It takes us back to Japan, after an night of Good-bye-Party
with Aco and Dereck. We decided few hours ago to go
to an Karaoke in Shibuya. The last song, the last
drink in the litle room with the TV and the song we
just put in. Its time. Time to pay, time to go, time
to run and search my backpack in the locker 707 from
the locker in the Shibuya station. About 10 minutes
later we finaly stand in front of the parking from
a wellknow hotel (witch name I now forgot), from there
the bus will pick me up to bring me to the Airport.
From there I will leave my two friends at the parking.
I will go my way, they will go their. I m not realy
sad but I thinking that this two friend are bound
with me for a long time. This kind of people I don
t want to lose in my life. Dereck because he is so
crazy and assume fully every act he does. That s part
of the thing I love. On the same time he is a big
dreamer and want to change things that so much people
think it is impossible to change. Aco because she
is the incarnation of the sensibility and a powerfull
girl, that hide so much inside her, giving drop after
drop of an universum that even she don t know. This
two friend in a sence are planets that ask to be found.
I trust in them in my way. And so here I let this
two planet, at this parking.
The bus leaves...I disappear. Outside the life emerges
with the red sunrise on the background of the modern
Odaiba.
Tokyo is behing me, my friend just two litle dots
in this imense metropolis. Thinking back everything
was so perfect in Tokyo...I think: I will come back.
Definitely. There are place you know you will be just
once in your life and other that will attract you
forever. Tokyo is the second one.
The bus stop. I go out. There is a big queue to the
Cathay Pacific checkin office. I wait until my turns
comes. And it comes. The woman check my paper, I put
my lugage on the rolling carpet. But sometimes you
know SHIT happens. And this was the moment of the
"shit happens"!. The girl at the desk tend
her arm with my tickets and my passport and told me
in the most sterile way that I couldn t go inside
the plane. (???!!%$#!???) WHHHHAT ?
If I want to go to India I need a VISA
from the Indian Embassy. I spend few minutes figuring
out it was realy impossible to get to India without
VISA.
Nobody ever told me this VISA point. British Airways
told me the Visa for Australia (organized it for me)
but for a reason I didn t know they just didn t think
for me about the INDIAN visa. Even the CATHAY
PACIFIC office didn t ask me about "do
you have a visa ?" as I reserved the tiket few
weeks ago.
So I had to handle. Ludovic my best friend will be
in Mumbay the 29 and I should be there before him
waiting him at the airport...but I would be there.
I took my stuff and went to find out where the Indian
Embassy is. Thanx Internet the best invention ever
I found out and make my way to the fabulous Tokyo
again.
The Embassy. As I arrived, I found 20ties of Japanese,
20ties of Indians and of course the waiting queue.
I took a paper to ask for an Visa. I seat and seat
but the queue didn t realy move. I decided to handle
FRENCHIE. I took my backpack, my guitar, my Kermit
Jr. and went in front of everybody. I looked realy
like a Virus in middle of all the Suitdressed people
arround me. It was time for great acting. It was time
to be a bluffer, time to play my best role if I don
t want to be a Tom Hawks in the Terminal, waiting
days before getting a paper. I had to see Ludovic
in time. He will come from France.
So here I m at the desk. The woman looked at me and
I beginn to explain my litle problem.
I arrived this morning at the terminal
in Harita (tokyo airport) where the Cathay Pacific
rejected me for my plane, that allready leaved without
me. And I have to met somebody normaly in Mumbay,
somebody I can t reach, my best friend.....etc etc...
Imagine all that said with an sad expression like
the one the hungry dog just do when they need to eat
something....The woman went out, fascinated and horrified
by my tragic story. She came back with a kind of MiniBoss.
I tried to get the same pitie as before...this man
told me he could do something for me but it could
take 1 to 4 days...and insist on the better think
4 days !!!! I thanks him so much and make him look
BigBoss in my words. He looked at me and told me he
will give me a call. Well I don t have any place to
sleep tonight but at leat I have a phone....(saying
that and its about 4 degrees outside can realy help
accelerate things).
I quit the Embassy with a big smile. I didn t get
in my plane but I had the chance to see Aco and Dereck
again. And that is the best Checkin ever. I tried
on the other side to give some news to Ludo that will
wait in India soon. So I made my way back to see Aco.
