We had agreed to meet
at Shinjuku station in Tokyo in the morning of December 2nd.
But Shinjuku station only happens to be the busiest train station in
the world, so how to find each other? Luckily both of us were coming
there by Willer Express bus, and in both our reservations the
destination was marked as “Shinjuku West Exit”. So that's where
we would meet.
Elina:
My bus from Okayama arrived to Tokyo on time, 6:30 AM. I
got out from the bus at Shinjuku West Exit station, expecting to see
Mikko waiting for me at the bus stop. But I saw nobody, anywhere. The
whole area in front of the bus terminal was totally empty, and it was
freezingly windy. I thought Mikko might have been impatient with his
breakfast and would have lost track of time while sipping his morning
coffee somewhere nearby, so I went in to the terminal and began to
wait. After waiting for an hour I got a bit worried and decided I
should try to get in contact with Mikko somehow. I had a laptop but
no wifi and a mobile phone but no coverage, I knew Mikko had no
laptop but a mobile phone, possibly with coverage. I consulted the
terminal staff and one of them left with me outside to look for a
phone booth (yes, they still do exist in Japan). We found one and I
tried to call Mikko but the line was busy. I got slightly more
worried. We get almost no calls during our trip, so why would the
line be busy? I went back to the terminal and asked if I can use one
of the computers there. I prepared to search information about bus
accidents in Japan last night, but decided to write a Facebook
message to Mikko first. I had just sent the message when Mikko
entered the terminal looking relieved and angry at the same time.
Mikko:
I arrived to Tokyo from Nagoya at 5:05 AM. Exactly as
planned, I got off the bus at Shinjuku West Exit bus stop. It was
still dark, but I tried my best to memorize the whereabouts of the
bus stop, as I would be meeting Elina there in just shy of 1,5 hours.
Confident that I would find it again, I went in to Shinjuku station
building – it was freezing so I couldn't see a reason to stay
waiting on the spot. I found myself an uncomfortable yet warm spot on
the station alleys, where I squatted, read two short stories from a
compilation, and involuntarily listened to a brain-drilling
department store muzak loop, which undoubtedly will find it's way to
my dreams still when I'm 68. As I'd finished a short story by Edgar
Allan Poe, it was already 6:15, so I gathered my stuff and started
walking back to the bus stop. I was there in no-time, to see a whole
bunch of pink-roofed Willer buses align in a row and unload their
passengers. But no Elina among them. Ok, I was a bit early, and the
bus might be late. I waited for 15 minutes; more Willer buses arrived
and left. I waited until 7 AM – no Elina. A quarter past 7 I
started feeling desperate: in what way could I contact her? I didn't
have a device to get online, and Elina's phone didn't work in Japan.
Worried, annoyed and tired, I was able to make one good decision: I
returned to the station, left my backpack in a locker, and thought
about my next move with a lighter load. I remembered that while
making the Willer Express reservation, I could choose whether to get
off at Shinjuku West Exit or the Willer Bus terminal, which should
also reside somewhere in Shinjuku. Perhaps Elina had slept past her
stop, and would have been taken to the terminal? But how to find the
terminal? I hurried haphazardly around the vast Shinjuku station,
making my best of the confusing mess of signs. A “highway bus
terminal” was signposted, and after a few frustrating dead ends, I
found myself in front of it. I rushed in, and asked the first
official-looking person about the Willer Express terminal. By chance,
she happened to speak English, and clarified that this was the
terminal for the “official” buses, while Willer terminal would be
found at the Sumitomo building, about a kilometre away. She gave me a
map, and I greeted and ran out. The sun was already up, so finding
the unique-shaped Sumitomo building was easy, but for the terminal
inside it I had to bother a few employees (who would ask their
colleagues, who would ask their colleagues etc.). Ultimately I got
correct instructions, and bewildered in a mixture of anxiety,
frustration, a bad night's sleep, hunger and relief, rushed up an
escalator, to see Elina behind a glass wall, sitting in front of a
computer, writing me a Facebook message.
So, what had happened?
Elina had not slept over her stop, the terminal was her bus' only
stop in Tokyo. Mikko had also found his way to the right stop, but
apparently a crucial difference between a stop and a station
had gone unnoticed by us. For Elina's bus, Shinjuku West Exit stood
for the bus terminal; for Mikko's, the bus stop. Who would have
known?
Having calmed down, we
left to enjoy our first breakfast together in more than a week. The
easiest option was Starbucks in the same building, and the breakfast
consisted of:
- 2 spinach-cheese wraps
- 1 blueberry scone
- 1 soy latte
- 1 caffe mocha
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