Cleaning up after Typhoon Haiyan

It's hard to imagine anyone in the connected world who wasn't aware of "Super Typhoon" Haiyan ravaging the central Philippines earlier this month.  For far too many of us, hearing once again about the massive destruction and 10,000+ people killed by the storm seems like yesterday’s news.  Yet for the displaced survivors in Tacloban and other populated areas in the storm’s path, the devastating impact of this typhoon continues to be a reality of life.

Since I first blogged about this elsewhere, conditions in the region have been improving.  Relief efforts from organizations worldwide have reported promising news about the effective distribution of aid, the prevention of anarchy, a reduction in looting, a more productive political climate, and the general assistance of injured and displaced people.

Menchit Wong, the child advocacy director for Compassion International, shared an encouraging update about answered prayers and new requests last week.  And Eddie Viray, the national leader of the Church of God in the Philippines, also recorded a YouTube video recently detailing the ongoing needs of Church of God Ministries' relief efforts in the region.

For readers, I share these reports to remind us that we can support these relief efforts through our prayers and our giving.  Sending foreign supplies often isn’t a practical solution due to the logistics of on-site delivery, so monetary giving is most helpful.

The Church of God Disaster Relief Fund and Compassion International are both wonderful organizations whom I recommend supporting in their relief efforts.  Here are their contribution links:

Church of God Ministries:  http://www.chog.org/disaster-relief

Compassion International:

  

On a personal note, I am thankful that Typhoon Haiyan never came within 200 km of my friend Robert's hometown of Muntinlupa.  He was visiting the Philippines when the storm hit, and he and his family were mercifully unaffected by this disaster.  Robert enthusiastically assured me this morning that he is grateful for the outpouring of support for his home country.

Let's keep it coming!

Coming this weekend on Garth's Blog...

Yesterday's treacherously icy trail run

And later...

Posts about surfing, pumpkin patches, traveling to Spain with Lena, and our upcoming Hamilton family Thanksgiving!

Tokyo Drifting 3: Fleeing Sumida

CameraZOOM-20120612123724889_orig_1_Salomon.jpg, a photo by gkhamilton on Flickr.

The Tokyo tokkyū limited express train is a splurge. Good thing I’m made out of Yen, right?


At last… I present the breathless (for me, anyway) final hours of last month’s quick trip to Tokyo. Will this live up to the melodramatic teaser ending from my previous Tokyo Drifting 2: Senso-ji Temple post? Let’s pretend it will.



A friend from the journey recommended that I seek a peaceful contrast to my previous evening of Tokyo nightlife craziness. Sumida Park fit the bill.

In about four hours, my flight home to Portland would depart from Narita airport. Being mindful of the time, I followed up my tour of Senso-ji Temple with a walk down to the Sumida River. The nature park that stretched alongside the river banks would be a relaxing place to unwind before beginning my train connections to the airport.



A young Japanese gal rode up to me on her bicycle as I gazed at the flowers growing along the footpaths of Sumida Park. She must have assumed I was interested in the bike-friendly aspects of the area. We walked over to the specialized bicycle tire grooves carved into the stairway of a nearby underpass, and she enthusiastically demonstrated for me the ways of a seasoned recreational bicycler.


At some point, it finally dawned on me how long I had been standing there, struggling to understand her. In less than 10 minutes, my train was scheduled to depart from Asakusa Station. The problem: Ever since I left my capsule/hostel that morning, I had been walking AWAY from the direction of the train station.

I abruptly excused myself and began to run as though my life (or at least my job back home at Delta Airlines) depended on it. The beautiful scenery of the park blurred past as I frantically sprinted through it for several minutes. No way would I catch that train.



I leaped down the stairs of Asakusa station, clutching my small backpack and gasping for air. There was still time to catch a number of local trains to my next stop, but I had blown my connections to Narita airport. Painfully resisting my budget backpacker traveling sensibilities, I slapped down the big Yen at the kippu jidō hanbaiki kiosk to purchase a premium express train ticket, direct to Narita Airport.

The tokkyū limited express train [photo at top] sped to Narita Airport in just under an hour, which put me back on schedule.


My friend Kevin, flying home on standby from the Philippines, was waiting at the airport gate when I checked in for the nearly full flight. His boarding priority dwarfed mine. Despite shrewdly (or foolishly) using one of my S-3 low priority seating requests I was assigned one of the last seats in the Business Elite cabin before the flight doors closed, with Kevin and I onboard.

After nearly 3 days overseas with virtually no sleep, I flew home from Tokyo in Delta's Business Elite cabin. Somehow the traditional Japanese meal course that I ordered on the flight home managed to be even better (Fresher ingredients from Japan? More irradiated?) than the one I ate on the flight over to Tokyo.

With a belly full of French caviar, crab, scallop quenelle, grilled chicken, cod roe, wasabi tofu, and marinated tuna… I slept.


Bonus pic:
On Kathy's birthday, Lena plays with the Japanese toy I bought for her in Tokyo’s Nakamise-dori street fair. I hope that Lena will come along with me for my next visit to Asia this year.


Lena can pick out her own souvenir toy next time!