japan:"WE'RE HOME!!!"

(7th and final email from Stella sent 23 march at 8:33pm)

"WE'RE HOME!!!!"

"well after a 13 hour flight with a layover in osaka to pick up our flight crew (you see we flew singapore air and they fly from singapore to tokyo to l.a. however since the earthquake, the flight crew has been sleeping in osaka due to aftershocks!  they just get no rest in tokyo) we arrive to lax.  

we then get scanned for radiation, as does our luggage.  we both/all pass.  whew!  

it is bittersweet to be home.  home without my son, just doesn't feel like home.  i do thou understand that he has a future that may or may not be in japan and i just have to understand.

at the end of the day, we had a wonderful time.  i want to thank all of you for your emails of concern, love and support. japan was beautiful and the adventure was priceless!"

stella

japan:"kyoto, japan"

6th email from my friend, Stella, who went to japan with her husband for her son's graduation...sent 17 march at 8:38am

"kyoto, japan"

"we arrived here yesterday to a blanket of snow. it has been snowing off and on all day today. quite beautiful actually.

last night was the first time in 6 days that we were able to sleep all night without getting jolted out of bed and hanging on for fear of being tossed out of bed.  every night we would get at least 4 - 5 aftershocks that would wake us and freak us out.  by the time we relaxed and fell back to sleep, another would come! 

here in kyoto life goes on.  it is a wonderful old city in japan.  our hotel is right across the street from the original imperial palace.  it was here that the emperor and empress of japan lived before a new imperial palace was built in tokyo (in 1868).  we got "special permission" to tour the interior of the palace grounds.  coincidentally our hotel in tokyo was also across the street from the "new" imperial palace.  

for the first time since we have been here, we can watch tv in english.  our hotel has the BBC channel.  it is comforting to hear about doom and gloom in a language you can understand. we are glued to the tv whenever we are in our room.  it's hard not to feel guilty when i see the images of the people just a few hundred miles north of us.  yes we both experienced the earthquake but we are in a warm and clean hotel room while they are homeless, hurt or worse...

i guess that's why it's called survivor's guilt.  

we did extend and pay for our hotel room for a week before leaving tokyo and asked the management if anyone from up north came thru and needed a room to please offer it to them on our behalf.  they were very gracious in that they told us that if the room was used they would bill us, if not, they would not bill our cc.

now we hear that there maybe a radioactive plume hitting southern california late on friday?!! wtf?!!  so it feels as if we're damned if we do or damned if we don't!

tomorrow we travel to hiroshima.  i guess we are keeping in the doom and gloom tour.  

i'm hoping that by the end of this trip i can convince gene to come home with us.  even if just for a month or so.  i know that it would make my dad very happy to have him home.  

so for now, with a heavy heart but i full belly (did i tell you the food here is AMAZING!) good bye from japon".

stella

japan:"heading south of tokyo"

...5th email from my friend, Stella, who went to japan with her husband for her son's graduation...sent 15 march 2011 at 4:07am

"the past two days have been filled with many emotions.

the subways have been running, on limited schedules. the trains as well however no trains are running to the north. the airport is open but all if not most flights out of japan are sold out.

here in tokyo, we are having rolling black outs. power is out for three hours at a time based on neighborhoods or areas. in some areas there is still no power at all. my son gene lives in shibuya and it is one of the affected areas. he has no power or gas. every night he comes and stays with us. we are in the chiyoda area. we see him in the evening only. he has been going to his internship at adidas. he has told us that they may close the offices there because the german embassy is urging their citizens to leave japan.

we are proceeding with our plans to go on to kyoto tomorrow. at this point even if we wanted to leave japan we couldn't and it would be safer for us to travel south. as for gene, he does not want to go with us. he feels he has to honor his commitment here to adidas. they hired him and are sponsoring his visa for the next three months. if adidas does indeed close their offices, then he will plan his next move. he will receive his diploma for his bachelor degree, however it will be mailed. no graduation ceremony will take place.

daniel and i have been out to see as much of tokyo as we can. at least half of the shops and restaurants are now open. we see more people but nothing like what we were expecting. even the subways are half filled and this is during rush hour! gene tells us that there is a run on water, milk and toilet paper thru out the city (good thing i have those tissue packs!). we have been buying him supplies and food so that he will have a stock pile in case he needs anything.

the aftershocks just don't stop. they are now not as frequent, about one every half hour. they are mild (4.0) but every couple of hours, BAM...we'll get a strong one (6.5) and boy does it rattle your nerves!

