Typhoon Watching

So I've been in Manila for the last 2 and a half weeks now. I was supposed to fly out today, 10/31, at 12:45 PM, heading back to New York via Seoul/Incheon.

Mother Nature had other plans.

The Philippines was hit with its 4th typhoon in less than 2 months late Friday/early Saturday, prompting massive delays in air, boat and bus travel (it's a Holiday weekend, being All Souls Day tomorrow, so a fair number of people were inconvenienced). Philippine Airlines even cancelled all domestic and international flights in and out of Manila.

I woke up this morning and peered out my hotel window and saw ridiculous gusts of winds and steady rain. The rain didn't bother me so much as the heavy winds did. I checked on the web, and my Asiana flight to Seoul was delayed by about an hour and a half.

Dilemma time: First and foremost on my mind were the heavy winds. Secondly, with the delay, my scheduled arrival into Seoul was now at 6:50 PM. My connecting flight to NYC was at 8 PM. I miss that flight and the next one isn't till Sunday evening at 8 PM.

Not only was I cutting it close as is, but it was a safe bet that any further delays in my arrival in Seoul, no matter how slight, and I was pretty much SOL. I was going to be stuck in Seoul for the next 24+ hours.

So after some consulting with my Ate Michelle (and help from Grace in extending my room at the hotel for another day), calls were made and here I am still in Manila. The rains and the winds seem to have calmed down and the storm has passed. I get one more night of hanging with Nonoy and friends. And hopefully tomorrow no more surprises!