Return to Japan?

My boss told me to wait for things to settle down in Japan before returning to work. It's a good thing I have a lot of other things to keep me occupied......

I feel that the radiation levels in Tokyo are minimal but everyone is saying that we won't know what will happen next. Besides, there is some scepticism about the truth being reported accurately.

My ex-boss told me today - if not for any other reason, then do it for your family.

That's why I came home last week, before what I now call the chaos.

If I were single, I would have stayed on. Some might say that I'm just saying this because I'm now in Singapore and it's easy to hide behind a physical excuse. Those who know me better will know better.

When I was home last week, I spent time with my family. We went to the zoo and we went shopping. Xavier and Keane both had new Lego sets. Ryan had a new pair of Barney sandals which I absolutely detest. I think they are so ugly and ergonomically challenged but he loves them with all of his heart. He refused to wear the pair of Clarks which I bought him, even though they have blinking lights on the straps. Keane loves the Clarks but unfortunately they were obviously too small for him.

Xavier was lucky enough to get 2 sets of Lego from the Pharaoh's Quest series. The Rise of the Sphinx and the Cursed Cobra Statue. He now has my colleague from the US promise to get the Scorpion Pyramid set. It's much cheaper to buy them at the US. Xavier's dream is now to go to Legoland in California. He is now pretty Internet savvy and is able to give me loads of information from the Internet. Of course it is limited to only topics of his interest.

He has also surfed the Hong Kong Disneyland website to identify that he wants to go to Adventureland and not Fantasyland for his June holidays. This was after the Japan disaster ended his Tokyo Disneyland dream. There's no way my in-laws will allow us to bring the kids to Japan now.

Keane was able to fix a small race car and helicopter from the Racers series. At least I think it was the Racers series. He was surprisingly good except that his fine motor skills still have a lot of room for improvement. He was very excited with his accomplishment. I think Lego is awesome!

My count has been increasing slowly but surely....I wonder if it was because of someone reading all my past posts, or if there were people who keep tabs on my blog for new posts. I highly suspect the former.....but it isn't me.

Mistake....horrors!!!!

I found out yesterday that the Fukushima 50 actually comprised of a group of at least 150people who work in shifts of 50 persons...hence Fukushima 50.....I'm deeply embarrassed.

Nonetheless, that doesn't diminish my respect for them. The actually number of people working the shifts are unknown, as of yesterday's newspaper report.

Back in Singapore

I am back in Singapore....in fact since Tuesday 15 March.

It was an experience trying to get home. I wasn't planning on returning so soon. My family kept asking me to return home before the situation in Japan worsens. I went to office on Monday and called the travel agent to make arrangements. I was able to get on the flight home at 6.25am on Tuesday.

I returned to the hotel to pack in the evening after dinner. Upon arrival in the hotel, I asked the receptionist to book a taxi for me for 4.30am. She said she would not be able to help me do so. She advised that I should make my way to the airport as soon as possible since no one is sure of the situation and how it was going to go.

I was very reluctantly convinced by a Chinese colleague travelling with me to heed the advice of the receptionist after I made a call to a local colleague. The Japanese said no one knows what the next announcement would bring and the safest bet was to take whatever transportation was available at the earliest.

I started packing and was done in about an hour and a half. By the time I got into the taxi, it was 10pm. It was barely a 5min wait for the taxi. Much to my surprise, it took a whole 15 minutes to reach the airport by highway. It typically takes 20 minutes. I was way too early. 6 hours too early.

I went to the SQ counter to check if they could let me go on the earlier flight which was leaving at 12.30am. I was informed that the flight was full. They wouldn't let me check in earlier either. I was stuck with 2 luggage bags, one mine and the other my boss'. She left hers while getting out on Friday, the day of the tsunami. I went to the baggage storage counter but they refused to take my bags because of the possibility of earthquake. I was not happy. I asked the information counter if there was an airport hotel and they said there wasn't one. I asked for the whereabouts of the 24hour restaurants. The one I selected was closed.

Since I wasn't really in the mood for food, I decided to take a rest on one of the benches outside the restaurants. It proved to be a wise move. Within 15 minutes, all the benches in that area were taken. I slept at about midnight. Some children from the bench opposite mine woke me and I woke myself up thinking that it was already 3.30am. Again, I was early. It was only 2.30am. I didn't want to run the risk of oversleeping so I decided to take a stroll. I walked around the airport and found people everywhere. It wasn't packed but there were people occupying every seat available. Some were sleeping on the floor.

After more walking, some stretching and a drink from a vending machine, I managed to find a coffee shop that was opened. I had a coffee and a bowl of edamame beans. That took me to close to 4.25am when the check in counter was scheduled to open. I made my way to the counter. I was not surprised to find that there was already a queue. Despite the queue, the staff could not accept any check in until the system was opened. Still they didn't forget their manners and in true Japanese tradition, all the counter staff gave us a polite bow before they started to let us check in. I found it a little ironic.

