if the Fates don't conspire, I'm just a _really_ unlucky guy.

So I got into Manila a couple of days ago, and it was awesome to see my mum and dad, and walk around the house and just enjoy being home. But to truly appreciate HOW happy I was to go home, we must go... oh jeez, more than 24 hours into the past.

Pre 7:00 am, on the way to Indianapolis Airport (16/05/09)
Previous night's flood waters shut down most of the convenient ways to get onto I-65... So we got delayed. Eric and my memories drifted to the past christmas, when the fates came together to hit us with a hurricane on my way to the airport, delaying my flight; and it looks like they were trying again. Scoreboard check! Shriram 0, Fates 1.

7:00 am, Indianapolis Airport (16/05/09)
We arrive, I run into the airport because I'm really pushing it to catch my 7:30 flight to Minneapolis/St. Paul Int'l Airport, when the gate agent looks and me and says "did you really think you'd make the 7:15?" I paused, confused- wondering why she would say 7:15 when NWA.com said 7:30... but of course, what was I thinking? It's Northwest, obviously the checkin agent is right, and the website is wrong. My previous itinerary was IND-MSP-LAX-NRT-MNL, which required my 7:15 take off to MSP. Thankfully, a few merciful keystrokes on her computer later, the check in agent says "don't worry, we can get you on the 9:20 to Minneapolis, from where you'll fly directly to Narita." I was happy, and just before I started celebrating, she warns "don't make this a habit." "Yes, ma'am," I reply, and dash off happily towards the gate (and Caribou Coffee, which served as my breakfast in Indianapolis, and as you'll see later, my lunch in Minneapolis). Scoreboard check! Shriram 1, Fates 1.

9:20, Indianapolis Airport (16/05/09)
Nothing really to report, we flew to Minneapolis; no big deal, nothing significant happened.
Scoreboard check! Shriram 1, Fates 1; halftime.

11:30-ish am, Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport (16/05/09)
We land at MSP, and about 2.5 hours later, nearing our boarding time, we find out that at our connection (the one that will take us to Narita Int'l Airport) has been delayed slightly, for mechanical trouble. Didn't seem that big a deal, but I smiled quietly to myself, because I half expected it. A few more hours later, we find out that it is because there is a failure with the APU. This is only slightly more worrisome, because it could potentially be a big deal, but at the same time, at least they found it. After poking and prodding some more, they realise that the APU is totally fine; the sensor that checks whether the APU is fine or not, however, is malfunctioning and showing high current drain where there was none. Seems like a fairly quick fix, yeah? Well, it would've been- if the part were in Minneapolis. Unfortunately, we had to wait as the part was flown into MSP from DTW (another 2 hour delay). Finally, about 4 hours after our scheduled departure time, after receiving vouchers, and after I grabbed a sushi box for dinner, we boarded.

7:40 pm, Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport (16/05/09)
We know that there's a good chance that we'll miss our connections, and they (the gate agents) told us that we wouldn't be able to find out ANY information regarding the transfers until we were in the air, and they could begin the rebooking process. Most of us know, however, that we'll probably be really late for our flight, and as a result, have to hop a really late plane to get where we need to go. A glance at the scoreboard: Shriram 1, Fates 3.... pretty sneaky, fates.

x:xx am, Somewhere in the air (16-17/05/09)
We find out that there's no way we're going to be able to make any sort of flight, so we're offered more vouchers, and a complimentary stay at a hotel in Narita, so we can take our flights the next day morning. Now it's just a matter of landing. Scoreboard: Shriram 1, Fates 4.

11:30 pm, Narita International Airport (17/05/09)
We've landed, we're all tired, but it's okay- it's time to go and get some rest, right? Not quite; there's still the little issue of swine flu. In come 4 or 5 men and women with level c/d HAZMAT suits, one of whom is carrying a thermal imaging camera. For the next 1.5 hours, we sit and wait while the cameraman checks everyone's heat signature to check for fevers, and finally, after everything is done, we get to leave. Only few of us have the wherewithal to realise that even if we'd made our MSP-NRT flight on time, there would be no way to make the NRT-MNL connection, since the swine flu check itself would've eaten up half an hour PAST our layover time. Scoreboard? Shriram 1, Fates 5, Fates seem to be pulling away.

