After spending three unscheduled nights in Los Angeles, my missus and I managed to return safely to Japan...
We flew out of LA on the early morning hours of 15th...
Must have slept like a log in the 12-hour trans-pacific flight to Haneda International Airport…
Connected to our flight to Takamatsu, and we touched home-base in the late morning of 16th…
After clearing the luggage and a quick simple lunch at home, yours truly reported for work at around 1:00 pm...
A series of three meetings were slated for that afternoon...
The jet lag and the fatigue had the better of me, as I saw myself just sitting in the meeting rooms, fighting the sleepiness and trying very hard to concentrate on the issues...
I probably looked useless to the attendees as I did not mutter a word in the first two meetings...
And being away from the office for two weeks, work naturally piled up...
And piled up it was... woah...
Plus, the immediate priority was and continues to be the handling of the Tohoku-Kanto Earthquake...
Japanese students we sent overseas enquire if it is safe to return, and if so, through what route...
International students have their parents telling them to return home to avoid the radiation from the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant... (I'd like to say 'But we are about 700 kilometers from the epicentre'.)
The death toll has shot over 10,000 and considering the number of unaccounted people, this figure is certain to become much bigger in days to come…
Meanwhile the number of aftershocks big and small amounted to hundreds, and there are no signs of them tapering off…
At this point, the most worrying issue no doubt is the potential meltdown of the nuclear power plants… if the radiation comes to Tokyo area, oh boy...
Besides the fatigue and the jetlag, yours truly suffered a bad case of constipation…
It had been over two days and that thing just wouldn’t come out…
Since my teens, I have always had this habit of settling the ‘big’ business every morning before breakfast…
The last time I experienced this was perhaps over 20 years ago…
This time, I must have spent about one hour in total, sitting on the ‘throne’ trying and trying…
It came to a point when I could not even sit straight due to that lump down there…
Thank god, I managed to squeeze that thing out eventually…
My suweeto haato had a good laugh...
We suspect it was a result of a combination of factors…
The different diet, the fatigue, the jetlag, the anxiety related to the quake, the cramped seat in the economy class, the lack of sufficient water intake are probably some of the factors…
On a personal level, am certainly glad that today is Saturday... oh how I love Saturdays...
My neighbor K, who is instrumental in 'persuading' me to install the woodstove, called me up to go wood cutting together...
Today, he oversaw my first tree cutting expedition...
It was an old oak tree with a trunk thicker than my waist...
Under his supervision, I successfully felled my first tree...
He then showed me a natural spring in the neighborhood...
Our area is dry and I was pleasantly surprised to see how clear the water was...
I think we will come back with some water containers to collect the natural spring water as I would like to see how the water taste like...
Beside the spring was a basket filled with several types of oranges...
The sign read, 'Feel free to take all you want... they taste quite good'...
I could see that the skins looked a bit wrinkled...
I took one, peeled off the skin, and popped a slice or two into my mouth...
Hmmm, not too bad, I thought to myself as I went back for another one...
After this, my missus and I went to collect wood from two other locations in the vicinity...
But man, all these wood-cutting and wood-collecting activities leave me with almost no time for our potager...
I really need to start preparing the vegetable beds for the spring season...
Gardening, photography, food, fishing, traveling, scuba diving, life in Japan, plus of course, news and views of being away from home...
No wonder you've been quiet. Had a lot going on back home to deal with.
ReplyDeleteTake care of yourself and hopefully, by now you are back "doing your business" daily. :D
All that wood cutting - you sure burn a lot of calories, eh? :)
And oh, how lovely to find a natural spring nearby.
Have a good Sunday!
lina... good morning from Japan... am slowly getting back to 'business as usual', hopefully... yes, the wood stuff is really heavy duty work, my whole body is actually today... that spring is really something, I must say... am so happy to discover it... happy sunday to you too!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you made it back home safely. I know the last several days have been very trying for you, but I hope things will settle down for you. I'm glad you were able to get out and cut down a tree for wood for your stove. Have you been able to collect any of the spring water?
ReplyDeleteI hope the problems at the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant are soon brought under control.
A little info. about the tomato hornworm and braconid wasp.
ReplyDeleteThe tomato hornworm is quite a bad boy (or girl).
