Tags
Bali, Los Angeles, music, Never Give Up On You, San Francisco, Santa Monica, Tokyo, Troup, video
Back in early 2010, on my 4th trip to Bali, I met this guy. We didn’t actually meet ON vacation, per se, but as we were both leaving Bali to go to our respective “homes.” He was sitting in the seat next to me as our flight was scheduled to depart. He was cute, he was Welsh and he was talkative. He showed me the absolutely gorgeous silver bracelet that he’d bought for his mother. As we were talking and the plane had started to taxi down the runway, there was a “bump.” They announced that there were mechanical difficulties, the plane would return to the gate and all of us would be deplaning. Initially, the flight was scheduled to be delayed for about an hour. I went off by myself and wrote in my diary. When I actually walked up to the counter at the gate again, I heard rumors that people who were flying to San Francisco and Los Angeles would leave that night (though much later) and people going to Taipei (as a final destination) would be flying out the following morning! I ran into the Welsh guy again and we talked. We were told to take our departure cards from the stack on the counter. Beings I’m vertically challenged and didn’t want to deal with the mad rush, I sat down and planned to wait until the crowd dispersed a bit. However, my Welsh friend asked my name, then proceeded to get my card for me. China Airlines said that San Francisco and Los Angeles passengers would be re-routed on Japan Airlines, thus would have to recheck our luggage. Wouldn’t you know it? He was flying to Los Angeles; said that he lived in Santa Monica. We re-checked our luggage, then were shown to the VIP Lounge where we spent many hours drinking and chatting before our flight to Tokyo departed. He was/is a songwriter/musician/singer in a band called Troup. During those many hours together, we exchanged information. He was always such a gentleman, too – insisting on carrying my bags, letting me go first everywhere, getting my drinks for me, etc., etc. When our flight boarded to Tokyo, we were not sitting next to or even close to each other, but he gave me his seat number in case I needed sleeping pills! After the flight landed in Tokyo, we were once again herded into the VIP Lounge where we spent many, many hours. A German man was busy telling me all about Thailand, in case I decided to go there in the future. I spent the rest of my time eating, drinking, sleeping, attempting to use the Japanese keyboard for the internet and sleeping again. Shortly before our flights were to depart, said Welsh guy woke me up. We’d been given meal vouchers so that we could eat before our flights. He and I decided to have our meal together. Since my flight departed before his, I had to head towards my gate. We did keep in touch for awhile; he’s still my friend on Facebook. I saw him a couple of times when I was in L.A. – once for dinner together and another time he hung out at my hotel with a friend and me. However, now his band is starting to take off. Of their songs that they’ve released, there’s only one that’s not really to my liking. They put this video out recently, so I wanted to share it. I wish them huge success.