Quick Zama Update

For those of you who aren't as familiar with Japan, here's a map that shows where the earthquake occurred, the location of Tokyo and the military installations in relation to it.

My parents are on that little dot that that is labeled "Naval Air Facility Atsugi/Camp Zama". The bases are within a 15 minute drive of each other and we shared a high school (my alma mater ZAHS).

I talked to my parents and they're still doing fine and hanging in there. They've experienced sporadic shortages of power and water on base, as well as running out of gas (but more was supposed to be delivered today).  There have been minor food shortages in the commissary (water keeps flying off the shelves) but my parents have enough food squirreled away to last at least a year. Maybe two. And I swear my mom bought all of it BEFORE they even experienced the earthquake, just due to her inability to resist a good sale and coupons.

Radiation levels are being monitored on a regular basis and right now, are equivalent to a chest x-ray and safe to be exposed to.

I'm not going to lie, fallout from the Fukushima nuclear plant is my biggest concern for my parenets right now.

Perhaps this is the nudge needed for an early retirement in Hawaii?

Not Just Another Earthquake...

It's been kind of a crazy weekend.  Life has been pretty quiet and normal for me here in Boston. However, my thoughts have been with my parents, who readers will remember live in Japan.

Thankfully, I woke up on Friday morning not to newspaper headlines or disturbing footage on TV. My first inkling that something was wrong was when Andrew happened to check his email on his iPhone at 5:30 a.m. and mentioned that my dad had emailed about an earthquake. Japan has earthquakes literally all the time, so it's usually not that big of a deal. In fact, I remember many a time when I was living in Japan during high school, and waking up to a light swaying in bed, recognizing it as a minor earthquake and promptly falling back asleep. In school, we were trained on the proper way to respond to a strong earthquake (things like standing in the doorway is one of the safest places to be) but we never had to use that knowledge.

So this is why I didn't think anything out of the normal had happened. I went ahead and showered, and then logged onto my computer to read my dad's email.

What I read next both reassured me and worried me:
"Just had the worst earthquake I've ever experienced here.  Our whole building was rattling and it went on much longer than normal for 2-3 minutes."

Clearly a stronger than usual earthquake (most we only feel for a few seconds) but the fact that 1) my dad was assuring us that they were fine and 2) had access to email made me feel better. However, he did mention:
"The Japanese TV is broadcasting tsunami warnings and saying the quake was centered way up in the Northeast.  If it was that far away and felt this bad, it must have been awful in Hokkaido."

Zama is located inland and away from water, so I wasn't worried about the tsunamis impacting them but it was an indication of how bad things were in Japan.

However, I still didn't have a clear magnitude of the impact of the earthquake since turning on the TV is not a part of my usual morning routine. I was in a hurry to get into work so my only thought was to call my parents and hear first hand how they were doing. My parents had just switched over to a phone service in the fall that eliminates the need to dial an international number. Calling them now is just dialing a local MA number (they got to pick the area code), which is something that I think worked in my favor since news reports were reporting that cell phone network was down and lines were understandbly jammed with family members trying to contact loved ones in Japan. After three tries, I actually got through to my parents, was able to hear about their experiences with the earthquake and really feel that they were fine and would continue to be fine in terms of how safe their apartment was (it's on the third floor of a high rise building) and access to any supplies.

It was only after I talked to them that I saw the headlines on sites like Boston.com and CNN, and even more disturbingly, the video footage of the tsunamis. If I had seen all of that first rather than hearing about the earthquake first from my parents, it would've been a decidedly different (and much less calm) morning.

I was also relieved when I checked out the Stars & Stripes (the military newspaper that covers all our service areas) and saw this headline.

As I explained to everyone that reached out to me on Friday (feeling truly blessed and touched by all the friends, family and coworkers that thought about me and Amy), there is no better place for my parents to be than on a millitary installation during a crisis like this. Everything they need is within walking distance, they have ample supplies (Amy pointed out that my mom always stockpiles non-perishable food like she's feeding a family of twelve, due to her love of coupons) and basic necessities. Plus, I have faith that the Army would start evacuating servicemembers, civilians like my parents and families if they were in danger.

Also, it's times like these that social networking tools like Facebook came in handy. I was able to learn right away from friends who live in Japan that they were fine and their families were fine.

However, watching all this news coverage this weekend has been surreal. I just have such a hard time picturing the Japan of my memories as the disaster zone I see on TV. And my heart goes out to the Japanese people who are still dealing with things like aftershocks, nuclear plant meltdowns, and access to supplies, not to mention the rescue teams who are still searching survivors.

