Greetings from Thailand!

Totally pooped so not going to write much tonight but wanted to let everyone know that we've arrived safely in Thailand. Crazy to think that my 6 month old daughter has had her passport stamped in Japan, China, and now Thailand in just a matter of days! The kids were really good on the flight and Thai Air was lovely. Surprisingly, we've run into two other families that we knew in Tokyo (one that we actually knew, the other we had just seen at the American Club though we've now introduced ourselves to them). Apparently we weren't the only ones thinking Phuket might be a good place to lay low for a bit. It's absolutely beautiful down here and our hotel is really nice. We have enough room to spread out and I'm so glad to have a kitchen. Can't wait to explore the place more tomorrow, and to try and get the kids back on some sort of routine. Andrew took Connor to the pool this afternoon and we ate our weight in Thai green curry for dinner tonight (big curry fans over here). The news out of Tokyo as you've seen is just nauseating. The Japanese have suffered so much already. When is it going to start to get better?! I wish I knew more about nuclear energy and how its produced so I could better understand just what the H is going on. We know with certainly now that we'll be coming home to NYC soon, just trying to decide when and what our flight plan should be (connect through Singapore and do a 17 hour straight from there vs. try and break it up elsewhere). Hmm.

Andrew gets the hero award for getting us out when he did by the way. We were among the first of anyone we knew to leave. We felt like we might have been over-reacting at the time (its gotten a whole lot worse since then) but wanted to play it safe. Now people are having to wait days to get out, as so many people are trying to leave at once. I am so thankful to Andrew and his quick thinking.

As always, thanks for thinking of us- and for sending us messages, emails, comments, etc. It's really helped to know we have so many routing for us back home!

The Asia Tour Continues

The news coming out of Japan has been insane. I just can't believe that it continues to get worse and worse. Connor told us tonight that he really, really wants to go home to Tokyo. What do we even tell him? He loved it there so much. We all did. We are just filled with such immense sadness right now. We continue to hope and pray like crazy for our beloved Japan.

Things here in Hong Kong have been interesting. It's definitely a city worth seeing but wow could I never live here! I'm so shocked at how much pollution there is. Connor comes in literally filthy after playing outside each day. You can hardly see the skyline because of all the pollution! It's very hustle and bustle here, way more so than in Tokyo. Lots of people on cell phones- constantly wheeling and dealing. Our cab driver today no lie had five cell phones velcro-ed to his dash board and spoke on three of them during our drive. It's just so different from Tokyo (and not in a good way). It makes us miss Tokyo that much more. Not much of a surprise, but we haven't felt up to doing anything very touristy. Yesterday afternoon we came back to the hotel (we had gone to the IFC mall that morning) and Connor and Mason (the Kraus's son who is 2) had a BLAST playing on the "grassy knoll" behind the hotel (we laughed to keep calling it that). We're staying at a hotel close to the airport so it was a great site to watch the huge airplanes take off. They ran around chasing each other for at least two hours, then used their shoes and an empty water bottle as a ball to play catch with (guess that goes to show kids don't really need actual toys after all!) While the kids played us adults polished off many beers and tried to hash out just what the heck we were going to do next. It's funny how a good buzz (or in Andrew's case- basically hammered) can help you to think clearly. We know we don't want to stay in Hong Kong, and we especially know we can't stay here in this small hotel room for much longer before going crazy-- certainly not until we feel comfortable enough to return to Tokyo. And we feel like its just too soon to pull the trigger and go back to the US. Two reasons- 1, once we get home there's very little likelihood we're coming back. It's just too much. The flights themselves, the jetlag, the upheaval, the complete change of routines, the new living situations-- its just too much, particularly on the kids. I mean our sea shipment of stuff just arrived last week for goodness sake! And us going home then sets in motion a whole bunch of stuff we're not ready to deal with yet (what's to come of Andrew's job, how to get our stuff, realizing we're really saying goodbye to a life, home and country we were loving so much, etc). And 2 (what feels like a biggie right now), we're just totally exhausted. No one is sleeping well and I seriously wonder if I'll ever be able to sleep well again. My heart and mind feel like they weigh 1,000 lbs. Poor Connor wants to sleep with the lights on and constantly to hold my hand. It was seriously scary stuff guys, seriously scary! And we think Leyla might be teething. Or maybe she's just stressed cause she senses that we are. Who knows. But its been a really rough couple of days and nights on my usually awesome sleeping bunch. It's a 16 hour flight back to NYC from here (yes- SIXTEEN), which will be followed by a week of terrible jetlag. Then once we get home we have to go into action mode and re-buy everything- car seats, high chair, stroller, food, clothes, baby supplies, etc. And we just feel like if we were to try and tackle all that right now we really might snap. So instead we're leaving for Phuket, Thailand tomorrow morning. It's only a 3 hour flight from here. We're basically taking the vacation that we had planned for May now instead. This will allow us to rest and recharge a bit (and think!) and have some fun with the kids (they could really use it!) We'll stay on top of the news out of Tokyo and if we think after a week or two things have settled down enough for us to return then we will. Unfortunately I see the likelihood of that as being extremely slim but like I said, we're just not ready to get on that plane home yet. Today we went back to the mall and I picked up the basic vacation necessities- bathing suits and some warm weather clothes for us all, sunglasses for me, etc. Hopefully we can get anything else we'll need there. We'll have a 2 bedroom villa there with a kitchen, washer/dryer etc so we can easily set up shop there for a bit.