and speaking of nerves...how about that nuclear plant?!!

it's about 150 miles north of us and as you have all heard not in good shape. 4 of the 6 reactors have caught fire. we hear thru the news, that is gene tells us because ALL channels are in japanese language, that iodine pills may be distributed to all residents in tokyo. Mmmm sounds...not so tasty.

hey gene just called, his power and gas are back up and running, that's good news. as i sign off, we have another aftershock...argh"!!

stella

japan:"day 3 update tokyo"

...4^th email from my friend Stella, who went to japan with her husband for her son's graduation...sent 13 march at  6:35pm

"as i write this it is day 4 after the earthquake in tokyo: 8am

yesterday daniel and i walked to the akihabara area.  taxis are now avail but still no trains or subways. we are told they may be up by tomorrow. 

it's sunday, the streets are a bit more populated but not by much.   food is not an issue for us as long as we eat at the hotel but out on the streets all if not most restaurants are closed.  we do find a lil spot that is open and i do mean lil, to eat.  it has a counter and 4 stools.  they have pictures on the wall of the food with numbers next to them. you pick your number, then you step one step over to a vending machine that you insert your money, push the number and a ticket with your number is spit out.  you then take yet another step over and hand it to a lil old lady (and i do mean lil 4'9 maybe and 80 years old).  she then proceeds to cook your food for you.  you then just turn around again one step and sit on a stool.  can i just tell you that it was THE BEST JAPANESE FOOD we have eaten since we got here! shrimp, clams, veggies, noddles, rice and miso soup!  all for 800 yen (under 10 bucks) for both of us! after eating we bussed our plates and left. 

again out to an empty street.  it all feels very surreal.  as if i'm in a dream.  the more we walk, we start to see more people.  most stores are closed but we do get to a dept store that is open and OPEN it is!  

it's like the new york stock exchange in there!  it's HUGE.  with 8 floors and all of them a buzz.  so this is where all the people of tokyo are!  everyone is moving, store clerks are yelling and waving flyers or papers above there heads.  we walk pass by one and he hands me a flyer, i take it and look down on it.  it's not a flyer but a pack of tissues with ichiro the japanese baseball player on the packaging.  how odd, but my son has told me that this is how japan does there advertising, with tissue packs.  so i take it and move on to the escalators. each floor has depts with EVERYTHING YOU WILL EVER NEED! the first floor has electronics. stereos, tv's, computers...you get the picture. every floor is as big as a walmart.  so we climb up and up the escalators till we get to the 6th floor, toys!  omg...needless to say an hour and a half later and with three very large bags we get out of the 6th floor.  we now exit the building and look for a cab.  

as we are riding back to our hotel i feel for the first time since the earthquake as if we truly are on vacation.  for that hour and a half we were surrounded by people shopping, talking, laughing...it was nice".

stella

japan:"japan aftermath"

...3rd  email from my friend, Stella, who went to japan with her husband for her son's graduation...sent 12 march 2011 at 4:56am

"so here it is over 24 hours later and the shaking has yet to subside!  we have now had a total of 160 aftershocks with 130 of them over 5.0!!  the shaking just doesn't stop.  we now have a new worry... a nuclear plant that may or may not have a melt down!  

all american citizens have been asked to register with the american embassy.  so daniel and i are in the process of doing just that.  gene registered back when he arrived here 5 years ago.  

we ventured out to the streets today.  we had to walk at least 5 miles one way to the harajuku area. the whole walk we were the only ones out.  no subways or trains are running. one out of 20 stores was open and if it was open, their shelves were empty.  everyone had bought any and all food or water.  gas stations were closed as were the temples we came across.  when we reached harajuku, it was a ghost town.  everything was closed except for one store, kiddyland!  

our plans were to go on to kyoto for another week and on to hiroshima, nara and osaka however we don't know if the trains will be up and running.  narita airport is still closed, so even if we wanted to come home...we can't.  

so we'll make the best of it and wait...and pray".

stella

japan:"OMG! 8.9 EARTHQUAKE"!!!

...2nd email from my friend, Stella, who went to japan with her husband for her son's graduation...sent 11 march 2011 at 3:04am

"OMG!   8.9 EARTHQUAKE!!!"

