Good, bad, worse, great!

‘So let me get this right…you changed my ticket to the destination I want (not Osaka) and on the day I want it and I don’t have to give you any more money?  Are you serious?’  Tomoko looked at me with a devilish glint in her eyes, ‘Yes, but you still need to go online to add your baggage so you won’t have to pay extra when you check in at the airport.’  Her supervisor, Ms. Kanata, stood behind the desk chuckling gently.  ‘Yeah, I think I can handle that.’  ‘Good, see you next time you come to Japan.  Have a great trip!’

How do you say ‘thank you’ in those kinds of situations?

So that was the highlight of my day, besides landing in Taiwan and navigating safely to my hostel somewhere in the belly of Taipei.  Now comes the crap that led up to my ‘happy ending.’

The morning and afternoon were pretty blasé.  Breakfast with my new friends Shuho, Tomoharu and Julie then lunch with them as well.  Not too exciting but they were great people and fun to hang out with.

We arrived at the airport early, sometime around 1:45.  Like the previous day our flight was scheduled to leave at 5pm so we had plenty of time to do nothing, or so I thought.

I went to the counter a bit early to say ‘hi’ to the crew before the madness began and to sort out the flight change thing Tomoko had called me about the night before.  Everyone had a big smile as I walked up, including the manager Larry, who shook my hand and thanked me for being the first volunteer.’  ‘One good turn deserves another’ was the only reply I had.

Then Tomoko and I got down to business, thus starting an almost 2 ½ hour long sprint over hurdles trying to get things to work.

Hurdle #1:  They found the flight I had researched in about 5 minutes but for the next 40 minutes they tried over and over to get my credit card to work.  They excepted VISA but not American Express so I was up a creek without a paddle unless something clicked.  I finally decided to give it a try myself and so I set off in search of Wi-fi.

Hurdle #2:  My new friend Shuho heard what was going on and volunteered the use of her iPhone except there was a problem with the Jetstar website.  It refused to let me change my country for my address so in order words I couldn’t enter the information correctly which meant that no matter what the credit card would be refused.  An attempt on the regular (not mobile site) led to the iPhone seizing up and having fits.  After about 30 minutes I threw up my hands in frustration and went off in search of a business center which would hopefully have a real computer.

Hurdle #3:  It did have a real computer and a good internet connection.  The first thing I noticed was that in the last hour the price of that ticket had gone up by $40.  Then my credit card was declined again, something that had never happened to me before for an internet purchase.  Elapsed time: 10 minutes.  The business center sensed, or rather heard my frustration.  As I went to pay they had a concerned look in their eyes and refused to take my money.

Hurdle #4:  Apparently my card had been red flagged by my bank.  After 6 years of living in Japan and constant internet purchases with foreign addresses a single withdrawal of $100 dollars had made my vital piece of plastic completely useless.  Tomoko laughed, handed me the company cell phone, and said ‘here, use this.’  Ten minutes later my card was up and working again (I think, I haven’t tried to use it again).

It seemed like all the hurdles had been cleared.  Then Tomoko and the crew behind the desk began to conspire, and I do mean conspire.  Books and folders were whipped out and huddled conferences were held.  What was going to become of me?

Well, you already know the answer to that.

Why they did what they did I have no idea.  Just like the previous day they had gone above and way beyond anything you could reasonably expect from another person.  If there were such a thing as karma they definitely made a huge deposit.  I owe them all a drink, more likely two, the next time I’m in town.

I was drained like the victim of a parched vampire and the flight flew by in a haze.  Later that night I almost said ‘no’ to visiting a night market with my new friends but in the end I manned up and had a great time rubbing elbows with masses of humanity.

The food, well, it was tasty and cheap.  Asia is famous for it’s street vendors and Taiwan is no exception (although Japan definitely is).

The air conditioning in our room was turned to max and after a quick rinse in the shower/toilet I fell into bed.  My ticket, the flight, 29 degrees Celsius with 50%+ humidity, it had taken a lot out of me.  But there was something deep down inside my heart that was rejoicing and dancing a happy jig.  ‘Thank God I’m free at last!’

Related posts:

1. Will I ever leave Japan?
2. Taiwan: End of the second leg
3. Taipei adventures: …and on the first day…