Second day in Bam...

Today we focused more to the people who have suffered from the large earthquake than the World Heritage site. It was so hot that walking around outside has made me tired and I realize how tough it is for me to gather information walking around under the sun for a long time. It's easily hotter than 30 degrees, perhaps over 35 here in the southwest, but at nighttime it feels more cooler than in Tehran. They say it's going to more than 40 degrees and since I'm hoping I can come again after one or two months, it would be even more tough to cover the area...
One problem is that I really don't know if I would be able to compile a story here... if I were a newspaper writer, maybe I can, but filming... hmm... It's going to be Nowruz time here in Iran and it's going to tough to gather information for a while!

I prayed for the deceased at the cemetary...

please rest in peace...
I hope your city will revive as you hope too...

Last trip of the year...

After sleeping for three hours, it was time to take the plane to the southeast... It's my last trip of this Iranian year, but it was one I would've gone to as the last trip of last Gregorian year, if I had the time to spare...
I should've woked up earlier, but I just woke up 10 minutes before parting and that caused me a major problem! I was half asleep when I hopped on the taxi going to the airport and when we almost reached there, I realized I was wearing sandals!

oh hello... I didn't know I was wearing this...

first time to ride a plane with sandals!


fly away!

We reached the city of Bam, a quake stricken city more than five years ago, which was completely destroyed by the disaster. Still, the city was on its feet and right after my arrival, I was able to get some shoes...

this is the pair of shoes that accompanied me all day...
they're made in Korea... just 200,000 rials!
it wasn't that bad for that price!

We visited a UNESCO World Heritage site and the city bazaar to get the wide view of where the city stands. I'm not sure at all if I can make a story, but I just had to be here to be sure! To be honest, I'm still not sure after a day of research, but I have one more day and I hope there's a nice encounter that would give me the courage to propose a story that Tokyo will buy!


the disaster stricken Arg-e Bam...

The inevitable...

No progress early in the day, as I was ineffective as always when I'm tired and sleepy...
I'm seriously getting cornered as I'm without one of my staff and I also hear another staff will take five days off this month and likely three more weeks next month for a trip! Without gas, I can't put my vehicle on top gear and I hope I can find some alternative fuels like many are doing in the world for their fossil fuel eating machines!
Right as we were talking about probable feature stories, news about the inevitable broke in!


M6.1 earthquake (source USGS; M6.0 measured by the Iranians) in southern Iran!

Iran is a country filled with possibilities of natural disasters just like Japan... quakes, floods, heavy snow and rain... Maybe my expertise with disaster reporting would help in many ways, but I'm always praying so disasters will not hit to claim and ruin many people's lives... I'm always asking for peace, which probably would not be a good thing to do if I want to be a successful correspondent, but I'm never blurry about this request. There are more constructive things to do with my job and I'm surely going to devote my life to pieces of work that would save people's lives rather than wait for a chance to report about people lives torn apart!

Today I felt the strong winds showing signs of autumn coming... it's really much cooler here in Tehran in the morning (it's still hot in the afternoon!) and even cold at night time. I heard there was strong rain early morning, and that's another sign of autumn... Soon it will be very cold, and that's what I'm scared of the most!

Leaving behind...

Saying SAYONARA to Japan, feeling as if I'd left my whole heart behind...
I finally got what I needed to leave for Iran, and in the evening I took off from Haneda and headed to Kansai International to catch a flight to Dubai.

I met people I love dearly and most treasure at the airports. It's time to say good-bye...
I didn't cry as I know that I will meet them many more times in the future, but even a temporary parting is really painful...

I was still working on our documentary about India even just hours away from my departure, but after I took off, it was now in the past. I have to tackle my new issues in which I will be engaged in for at least three years. It just the first step towards my new life and I hope it doesn't start badly!


I stayed in a hotel near the Tokyo Tower... saying farewell...

and to the consular section of the Islamic Republic...
my visa was finally granted!


my last meal in Tokyo with my elder colleague...

And my last meal with my parents!

my favorite meal: udon!

and a souvenir from my mom... I don't need this mom...

PS
Just around midnight, we felt a slow but long tremble in the 7th floor of our headquarters. It was a large but deep earthquake that hit the northeastern part of Japan.
I went right away to my former workplace to see whether things were okay. I witnessed the dynamic flow of reporters rushing into work and I found out that I had no place in my old office.
There was no tsunami as the quake did not hit the ocean area and the epicenter was deeper than 100km. I think and dearly hope that not so many people have lost their lives with this one.

it was a hard hit quake in the north...
this country is really active!

A week... so soon...

My progress has slowed down quite a bit. With no appointments, all I could do was write e-mails and make phone calls... Hey, I can do that in Japan!

But I know I can't go back to Japan and get another visa, so I have to do my best this week without any meaningful appointments and be ready for our filming crew entering India tomorrow.

let's just enjoy the tea and relax...

At night, as I went to our office, there was a sudden outburst of terrorism at a city not so far away from New Delhi.

initially five blasts were reported...

