End of a very busy and unpredictable year!

Islamabad Day 4
The timing of the election was not announced today as we had anticipated. Though there are many saying it will be postponed, we must wait for the official announcement tomorrow in New Year's Day...

the top news was of course about the PPP's inheritance...

Here in Islamabad, the people seemed not to care about whether it was December 31st or not. After the three day mourning, people were out in the markets but it seemed to be an everyday picture here...

everybody doing their usual shopping... no year end bargains!

I was watching Japanese sattelite channel when Japan had entered the New Year, but it was still 8PM here in Islamabad. In my original plan, I was supposed to be in Bangkok to celebrate the New Year... Well a big change in my plans, but still I think it was one of the busiest and the most unpredictable year of my life. I have no idea what kind of year 2008 will be either...

Well... SEE YOU NEXT YEAR!

Democracy?

Islamabad Day 3
Bhutto's PPP decided its future today as Benazir's beloved son has inherited the party. Of course we're talking about a party wanting democracy here, but inheritance... is that a democratic way?
Well BBC and the western media wouldn't mind if their ally will remain in power... (and aha! their new leader Bilawal is an Oxford student!)

PPP's press conference which millions have laid their eyes on!

Still they will win so many votes and take over the parliament, but the question is WHEN... I was supposed to be here to cover the election, but many are saying the election will be postponed for at least a month or two... hmm... At least the Bhutto party are saying they want it as scheduled on January 8th, but that seems quite improbable...

Feeling estranged...

Islamabad Day 2
I had to give out a live report again from Islamabad.
At night, I finally was able to go outside and see a press conference. As most of the talks were done in Urdu, I felt quite estranged. But when the Pakistanis talk they have one or two sentences that are English and it's honestly strange when you understand about a tenth of what they're saying...

so many reporters at the press conference...


I couldn't understand why the reporters rush to the table with sweets and tea piled up and munch on the food like crazy after the press conference was finished!
this would never happen in Japan!

In a country of turmoil!

Southern Thai Day 8 / Islamabad Day 1
We hurried to the airport to get on the 7:25 flight out of Phuket. Taking the Bangkok route, we arrived in Islamabad at around 13:15.

reading the papers in the plane... top news of course...
and the plane was filled with media personnel!


arriving at Islamabad International Airport

In the evening I gave out a live coverage from the Islamic city in mourning. Though it was quite warm and rather hot when I arrived here, it was pretty cold at night.

view of Islamabad... quite smoggy...

Well... here in a dangerous nation, I will go on to cover a nation with a opaque future along with my collegues...
Let's see in which direction this nation is heading towards!

Scramble time!

Southern Thai Day 7
We started from 8 o'clock in the morning and rushed to a primary school in Phuket to cover a story about disaster prevention education.

going to a quiet resort beach for lunch... no one was around!
wow... a good place not many people know about!


there was a dog who knows well!
sleeping in peace... good to know there's peace here now!

TURN OF EVENTS!!
The day was supposed to end in peace, as we returned to our hotel and seeing many Chinese tourists checking in and I was falling into a doze at around 8 o'clock at night.

I received a call from Tokyo that they received breaking news of Benazir Bhutto being killed in Pakistan. I was told that I had to cut short my trip in Phuket and we had to scramble to Islamabad by tomorrow. In turmoil, I was able to get the tickets and I had to give up continuing my coverage in Phuket... Oh... we were saying we might be able to enjoy a little tomorrow afternoon after filming in the same school in the first half of the day... but in vain...

hooking on to BBC and CNN all night to gather information... what a wild night!!

I'm still smiling...

Southern Thai Day 6
I had no idea where I would be standing in the end of the day, when a squall attacked us minutes before my live broadcast. I thought I would get a big bull's-eye for the first time in my career, not making a live coverage. We were saved my many coincidences and luck, but here I am still smiling...

It was the third anniversary of the Indian Ocean Tsunami Disaster and I went to cover the memorial ceremony at Paton Beach. Many white people were among the participants. Still I was rather overwhelmed by how the revival of the area has brought back a tourist resort back to normality, as it was hard to find any trace of the tsunami, except warning towers and evacuation signs.

no one at Paton Beach at 7AM... a beautiful beach...


the ceremony at Paton Beach... many participants...

I surely would like to be here on vacation... but that will perhaps be so many years from now!

so many people in the afternoon... oh, I'd like to lie down too... but I can't!!

Merry Christmas in Phuket!

Southern Thai Day 5
It was Christmas... HOT CHRISTMAS!

my Christmas gift! Red Bull energy drink!

After running around the Phang-nga Province again, we finally headed to Phuket in the evening. The internationally famous resort seemed to me a much sophisticated area than I thought, but it still looked like a Southeast Asian town.

our hotel... big but cheap... with many Chinese and Koreans!

Since it will be a very important day tomorrow, we had to stay all night to trim the footage and get ready!
So much for Christmas!

my Christmas dinner... hot and chilly!