"never in my life have i felt something like that.  being from california we think we know earthquakes, heck i even had my nose broken back when the whitter/narrows quake hit in 87' but that was nothing like this! plus that's another story, first let me tell you this one...

daniel and i were walking to meet my son gene. we were going to his graduation when it hit. we were right by a glass building that houses a WWII air museum with life size planes in it.  at first the shaking started under my feet as if a large truck had rumbled by but then it just went CRAZY!!! the whole building next to us started shaking, daniel grabbed me and we started running. more like stumbling cuz the ground just wouldn't stop!! we could see the glass bending as it shook violently and the planes inside we moving, rolling on their wheels as if they were taxing!  it just kept shaking and shaking. then BAMM, the glass walls were braking.  falling glass everywhere, while people were screaming and running out of the building. it was like a damn movie, but we were in it!!  movie, damn i should be recording this...where's my phone?  daniel screaming at me, "run stella run!" f^&k, no time to record this, have to stay focus and stay clear of all this glass falling and not fall myself cuz it's STILL SHAKING!! 

it finally stopped after about 2 mins, which let me tell you is a long time for an earthquake!  no one seemed to be hurt around us, nor we.  the police were out asap evacuating everyone from these big tall building.  people were coming out with blankets and hard hats on.  we guess it's part of their earthquake survival kit to have them. sirens are blasting everywhere now.  loud speakers with instruction are being said but of course in Japanese!  i try calling my son gene on a pay phone but phones are down.  no electricity.  so we start walking.  by now we can see fires in the distance and lots of black smoke.  tons of people in the streets just standing in front of their buildings.  we seem to be the only ones moving.  back in that damn movie i am.  then they come...AFTERSHOCKS! 

the ground starts shaking again.  we are next to a huge 30ft arch that is shaking like crazy.  daniel is pulling me away from there but this time i have my phone ready and i'm recording it!  he's screaming at me "the arc is gonna fall, move!"  i move but keep recording.  shaking stops.  daniel

wants to stay put but i NEED to get to gene or at least know he's safe.  we were gonna meet at a designated spot and that's where i want to go.  that's where i'm going and i'm dragging daniel with me.  he's really freaked out.  me, i'm too focused on finding gene to be scared, i'll be scared later after i know he's ok.  bing, an email just came thru. did i tell you our phones are not working? not just because of the earthquake but we have 3G network iphone and here in japan they have 4G network, so no phones or email with or without earthquakes. the bing came from the ipad my son had lent us days before.  his ipad, because ours doesn't work here either!  it's an email from gene, that he's stuck in the subway train but he's okay!  they have opened the subway doors and are walking out of the tunnels.  he's heading back home and we should go back to our hotel.  whew! he's okay.  wait walking thru tunnels?!  OMG now i'm freaking out. 

so daniel and i start walking to our hotel.  i'm recording as we walk, the mayhem.  most people are ok.  just look scared, dazed.  after about 30 mins of walking and at least 10 f'ning aftershocks, we make it back to our hotel.  everyone is down in the lobby and they have a big screen tv on, powered by a putt putt because the hotel has no electricity.  we now see the images of the tsunami!  OMG, IT'S BAD.  i hadn't even thought about a tsunami! i was just focused on the damn earthquake.  

our hotel is 17 floors and of course we are on the 15th floor!  at first, i wanted to climb up to our room to get my headphones so that i could call gene using skype on the ipad, so we started climbing stairs.  i told daniel i would go on my own but he wouldn't let me.  as we are climbing, we notice more and more cracks and mortar that has fallen in the stairwells off the building.  the higher we go, the worse it is.  so on floor 5, we decide to go back down.  

bing, another email from gene.  he's outside of tunnel and walking thru rail tracks and heading home.  ok, i feel better now.  now if only the damn aftershocks would stop...before the day is over we will have over 50 aftershocks, 30 over 6.0!

by night fall our hotel is up and running and they are feeding us beautiful meals.  all complementary.  we get to our room and i am exhausted!  i go to bed while daniel stands guard. the shaking never stops!  as i write this at 6:30am the next morning, it's still shaking.  daniel is sleeping now, so i'll stand guard.

oh and by the way, gene's graduation was canceled.  his school was among the damaged".
 

stella 

japan:"OMG!!!!"

...first email from my friend, Stella, who went to japan with her husband for her son's graduation...sent 11 march 2011 at 2:54am

"OMG!!!!  cin"

"it was SO BAD!! 8.9 EARTHQUAKE!

we were on our way to meet with gene to go to his graduation when it hit.  we never made it. neither did gene.  his graduation was cancelled!!  no phones are working.  no electricity.  fires are burning. at least 25 after shocks!!  some as strong as 7.2!  we are now at our hotel.  had to climb stairs to the 15th floor!  after all is said and done we are okay, just scared!!!"