Tremors Coming to the end of a 10 day stay in Toky…
Tremors
Coming to the end of a 10 day stay in Tokyo with Lindy. I arrived the day of the earthquake in Niigata - I was in Good Day Books, an excellent second hand English language bookshop when the tremors hit Tokyo. The bookcases in the shop began to sway from side to side. It lasted only a few seconds and I heard one of the shop assistants joke that the bar downstairs must be having a particularly good time.
A couple of days later I was working in Lindy's apartment when another tremor hit - this time it was far longer and far more pronounced. I instinctively reached out to steady myself against something - the TV, as it turned out - and felt the ground keep shaking beneath me for what seemed like a minute but was no doubt far shorter. I have to admit, it scared me. Because I realised a few seconds in there was absolutely nothing I could do to stop it or prevent it. It's one of those moments when you get to experience the truly horrible feeling of being wholly powerless.
The uncertainity of what happens next once the tremor stops is almost as unsettling as the tremor itself. Because you don't know if that is the beginning or the end of it. It's a sensation I haven't really felt before and have no great wish to experience again.
Besides that, Tokyo has been a fascinating city to visit. Hopefully I'll get some pics and words up in the Travel section soon. Back to Thailand tomorrow so my flurry of recent blogging is going to stop as soon as it started. Thanks to wbloggar for their deeply nifty blog tool which has made it so easy - perhaps too easy - to blog everything of interest.
