Earthquake Aftermath

The day after the earthquake was strange. We spent it wandering around the neighborhood stocking up on supplies as they predicted power outages in the coming days. BBC showed a picture of a severely cracked road one metro stop away from our place so we wanted to check it out, but the neighborhood looked completely normal and we couldn't find the damage. The only difference was the freakishly long line outside the Wal-Mart.

My local grocery store also had some bare shelves, but we had no problem getting what we needed from a variety of local stores.

After following the stressful news about the crisis at the nuclear plant, we were glad to hear that the meltdown was contained.

Today, (Sunday and day 2 after the earthquake), the trains were back to normal and the weather was beautiful, so we decided to wander into Tokyo and try to enjoy ourselves a little. Ironically, we decided to go to Tokyo Tower to check out the earthquake damage there: a slightly bent tip. The tower was closed so we couldn't go up.

Near the Tokyo Tower is the neighborhood Roppongi, with its Mori building. The observation deck is on the 54th floor - the tallest in Tokyo. It's not impressive by American standards, but since it's the tallest building here the view is quite impressive. It was also eerily empty which made for a good day of sight seeing. It was a nice day, but still surreal, knowing what devastation just happened a few hundred kilometers away.

View from the Mori building roof top observation deck...

Which is also a helicopter landing pad.