It was all very civilised. No rush, no panic crowds. Uneventful. Which made me regret my rush to get out.

After clearing immigration, I went to the DFS to buy some items for my colleague and family. Then it was straight to the lounge. I tried to make sense of the news delivered in Japanese. Uncannily, I felt a slight quake just as the news broadcast another after shock. The news reader was shaking on tv while I was shaking in the lounge. Creepy.

The plane arrived without accident and we boarded. Surprisingly, I was able to sleep for another couple of hours on the plane after breakfast and a movie. The King's Speech. It was interesting but too deep for me at that moment.

Once I arrived, I was surprised at my own lack of feeling. No feeling of relief, no stress, no excitement. My hubby told me that another reactor had a blast in the morning. Again, no feeling. I was just too tired. I spent the next half day sleeping.

It was school holidays and the kids were at home. I went back to office on Wednesday afternoon and Thursday. I couldn't get myself back into the right mode. I wasn't stressed but was a little depressed. I felt a bit guilty about leaving my China colleague behind but fortunately he got out on Tuesday night.

As news of developments were delivered, I felt that it was a good thing that I got out earlier as the airports seemed more congested by the day. The nuclear situation in Fukushima was looking more bleak. The Singapore government issued a warning yesterday and urged Singaporeans in affected areas to leave Japan or the affected areas as soon as possible.

I read an article about 50 people who were remaining at the Fukushima reactor plants, trying to keep the situation within control. They are responsible for ensuring that the reactors are not overheated. All the while they are being exposed to radiation. They know they have a job to do and they are not leaving. They are the brave ones.

Still no feeling for myself. Sadness for the Japanese......and a lot of respect for the Fukushima 50.

Safe in Tokyo

It's Sunday.....things seem to be pretty normal now. There are intermittent after shocks but nothing too major.

I met a colleague for lunch and he said he was returning to Singapore since the work scheduled for the next 2 weeks in Tokyo was called off. Another colleague was coming from China this afternoon. So I'm not the only foreigner here.

During lunch, he said he was pulling out because his parents in England were worried about him. But we acknowledged that there is a degree of guilt about leaving people "behind". I was concerned about giving the wrong impression that the company cared only about the foreigners.

The news has been depressing, showing signs of the most devastated areas. Sendai, the worst hit area, is very very far from Tokyo. This is the message I kept telling my family. It is about 230 miles away. That's almost 400km away. BUT...somewhere in between are 3 nuclear plants which are threatening to face a meltdown. 22,000 people have been evacuated from a radius of 22km from the plants. Tokyo's still very far away from that area. But it's difficult to picture it.

After lunch, my boss called me and asked me to make arrangements to go home if my family was worried, especially now that there were news of leaks at the nuclear power plants about 200km away from Tokyo. Then she called to say maybe I should bring forward my plans to China so that I don't create panic by pulling out.

I was actually having my nails done when she called. It may seem that I'm crazy to be doing something so frivolous when there were many suffering the aftermath of the tsunami and there is still a chance of another earthquake. One of my acrylic nails fell off in my sleep and I had to get my nails fixed. Sorry but it's just something that would bug me for the longest time until I get them fixed.

I will get my travel arrangements sorted when I go into the office tomorrow. I hope nothing major happens from now till then.

I cannot stand to watch the news because it's all in Japanese and those that are not in Japanese are simply too depressing. Which reminds me that I have to register with our Ministry of Foreign Affairs.....later.

Earthquake in Japan....again!!!

I'm now in my hotel feeling an aftershock from this afternoon's earthquake.

There was a massive earthquake off the northeast coast of Japan this afternoon. Magnitude of 8.8! I was in a meeting when it happened. The building started swaying before it started to shake quite violently. Things started falling off tables, filing cabinets starting to open. What made it scary was that my Japanese colleagues told me that they've never felt anything so strong before. It was unlike Wednesday when they were all quite indifferent to the minor swaying we felt.

An announcement came on to ask us to inform us the elevators were being shut off and that we were to wait for further news. Then another came to ask us to evacuate the building. Then as we were gathering our belongings, yet another announcement came to ask us to stay in the building which was apparently safer since it was anti-quake reinforced or something like that.

Everyone was getting the news on the phone. Some people were panicky. Others were pretty calm.

The news showed terrible happenings....vehicles and houses being swept away by the tsunami. Some boats washed ashore and you could see many roads were affected. In Tokyo, where I was, there were certain buildings which started to evacuate their occupants. So hordes of people started to gather next to their building. Some people started to wear hard hats.

We tried to take it easy by not panicking and cracking jokes. But I think that all of us secretly felt a lot of relief that the center of the disaster was 230 miles away from us.

