As we left from Mumbai (Bombay at that time) the flight was lightly loaded. Though we were let to check in, we were allotted nice seats, near the right window and in the front portion of the aircraft. I had an earlier experience of travelling to the USA, otherwise I was pretty inexperienced with international travel. We both were excited. There was a brief stop in Delhi. A few people got down and a lot more boarded. Now the flight was almost full. There were no videos in front of the seats, but there was a projector that was projecting on the front wall. I was able to watch the flight position as it was moving. After about an hour, dinner was served. We were somewhere near Kolkata, we had not yet opened the dinner plates, and it happened! Suddenly the flight experienced a fall. We lost about a thousand feet in a few seconds. I had lost touch with the seat below, I was floating about an inch above. I could see the dinner plate floating in the air. I tried to catch it with both hands. Can't say whether I was trying to save the plate or hold on to it for support. :-) Though I was protected by the seat belts, there was a strange feeling in the stomach. Remember a roller coaster ride? Well, but on the ride, we expect it. Here it was completely unexpected.
Within a few seconds everything was back to normal, as if nothing happened. I was expecting some announcement from the pilot. There was none. I checked with the crew member. She said “This is normal, Sir, we went through an air pocket.” I can tell you, it was not normal. However, in a flight you better believe the crew. What else could be done?
As the sun broke out, we were floating above our dream destination. I tried to check out whether the sun looks any different in the land of the rising son. I was disappointed, it looked exactly the same. After the immegration formalities, we approached the customs counter. Nobody said any word, but every bag was opened and thoroughly checked. As one customs officer was packing the bags again, another one said “Sir, welcome to Japan. How do you plan to go to your hotel room? Please let me know if you need any help.” Wow! This is the only time in my life I saw a customs officer that was so nice, polite and helpful. “Thank you sir, my friend will pick us up from the gate.” I tried to be as confident as I could, after the tiring journey and the half night sleep.
We put the bags on the trolly and started rolling out. Everyone was moving fast, and was in a hurry to go home. There was a round information kiosk, at the center of a large arrival hall. We decided to wait near the kiosk. As we started looking for Jay, we noticed that almost everyone went towards the railway station, a very few went towards the taxi stand. We were the only two, standing and looking around for a familiar face.
After a few minutes, a familiar face showed up walking out of the gate of the railway station with a couple of jackets. So far we were inside a covered area and did not feel the need, but it was cold outside. Jay was very excited to receive us, probably we were the first guests he was receiving in Japan.
Searching for a ticket counter to exchange our voucher with a JRail pass was easy but time consuming. The pass was a small booklet, same size of the passport, our names were written with hand, and the expiry date was stamped in large and bold font. The jackets, the passports and the JRail pass had become parts of our body for the next whole week. As we collected the passes, a gate on the left hand side opened and we stepped out into the railway station.
A train was waiting on the platform, since Jay was with us, we did not have to check anything, we just boarded behind him. The train was very spacious, and contained designated open areas to keep our bags. The journey was very smooth, and the train was crowded but silent. I was trying to look outside and talking to Jay at the same time. The names of the stations were difficult to read and remember. At most of the stations, people were getting down, and nobody was getting in. “This is an airport express, and the tickets are costlier, so only those arriving from the airport use this train.” Jay explained. After a long journey, we got down from the airport express which was almost empty by now. The next train had less seats and a lot more space to stand. It was not very crowded, however we noticed that the trains going in the opposite direction were packed with people.
A few minutes later, we got down at “Kawasaki”. The name sounded familiar. At that time the Kawasaki-Bajaj bikes were very popular in India. There were hardly any people at the station. “Japanese people are very particular about time, everyone reaches the office exactly on time, as a result every place is crowded before 9 AM, and deserted after 9 AM. This place is about thirty minutes from the city, that means this station will be very crowded at 8: 30 AM.” Jay explained.
“This is the Tokaido main line, Kawasaki station, this will be your gateway to the rest of Japan. Actually our home is very close, but we cannot walk because there is a river in between.” We started pulling our bags and walked towards Keikyu-Kawasaki station. It was another small line station about 200 meters from the main kawasaki station. We noticed a shopping plaza and several small shops along the road. We boarded a train going in reverse direction on the Keikyu Kawasaki line, crossed the river Tama (Tamagava) and got down at Rokugodote.
As we got out of the train and walked a few steps we were out on the road. That is where I saw the real Japan for the first time. It had rained, and the roads were wet. The air was humid, but not very hot, and it smelled something different. The roads were very very narrow, and traffic was almost none. Maybe because we were in a small town. We just started walking towards home.
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