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11:30 am June 12, 2003 (total travel time 27.5 hours)
My arrival at the Cebu airport found me waiting in a long line. NO – not to get through immigration, but for a final health inspection. Everyone was shuffled into two lines where you either had your temperature taken by a masked health inspector placing a strip on your forehead, or by a thermometer reading from your ear.
After you had your temperature taken, it was time to go up to the health inspection station. At the health inspection station you are required to hand over a self-evaluation health form (given to you on the flight). On this form you had to list if you have had fever, chills, a cough, etc. in the last so many days. This, combined with getting your temperature taken, was the check for SARS. You hand the health inspector the form, he looks at it, stamps part of the form with a “passed health inspection” stamp and hands it back to you along with a SARS information sheet. Do not loose this “passed health inspection” form he hands you – it is very likely that any hotel that you stay at will want proof that you have gone through this process before allowing you to stay at their hotel.
Fortunately no problems arose with anyone I could see, and I breezed by the health inspection (after waiting in line for 30 minutes of course).
After making it through the health inspection station, it was time to wait in line for immigration. I got up to the counter, said “Hello” and handed him my passport, my return ticket, and my customs form. The man behind the counter looked at me, didn’t say a word, and stamped my passport and handed me back the paperwork. I said “Salamat”. He said nothing.
As I stood in line waiting to get through immigration, I saw my luggage passing by on the luggage belt. I was happy – my luggage had arrived. Once I made it through immigration, I went to collect my luggage. One of my two bags (the bigger one full of everything I really need) was missing. I waited for about 10 minutes – watching the unclaimed luggage go by. I was starting to get worried – I was certain that I saw my luggage while in line. A big blue back, with a florescent orange strap on it and a tag from Canada (I had borrowed this huge back from my Canadian friend Brendan. No luck. So, I started snooping around, looking for whomever stole my bag. Fortunately, someone must have picked it up by mistake and then put it down in a different area because there it was. I collected my two bags and started through the customs inspection area.
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