I was supposed to meet with Jovy at the SM mall in Bacoor between 4 and 5, but we were otherwise occupied. I tried to call her but had no signal. Hopefully, she will not wait there long as she lives right nearby.
We got back to Sunnybrook about 7 pm, and had dinner. Then we sat and talked for a few hours, and watched a movie, "Canine." Nick and I sat up until 1 am talking, then slept for a couple hours, then up again at 3 to catch the bus back to the airport. My flight was at 8, so I wanted to be there before 6.
The bus ride back was short, only about 50 minutes as opposed to the hour and a half it had taken me to get there. It's not that far when there's no traffic. I got off the bus at Baclaran, and went to the Dunkin Donuts. I had coffee and donuts for a while, then walked back down my street of multiple encounters to the area of the domestic airport. I then got in a cab for the international airport.
This cabby must have had the same guy calibrating his meter as the other one I found in this area, for when we got to the international airport his meter said 85.00.
I gave him 50 pisos, and told him to "Keep the change."
He says, "Is 85."
I say, "It isn't supposed to be, and you know it!"
I walked away, he didn't say anything further.
I arrived at the airport at 5:30. There was a line of several hundred people waiting to get to the Northwest counter. Holy sh**!" I made it through the line a little after 7:30, and headed for the gate. They have really beefed up the security at Manila, I lost track of how many times I had to remove my shoes, but it was more than 5. They had checkpoints around every corner, it seemed. I was one of the last ones on the plane.
I flew to Tokyo, then changed planes for Seattle. The flight from Tokyo to Seattle was by far the shortest overseas flight I have ever been on. We landed at SeaTac 7 hours 35 minutes after takeoff. Must have had one hell of a tailwind. I was on the ground in Seattle 3 hours before leaving Manila. 
Customs at Seattle was a breeze, although it did take a little while for my luggage to come through. My cousin picked me up outside the terminal and took me to his house. I felt great, unlike any other flight back, until I sat down. Then, I slept for 2 days, waking only for short periods of time.
Hitchhiking back from Seattle was not nearly as easy as getting there. My cousin dropped me off south of Tacoma at what appeared to be a good on-ramp, and I stood there for 4 hours in the rain. I finally started walking down the freeway, which is illegal in Washington state. Finally a pickup stopped and gave me a ride as far as Kelso, then I immediately got a ride as far as Centralia, where I again stood in the rain for another 2 hours. Once again, I started walking, and finally an old volkswagen bus stopped.
It was driven by a man in his early thirties who appeared to have been born about 30 years too late. He had on multi colored bell bottoms, a funky hat, and there were flowers everywhere. Literally hundreds of them. He was out of gas money, so I put my last $10 in his gas tank, and he gave me a ride all the way home. We arrived after midnight. He spent several days with me, and I showed him all around the area. Then I gave him an additional $10, and have not seen nor heard from him since.
