Wednesday, January 22, 2014

the difference between fate and divine providence

Jakarta was a necessity more than a desire. A needed stop over for our perspective flights out of the country.

Esther left the night of our arrival, but armed me with a restaurant name as a parting gift. Taco Local, a hipster Mexican restaurant serving the most delicious Mexican food that's ever passed my lips - made by Indonesians who have never even left the country, was primarily what took up my filler day in the city.



The other part (aside from visiting the obligatory touristic spots) was spent wracking my brain, trying to figure out a way to avoid having to sleep in Tokyo's airport terminal after my late arrival the next day since the trains shut down after a certain hour. All the brain wracking proved futile, however, and I ended up resigning myself to an unfortunate fate.

That night as I packed up my bags, I apologized to the people in the dorm in advance for the noise I'd be making so early in the morning.

"Ah, taking the flight to KL and then to somewhere else, huh?" the guy in the bed next to mine asked.

"Yeah. You too?"

"Yup. Headed to Tokyo," he said.

My eyes widened. What were the odds. I mentioned that we'd most likely be sleeping in the airport from what I had read due to our arrival time, unless we wanted to spend an astronomical amount for a taxi. Then he looked at me a bit confused.

"We should be fine," he said. He's lived north of Tokyo for about ten years. "But... now you have me questioning myself. Give me a second while I check."

He looked up a few Japanese websites online. Ones I'd have never found or navigated on my own.

"Okay, yeah. We're good. We'll definitely make the last train of the night out of the airport. Then the other trains around Tokyo run a bit longer."

No sleeping on terminal benches.

That's when I knew: this guy was heaven sent. 

1 comment:

Patti said...

What were the odds indeed?! Definitely heaven sent.