Welcome to The Journey to Japan

User: balance
Password: *******************

Select Character
Balance [ATC] lvl 27, Class Merchant

Select World
Earth 2

Select Server
United States of America

Select Channel
Washington

Connecting…

Creating World…

Before the Trip

It all started when my little sister, Jasmine, bought me tickets for a two week trip to Jan as a Christmas present. This would be my first time traveling outside of the country and I wanted to make sure that I would have a solid rudimentary plan. For accomodations, I primarily focused on Airbnb options. I did, however, make two exceptions: a stay at a capsule hotel and a ryokan (traditional Japanese inn). I added these two unique accomodations so I could add them to the list of things I could experience while in Japan. As time passed, everything was just about ready… yet of course, my luck would prove otherwise.

A law had recently passed in Japan involving private lodging businesses. As you’d expect, this also affected many Airbnb hosts (and effectively, their guests).

Just a week before my trip, I received an email from Airbnb notifying me of a reservation I made a while back had been cancelled. Although I was slightly perturbed by the timing of this unfortunate update, I thankfully given my money back in twofold and a $100 coupon for use of any Airbnb Experience. With this, I was able to find another reservation with ease and booked a photography session for free!

Despite this however, I was still just not yet free from the reigns of bad luck headed towards me.

As this was going to be an exceptional time in my life, I wanted to vlog around Japan. So, I ordered a used gimbal on Amazon and was going to have it delivered about a week prior to leaving. I figured this would allow me a comfortable amount of time to familiarize myself with the machine. It would be my first time operating a gimbal, after all.

I get an email the day it was expected to arrive noting its delivery will be delayed up to two days. I wasn’t too worried as I’d still have a fair amount of time to become familiar with the gimbal. However after two days had passed, I was left wondering if it had been shipped at all. Later in the day, I received an email from Amazon informing me the product had been damaged and sent back to the vendor. Even though my money would be refunded, I still wanted a gimbal. In the end, I was forced to purchase a a gimbal and expend extra money to get the one-day shipping.

In truth, these were simply minor inconveniences that did not leave a lasting impression on me. Just something I thought were somewhat funny considering its timing. There was one more thing, however, that would throw me into despair.

My father and I had recently hired an employee to help cover me while I was in Japan. In order to help the new hire, I tasked myself to ensure any scannable item would be recorded into the register. Just two days before I would leave to Japan, I had finished registering every barcode into the cash machine. On the day before the trip, I wanted to add a clerk system on the cash till so we could easily determine how sales went for each person. In addition to the clerk system, there was also an option to set a manager passcode. I felt there was no harm in setting a passcode early so I went ahead.

In the middle of setting the code, however, I had accidentally returned to the main menu. I still needed to fidget around with the clerk system so I navigated around the menu system to finalize some settings. Interestingly enough, a screen popped up asking for the manager passcode. Although slightly shocked, I enter the passcode.

“INCORRECT CODE”

Confused, I tried entering the code again. Perhaps I had made a mistake.

“INCORRECT CODE”

At this point, I’ve begun panicking. I attempted to try every four number combination I could have possibly used. None of them worked. In my paranoia, I went to check the cameras to double check what numbers I had entered. To my horror, I found out I had been entering the correct passcode the entire time!

With all my options exhausted and no other solution available to me, I no choice but to reset the cash register and undo all the work I had done.

The entire remainder of the day was spent trying to set the cash register back to the settings I had placed prior to the reset as well as entering in the barcodes back into the till. Despite my best efforts, I was only able to get most of the beer selection registered into the cash till. Not only that, due to the reset, the z-tape (which totals all the numbers for the day) was interrupted and the information was gone. In order to make up for the loss of information, I had to manually view the receipt roll and add up every single transaction and input the correct numbers on the End-of-Day worksheet.

 

I later found out in my research regarding the issue this particular cash register has caused a similar glitch for another user. That user had also reported despite having set a passcode, the cash register had not recognized it and had insisted it was something else. What that essentially means was from the moment I entered a combination for the manager passcode, I was doomed.

To add salt to the wound, the day prior, I had suggested we eat kalbee for dinner. I wanted to have a meal to remember before heading to Japan. Because I had stayed in the store much later than I normally do, the meat was cold by the time I had arrived back home. I truly felt as though I was cursed with some outrageous trash luck.

At the very least, it was finally over and all that was left were a few things to do at home before I would finally embark on my way to Japan.

Changing Servers

Select Server:
Japan

Connecting…

June 14th, Thursday

I arrived at the airport right around 2am in the morning. Since my flight was not until 5am, I had a lot of time to spare. I used that time to learn how to operate the gimbal I had purchased until I felt it was time to get ready to board.

The flight I needed to take was a simple 2 hour flight to LAX before I would take another to Japan. An hour before boarding the plane, I looked around my bag to find my USB to USB-C adapter to finish editing pictures I had taken of my sister’s graduation… however I couldn’t find it.

Just when I thought the barrage of misfortune had ended!

After searching for a while, I could not locate a store that had the cord I needed. I boarded the plane hoping the LAX airport would have one.

As soon as I had gotten off the plane at the LAX airport, I quickly looked around the airport to find an adapter. In my desperate search, I came across an Apple store. I was unsure at first, however the store had the exact cable I had needed! Unexpectedly, it cost an arm and a leg, but I really did need the cable. My fault for not double checking my bag before I left. At least I was set before boarding the plane to Japan.

When I got on the Singapore Airlines flight, I had realized two things. 1, I was in the seat in the very middle of the row. 2, THERE WERE NO POWER OUTLETS! The only way you could charge any electronics was through a USB port! Now my laptop was useless as a means to pass the time. Although the plane’s selection of movies and shows were not bad, I was still upset at the inability to use my laptop. Oh well, just my luck! All there was left to do was wait and catch up as much sleep as I could before landing.

My journey was about to begin.