Destroy All Onions!

Yesterday we went out and did normal stuff! We went on the train to Akihabara, did some karaoke, ate dinner out, looked at the flashy mobile phones, and bought some doughnuts to bring home. This is the kind of thing I’d been expecting to do lots of on holiday! It was all very normal and sensible, except for the earthquake during dinner, where the entire restaurant shook, and we got to watch all the frying pans swinging in the kitchen.

It was nice to be out and about again, and do normal stuff.

I went out for a cycle today, on what is presumably a fairly typical Japanese city bike. It was interesting.

Here’s the bike:

Yes, it has a basket on the front, and it’s not what I am used to riding. But just bear with me – it has some interesting features.

The enlarged hub in the front wheel obviously contains some kind of dynamo, which is wired to the light. So as soon as you start peddling in the shady garage, the light starts flashing. It’s a nice feature. I’m not sure if the light continued to flash when we were outside in the sun or not. But it’s still nice.

This is the back wheel. Again, there is an enlarged hub. Again, there’s something clever going on inside there, as the bike has three gears, but there is only one drive cog, and only one cog here at the back wheel too. So there’s some kind of clever linkage inside the hub between the cog you can see and the wheel. But I have no idea how it works.

And this is the built in lock. Just slide the blue lever to lock and unlock, as long as the key is in. Admittedly, you can’t lock the bike to anything, but the back wheel sure won’t turn. I also discovered there’s a link between this lock and the front wheel, which locks the steering to straight-ahead, or turned, which is pretty clever.

The downside to all this trickery (well, apart from the basket, which is a major downer), is that the bike is really heavy. Heavy as if it were made from depleted uranium. But at least it’s got some interesting gadgets.

Very Japanese!

Life is a really strange thing.

I’m here in Japan on holiday, and would normally be out and about, wandering around taking pictures, eating out, singing karaoke, and doing the usual tourist things.

Instead I haven’t been further than the shops in days, and have been contributing to the Belfast Telegraph and the evening news on Radio Ulster. I’m sure I will never live it down. The apartment has been in fits of giggles about it all, which I guess is typical of Northern Ireland people in a crisis – there’s nothing we can do about it, and at least it relieves the tension.

As well as going to the shops today (where there are still fresh strawberries, vegetables, fish, meat and rice, but no pot noodles), we emptied the bins. Emptying the bin hasn’t been a priority, obviously, but today we decided it was time. We expected that the rubbish room in the building would be overflowing, as everyone would be doing the same as us. Nope.

As you can see, the bins have been emptied, and the room is spotless. Again, life goes on as usual in Tokyo. You will probably be as startled as I am that there are 9 different bins for the various types of rubbish. I assume that a degree in rubbish selection is required before you even think about throwing something out.

As for the ongoing nuclear concerns, I just read a brilliant transcript of a conference call run by the British Embassy here in Tokyo. Full marks to them for a clear statement of the situation at the Fukushima reactor, and the risks here in Tokyo. Short summary – it really is safe in Tokyo. The full article is here, but the penultimate statement puts it well:

given the devastation that you’ve got in Japan and the hard work at the Embassy people are having to put in, I would characterise the nuclear issue as a sideshow. You’ve got a massive problem.

And so that’s how we end the day in Tokyo today.

The building is swaying gently again.
But I’m still going to bed. It’s nearly half three in the morning, and I am tired.

This is just a brief token blog post. But I’ve got to say something. I’ve just experienced what could be one of the most tragic days in Japanese history, and I’m fine, so here’s some initial thoughts. More will follow.

• Karen and I were on the upper observation deck of the Tokyo Tower, 250m above the city. That’s not a good place to be in an earthquake. But the staff were excellent; it was very calm, and even the group of schoolkids weren’t panicked. It was very orderly. And the cleaning lady continued to polish the lift doors and clean the windows all the while! Really, she did. Wish I had a picture of her.
• Because of the lack of communication, we had no idea how serious the quake had been. After all, any earthquake couldn’t feel good at the top of a big spindly tower. And just like New Years Eve, the mobile phones all stopped working when everyone wanted to use them at the same time.
• The only damage we saw first hand was a fire in Odaiba, which was out before we made it down from the tower. Having said that, they did keep us up there a while, as they wanted to make sure that the lifts were safe, as the alternative was 600 steps that are probably never used.
• As we made our way up the street, the only damage we saw was 2 broken windows. There were bikes on stands that hadn’t even fallen over, so we still didn’t think it was too bad.
• We were able to take refuge in Marty’s office, one of the safest places in Tokyo due to the sophistication of it’s earthquake proofing. We spent a long while in the lobby, with quite a crowd of people, then were able to get up into the building itself. Because of its construction, it’s a place to run into, not out of.
• In the Mori Tower, we were able to watch the rolling news on BBC World, and realised how bad things were. We were even able to get some food there, and emergency packs with helmets.
• Once the trains started running again, we felt it was practical to go home. We were able to get a train most of the way, but had to walk for about an hour. Again, it was a very orderly process; there is no panic on the streets, or even agitation or annoyance.
• We’re now safely home watching the terrible pictures on the news.
• The internet is amazing. Getting text messages in and out was difficult, often impossible; making phonecalls the same. But Karen was able to get onto twitter, and find out what was happening, hear that friends were safe, and post her own status. It was brilliant, and a great source of comfort. Likewise facebook and email.
• Unfortunately, it’s not over. There continue to be aftershocks, any of which could be serious. I hope and pray that’s not the case.
• I feel very humbled to have been a part of a day like this, in such a stupid place, and to be completely unscathed when so many have already suffered so much, and will suffer much more.

