January 5, 2004

• [Written last night...]

  
  

   

  
  

  Where to start. We were on our way to LAX. The time was about 5pm; we were on Highway 105 heading towards the Sepulveda Blvd exit. Some traffic was backed up in front of us. Suddenly there was a loud BAM from behind, our car jerked forward and I heard Eddie yell out. Followed by another huge impact in the front as we collapsed back into our seats. The sedan behind had hit us so hard our Mini had slammed into the SUV in front. My stomach was stuck somewhere up my ribs; it was hurting so much that I wondered if I would be able to free myself from the awkward scrunched-up position I was in. Eddie was frantic, moaning about whiplash. I had seen his whole body jerk forward. (Moments like these you are thankful seatbelts were invented) 

  
  

   

  
  

  “Are you OK? Are you OK? ” It was hard to move and about I think I was so shocked I couldn’t speak.

  
  

   

  
  

  “I can’t see anything.”Eddie was saying over and over. ”I can’t see. I don’t know where my glasses are..”

  
  

   

  
  

  There we were, stuck in the middle of a freeway. Eddie was blind as a bat without his glasses. There was traffic whizzing by on either side.

  
  

   

  
  

  The impact(s) had been so hard that his glasses had flown off his head and landed somewhere at the back of the car. It took me 10 minutes to find them, thankfully they were still intact. Everyone got out of their cars to inspect the damage. The woman who had hit us kept mumbling “I’m sorry”. The party of five from the SUV were video-ing everything like a bunch of tourists. The driver, flapping his insurance policy around. We waited on the side of the freeway, freezing cold and all, for the cops to arrive…Then our brand new 2 month-old Mini Cooper was towed away to Culver City.

  
  

   

  
  

  The car is dead. Kaput. The front and back are squished up. It can’t be driven. Even the CD-changer at the back is jammed. There were broken pieces on the freeway. The spare tyre had rolled off some place. The back lights flashed on and off repeatedly.

  
  

   

  
  

  In Culver City at the Tow truck yard where our crumpled Mini Cooper remained, we got our suitcases out of the trunk and took a taxi home. The time was about 7.30pm… we would never make it to the airport in time for departure at 9pm. Not that we felt like it anyway.Not after what had happened.

  
  

   

  
  

  And so we kept asking ourselves tonight -WHY?

  
  

   

  
  

  It wasn’t like we’d done anything wrong or were asking for it. The accident seemed so random like it could have happened anytime anyplace. And the timing sucked, the fact that we were on our way to our (sorta) New Year vacation.

  
  

   

  
  

  If this had been a sign that we were not meant to fly to Hong Kong tonight…. why not? We’re trying to think ‘positively’ like this disaster might really be some sort of blessing in disguise except that we have no idea what that is. What upcoming event/lesson are we being prepared for? (Or are we reading too much into things)

  
  

   

  
  

  I had tried to ring Philippine Airlines but all their offices are closed on a Sunday night (of course). I couldn’t find a phone number for LAX. All I wanted to do was say we can’t make our flight but I can’t even get in touch with the airline people. Tomorrow I will ring the travel agent and figure out what we’re going to do (Can we postpone? Or have we just written off that airfare?). Eddie will be speaking to the insurance people and I guess they’ll inspect/repair the car… and we’ll see what happens next.

  
  

   

  
  

  Needless to say we’re both feeling pretty devastated and have sore body parts. 

  
  

  At least we are both alive.

  
  

   

  
  

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  *Update

  
  

   

  
  

  The insurance company is handling the car, and repairs are starting as soon as they assess the damage.

  
  

   

  
  

  Our trip has been rescheduled. After an anxious day of to-ing and fro-ing on the phone with Flight Centre, we are now going to leave early tomorrow morning on a full flight. (They managed to squeeze us in at the last minute!) We have an overnight stopover in Manila, arriving in Hong Kong on Thursday morning.  And because we have no car/no fax machine to pick up the new tickets & hotel vouchers, our agent from Flight Centre had so kindly driven personally to our apartment to drop them off. How nice is that? (If you need a travel agent, speak to Vincent @ Flight Centre, Glendale Galleria. He’s a great guy!)

  
  

   

  
  

  Hopefully all will go smoothly from now on. Things couldn’t get worse right?

  • 11:51 pm
  • 5 Comments