panic-buying

the media is having a field day with this blimmin nuclear reactor news in fukushima.

i know it doesn’t look good, but radiation levels here in tokyo have yes, increased, but were not high enough to cause health concerns. the amount is said to be less than that of an x-ray. mmm.
still the number of people wearing masks has doubled, if not tripled; and no, i don’t think it’s due to the hay fever outbreak japan gets hit with every season.
call me a sheep if you want, but i wore a mask today too. if it calms your nerves, i say do it.

arriving at work this morning we were told to take off our coats and put them into plastic bags before entering the office… apparently radiation is a bit like pollen, it clings to your clothes.

even though i’m sure there is nothing to worry about (yet), i'm considering telling k-chan to take kou-chan back to her hometown for a few days until things settle down a bit. nagano is an extra 100 odd km further away from fukushima than tokyo is.

if things really do get out of control we may consider an unscheduled trip back to nz. if it’s ok to trust what the scientists are saying on tv, then this is probably not really necessary.


k-chan is, like us all, sick of these blimmin scary aftershocks we keep experiencing.
had another big jolt the other night at 10:30 which was a M6.4 in neighboring shizuoka (a skip and a jump from tokyo). no tsunami warning was issued and no damage to the nuclear power plant in shizuoka. i so didn’t realize, but there are over 50 nuclear power plants in japan. coming from nuclear-free nz you can imagine my hate of this kind of power…

and just after lunch yesterday chiba (tokyo’s other neighbor where tokyo disneyland is located) jolted us with a M6.0…

i work on the 12th floor and believe me, it’s not fun. ever since friday my body constantly feels like it’s swaying.



nuclear radiation, earthquakes and tsunami(s) are not the only thing we are dealing with.
like i mentioned in my previous post, panicky residents here in tokyo are panic-buying.
this is what my local supermarket currently looks like….

sold out of toilet paper!

in my search for some bread i strolled down to my local bakery. (i was planning on introducing this bakery on my blog at a later date because their bread is sooo good, but this odd introduction will have to do).

as you can see people will go to serious lengths to get their hands on some bread. all bread was sold out and this line of people (errm, housewives) were queuing to place orders for the following days batch.

i queued up with them and have hopefully secured a loaf of bread (yes, one per household).

no more bread today!