And I found her.
I m in Yokohama when I get a call. My VISA is ready.
I should pick it up at 18.00. But it s about 17.00
and I need more time. I get out of Acos house jump
in the trains, make two picture for the visa at Shibuya
(thx to Japan there are photomatics everywhere) and
then I found myself in front of the desk of the embassy.
Alone this time, no queue and almost no office men.
The mini chief make what himself think was not possible.
He make a Visa for India in a half day. But instead
of getting 6 month I could only stay 1month. Whatever,
thats means I m gonna see my best friend. Finaly.
Later in the afternoon, Dereck and Aco joined me in
the Internet Caffe in Shibuya. The one you can take
as much drinks as you want, look at DVD, manga, internet
on your personal desk. (last floor of the HMV building).
We spend time together, eating Korean food. Soon we
where taking some of this typical mini-japanese-photo
as a remember. They all ended in my drawing book.
Its eartly in the morning. I take my stuff, get out
and leave Aco. Soon, I m again sitting in the same
bus as yesterday, this time with a Visa but without
Plane-Reservation. I will make the same queue, as
nothing changed since yesterday, the hostess tell
me I can t check in. I have to put me on the WAITING
LIST. Thats part of the moment when I think. Will
I ever see Ludo ? Will I ever leave Tokyo ?
However, after many trouble and litle luck I get one
of the 2 seats avaible at the last moment. One hour
later, I m in Hong Kong. Just enough time to write
e-mails that I have got this plane to HongKong. Need
now just to take the HongKong plane to Mumbai (via
Bangkok). But arriving in Mumbay may not be the easest
thing.
Flight CX751 - seat 56C
I m reading a book writen by Bill Bryson....a
short History of Nearly Everything. The words sounds
like that:
The bad news is that
atoms are fickle and their time of devotion is fleeting.
Even a long human life adds up to only about 650,000
hours. And when that modest milestone flashes into
view, or at some other point therabouts, for reasons
unknow your atoms will close you down, then silently
disassemble and go off to be other things. And that
s it for you. [...] The only thing special about the
atoms that make you is that they make you. That is,
of course, the miracle of life.[..]. Survival on Earth
is a surprisingly tricky business. Of the billions
and billions of species of living things that have
existed since the dawn of time, most - 99,99 per cent,
it has been suggested - are no longer around. Life
on Earth, you see, is not only brief but dismayingly
tenuous. It is a curious feature of our existence
that we come from a planet that is very good at promoting
life but even better at extinguishing it.
At
this words the plane make a big turn. I flew a lot
and turning after about 40 minutes of fly means one
thing. We are ariving. But we aren t. No what happen
is different. I turn on my screen and see the GPS
view. I follow the strange path of the plane. Soon
the captitain speaks. We have some technical problems,
nothing important for the moment but it need to be
fix before the landing. We are pleased to enjoy the
fly until more information are given. But the things
became more critical. The captain tell us the true.
The landing gear doesn t work. In simple words, the
wheels will not go out on the next landing. The captain
will make some tests on the air. It will became lound
but it had to be made, and in case the result aren
t satisfiing, it mean we will go back to HongKong
where the security are more prepared than Bangkok.
Arround me the people beginn to panic, not a panic
with people running all arround but a "inside
out panic". Their face look like they just get
informed about their death. As we will see in the
next lines this people are wright: we will be informed
about our death. However, you can imagine the atmosphere
in the plane, people ring the hostess every second,
asking and asking if what they fear is true. Other
just searching trust.
The test happens and the captain decision has come.
We gonna go back to Hong Kong and as a bonus we gonna
have maybie 50% chance to get involved in a crash
test. The wheels doesn t seems to work and the computer
can give any information to the Landing Tower in HongKong.
Adding to that the view is clouded witch makes it
impossible to get a visual contact to confirm the
problem.
So we get 20 minutes to prepare for a crash. We should
listen carefully to the hostess. Can you imagine that.
