I’m safe and well, but natural disasters have followed me around on this trip, beginning with Typhoon Ketsana (105 MPH), which was heading for Vietnam at the same time I was trying to leave Bangkok to get to Saigon. Ketsana dumped more rain on Metro Manila than ever (since record keeping), 18 inches in first 24 hours, killing more than 360 in three countries.
Then on September 29, I experienced a tsunami alert in Hong Kong reacting to the Samoa earthquake (8.0) and tsunami, where the death toll approached 200. On to Seoul on September 30, where another West Sumatra earthquake (7.9), struck, killing more than a thousand.
This was followed in early October by Typhoon Parma (150 MPH), where, while fewer than 20 perished, the storm kept lingering around North Luzon for days, coming and going three times, dropping up to 40 inches of rain. Parma is still alive, should strengthen and head for Hainan. All through this October period has been the East Indian flood, killing more than 300, with millions still homeless.
October 8 was the most exciting of all, as Super Typhoon Melor (165 MPH, but only a Category 1 when it struck near Nagoya) rushed through Honshu, inconveniencing 3 million commuters in Tokyo and killing, maybe, 3. If I had not returned a day earlier, I would have been stranded at a train station last night.
Finally, while Melor was causing havoc in Japan, there were four earthquakes today (7.8, 7.7 and 7.3 off Vanuatu and 6.7 off the Philippines). There was also an earthquake jiggling Japan and a couple of tornadoes triggered by Melor.
Anyway, as my blog yesterday indicated, I somehow completely missed the whole thing. As I said to Chisako Takeuchi today:
I guess one is never satisfied. Here, I return safely to the Tokyo Westin, and am "disappointed" because Typhoon Melor missed Tokyo almost entirely. Now Melor, Ketsana and Felicia have approached me since August, but somehow, all managed to avoid me, thankfully.
This is a photo of Mt. Fuji from my room after the typhoon, followed by two shots of my recent meals:
The Mac meal with beer cost about $6 (so high, only because the french fries were not on the list of 100 yen items) with the drink coming free from the Executive Club. This exact same beer can if drunk from my room refrig would have cost $10. The Westin Japanese breakfast was also free because it came with the room. You will note something missing...chopsticks.
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The Dow Jones Industrials climbed 61 to 9787, with world markets mostly up and the Japanese Nikkei at 9922. Gold is up to the highest daily closing price ever, $950/toz, while crude oil is at $71/barrel.
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There are three storms in the West Pacific and two in the Atlantic, but none seems all that dangerous at this time.
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