Seven or Eight blasts killed dozens in Jaipur, a tourist city where we made some requests for information when I was still in Tokyo, and our office had to scramble to work. With the Great Shichuan Earthquake and the Burmese Cyclone catastophe at the top, the news was just a mere report from South Asia... Well, maybe the fact that no foreign tourists were involved did not raise the value of the news, but when you see all the Indian channels burning their energy to give live reports, I always feel ill at ease when we have to say it's rather a question of the number of lives lost and how the international community reacts to each of these tragic events.

After having a late dinner, I returned to my room and hoped the death toll will not rise...

PS

yesterday's quake was a deadly one... this toll will certainly rise dramatically...

I think I'm okay...

I woke up so many times, but each time I was relieved to find out that my stomach was doing well. But as I took one pill of aspirin to be sure my body temperature will lower, but that was a mistake as I was shivering in my bed as it felt too cold although the air conditioning was turned off.

I went on with my business and after an appointment through lunch time, we I went to the Indian Government's area for the first time. You can't imagine how "green" it is in Central New Delhi with so many trees covering the area with small buildings.


surrounded by the green

I'm not getting any concrete information and I'm quite sad my progress is still not well though I've landed in India.

At night, I had some "moderate" Indian food. The chicken was spicy, but I think it didn't hurt my stomach. The mutton curry was great with the buttered naan.
Okay, I'm satisfied! I'd eat any kind of food from tomorrow!

P.S.
While I returned to my hotel room briefly right after lunchtime, there was breaking news that a large earthquake hit China.

it turned out to be a great quake which could kill thousands...

I'm sad I'm not in Japan to help out my colleagues, but I surely would not be a help without any language skills... the expertise about earthquakes will be provided my colleagues working at my former post!

Back to normality...

Waking up just in time, I rushed to my office!

oh... I'm back... cars and buildings... yes, I'm back...

I took the taxi on my expense as I was almost late and I almost forgot it was a special day...

how can I forget 117 ("ichi ichi nana" meaning one one seven)!?
pic from Kyodo

It was a very depressing day though... very... Well I don't really want to discuss it! We went out to get a drink and we had many thoughts today. It was my first day of return to work in Japan this year, but in a sense, it will not be a day I will forget!

On with the show...

I'm getting tired each day, as it was tough for me to wake up and go to work.
I was able to get home in the evening and get some sleep before going into overnight duty.
It was the thirteenth night of a lunar month when it is known as one of the best days to enjoy the moonlight.

ah, the moon seemed happy out there... (the 44-story building on the left is the one under construction I mentioned on http://hide3diary.blogspot.com/2007/10/joining-hands-in-prayer.html)

And today, Ocotober 23rd is the day...

to mourn in Niigata... three years on after the earthquake...

Tired... but working...

It was my day off, but I was working from morning to night.

hello, doggy! a rescue dog that was dispatched to Niigata after the earthquake!

I'm so sleepy, but the coverage will continue... I have to wake up and follow up on Thursday!

the magnitude was revised to M8.4 (from M7.9, and 8.2) by the USGS...

The nation with the highest number of quakes!

I was so tired to go on, but as I was trying to write up memos about what I want to cover at my new post, breaking news about a large quake came in...

at 11:10 UTC (20:10 JST)... another big one at the coast of Sumatra Island of Indonesia, the nation with the highest number of big quakes!

My vacation in jeopardy!?

My 9 day vacation started... But...

I went to take "a stroll" to my office to check out how the Peru aftermath is going on. I know it's not about numbers here, but as the death toll did not climb over the thousands, I decided to take at least the eight more days off completely, after I devoted at least 8 hours today to this earthquake.

This weekend... going to a much cooler Sapporo was one of the choices, but...

JRA announces the suspension of all races!
the flu virus hits the horseys!
incredible!! (photo by Jiji)

Without horse racing, Hokkaido will no longer be my choice...
Let's get to somewhere nearby with some hot spa!

At the last hour...

Just as I was ready to get out and start my vacation...
with only about three quarters of an hour...

THE DISASTER STRUCK!

a big one in South America!

Uh huh... I worked and worked... for 24 hours in a row!
That is... with a five minute nap sitting on my chair at around 7PM... (i.e. just falling asleep... naturally...)

This quake is so threatening that my vacation is in jeopardy!
How many days off shall I lose is the question!?

Quite busy and tired...

Some breaking news overnight...

a M7.5(USGS) quake hits Indonesia with a depth of nearly 300km...

I believed there wouldn't be serious damage, but let's see in the morning...

A brief shake...

Having sushi with alcohol till 2 o'clock knocked me out till well over 2 o'clock in the afternoon.

this quake woke me up, but with only a brief shake it did not wake me up completely...

After staying up for about an hour or so, I went to bed again as I felt I needed more sleep.

Finally waking up at five in the evening, I took my bike out to an office in the east, and at night, to my office in the headquarters. Of course, I had a lot of work to do, but as always, it didn't go smoothly as my mind was not clear enough.
Oh, I have to work tomorrow too!