The captain telling us in simple word. "PREPARE
TO A CRASH LANDING !!!". And me and my book speaking
about the life, the atoms, the universe...ahahha kind
of realy ironic. But well what should I do ? If that
s the way it has come ! The thing is I can t do anything...I
just can wait, wait the moment coming. Impossible
to fight. I mean I m in a plane, I can t go out and
put this stupid wheels out. So the only thing everybody
can do is wait.
The hostess face turn out whiter than the purest snow.
They explain the secutity handling for the crash landing.
Puting the hand on the neck and bend down between
the knee. Everybody repeat the gest as it could save
their life. But one thing put the situation more serious
than ever. The hostess hands are shaking, their eyes
are more shiny than ever, it seems they try to hide
their tears. The kids beginn to be lound. I get back
in my book. And from times to times look arround me.
I m extremly indiferent. I don t know why. Maybie
I m just happy for the life I had and the last month
travelling. If I should die okay. I wished I could
live until 100 but this "technical problem"
will not allow it.
The two indians close to me take their hands reciprocly,
the fat german guy on my front right looked already
death (like ICE). A Japanese in front of him always
called an hostess to get the whole words of the captain
traduce in Japanese. He just couldn t believe it.
The girl in front of me start to cry, feeling the
passive panic. I looked and looked, turn arround to
see them...the one who regrets, the one who believed,
the one who cried, the one who feared....The point
is. We will probably die. Maybie 150 to 200 people,
and from all this I could hardly see one who was not
afraid about death. The only one who was like me,
was the mother of the kid in front of me. She seems
just to take care about her daughter...her life was
not that important. She may have a good life but just
seems to care her daughter should have one. Well that
s all supposition.
The crew now had to seat down. We will land
or crash in 3 minutes. And here beginns the
real nightmare...everybody take his "hand-2-neck"
position. The kid cry, the hostess scream some words
I forgot. Their screams echo from all the plane. This
last 3 minutes went very fast but with so much to
think about... I just covered my head with my clothes
before in case of fire...maybie I will have more chance...but
I found suddently everything without any sence, I
looked up, arround me the show continue, and I had
just one thing to do, one thing nobody ever could
take me: SEE. I m a "voyeur" and at this
moment was still one I had to see. The two indian
on my left where in their trance down to their knees,
inexistant, letting me a fantastic view on the window.
I looked the white of the cloud, then the horizont
came, my adrenaline came with it. In the sky we hadn
t anything to fear about, but landing was a contact,
from there the plane would touch the landing pist
and everything else will be just unpredictable. Maybie
the plane will break, maybie the plane would take
fire, maybie it would loop....so much at this point
came into my mind. But than I stoped thinking. I just
waited. Arround me I could hear far away the people.
I m ready. The horizont line went up and up, we down
and down, suddently it was there the pist. This last
minute was the most exiting ever, I can tell you.
Its not the kind of thing I will repeat...a first
sound came....but I was still waiting....had the plane
already a contact to the floor ? I couldn t realy
find out until...until the nose touch the pist...but
this a certainly help ! The one of the wheel. GRRRRREAAAAATTTT.
My face express big satisfaction.
The next minutes people that normaly always stand
up after the landing stayed hypnotise in their seat.
Between smile and cry...the kids, only the kids where
still crying. And the hostess couldn t hide their
shaking hands or their tears of happyness. The German
guy only was standing with me and the japanese....He
wanted to eat something....the hostess breath out
and give him a plateau with the biggest smile ever....The
japanese just wanted to go out. An other hostess came
to this kid and try to trust him...but on the same
time she trust herself....Everything was okay. The
captain, always master of the situation gave us the
instruction for what will followed. The japanese definitly
said he will not take any plane.
And I ?
I looked at all this like you look a film, but this
was real. This was tousend of emotion. This was splendid.
I took my book and my bag and went out. And for the
first time in my life I arrived by plane at the same
place as I left. Hong Kong to Hong Kong !
And I can just be happy about one thing. I could see
that if the time to die had come I had nothing to
regret...cause I leave the life I want. Its not like
hopping a better life. I just leave how I want to
leave and do everything in that sence. How many people
do that ? In this plane not so much. The captain,
the mother and me ?What about you ? Do you have the
life you want ? Do you do what you realy want ? Will
you have regret anything before the time had come
?