1:00 am, Narita International Airport (18/05/09)
Finally, after making it out of the airplane and walking around, there is a little matter of customs/immigration in Japan to handle, since the hotels weren't in the airport.

(The following are how long I had to wait to be serviced in line)

30 minute wait (for about 8 people), 1.5 - 2 minute service time. (At this point, it becomes relevant that there are 4 bloody people servicing us for the shorepass application, and I don't see how people could take so long in that line when it only took me about a minute-and-a-half to get through).
Line 2 - Handing the shore pass application to the immigrations officer, who then will fingerprint us, take our picture, and stamp some stuff onto our passports.
45 minute wait (the US citizens didn't need a shore pass, but needed to go through this line)
3 minute service, including a short conversation in japanese where I asked him where the restroom was. Again, do people not realise that the immigration counter means GET YOUR DAMN PASSPORT READY AND DO NOT STOW IT IN YOUR 800 CUBIC FOOT BAG AND SPEND THE NEXT 15 FREAKING MINUTES LOOKING FOR IT? Geez.
Line 3 - Going to get our rebooked tickets
5 minute wait, less than 10 seconds service time. This was nice- just go, show your ID, get your ticket, aaaaand?
transition seamlessly to
Line 4 - Bus line to go to a hotel
This wasn't so bad- except for the fact that I was supposed to go to the Radisson, but when I was the 5th or 6th to get on the bus, the gentleman from the Radisson said that there were no other rooms, so the rest of us got to go to Hotel Nikko, Narita. My problem wasn't with the hotel I was sent to; perhaps just with the fact that the total number of people sent to either hotel should have at some point matched up with how many rooms there were left. The bus ride was about 10 to 15 minutes from NRT to the Hotel Nikko.
Line 5 - Getting a room.
My. God. The hotel's receptionists asked us for just two things. 1) Passport 2) Boarding pass. AGAIN; DO NOT PUT YOUR PASSPORT BACK INTO YOUR 800 CUBIC FOOT TROLLEY YOU MISERABLE PONCE! This took about an hour. Scoreboard? Shriram 1, Fates 150,000? I'm fairly certain the Fates had a parade at some point.

Finnnaaallllyyy obtained a room at something like 2:30 am, at which point I had some dinner, got up to the room, showered, and was asleep by 3:00.

6:29 am, Hotel Nikko, Narita (18/05/09)
Somehow, I manage to wake up almost exactly one minute before my alarm goes off- of course, I spend an extra 5 minutes marvelling in it. Then comes breakfast (which was a great buffet) and then another shower, and then check out. We get on the bus at 8:05, and we're there by about 8:20, no problems. Scores: Shriram 2, Fates 150,000

8:25 am, Narita International Airport (18/05/09)
Line 6 - Getting rechecked in; this didn't take much time. However, because of my score that morning, the Fates decided to throw a few last impediments my way.. I was seated in 59-E. Not only is that on the ass end of the plane, it's a middle seat. As you've met me/seen me before, you know that that's a terrible seat for me. Unfortunately, on one side is an old man, born 1933, whom I obviously couldn't ask to switch with me, and on the other side, is a father of 2 supermarket owner. Unfortunately again (that seems to be the theme of my life lately), his children are 4 and 3 years old. This means a) I can't switch with him, and b) his !@#!$ 3 year old daughter just would not shut up. I literally hurt my own ears when I screwed my headphones into them further than they possibly should've gone, just to avoid hearing her waaaah, waaaah, waaaaah.

The rest of the story is uninteresting; got home, ate (lunch), read a book, ate again (dinner), read more, slept.

Final Score: Shriram 2, Fates ∞; and that's the way it's probably always going to end up. Sorry for the very, very long post, but I felt this deserved it. I have some pics on my phone, it's just a matter of getting them onto the computer and getting them posted. Cheers folks, Shriram out.