From a Terrorist Bombing to a Pachinko Jackpot

There was 45 minutes remaining til takeoff as I rushed up into the terminal. As I ran my gaze caught a plasma screen showing the BBC News. The label across the bottom of the screen shocked me- “THE ENTIRE TUBE SYSTEM HAS NOW BEEN SHUT DOWN”. How could this be?, I thought. I had just been on the tube! The anchorwoman was talking about a “major incident” on the London Underground. But I couldn’t stay to sate my curiosity as they were about to close the gate. I jumped on the plane and we took off for Japan. Later that day, shoeless, a crowd of onlookers whooped and cheered as I inexplicably won a major jackpot in a strange Japanese Pachinko parlour. If there’s anything to be expected when travelling, it’s the unexpected, as I found out during a most bizarre 24 hour period spanning two continents.