It is always a good idea to be at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport at least three hours before your flight leaves, especially if it's in the morning because there is a long, long line to the check-in counter. My mom and I repeatedly weighed and measured my check-in and handcarry luggage to make sure it was within NorthWest Airlines' limits. They allow up to 70 lbs for each piece of check-in luggage, and up to 40 lbs for handcarry (excluding your handbag, attache case or laptop case). After my mom got me a porter, we hugged each other goodbye then went through the x-ray machine, and the porter left me at the tail-end of the line to the NorthWest check-in counter. They weighed each bag individually and tagged my handcarry luggage (other airlines only allow up to 15 lbs of handcarry), and stuck a little NWA sticker on my collar. There was a security check first before the check-in counter, they checked my visa and passport (very awkward to carry around, I put it all in the pocket of my pull-along handcarry), asked who had packed my luggage, if I'd been asked to bring anything by someone I didn't know or not know the contents of, etc. At the counter itself, I had problems hefting each of my 70 lb bags up, till the guy behind the counter took pity on me. :) I asked for an aisle seat so I wouldn't have to bother anyone if I needed to use the lavatory on the plane. After that, you go to the middle section of the building where you first pay P500 airport terminal fee, then through Philippine immigration. Then on to one of the sixteen gates. There are places to buy food, make local telephone calls, and rest rooms aplenty, so I made a short phone call (took about two hours to reach this point, so Mom was already home) before boarding.
The flight to Narita airport in Tokyo was uneventful. I had to ask someone to help me stow my handcarry luggage in an overheard compartment. At Narita, your luggage goes through an x-ray machine while you're submitted to a body search. Then you come back to the same waiting lobby you entered from.
The next leg of my trip, from Narita to Detroit, was the longest one. They start distributing the I-94 and custom declaration forms after a couple of hours, but they do this several times and you can ask for a new one anytime you make a mistake. NorthWest provides instructions to help you fill these out. Fortunately, no one was given the seats next to me so I stretched out on them during sleeping time.
At Detroit, after disembarking from the plane, everyone falls in line at immigration. There are separate lines for US citizens and immigrants; as a fiancee I fell in line with the visitors. When I got to the immigration officer (dressed in black pants and white shirt with sheriff/police-looking badges on them), he took my paperwork and escorted me to a room on the left and gave me a number. I was asked to wait a while, then someone came in and handed me an I-765 to fill out. After about ten minutes, that same person asked me to come into an office, had me sign a signature card, and took the picture for my employment authorization card. Ta-da! One employment authorization card, I-688B, a very good piece of ID and needed to apply for a social security number in the US. He just asked if we'd already made wedding plans, I grinned and said, "Saturday." (I arrived on Wednesday.) He chuckled and said, "Oh good, get that out of the way, huh?"
I took an escalator to the baggage claim area, which was already deserted except for the immigrants who had also been in the same room with me. Since I couldn't get my luggage onto a cart, I got a porter and we sailed through customs ("Do you speak English? Do you have food or anything to declare?" "No." "Okay."), then to the NorthWest counter for my connecting flight. That's it! I had arrived!
Good luck! When the going gets tough, just remember why you're doing this, and it will be worth all the trouble you ever had to go through.