Thursday, March 17, 2011

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!







18 comments:

Unknown said...

Our thoughts and prayers are with you. I have a 6 months old son and can't imagine being in the same position as you guys T_T Please try to book contingency tickets to NZ early.
Stay safe.

shellie said...

i think mocha is right about contingency tickets....radiation is definitely not something to mess with especially with small children....currently i would avoid taking him out until that gets resolved....i personally think the risk of using nuclear energy is not worth the risk if something bad happens and obviously something bad did and the back up plans failed....we have reactors here in california and i would like us to get rid of them as well...hopefully people will calm down in a week or two and your grocery stores will be full again....i say do what your gut tells you to do....this sounds corny but good luck and stay sane....you and your family as well as all of japan our in our thoughts and pocket books(we have been donating my husband actually works for a japanese company that gives 66cents for every dollar donated!)holy shit that was long....sorry!

Ebba said...

My beautiful Ks... please take care of yourselves. Sending all my energy to you, and my dear Japan, right no. Remember you always have a place in our home back in NZ... Love you loads, Eb xxx

Anonymous said...

Please take care. Do whatever you can to protect your son.

Lavender Playground said...

Continuing to pray for all of you..thanks for the update, please stay safe.

Hugs from LA

Kenny Mah said...

I'm with everyone here on the contingency tickets to NZ... it cannot hurt, and even if you don't use it, it'll probably be a comfort to your family to know that option is available.

Our prayers continue to go out to you, your family and the people of Japan. *HUGS*

world of sekimachihato said...

* mochachocolata rita
hey, long time no see. I must admit I haven't checked your blog(s) for some time now. congratulations on the birth of your cute little boy!! I bet you are extremely proud parents.
and yes, I'm constantly making decisions based on the well being of my family. we are about to head up to Nagano for the ling weekend and my wife and kou-chan will stay up there for a while.
heard Japanese milk powder is scarce now due to panic-buying! is it true??

world of sekimachihato said...

* shellie
thanks once again. and thank your husbands company too for their efforts.
I agree (coming from a nuclear free country) that nuclear power sucks. apparently 30% of all of japans power comes from nuclear power so until an alternative power source is found I don't think japan will or can go nuclear free.
going back to nz now is kinda outa the question (for many reasons) but at least I have the option. many people don't have such a choice. getting out of Tokyo tonight and heading to the mountains for a few days.

world of sekimachihato said...

* ebs
thanks love. you know that if I thought we were in the wrong place we would be down in a jiffy.
god am I proud that nz is nuclear free! hope this terrible disaster makes the world think twice about nuclear power.

world of sekimachihato said...

* aixxx
thanks aixxx. hope you didn't know of anyone caught up in the earthquake\tsunami.

world of sekimachihato said...

* lavender playground
thanks for the hugs all the way from LA!

world of sekimachihato said...

* life for beginners
thanks for the hugs too.
mmm, maybe I should look into booking an open ticket to nz. anyhow, I could always escape to HK or even Malaysia?

gaijinwife said...

you are always welcome in Oita :) not as far as NZ but easier to get back home when all this settles down.

pascale said...

this is sad, sad, and sad.
Hang in there, I have a feeling this week we will know whether the 3rd plant will be ok or not.. then you'd know what to do.

Poor Kou-chan, hope he hasn't been too scared of this.
Do take Kou-chan far away from all this even if it means not seeing you everyday. I think it will be worth it. Kids/babies can feel how mommy or daddy feel. It's best he goes to where the mood is more cheery and of course safe... you didnt ask for my advice but I had to tell you.

Luuworld said...

thanks for posting the pictures- i've seen images on tv of empty shelves...but it was different seeing your pictures.

it made it more real somehow, knowing these are YOUR local stores.

anyway, hope everything is ok with you over there. and that things are slowly returning to normal :)

world of sekimachihato said...

* gaijinwife
thanks gaijinwife. who knows, we may turn up at your doorstep one of these days (with a few too many asahi drys of course!)

world of sekimachihato said...

* Pascale
how are you guys getting on?
what are you doing re the water situation? any plans to go down to Kobe?

anyway, hope the 3 of you are ok.

world of sekimachihato said...

* luuworld
thanks luuworld. things have still not really improved and now we a tap water issue so it's impossible to find bottled water.
japan doesn't feel like japan anymore.

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