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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

EARTHQUAKE!!!!!!!!!

So today started out normal until I got back from lunch. One of the biggest earthquakes in recorded history hit off the coast of Japan and started to shake the office. My office is on the ground floor so we all ran out quickly into the parking lot across the street. It was crazy. The cars in the lot were shaking and part of a small concrete wall fell down. The past quakes I've experienced were mostly side to side but this one was up and down too. It was crazy. After about 10 minutes we headed back inside to find a lot of stuff on the floor. Through out the rest of the day there were after shocks and I think we went outside 2 more times.

Somehow the top of Tokyo Tower got bent so it looks dumb now.

The after shocks and small tremors were felt for the rest of the day making me sea sick despite the fact that I was on land and I don't actually get sea sick.

All the trains were stopped and the roads were packed with cars so I think a lot of people were stuck at work and unable to go home.

Also for those who are wondering why I haven't updated in so long, it's been a combination of lack of time and being lazy with it. I will be updating more frequently in the future.

Work and Out

Work like usual and then met up with Momoko in the evening and we went to a Taiwanese restaurant for dinner. It's a chain in Taiwan and she said it didn't taste anything like the real place. I thought it was good, but I never tasted the food at the one in Taiwan so I donno.

Work and Sushi

Work like usual. In the evening I met up with Momoko in Shinjuku and we got Sushi.

New Years

Headed to Odaiba where I met with my old host family and we ate Osechi, the traditional New Years food. It was a good time with good food.

Blue Note

Headed to Blue Note Tokyo tonight. Keiko Matsui was playing to promote her new CD coming out beginning of next year. They put on a pretty solid show and did some Christmas songs as well. After the show we hung out with the band backstage and then got on the bus where we hung out at Mixx at the ANA Hotel.

More Light Displays

Was near Tokyo Dome today so I walked around there for a bit to take some pictures.

Hanging out

I met up with one of my friends in Shibuya. We were just hanging out at Starbucks and some random homeless guy comes and sits next to me and just starts talking about stuff. After about 5 minutes he asked for some money so I gave him 100 yen and then we left. After walking around for a bit we saw a "Fugu" or Blowfish restaurant that had a pretty awesome sign in front so I took a couple pictures of that.

Pizza Burger

Work like usual but for lunch I headed to Burger King and got the new Burger King Pizza burger. On the website they are marketing it almost as a Christmas meal which is kinda funny. I called in advance cause I wasn't sure how long it would take them to make it. The guy on the phone told me about 5 minutes and I headed to Shibuya to pick it up. When I got there I told them that I had called ahead to order it and the girl working there gave me a funny smile like I was crazy for ordering it. Maybe she thought I was planning on eating the whole thing.
Anyhow I got the burger and headed back to the office. It was actually really good. The bottom bread is like pizza with just tomato sauce then the beef is on top with cheese and onions on top and the final bun on the top. I split it with one of my coworkers but if I really tried, I think I could have eaten the whole thing.

Christmas lights

Headed to Tokyo Midtown today to check out the Christmas display they have set up. Pretty much the same as last year except they have lights behind it and a smoke machine in the middle if you watch the full display.

New Company Car

Today we got a new company car. It's a Lexus LS600h and it's pretty nice.

Work and Out

Woke up early and headed to Chofu studio for a shoot. Got to the studio at 9 and had breakfast. Then after sitting around for a while we had lunch. Then maybe around 1 or 2 we got on set and started shooting. It was made to look like a cafe and somehow was an advertisement for a microchip company. It was also in french which made it even more confusing, but I guess I'll have to wait till it comes out to try and understand it.

After that I headed to Shibuya where I met up with Josh, Beck, and Yu at Outback Steakhouse. That place is a lot like Fridays so I don't really like it. The food isn't really good, I don't feel good after eating it, it's way too much food, and for food I don't really enjoy it's overpriced. However despite all the negatives for me I will still go every now and then to remind myself of why I don't go. After dinner everyone just headed home.

Touring a friend around Tokyo

Work like usual. In the evening I met up with my friend Jason who is visiting from the States. We headed out to Shibuya where we met up with Dave and some girls at Hub. From there we headed to Roppongi and hit up 57 since there was a party there and Dave knew the people working there so we got in cheap. It worked out well cause it was Jason's birthday as well so Dave got a bottle of Champagne for everyone which was good. Around 2 or 3 we all headed to Dave's place, played cards for a bit and then crashed there.

Work and Out

Today after work I went home and took a nap till 11:00 and then got up and headed to Roppongi where I met up with Josh and Ryan at a small bar and then we went to Lex for another friend's birthday party. Josh pretty much knows everyone there so we had free entrance, coat check, drinks, and access to VIP. It was a fun night.

Early Thanksgiving

Work like usual. In the evening I headed out to Ebisu where I met up with my friend Don and one of his friends at Buri for a Thanksgiving party. They actually had a pretty good representation of what Thanksgiving is like including turkey which you don't see very often in Japan. They were missing a couple things like pumpkin pie and sweet potatos but overall they did a good job. From there we headed to two different places where Don knows the owners in NakaMeguro. Good times.