My colleague went to the airport much earlier than planned because it was evidently very difficult to get a taxi. The traffic towards the main road was almost at a standstill. The trains stopped operating. People couldn't go home if they lived far away. Some people would take longer to walk home.

A couple of us left the office and walked back to the hotel. The crowds were pretty massive. Imagine the people who are usually on the train being on the road. It was crowded. When we went for dinner, we found a lot of Western restaurants, like Hard Rock Cafe and Outback Steakhouse closed. I guess the staff couldn't make it to work. Fortunately TGI Friday was opened and we were early. The queue for a table started to get long after a while...natural flow over.

As I was typing this, I felt an aftershock.....I called the receptionist, upon the advice of a friend, to check how I would know if I had to evacuate the building. She said that if I felt the building shake again, I was to get under the desk immediately. Once the shaking stops, I have to make my way to the lobby to await confirmation of the next step.

The good thing that came out of this was that I found out that a lot of people actually cared for me. I received a continuous stream of emails, IM, sms and calls to check on my safety. Ok, maybe not continuous, but good enough.

It was hilarious as I was sending IM broadcasts while the building was shaking very hard in the afternoon....creepy for the recipients!

I wish I had chocolates with me now.....bad time to try going on a diet!

Tremors in Japan

There was an earthquake off the east coast of Japan yesterday. Actually there were several quakes, the strongest of which was magnitude of 7.2.

I was in the office and felt the building moving for what seemed like near eternity. But it was only a few seconds, one minute at most. It made me feel giddy though. I was pretty surprised and was asking an American colleague whether we had to evacuate the building. Funnily, only the foreigners stood up and looked around to see what we should do next. The locals just continued working without batting an eyelid. Earthquakes are that common in Tokyo.

I was quite touched when my hubby called to find out how I was. Some of my colleagues also asked about me. It's good to feel cared for.

I also feel lucky that I'm a Singaporean. The only quake I felt was a few years ago when we felt the after shocks from an earthquake in Indonesia. This is something that I will not take for granted again.....

Reflections

A colleague's dad passed away this week. Another colleague shared her experience of her mother's passing last year.

I guess most of us would have encountered death one way or another by the time we are half way through our lives. My first encounter with death was the passing of a great grandmother. But I was not close to her so all I can remember was that I took part in the final rites on the last day of her wake.

When I was about 13 or 14, one of my friends' mother passed away because of diabetes. The 3 sisters were in our school and that event hit almost all of us in school because we were either classmates or friends with at least one of the sisters.

The next encounter was when I was 16. I was starting my junior college days when my principal from secondary school passed away. It was emotional for a lot of us because she was a very nice lady. She was my principal for almost 10 years! Mrs M. M. Joseph. She taught us how to be decent people who treat others with respect, how to have compassion and how to help those in need. After the funeral, we found out that she personally oversaw the preparation of a montage of the graduating class. I was one of the selected few she chose to feature and I was very touched.

A couple of years later, my uncle passed away. He was the husband of my dad's sister. Our family would visit their family every Friday since we were kids. He was a kindly man who took care of his family well. He was stern but jovial. I still remember his face till today. He was a taxi driver who drove the morning shift. He would stop work in the afternoon to wash his car, fetch my auntie from her drink stall and then turn in the car to the night shift driver. My auntie shared with us that my uncle took care of everything in the house and when he passed away, she was at a loss. She didn't even know how to buy groceries!

When a person passes on, the people left behind have to go through a period of mourning before getting on with their lives. During that time of griefing, a lot of people will try to comfort them and ask them to be strong, move on, blah blah blah. Personally, I think that the best thing to do is not to say too much. The worst thing to say would be "I know how you feel" if you have never lost a close family member before. I always tell the people I know, when they lose a loved one, that I'll be here if they need me and to take care. What more can you say?

I don't know how I would react if any of my loved ones passed away. So I never tell people to get over a death of a loved one. But I can only say that if the person passed away suddently, at least they didn't suffer. If they passed away after a long period of sickness, at least they are free. I can't claim to say that death is a release because I don't know what we will get after death. I'm afraid that I will end up in hell. I pray that I won't but I wouldn't know, would I? All I can do is to do my best to be good....and pray.

What I love about my life in Singapore

Before you think this is going to be about me discussing the pros of Singapore compared to Japan, it's not.

I want to share what I find so comforting that I took for granted until I spent 3 weeks in Japan.

I miss driving to work.
I miss listening to my favourite radio station while driving. Gold 90FM.
I miss my kids running to me and hugging me when I return home.
I miss my mom calling me almost everyday.
I miss driving out to lunch from work.
I miss reading The Straits Times. The paper version.
I miss HBO.
I miss mioTV free home movies.
I miss Yakult.
I miss having egg sandwich from office canteen for breakfast.