Good Fortune

I hardly associate myself with the above two words. i always think my life is cursed and things never go the way i want to. For the past week, i realized that it came to me unknowingly.

My US trip was planned last Nov. Though my friend had wanted me to go last year, i had used up all my leave and had none left. The only period i could think of was in the early quarter of 2011. It was initially intended to be early Feb, but air ticket price was exorbitant and didnt make sense for the airlines i checked. Then i got the suggestion of checking out ANA which had reasonable air ticket price and also reasonably good service. So i checked and indeed, the price was affordable but i didnt like the duration of the transit time for my coming back leg. I called the company and asked if i could extend my transit and make it into a stopover, and i was told i can build my own itinerary at the same cost of the original trip. That was so awesome i thought and now what i had to decide on was the final date.

I finally chose 18 Feb 2011 as opposed to a week later which was one of the dates i thought about. I was lucky indeed. Had i flew a week later, i would have been stuck in Japan because of the tsunami and earthquake.

Many of my friends asked if my trip had completed or if i was still in Japan when the disaster struck. I told them that i was damn bloody heng (refers to 'lucky' in hokkien) that i didnt fly a week later. Else, the day where i was supposed to depart Japan at night was when the disaster struck in the afternoon.

I have never felt so lucky in my life when i watched the news in the hospital bed on Friday afternoon after having seen a post in Facebook.

I wanted to go to Japan for a long time. I was supposed to go two years back, but due to unforeseen circumstances, it didnt happen. So this time, 4 short days in Japan was more than what i can ask for. I enjoyed my stay there and even though i travelled alone, i made it back home well and proper. I was indeed lucky that i fulfilled my wish of going back to Japan, see, eat, buy what i wanted.

I hope the Japanese people will ride through this disaster smoothly and that less misfortune will befall onto the country. I am doing my part by donating some money and am glad that many organisations and artists and people from different countries are ready to lend a helping hand or their support one way or another. I guess it must be because people always remember the smiles Japan brings to their faces when they think about the country.

Have you done your part already?