Oh and the Krauses have already left for Noelle's parents house in CA where they will stay until they figure out their next move. But they're pretty sure that's it for them and Tokyo. Again, so sad.

Here's a couple iphone pic from our travels over the last few days.

In the van on the way to Osaka airport.

At the Osaka airport. Like I said, the Japanese love them some white babies! We layed Leyla and Ellery (the Kraus's 3 month old daughter) down on a blanket together and they seriously caused a scene!


Connor sleeping on the flight to HK. All that morning we had been telling Connor that we were going on a big adventure that day (planes, trains, and automobiles!) As we were starting to land in HK Connor says to me "Mommy when is the big adventure going to start?" I said "Dude- you're on it- its called your life!" This kid's life has just been so nuts!

Connor checking out the scene. You can barely make out the skyline in the background because of all the pollution. Absolutely could not imagine raising kids here!

Plotting our next move in the grassy knoll.

Playing in the flowers.

Leyla modeling her new Hello Kitty bathing suit!

That's the update for now!

Hello Hong Kong!

We are safe and sound in Hong Kong! On the train to Osaka we were scrambling trying to get flights out. It was funny (not in a haha way of course) to hear Andrew call travel agencies saying "We just need your earliest available flight somewhere, we do not care where." Andrew's company was working on it back home but had been unable to find anything. Andrew's brother was able to get us on a flight the next day to Manilla, Philippines that we could then connect to Singapore. At one point Andrew's company had us tentatively booked on a flight that night to Bangkok. And then miraculously, at the 11th hour, we had a flight leaving almost immediately for Hong Kong. In business class no less, holy cow! We were so unbelievably lucky. The train and even Osaka airports were very calm (the Japanese are extremely orderly by nature) and it was mostly foreigners trying to leave. Most of my expat friends left as well, more are leaving today. Everyone just wants to play it safe.

My packing was funny. When we left we weren't sure how many days we'd be stuck in Osaka before we could get out and the state that things would be in during that time. We only took a few bags with us, anticipating packed trains. My bags were mostly filled with food, medical supplies and diapers and stuff for the kids. So here we are in Hong Kong now and I don't even have a hair brush. Andrew has just gone downstairs to try and find me one. He told me I look like I could seriously use a shower ;) I wasn't alone in my packing strategy. Some of the other expats we were talking to on the train had things like radiation masks, water filters (in case the water supply became contaminated), food, and medical supplies. So I wasn't totally nuts!

We don't know what our next move will be. I think we'll try and hang here for several days, keep on top of the news, and figure out where we'll go next. We received the following message from Connor's school:

Dear Parents,

I just found an information that was written by Kishocho(Japan Meterological Agency) last night, on 13th.

According to them, there is a higher chance that we will have an another strong shake(seismic Intensity scale 6 ) soon.

The last one we experienced was Scale 5. Their website said:

Estimating from the occurrence of aftershock so far, the possibility of aftershocks with magnitude of 7 or higher is 70% until 10 a.m., 16 March, followed by 50% until 10 a.m., 19 March.

Please stay safe. I will call the government tomorrow and find our more information.

The Japanese scale is different from ours so basically they are concerned that there will be an aftershock even bigger than what has already hit. So hell no are we going back there anytime soon! The friends that we are traveling with will be returning to the US this week, they do not intend ever to return to Tokyo. It's very sad.

Another time when I have my sense of humor back I might smile back on how I accidentally packed a knife (to make Connor's peanut butter and jelly!) in my carry on bag and had to be pulled aside to be questioned by the Japanese authorities. For a few minutes there I was so afraid I wouldn't be allowed to join my family on our flight out of Japan!

While very relieved, we were also immensely sad leaving Japan. We felt like we were abandoning them. While NO ONE is deserving of such a horrific tragedy, the Japanese are far and away the kindest, most respectful, most welcoming, hardest working working people I've ever met. It's just so hard to see something like that happen there. I don't think I will ever be able to understand. I heart Japan so much. We will be back. Just not right now.

Once we get cleaned up we're off to explore Hong Kong (and get Mama some new clothes and other things I forgot to pack). I've always wanted to visit here (under different circumstances of course) and we actually have several friends living here right now. I'm shocked at how hazy it is here. And its much warmer than we were used to- its in the low 70's right now.

