(Ab)Normal

Going to the office today I observed a two things, one abnormal and one normal. The abnormal thing was long lines of cars waiting to get to the gas stations. Both along Meguro-dori just around the corner from where we live, and one gas station just a few blocks from my office in Shinagawa.



The normal thing that I observed is that people are getting ready for Sakura just as usual around this time of the year. Along Meguro-river there is usually a lot of light. This morning I saw that they are putting these lights up this year as well. It was nice to see, though I wonder how we will cope with the cyclic power outage. Maybe just put them up without lightening them? Anyway, it was a nice feeling to see something normal for once 🙂

Come to think of it, there was another thing that was normal… I was riding my bike to the office 😉

2 Bottles of Water & 1 Box of Kleenex

Chie went to the grocery store on her way home after work. To her surprise she found 1.5 liter water bottles in the shelves. Maybe the explanation was that they had introduced a limit of 2 bottles per person. They also had limits on tissues (Kleenex), 1 box per person. Milk and yoghurt, 1 liter of each per person.

There were also limits on toilet paper. 4 rolls per person. Though it seemed strange at first when I heard it as they usually come in packs of 12. The solution? Unpacked and sold 1 by 1.

Basically all things had limitation on how many or how much each person could buy, except meat, frozen food, vegetables and fruits.

Even with the limitations there were some food that were sold out, like rice, mochi (Japanese rice cake that gets sticky when heated), cup noodles, batteries, and bread. Seaweed was also sold out as some professor happened to mention on TV that it contains iodine so it protects somewhat agains some of the radiation (if you eat a ton of it?).

Chie also noted that the gas station in front of BALS Tokyo had opened again. The result? Cars lining up to buy a maximum of 20 liters per car. Even a police car was waiting on its turn to get their 20 liters.