Monday, March 21, 2011

Back to Tokyo

o today was my last day in Okinawa. In Okinawa is the 2nd largest aquarium in the world. The Churaumi Aquarium is huge and the glass is super thick. Really amazing to see.

In the evening I headed to the airport and 3 hours later found myself back in a much colder Tokyo. After having almost a week of warm sunny weather in Okinawa it was hard to readjust to Tokyo.

Another thing that I noticed as soon as I left the airport was how much darker Tokyo seemed. While the blackouts never really occurred in the core part of Tokyo for more than a couple days most of the city was very dark due to a new voluntarily power saving policy that is in effect. Most stores and restaurants have their front signs off and are using reduced lighting indie as well. The trains had many of the signs turned off and also were operating with reduced lighting. I actually like it cause it seems much more relaxed. Anyhow I was pretty tired and just went home, unpacked and went to sleep.

Below is a video explaining everything that has been happening with the Nuclear Plant here in Japan in case you haven't been following the news.

Sunday, March 20, 2011

Last night in Okinawa

Nothing too exciting today. In the evening I headed out and took pictures.



Friday, March 18, 2011

Naha and Shurijo Castle


Today we hit up Naha to check out the town there. They had some interesting shops and stuff to look at. Later we drove out to Shurijo Castle which was on top of a mountain overlooking the city and was very impressive. On the way back home we stopped at a couple more stores and then grabbed dinner at home. From there we headed back out to Naha to check out some of the night life in Okinawa.

Thursday, March 17, 2011

Checking out the City



Today I headed out in the morning till afternoon walking along the coast and checking out part of the city. It was a little warmer and we checked out a popular shopping center. The people here are more friendly than in Tokyo and at one point just taking pictures around the beach and a group of school girls came up and started taking pictures with my friend and I. It was pretty funny.
I can understand a bit about why the people here complain about the bases here since the pilots are doing practice flights around the city often making it difficult to have a conversation but at the same time it's pretty cool seeing some of those jets just flying over the city.

In the afternoon we met up with Charles and he showed us some of the places in the area but I guess cause it was cold there weren't many people out.

Despite what news you may have heard Tokyo is almost back to normal. I have over 10 friends who stayed and I probably got more radiation on my flight to Okinawa than if I had stayed in Tokyo. The radiation levels in the city are back to normal. While some foods are hard to come by there is no food shortage in Tokyo. Many of the shops have shipped their breads and other select food items to help in Sendai and the housewives

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Okinawa

Got on the flight out of Haneda at 6:20 to Okinawa. When we got close to landing the view out of the window was awesome. The water is so clear you can see all the way to the bottom from the plane. Today was actually colder than I expected. When I arrived at the airport I met my friend Dollar who works in the same industry as me. We grabbed some food and then met with my buddy Charles who is doing some consulting work for the military here. We stopped at Kadena Air Base and got some food and things for the week and then headed to his place.

Okinawa has a very different feel from Tokyo but seems very different from the Hawaii image that I had in mind. I don't think there are any trains here and almost everyone seems to get around by car. The taxis here are much cheaper than in Tokyo but the buses are more expensive.

I hope I'm not here for too long, since I've landed I heard about a few smaller quakes near Tokyo but also some good news about the reactors starting to cool down and radiation levels in Tokyo dropping to normal. While the Japanese news tends to underplay the recent events the Western news tends to overplay it but I'm hoping thinks will be back to normal by the end of the week.

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Going to the Airport

So today I finished up some last minute work in the afternoon and then packed a suitcase and bag. Headed to Ebisu and met up with Don. After seeing news on TV about a reactor being at 70% meltdown and feeling another quake I felt pretty sure that I was doing the right thing by getting out of Tokyo. Around 3am we got a taxi to Haneda Airport. The International Terminal was pretty full of people sleeping in every chair and corner waiting for their flight out of Japan. Three Chinese people used the buckets for weighing luggage to sleep in which was pretty funny.

Monday, March 14, 2011

Power shortages!

The second day after the earthquake. This morning there was a 5 earthquake which may have caused the 3rd plan to blow. This morning another power plant blew up around 11 for a total of 3. While the TV says Tokyo is still safe they are still recommending everyone stay inside. The power in most of the city surrounding Tokyo has been cut and in parts of Tokyo today they are cutting power from 1:50 pm-5:00 pm. Many stores have been running on reduced power and have turned off their outside signage so the convenience stores look closed but they are still open and running. Compared to this weekend the convenience stores are restocked so while it's not up to the usual stock there is a lot more regular food items available which is good.
One good thing is that the weather is great today so even if there is no power it's not too cold.

Sunday, March 13, 2011

Kamakura

Today Momoko and I headed to Kamakura with John and his Girlfriend Izumi. The weather was great and in Kamakura there was no evidence of a quake at all. Everything was totally normal except that there were a lot less people visiting which kept the amount of people at each stop we made to a minimum. When we got there we rented bikes for the day and drove around to all the popular tourist spots. In the evening we returned the bike and walked around the shopping street near the station. We stopped at a place there for dinner and then headed home.

Saturday, March 12, 2011

After the Quake


A little back to normal. After the quake yesterday most of the trains were stopped completely or running on a very limited basis. There were some tremors and aftershocks through out the day but nothing like yesterday. Walking around Tokyo if you really pay attention you can find some evidence of the quake but overall everything looked pretty normal.

A lot of the food items that are normally shipped to local stores are now being shipped up to where the quake hit and as a result many Japanese are panicking and buying up food to stockpile at home.