So that's what an earthquake feels like

... I can't say it's an experience I ever wish to re-live, holy smokes.  Actually I'm still living it, the ground is still rolling and shaking as I type this.  Our chandelier in our room is swinging 'round in circles, the lamps are teetering, and I'm starting to get motion sickness.  But that's the least of my worries right now.  Thank you to everyone for your concern, I am able to receive texts while I'm here, it just costs me money to respond.  My bbm is working at the moment as well, although I will eventually have to turn my data off (it's also well past midnight Tokyo time).  But not to worry, Dad and I are ok, we are with Tomo-san right now and we're calming our nerves with some good old fashioned 'biru' (beer).  ;)

So re-cap of my day.  What a day.  Got up at 5:30am, checked our emails, blah blah blah, doesn't seem so important right now.  We were picked up by our tour bus at our hotel at 8:30 and we headed into the city for our half day tour.  We started in Shinagawa and drove up through the middle of Tokyo, saw the Tokyo Tower, Meiji Jingu Shrine, Imperial Palace front gates (the East Gardens are closed on Mondays and Fridays), and then to the Asakusa Kannon Temple and Nakamise Shopping Centre.  That's where we were when the quake hit.  Actually, Dad caught a picture of me the exact moment the ground started shaking...

 Ok so story behind this photo. We were in a little shop looking at the beeaaautiful kanzashi (hair ornaments) and Dad wanted to take a picture of me looking at them but before he could take it the building started to shake, it felt like there was a low flying plane going overhead, or a train going by right behind the shop.  It was loud, the walls were shaking, there was stuff falling off the shelves but nobody seemed to know what was going on.  So instead of getting a photo of me deep in thought, contemplating the beauty of the traditional Japanese hairpieces, he caught me making my "what the hell is that?" face.  Nice, eh?

All joking aside, it is scarier now that we know the full extent of what we experienced, but at the time it was just ... confusing.  We had no idea what was going on and neither did anyone else it seemed.  There were people crying and praying while the world shook around us, but there was no mass hysteria, there was no running and screaming, the Japanese are such an orderly and respectful race, they just held onto each other in the streets and waited until the ground stopped shaking, then they went around and consoled each other and continued on their way.  Store keepers picked up their fallen merchandise and tidied up their shops, restaurant owners swept their front stoops and straightened their signs, and everyone else immediately grabbed their phones and the streets were abuzz with the clicking of buttons.  Yes, clicking, not talking, I don't think I heard one raised voice or even crying babies.  Everything was orderly and methodical.  People walked on the left hand side of the sidewalks and let the opposing traffic go by on the right.  Buildings were evacuated and subways were shut down.  There were literally millions of people in the streets but the overall reaction seemed to be that of confusion and worry rather than panic and hysteria.

Video I took about 30 seconds into the quake by the time we realized what was going on.  This was the worst of it but it continued like this for at least another minute or two.  Aftershocks continued to roll in one after the other every 10 minutes or so, and they're still shaking the walls here at the hotel what, 9 hours later?

This is at Shinagawa Station, the big train station by our hotel, around 7:30pm.

They just seem to be walking back and forth, nobody knows where to go with all trains into and out of the city cancelled indefinitely.  They're making announcements in the stations that all trains are cancelled tonight and tomorrow's status is unknown.  People are sleeping in the station under newspapers, lining the stairs, walking back and forth just to stay warm.  The karaoke bars have lines out the door with people trying to book rooms to hang out in for the night.  All the bars are either closed or completely packed.  We went with a friend to an Izakaya restaurant that didn't have a lineup, and they told us it would be a 10 minute wait but there was one catch..... their gas lines have been turned off so they only have cold food.  We were starving and our hotel was still on lockdown, nobody allowed into their rooms so we decided to stay.  Had a lot of sashimi, cold salads, and an oden-type soup cooked in a hot pot right on the table.

We're busy interviewing with CityTV and CBC right now, stay tuned for photos and more when my heart stops pounding and the walls stop shaking.  Oh, and keep an eye out for Dawna cuz she's already been on tv from what I hear from friends back home.  I'm sad I'm missing that, haha!!

Love all of you, will keep you updated.  xoxo