And I'm still praying for my parents' continued safety in this situation. A little part of me is still in disbelief that they're living in a disaster site. I don't know when life will return to "normal" for them but all in all, so thankful that they are all right!

Please keep the people of Japan in your prayers, and if you can afford it, consider making a donation to the American Red Cross to help with relief efforts.

Photo credit: Boston.com Big Picture

Last Day on Zama

It's hard to believe that just over a week ago, Andrew and I were still in Japan.

Sigh.

So back to our last day. We snuck in one last breakfast at the golf club. Rather than bore you with more pictures of the food, I just had Andrew take a picture of me enjoying the golf club's "famous" lemonade:


Through a lucky coincidence in timing, we were able to catch the opening day of the quarterly Oriental Bazaar before catching our 1 p.m. bus to the airport. The bazaar brings vendors from all over Asia to sell souvenirs, traditional Japanese dishware and furniture:


When I lived on Zama, it was held in the old gym on base but it has since moved to the Cultural Center and now the parking lot of the Community Club to give enough room to all the vendors. You better believe that we picked up a few Christmas gifts here and ended up heading back to my parents place (the high rise you see in the background) to fit it all into our suitcases:

Also on a lucky break, the club had set up a booth selling food, including one of my favorites - Yakisoba (noodle dish with vegetables) - so we grabbed some to eat on the bus as our lunch:


Close up shot of yakisoba - it was as good as I remembered and I know I will have some of my readers craving it after seeing these pictures!

It was just the thing to put us in a good mood for the 3 hour bus ride to Narita airport and the 13 hour flight back to the US.

Japan's Newbury Street: Harajuku

As Harajuku is Japan's youth fashion capital, Andrew and I were hoping to get some good people watching time in. It was a bit of a trip down memory lane for me, as I don't think I had been here in over ten years since high school:

Alas, we didn't see a lot of strange fashions on the street, primarily since it was a weekday afternoon. In fact, we probably saw as many foreign tourists as we did Japanese people.

But we did get to see the some stores selling some outlandish outfits:

So, we comforted ourselves with delicious crepes - oddly enough, another Japanese tradition for me even though they're obviously a French-based dessert!

Andrew and I got the same crepe - strawberries, vanilla ice cream and whipped cream - but his had chocolate syrup and mine had strawberry - yum!

As you can see from the outside display, there were dozens of sweet and savory choices and everyone in line seemed to have a hard time deciding:

Afterwards, we strolled around the different streets in Harajuku, as it's similar to Newbury Street here in Boston with different designer stores. I have to add that on the weekends, it's more like Harvard Square with the different types of people that hang out in the area! Here's a view from one of the pedestrian bridges showing the fall foliage and the traffic on the left side of the road:


Finally, as we headed back to the train station to catch a train back to Zama via the Shinjuku station, Andrew posed on another pedestrian foot bridge with Harajuku train station in the background:

Tokyo's Imperial Palace

On our last full day in Japan, Andrew and I decided to brave the JR Yamanote line that loops in a full circle around Tokyo to visit the Imperial Palace, home to Japan's imperial family.

It's a quick walk from the Tokyo train station, one minute, you're surround by skyscrapers and the next, you're walking into this huge open space of land. Here, Andrew shows you how wide the outer moat is:


Passing by the outer moat, we approached the outer edge of the imperial palace. Most of the palace and its inner gardens are off limits to the public except for two days - December 23 (the Emperor's Birthday) and January 2 (for a New Year's greeting). There is a small portion of the gardens open to the public year-round, but to our dismay, we found that you had to reserve a tour online at least two days in advance (doh!)


Despite being stuck to the perimeter of the palace, it offered a nice park setting surrounded by the Tokyo skyline - it reminded me of Central Park:


Here Andrew poses by the inner moat surrounding the palace:

My turn at the fence and if you look behind me, you can see "Nijubashi" bridge:

It was a pretty tranquil setting, with swans peacefully swimming in the moats:

This is the stone bridge "Meganebashi" (Eyeglass bridge) that also leads to the inner gardens - the guards looked rather fierce and reminded me of the British royal guards that aren't allowed to crack a smile:

From one section of the grounds, you can see both bridges and the private residences of the family:

Andrew and I had a great time walking around, even if we couldn't see the inner part of the palace. While on our way into the imperial palace, we walked all along the gravel portions and on our way out, we took the paved path - we think they do this to keep out cars and bicyclists.

One final picture with Tokyo Tower in the skyline, and it was time for us to find a place to eat in Harajuku, our next stop on the JR train line.

Walk Around Zama

This is the first of three catch-up blogs capturing our last days in Japan.

Ignore the fact that it's December and I'm typing this from my bedroom in Massachusetts, and I'll take you back to Thanksgiving afternoon (just a week ago!)