Thank you SO MUCH again for thinking and praying for us. This has been the most insane couple days of our life for sure! We are 100% fine (better than fine!) and after a couple years of therapy I should be right back to my old self again for sure- because if you hadn't noticed, I lost my mind somewhere over the weekend... ;)

On a much, much, much lighter note, Happy 6 month birthday to my precious baby girl. What a way to ring it in! She just took her first real "up on all fours" crawling steps on the floor or our hotel room floor. Way to go baby girl!

One last before we go.

Taxi coming to pick us up in 30 mins, our bags are packed and we are ready to go. We tried to take as much low weight, high calorie foods with us as possible. Connor is excited for the big shinkansen train just like in his "Things that Go" book. He's bringing his toy shinkansen (bullet train) with him. And Puppy of course. We're trying to keep things light, even though Andrew and I (especially me) are absolutely terrified.

We still do not have flights from Osaka but again, think its our best bet airport wise for availability. Thinking we might try for Okinawa if we can't get to HK, there's a huge military base there.

I didn't want the last picture on here before we go to be of a silly car so here's one of the kids. If it weren't for them we'd probably stay here and ride this thing out but we're doing what we think (and pray) is best for them. All I've ever wanted is to protect them, my most beautiful babies. The greatest joys I've ever known.

Huge aftershock and my hands are shaking as I'm typing this. Lots of prayers people, we really, really need them. Much love to all. Will keep you posted!

Update

So we really are heading to Osaka this morning (by bullet train). It's a 3 hour ride I think. Please note that getting on a bullet train while these aftershocks are still continuing does not sound appealing in any way but we're feeling a little desperate. We're not sure where we'll be flying to from there (Andrew's company is working on it, they've been really wonderful)- they've just been given instructions to get us out of here- we'll go anywhere, just until things settle down a bit. There's really no available flights anywhere right now, as many people are starting to try to leave. We figure being in Osaka rather than Tokyo when the masses of people begin leaving will help. We'll be traveling with Andrew's American co-worker Jim, his wife Noelle and their two young kids (ages 2 and 3 months). Andrew's other remaining American co-worker Tom has a Japanese girlfriend now and he doesn't want to leave her or her mother. He's been staying with them outside of Tokyo. I think here will probably be the best place to keep people updated as to where we're ultimately headed but I'm not sure what our internet capabilities are going to be going forward. Please continue to keep us in your thoughts and prayers, as well as all of Japan!

Still Here

It's been a rough, emotional day. I sat down to write exactly what went down around here yesterday but I'm too emotionally exhausted and not sure I'm quite ready to go there just yet. It was terrifying. And yet nothing compared to the images and footage we've all seen on tv of the tsunami in Miyagi prefecture. Here we've experienced something like 150+ aftershocks (many at the beginning were 6.0+) since the big one which as you can imagine, has been ridiculous. ENOUGH ALREADY! We're trying to keep brave faces for Connor. When he went down for his nap this afternoon he wanted me to sleep in the other bed in his room (he's not needed me to do that before). He said "Mommy that way if the walls start shaking again while I'm sleeping you can make it stop?" I almost cried. We're watching the same news updates as you all at home (mostly CNN via Slingbox- thank you Jensens!) so you basically know as much as us. Of immediate concern is the recent nuclear explosion which again, you know as much as us. It's still something like 160 miles away from us but they keep widening the area of evacuation surrounding the vicinity. We're now exploring the idea of getting the hell out of dodge but not sure if that's even a possibility. All airports in Tokyo are still shut down. Andrew's like "well we could drive to Osaka, hop a flight to Hong Kong and then to the US." Oh goodness. In the meantime, just trying to keep calm and carry on. Andrew's been doing a great job of that, me- not so much ;) But the bottom line- we are all fine. We have power, internet, phone, etc and in our immediate vicinity its almost business as usual although everyone is still very on edge. We even ordered pizza for dinner tonight, I feel like that was a good sign!

As I said on Facebook as well, I can't thank everyone enough for the far reaching messages of love and prayers that have been sent our way, they are beyond appreciated. This is the scariest thing we've ever been through for sure. God bless the people of Japan.

We're ok!

There was a 8.9 earthquake here around 3pm this afternoon. It was horrible. Several big aftershocks that followed too. It was nap time (they both were woken up from the shaking). But we were here at home. The most shaking I've ever felt, and we're only on the 1st floor of our building. Andrew was on the 27th floor of his building which was evacuated. He sprinted (several miles) home, which probably wasn't the smartest thing but I'm so glad he's here. We're trying to figure out if it's safest to stay here or head for higher ground. Apparently there's been a tsunami and there could be more. But we're all here and ok. More to come.