by Chris Lynd 林持一Strangely, instead of doing nothing and relaxing, I spent all my summer solving problems which should have not happened at all. I was travelling, and I was faced with many curious and ridiculous problems that let me have a rethink on how life works. However, after all the agonising processes of getting through the troubles, I survived. I hope my experiences may give you some insight into your own life as well.
Taipei At the gate, I was queueing to board the aeroplane for Hong Kong, having my documents checked. “Sorry, sir. I’m afraid that we cannot let you board the plane”, said an airline lady with a stern face. As it turned out, the information on my Hong Kong visa was inconsistent with that on my passport. Due to the strict operating procedures of the airline company, they could not pass me through. Even if they did, I might still be blocked from entry at Hong Kong immigration and ultimately sent back to Taiwan. “If you can renew the visa right now, we may wait for you for another 10 minutes before take-off”. Having heard that, I tried my best, but 20 minutes later I saw my flight take off. However, it was urgent for me to arrive in Hong Kong that day. I had to get my visa ready and board the plane, any plane. So I was then led to the airline’s transfer counter. The transfer area of an airport is funny, and somewhere between countries. I was standing on Taiwanese soil, yet I was not actually inside Taiwan, legally speaking. To enter Taiwan, I had no choice but to go through some extremely complicated procedures. To get on the plane, I still had to leave the transfer area into Taiwan and again check in at the airline counter, waiting for the security check and immigration. Most importantly, I could not board my flight without the bloody visa. In the next 8 hours, the famous film The Terminal came to life. I stayed at the transfer counter for help. The airline staff were willing to help, though they ended up not being quite helpful. After one hour of pacing in front of the counter, I decided to seek help from Hong Kong myself. During my waiting for the staff who were trying to help me by refreshing the Hong Kong visa application website again and again to see if it was possible to renew my visa, I went on the Internet and found that some people had put themselves in similar situations. In these articles, I found the contact information of the Hong Kong Immigration Department. I wrote them immediately, described the situation, and stated that it was really, really urgent. It was a Friday. If I did not receive their reply that day, I might not get my visa until Monday, which was one day prior to my scheduled departure from Hong Kong. Surprisingly and touchingly, soon after I sent the email, they replied to me with warmth and sympathy. Another 2 hours later with more emails written, I finally got my visa. The next step was to get my ticket. But all the flights were fully booked. I had two options: get on my airline’s standby list, or spend 3 times more money on a new ticket from another airline. No matter what I chose, I had to leave the transfer area into Taiwan anyway, which meant I had to go through all the procedures. Luckily, an airline lady kindly accompanied me and helped me pass through without any difficulty. Officially on Taiwanese soil, I was on my own. It was then I found out that if I would like to purchase a new ticket the price would be enormous. I ran to every airline counter in 2 terminals to ask if there was still a ticket that day. In the end, I gave up and went back to my original airline, finally managing to get a seat and several hours later landing in Hong Kong safely. Monte Carlo “Hello? Can you hear me?” At that moment I was in Monaco, having a fight with my girlfriend over the phone, who was some 9,000 kilometres away. A friend of mine gave me his backup phone, telling me to turn on the personal Internet hotspot so I did not need to buy a SIM card. Sadly, spending most of my time outdoors, the signal was beyond terrible. So as I made an unsuccessful FaceTime call to my girlfriend for the millionth time, an idea struck me. It was the worst idea I ever had, to be honest. What I wanted to do was put my mate’s SIM card into my phone with an eye to enhancing the signal. I sat in a small garden on the pavement and ejected the SIM card from my mate’s phone, trying to put the card into mine. However, the card did not fit the slot of my phone, and I had to place the card on my lap and put the trays of the phones back. Then I saw my card fall from my lap into the ditch cover right beneath my feet. I was astounded. Mercifully, I could still see the card through the ditch cover, which meant that there was a chance for me to save it. I got down on my knees and lifted up the cover, reached down into the ditch and finally picked up the card. After that, I did my best to put the cover back, but it was a Monaco ditch cover: robust, sturdy and very, very heavy. How could I have lifted it up so easily? I moved to a safe spot in the garden and put the SIM card back to my friend’s phone. But then I was asked to enter a PIN code. How did I know what the code was? I couldn’t ask my friend because I couldn’t make a phone call. I only had three chances to enter the right code before the phone locked, and I had already used up two tries by guessing. “How on earth am I going to solve this?” I thought to myself. So I decided that free public Wi-Fi was the only answer, but in Monaco it was easier to find than a unicorn than that. Around 20 minutes later, I popped into a souvenir shop to ask if they sold SIM cards. “No, we don’t. You need to leave Monaco into France to get one.” I felt suicidal. But another 5 minutes later, a miracle happened. I connected to the “Public Wi-Fi of the Principality of Monaco”, which charged me 5 euros a day. Now I could phone my friend for the PIN code, but my heart had nearly popped out in the meantime. I unlocked the phone and called my girlfriend. She could not believe what had just happened, neither could I. In the end, the signal did not get any better, and I realised that I had just wasted two hours of my time and it was all devoted to solving problems resulting from my own stupidity. However, I decided to think positively and to carry on in spite of what I had done. The first thing I did, as soon as I could, was to get a bloody SIM card. London I had had my camera for 4 happy years, but on my first day in London I broke it. I was at the DriveTribe office and was being shown around, giving me many opportunities to take photos. But then I dropped the camera, and my jaw dropped, too. I looked at my watch, 7 pm. I had to get to the Queen’s Theatre for Les Misérables in 30 minutes. There was no chance for me to be there on time by taking the Tube. But it was possible if I took Uber (a London taxi during rush hour? No, thanks). But what about the camera? The next day I was supposed to visit two car shows and interview a lot of people, so I needed the camera a lot. If I decided to have the camera fixed, or even buy or rent a new one, I would miss the shows. Or should I give up Les Misérables, the musical that audiences were still fighting for tickets for? I had spent so much time and money to get a good seat. Should I really ditch it for the camera? But if I headed for the theatre, how could I have my camera repaired? “You’ve already lost the camera, accept it and move on”, I told myself. Then I called Uber, thinking that my misery might end. However, the driver got lost and it took him another 10 minutes to arrive at the pickup spot. When I finally got in the car, we had 13 minutes to cover a journey which normally takes 20 minutes. Worse still, with his peculiar accent, it took me another 2 minutes to go through Uber’s necessary identity check. I was going to be late, could it be any worse? Suddenly, the driver said, “I’m afraid the fastest way to get there is to run”. “Run? Are you joking?” He proved he wasn’t joking through his silence. Less than a minute later, I’m running through London’s glittering West End like a mad man, bumping into a million people. At 7:33 pm, I arrived at the Queen’s Theatre. Nonetheless, due to the theatre’s policy, I was not allowed to enter until 15 minutes after the show had begun. But it didn’t matter, it was a really good show, worth every penny. After the show, it was around 10:30 pm and I was starving to death. Just when I thought that my life was getting more and more shitty, and all the restaurants were closed, I found a famous burger shop ready to feed my flesh and my soul. Just as the musical said, “Even the darkest night will end and the sun will rise.” Having my first bite, I realised the meaning of this line. Life goes bad but never leaves you in despair. There will always be a way out. “What could possibly go wrong?” we ask ourselves. Mind you, you never know. Often, life does not work the way we want it to. Carelessness, stupidity or bad decisions may give rise to catastrophes. Faced with frustrations, we may have breakdowns, yet after that we must—as it’s the only choice—get up and get on with it. Just accept what life gives you and try to move on. a
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May 2024
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