To walk off the calories from our big meal, my dad took Andrew and I on a loop around Camp Zama.

First stop next to my parent's high rise was Dewey Park - the entrance wasn't looking very picturesque due to some construction work:


This section was more like the Dewey Park I remembered - as you can tell from my dad's outfit, it was unseasonably warm and lovely that day, similar to the weather we enjoyed in Boston today!

Andrew and my dad pose by a Japanese memorial marking the spot of a stable fire when the Japanese imperial army used the land as their training academy, similar to West Point:

Another look at the fountains and the fully stocked pond - Amy and I used to love the one pound trout we hauled out of the pond during the annual fishing derby:

Beyond Dewey, we walked up a rather steep hill past the Eagle's Nest (Zama's executive row equivalent), past the helipad and enjoyed the sight from one of the highest points on base:

To our right was the golf course:

When we arrived back home an hour later, we saw that my mom's friend Kaneko had stopped by with a Japanese-style gift basket to welcome Andrew to Japan:

Beer, bread and chips - an odd combo but definitely a crowd pleaser!

Happy Thanksgiving!

May your day be filled with lots of food, family, and fun...

In Japan, Thanksgiving is about to end but I am going to bed happily stuffed with my mom's ham (as well as turkey on the side).

In a year filled with blessings, I'm thankful that Andrew and I were able to spend Thanksgiving with my parents this year.

Meiji Jingu - Emperor's Shrine

I'm still feeling proud about this accomplishment. Andrew and I could see Meiji Shrine from the observation deck (thus fulfilling the "old" part of that post) so we decided to forgo the trains and walk directly to it.

It immediately reminded me of Central Park in NY - while it's not the only park in Tokyo, it went from being completely urban on the outside to being a quiet forest on the inside. It was originally built in 1920 in memory of Emperor Meiji (great grandfather of Japan's current emperor) and Empress Shoken. The original was destroyed during WWII but was rebuilt in 1958. Of course, the entry way was marked with a Torii gate:

We took our time walking down a long path lined with trees - according to our guidebook,

the evergreen forest consists of 120,000 trees of 365 different species that were donated from people all around the world:

Once we arrived at the inner sanctum of the shrine, we followed the typical cleansing ritual before entering:

This is the main gate of Meiji shrine that leads into a large inner courtyard:

From reading the shrine's brochure, you got a strong sense of the love and respect that the Japanese had for the emperor and empress, which extended into the public's efforts to build and rebuild the shrine. I could literally see the love in the ornate work that decorated the shrine's front entrance:


Once inside Meiji Shrine's inner courtyard, I took Andrew's picture outside of the shrine, as no photography is allowed inside it:

I also managed to capture a quick photo of Japanese visitors wearing traditional kimonos:

And the best thing ever, soon after we arrived, a procession made its way through the temple.

After watching them for a few seconds, we realized it was a wedding procession! Although the guidebook said that the temple was popular for weddings, they typically take place on weekends or holidays so we were incredibly lucky to witness this first hand.

It was heartwarming to hear the crowd gently clap (with happiness while quietly with respect to their surroundings) for the couple and they looked so happy while posing for pictures:

We left Shinjuku thinking that we had experienced a lot in a few hours, and although our feet were sore, we happily trudged back to the train station to catch our ride home.

Old and New at Shinjuku

I took Andrew deep into the heart of Tokyo today, by visiting the section with the busiest train station. As one of our guidebooks puts it, Tokyo's population (around 34 million) is the size of California's population squished into an area the size of Hawaii. Walking around Tokyo's streets definitely confirms this description.

Upon leaving the Shinjuku train station, Andrew and I took Rich's advice and headed for the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building. It is a must see for anyone that visits the area because it is literally right outside the train station (a quick five minute walk), it's free to use their observation deck and simply, the building just looks cool (its exterior was apparently was designed to look like a microchip):

I don't know if you can get a sense of how tall the building is but...

...maybe this perspective will help. This is from the observation deck on the 45th floor looking down at the spot where we took the first picture:

The observation deck gave us 360 degree views of Tokyo, including one of Andrew's favorites, the Tokyo Dome (where the Red Sox played a series):


What was equal parts interesting and reassuring was the information on how the building was designed to withstand earthquakes:

Another stunning view of Tokyo to give you a sense for how densely populated it is. If the day had been clearer, we would've been able to see mountains and perhaps even Mount Fuji in the distance:

Although the lighting was horrible, we did manage to grab one kind Japanese woman to take a picture of us together to commemorate the experience:


As we were leaving, I couldn't resist snapping a shot of the lobby's ceiling - notice how the microchip theme is reflected in the interior?