I went out walking on Tuesday morning, along the river.

In that part of Tokyo, the skyline is dominated by the new Tokyo Skytree.

As you can see, it’s an impressive structure – I think it looks like a giant space weapon, and needless to say I love anything that looks like a giant space weapon on the horizon. What you can’t tell from the picture is that it is miles away. As I walked along the river, it gradually got closer, and bigger, and eventually I left the river and headed straight for it.

At the building site we are told that it is 609 metres tall, which is impressive anywhere, but especially so in a place where every building has to be both earthquake and Godzilla proof. Perhaps that’s the reason for the annoying shape of the lower part of the tower – the base is triangular, but it becomes circular as it goes up, which means that if you are not looking straight at a triangular side, it’s asymmetric, which is not graceful to look at. But I guess the earthquake and Godzilla experts know what they’re doing.

The tower is already a major tourist attraction, with tour guides leading groups of people through the surrounding streets with the best views. But what’s more interesting is that they already have their official Disney-licensed souvenirs, complete with the cranes, a year before the tower is due to be finished.

And this is the view from the base. The stupid thing is too big to get into a picture once you’re up close. But it is impressive.

Skytree up close

You’ll also note the blue sky, as always a clear indication that this picture was not taken in Belfast!

Giving further indications that my life is completely dull when I am not travelling, I’m at Heathrow about to head for Tokyo, and my thoughts turn to blogging. So fans of this increasingly sporadic blog (if such a bizarre creature exists – surely not) can look forward to some updates over the next while as I holiday in Tokyo.
So far, little to report other than trying out the multiple-faith prayer room at Heathrow Terminal 3, which in contrast to the rest of the airport is quiet and peaceful. And no, I’m not writing this from there!

Today was open house day in Northern Ireland (http://www.wonderfulni.info/events/events-ehod.htm), where lots of places not usually open to the public open their doors to visitors.

So I got on my bike, and cycled down the Harland and Wolff drawing office. It’s a building I’ve been past before, and it looks impressive from outside. As you can see from the picture at  http://www.wonderfulni.info/events/events-ehod/ehod_additional_openers.htm, it was a beautiful building, full of natural light for draftsmen to work in. It’s also absolutely falling apart, which is a real shame, as even without the history, it was a lovely building.

I then pootled round to St Malachy’s church, which is the really cool looking one with all the battlements just off the Ormeau Road. Unfortunately, there was a wedding just about to happen, so I reckoned I couldn’t go in looking all scruffy. Perhaps another time.

Then, on my way past City Hall, I came across a Hari Krishna parade, as they towed a massive carriage past the front. Fortunately, only one of them was wearing orange robes, so it didn’t really look like an orange parade, but they still had a police escort.

And then on to the Freemasons Hall at Corn Market. This is a place I walk past often at lunchtime. The inside is not all that dissimilar to a church in many ways – lots of parts are obviously very old, but it has been nicely modernised. But it is an odd place. The bible and Koran side-by-side on an altar in one room, and in another a very old bible flanked by two Egyptian sarcophagi. And quite a few old harmoniums for playing hymns on. As a building, it’s not beautiful, but it is certainly interesting.

But I got soaked cycling home.

Ah well, you can’t have everything.

This came up on random play today:

God said to Abraham “Kill me a son”
Abe said “Man you must be puttin’ me on”
God said “No”
Abe said “What?”
God said “You can do what you want Abe
but the next time you see me coming
you better run”
Well Abe said “Where you want this killing done?”
God said “Out on Highway 61”.

Bob Dylan either knows nothing about theology, or a great deal. I can never decide which.

Today I went out cycling with a group from the local bike shop. The rest of the group all looked a whole lot more professional than me, and it turned out they were. But not quite all of them. I ended up third from last most of the time, which I was happy enough with. Just happy not to be last! In my defence, myself and second last were the only ones riding the shop’s cheaper alloy road bikes, while all the others were riding flashy carbon jobs.

But unfortunately I forgot to start runkeeper, so I have no track of it. And the bike computer was set for the wrong wheel size, so I didn’t even have that. But from the other guys, we did 52 miles, in 3 and a quarter hours.

I then took some advice, and had a dip in the hotel pool.

And then ignored the rest of the advice, and spent the afternoon lying on a sun bed and reading Stieg Larsson’s “The girl who played with fire”, the sequel to the famous “The girl with the dragon tattoo”. It’s quite a read, as I finished it in 2 days. I’m not sure it’s just as good as the first one mind you. My major disappointment is the character of Ronald Niemann, who seems like a James Bond villain unexpectedly dropped into the wrong book. Maybe I am being picky, but I thought that this character kind of cheapened the book. But having said that, I enjoyed it, and I’m looking forward to reading the next one, and I suppose that’s the best sign of a good book.