a slightly more private status update

been staying home all day. in fact for the past few days. supposedly glued to the tv for news on the earthquake. but as a matter of fact, I am not really following every single bit of info coz they are fairly repetitive. a few quick ones that I just want to rant:

life goes on. i was jogging on sunday, 2 days after it happened, with lots of feelings of danger and stuff, but i still went out for a jog anyway, partly also to 'survey' the surroundings rather than just get all the info from the news. as i was running, i was reminded that the sakura season is round the corner. life goes on isnt it. not that the sakura wont blossom because of the national tragedy. i wonder how this years sakura season, with all the hanami and supposed happy celebrations would turn out for Japan. for an outsider who has not experienced this all his life, i was half thinking that its part of the way of life for Japanese for all such natural disasters. after all, it is probably the most hit, most prepared and probably most used to country for such stuff. but yet, I sense that I am wrong. that it obviously is not a daily, annual, or even whatever close to what I am assuming. many have told me they have never experienced disaster to this extent. perhaps some of the previous memories have stayed on, but it probably was the previous generation who still remembered the previous big one which happened in Kobe in the 1990s, and of course, the region is totally different. but the bottom line is, life goes on. when a price tag is finally estimatable on this disaster, Japan will and is expected to move on from there. it might be usd 100 bil, which was the previous figure for the great Hanshin earthquake, but i suspect it might be more this time, with the tsunami, although it hit a less populous area in the tohoku area and northern Kanto area.

in the past few days, I've received countless mails, facebook msgs, sms, anyway way of contact that could reach me. i've even been approached several times by media who wants interviews, reports on the situation in tokyo. some of my family have urged me to consider going back to singapore for time being in fear of many of the situation here, especially the risk of the nuclear meltdown. to be honest, it feels good to be this remembered. it reminded me of how my dad has really gone into that stage where he is cherishing his loved ones. yet, regretably and ironically, I have not received any contact from Mum.