"A natural predator of the tomato hornworm is a tiny beneficial insect called the braconid wasp. This wasp lays its eggs inside the hornworm. As they hatch, they eat their way out, killing the hornworm in the process. It's a bit off-putting to see this creature on your plants, but you're better off letting him be and letting the wasps do their job. Once they hatch, they'll be enough braconid wasps to keep your garden hornworm free." I found this at gardening.about.com
Happy your intestinal situation has improved...and now you're a full fledged tree cutter. Natural springs are so beautiful...with water cooled oranges...lovely.
Continued prayers for your country and fellow citizens!
Dear George...thank you very much for your comments... yes, I hope to slowly fall back into my 'normal' routine... was out cutting trees again today (Sunday)... body is aching from all these activities, but am loving it... no, have not gotten to tapping the spring water yet...
ReplyDeleteDear Theanne... am very appreciative on the info about the tomato worm and the beneficial braconid wasp... am a bit 'wiser' now, thanks to you... instestines are in full working order now... how blissful...
Now I need to brush up my Japanese geography, and work out roughly where you are. Are your students returning, or still, wait and see?
ReplyDeleteGreat to know you arrived in one piece other than the let lag, anxieties and constipation etc. Glad to know you won the battle wrestling with it at the 'throne' and gotten rid of it finally..haha. Take care.
ReplyDeleteElephant's Eye... likewise, my geography of South Africa is not too good either... most are taking the 'wait and see' stance...
ReplyDeleteBananazஇ... and what a huge relief that was, to win the battle...
Good to know that you are OK and not affected by this terrible disaster.
ReplyDeleteI hope they manage to cool down that nuclear reactor too and stop further radiations. Than you can start preparing the vegetable beds.
Hi Lrong Lim, Glad to know that you and your missus are OK.
ReplyDeleteFrom what I read from the internet, some food and milk has been found to be contaminated with the radiation. Please do be careful.
Hope you have time to start your garden, I am not doing much over here, as it has been raining very heavily the past week. Wishing you a good and healthy week ahead!
maiaT... yes, we really need to have those reactors cooled down soon... also need to start on my vege beds...
ReplyDeletekitchen flavours... am hoping that the food contamination will not get worse... will certainly take care... it is raining quite a bit here as well, which gives a me a little time to contemplate over some things... good day to you...
Thank God you and Y are back safely. Your home location seem to be in quite a 'protected area' away from the disaster hit zone. Malaysians working in Tokyo and residing near Fukushima have returned home. Hope you have a good week ahead.
ReplyDeleteGlad you and the missus are safely home. I hope you will be able to get your vegetable garden started soon. We are learning to garden here in the desert.
ReplyDeleteAutumn Belle @ KDP... yes, thank god our area is located in a somewhat 'safe' (touch wood) area... it is safer for Malaysians staying near the disaster area to stay away for a while... good day to you...
ReplyDeleteDiane AZ... thank you for your message... gardening in the desert has its own charms and challenges, I would think... good luck...
Hope you bowel habits have returned to normal. Wood cutting is really good exercise!
ReplyDeleteI'm still in shock, Japan is going through a terrible disaster.
ReplyDeleteBe well.
UnkaLeong... all operations returning back to normal, I think... thank god for that...
ReplyDeleteWood cutting is good exercise... yes, but my body is aching...
Ellada...thank you for your message... will take care...
It's absolutely a disaster what happened in Japan. This is awful, you people didn't deserved that. Ii really hope you will get back on your feet soon! We need you!
ReplyDeleteAll the best!
Martha
Hi,
ReplyDeleteHope all is well for you & your wife.
I got a rather odd question. Some ambassadors here are throwing a farewell party for the Japanese Ambassador to Malaysia, they want to show support for the people of Japan during the function.
Do Japanese wear something special to display grief? Or anything we can do? Maybe observe silence etc. What is the norm?
Example - in UK, they wear a poppy seed flower to show support for the war heroes... http://data.whicdn.com/images/5342845/Fernando-Torres-wins-Premier-League-Player-of-the-Month-fernando-torres-17432967-500-329_thumb.jpg?1291608973
KC
So glad you are home safely, Professor.
ReplyDeleteMartha... thank you very much for your encouragement... I think we will pull through this one... we simply have to...
ReplyDeletethank you kc... my missus and I are fine... as for your question, they Japanese do wear black for events such as funerals... but in this case, I think normal clothes should be ok... 'normal' in the sense that the colors are not flashy or 'loud'...
HappySurfer... thank you so much... we are safe at home, for now, that is...