Coming To America: Start of a New Journey

All 35 years of my life I have spent in the Philippines. While I have constantly moved around in the archipelago known as the pearl of the orient, I have never set foot on foreign land. At 35, I will be moving to the United States with my brother Nathan and be reunited with our parents and other siblings. Allow me to tell a little bit of our story of my first foreign trip, this one without an immediate return ticket.

Leaving Cebu, Philippines

We left Cebu, Philippines bound for San Francisco International Airport aboard an Asiana Airlines flight with a ten-hour layover at the Incheon-Seoul International Airport. We left at a little past midnight of 15 June 2016. As we had our papers in the proper order, our pre-departure proceedings went smoothly.

Stopover in South Korea

Not wanting to get bored during the long stopover in South Korea, we made sure to book a transit tour once we touched down at the East Asian airport. 50 USD each was what we paid for the Korea transit tour. We missed the first five-hour tour of the day and had to settle for another five-hour tour later in the morning. That tour took us to the Bukchon Hanuk Village and the Kwangjang Traditional Market.

#touristhadz poses at a Korean traditional hanok house #turisthadz #thadzlife #thadzwanders #koolkorea #soulofseoul #seoulcitytour #bokchonvillage

A photo posted by Thaddeau Engaling II (@thadzonline) on Jun 13, 2016 at 8:05pm PDT

Read: Free Incheon Transit Tour in South Korea

Arriving in San Francisco International Airport

Our ten-hour flight from Incheon landed at San Francisco International Airport shortly after 11:00 a.m. of 15 June 2016. As new immigrants, we went through a screening process for our documents and luggage. The process took about three (3) hours and we finally exited the arrival gate at around 2:00 p.m. Family was there to welcome us.

First Meal at Isla Restaurant

Starving from a long flight, we badly wanted to have our first meal in the United States. Family took us to one of the best restaurants near San Francisco airport. We had late lunch at a Filipino restaurant: Isla Restaurant in San Bruno, California. We feasted on pork sisig, pork crispy pata, pancit bihon, squid calamari, sinigang na hipon, pork and chicken inasal, and more.