Christmas Eve in summer?

Southern Thai Day 4
It's about 11:30PM and at my hotel there's loud music and fireworks celebrating Christmas Eve. I think it would be too loud to sleep if you're a child, but I don't care because I still have tons of work to do. My target will probably be at 3 o'clock in the morning, but let's see... If I don't finish writing my rough draft of my report till tomorrow morning in Tokyo, my boss will kill me... Well it might be easier if he really killed me!

What a depressing Christmas Eve it is in years. And it's my first ever Christmas I'll spend in a "hot" place!

the hotel gave me a Christmas present... ho-ho!
a Hershey's chocolate!

We were at Moken villages today.
Yes there's still many problems lying at disaster-stricken areas. Three years ain't enough for any relief to be finalized!

Tap Dawan village... resided by Mokens!


a peaceful village living by fishing...

even pigs can walk freely!

Election Day!

Southern Thai Day 3
It's really an important day for the Thais, but for me, it was just another day to run around to get things on film.

a kitten in Khao Lak... Sawadee Kap kitty!

Today, we rode to Ranone Province which was a fairly long two and a half hours from Khao Lak.

there were great resorts here too... but no customers...


at least the local kids were having fun!

I had no idea if I had enough footage, but that's that... I have no other way to get a story out but to film what I can get.
My trip is getting very tough, as tention mounts on my side on Tokyo and I really would like to run away and lie on the beach for a sun tan. I know I can't do that, so again... I must go on...

At night, some of the channels were covering the election results, but I had no idea who won!

PS

I had no idea Matsurida Gogh, an unexpected contender had captured the Arima Kinen(GI) this day...
I think I found out when I read the Japanese newspaper that arrived at around the 5th of January to the Islamabad bureau...

Got a story?

Southern Thai Day 2
Running around the Khao Lak area, I think I may have found a story I can cover...

This is where many have lost their lives...

Leam Pakarang area where rocks rolled on to the beachside...

I'm really tired, but I must go on with what I have. I think I can make it... I think...

eating yellow curry and Thai food... it's reeeeeeeally spicy, but good!

To the next destination!

Jakarta Day 6 / Southern Thai Day 1
In the morning, I did some last minute work, and hurried to the airport to get on a plane to Bangkok saying good-bye to Indonesia.

At Bangkok...

tons of tourists were lined up for the passport check! I found out the queues on the left were comparatively short and got out in about thirty minutes. The others could be lined up for more than an hour!

I switched to a domestic flight together with a colleague. Our destination was Khao Lak of Phang-nga Province in southern Thailand. We made it to Krabi at around 8PM and to the hotel at around 10PM.

a cheap but fair enough resort hotel!

So here, I must get on with another story... but I still have no idea how it's gonna go!

my next field of work... Phang-nga and its vicinity!

Flying to Sumatra Island!

Jakarta Day 5 (Padang)
I was so sleepy as we left the hotel at 4:30AM today and I was working till around 2:30AM... Just with about an hour and a half of sleep, we headed to the airport.

It was the first time ever for me to fly with Garuda Indonesia, but we safely made it to Padang of West Sumatra.

coastline of Padang City

At Padang, we tried to go through many residential areas on the coastline and asked people about tsunamis. Just as I heard at BMG and Bandung, people were saying they were afraid of the prediction that a large tsunami will attack on the 23rd.
I knew this was BS, but it's also true that any large earthquake can hit this nation, so of course a large one can hit on the 23rd, or perhaps today!

they were in the middle of the Islamic festival - Idul Adha
killing beasts for sacrifice...


having Padang food was the only recreation!

We flew back to Jakarta and worked till late in the night. This is my last night at Jakarta, and I hope I had enough to make a report... I hope...

flying with Garuda Indonesia... phew... made it back safely!

Dead meet...

Jakarta Day 4 (Bandung)
It was one of the worst days of my life... yeah, again!

We started out early in the morning and arrived in Bandung in about 2 hours. I think I caught a cold, as I was coughing and it surely was because of the cold air conditioning of the hotel...

At Bandung, my target was the tsunami research at ITB. There were students still studying, and it was great I could visit an university with a high profile history.

here we are at ITB!

As we were filming inside the building, the massive rain started to pour outside! After we started heading back to Jakarta, the road turned into a river!

washing their way forward!


washing our way forward!

It took us about five hours back to Jakarta including a half hour stop for lunch. I almost peed in my pants as I was so desperate to go to the restroom while we drove on the highway, but there were no stops in Indonesian highways as we often can find in Japan.

Oh, I really thanked God when we were able to stop at a gas station after we left the highway!

I won't forget this gas station... you saved my diginty!

Back at home, I was scolded about many things and I wasted about two hours as the door lock of our bureau was jammed and I couldn't get in... Oh, life sucks when all this kind of bad luck stocks up!

At least I was able to relax and have my favorite meal...

a whopper meal!