We met at Rancho Community Church this morning to pack our trunks and boxes before we head to LAX. We had a lot of tools and various other supplies that needed to be packed along with our personal belongings. We headed to LAX to wait and wait some more while going through customs and then security. John (RCC Missions Council) prayed for us and then we boarded the plane and took off.

The seat I was sitting in didn’t work, right, so I couldn’t lean back or listen to the movies that were shown. My dad would have been pretty excited about the smooth jazz channel that it was stuck on, but I certainly wasn’t. Luckily, I had my iPod and PSP, so I had plenty of forms of entertainment for the 15-hour flight.

Al (our team leader) created a simple system called “check sides” to keep track of our team of seven. We stood in a circle and then memorized the person on our left and our right and those were our “sides”. Whenever Al would say “check sides” we would look for those two people to make sure they were present and accounted for. My two sides were Al and Larry.

I chose chicken on the first meal we were served on the flight. I really enjoyed the little rice dish that had pieces of salmon in it. I don’t know if it was a Filipino dish or what, but it was good. I slept a lot on and off, then the lights came on for breakfast. I chose the omelet over plain scrambled eggs and it was pretty good.

We flew over an island about three hours before we landed with a lot of lights and what looked like several cities. I don’t know what it was, but after we got off the plane, Larry asked a pilot what it was, and he said it was probably Guam.

Here’s a timetable of our day. (Times in parenthesis are Philippine times.)

8:00 am (12:00 am) Meet & pack trunks/boxes at RCC.
12:00 pm (4:00 am) Lunch (In-N-Out).
1:00 pm (5:00 am) Leave RCC for LAX.
3:00 pm (7:00 am) Arrive at LAX, get carts and get in line for customs.
5:00 pm (9:00 am) Complete check-in.
8:00 pm (12:00 pm) Clear security screen and arrive at gate.
9:15 pm (1:15 pm) Board plane.
9:50 pm (1:50 pm) Take-off.
12:00 pm (4:00 am) Land.
1:30 pm (5:30 am) Got through customs & waiting at gate in Manila.