memoirs of tokyo 2011: mother of earthquakes

I have wanted to go to tokyo for the longest time and so when my partner-in-crime told me of his business trip and invited me to crash in his hyatt regency room he got an ecstatic hell yeah from me. i went to redeem my last remaining miles from delta and off i went! 

FRIDAY the 11th of march was a free day in tokyo for me. after meeting up with emil in tokyo station to get our shinkansen vouchers and agreeing to take the 6pm train to kyoto, he had to go to the office for his final leg before leaving japan. it meant that i had 6 hours to kill, and so i decided to go to sanrioland.

sanrioland is in eastern tama area, and i had to alight at keio tama center which is a 45 minute train ride away from shinjuku. i was beginning to regret going so far away, but thought i was already close by, about 3 stops away. when the train stopped at inagi station, i noticed that the train car was swaying lightly. in a matter of seconds the slight sway turned into a violent shaking and people inside the trains all stood up and looked at each other in horror. the first thing i thought to do was to crawl under the seats in case some things start falling off. luckily nothing collapsed, and about a minute after the quake people started to take out their phones and call / SMS home. i tried calling up emil, then my family but couldn't connect. even SMS couldn't get through.

where i was when it happened

alarm was sounded in the building and it meant people had to leave the premises. when it was all clear, i went back to the station to check on the news, and ask when the service will resume. i was told - after a very hard conversation - it will be OK by 4pm.

people anxiously waiting for train services to resume

so 4pm came by. no news. i was hungry, and it was cold outside, so i decided to take refuge in the bakery in front of the station.  i tried to go around and ask how to get back to the city via bus, but nobody could speak english. the signs in the bus stop didn't help either. 

the bakery - our refuge

so i went back into the cafe. 5pm. and then 6. and then 7pm. two people came in and sat close by, and i could faintly hear some english words. after a better job of eavesdropping, i had confirmed that they speak english. so i came over. the lady was SHOKO, she is a local but could speak a bit of english. the guy was DAVID, japanese in blood but born and raised in canada and could hardly speak the language. NANA was the young girl next to us, and since she's super cute, david pulled him to the group too! shoko said there are no hotels around the area, and the best way to get one is to go to keio tama center (where i was supposed to go). i've decided it's best to go and get some food so that we woudn't starve, whatever happens. 

bought some food supplies here - but they ran out of bottled water!

...but there were hot/cold drinks vending machine. heaven sent!

we have not made a decision to go anywhere at this point, just sat there talking and having some food.

after a little while, staff from the train announced that there was no ETA yet to get the trains moving and that the nearby gymnasium had been opened. we decided to head over there as it would be warmer. but - i was still hoping the trains would resume because i had no intention of staying there overnight! there were already a number of people inside when we arrived, mostly elderly. they provided floor mat, thermal blankets, and some cookies. there were two heat fans which i thought were super cool - kept the entire gym warm! 

the gymnasium

floor mats and thermal blankets were provided

the uber cool heat fan

shoko's mom drove from tokyo to get her, and nana's boyfriend from shinjuku was on his way too. david has a friend who lives a few stops away so worst case, he has a place to stay too. which means i was the only one doomed! :(

tachikawa grand hotel - a lifesaver

but around 10:30 it was announced that the keio line trains are now working. this will bring me back to shinjuku - but at that point emil was still in his office in ueno so there's no point for me to go back as well. luckily i took shoko's advice and headed to keio center, and there was vacancy at tachikawa grand hotel. after checking in we had ramen before saying goodbyes, and despite the horror of the day i was so tired that i dozed off as soon as i laid on the bed.

having this bed = 11,550JPY well spent

the next day, i took the train via chuo line back to shinjuku. it was sardines-packed! but i made my way back to hyatt and reunited with emil. after some discussion, his colleagues decided to go to their japanese colleague's house where he'd look for flights that will get everybody out of tokyo ASAP. my flight back was not until sunday 6pm - which at that point didn't seem to be confirmed - and it didn't seem a good idea to be left behind by myself. so even though that SQ 9pm flight back put a dent on my wallet, i thought it's safe to get back at all costs. (and interestingly the one-way fare was more expensive than round trip).

so in summary, that was such an experience for me. but i'm thankful that there were kind souls out there who helped make things easier and even more thankful that some people were concerned of my safety.

and yes, i still went back to japan a few months after - to tick off my unfinished business in kyoto, and a side trip to osaka too. maybe hokkaido next time...