Rumbling and Shaking Through the 2nd Half of My Asia Trip

After a great few days at work and several solid workouts in Hong Kong, I was ready to see what the HK nightlife had to offer.  My flight to Tokyo was Wednesday morning so Tuesday night was my last chance to have some fun in HK. 

A girl on my team took me to Lan Kwai Fong (LKF) which is a really cool and famous area for nightlife.  The weather was pretty terrible (rainy, foggy, and chilly) and it was a Tuesday so there wasn’t much going on but it was awesome to see.  There are lots of bars and clubs on hillsides and they shut the area down from cars and other traffic on the weekend.  It’s basically just a huge indoor/outdoor party.  My drink of choice for the evening?  Stella of course!  It always reminds me of being in NYC.  That beer is taking over the world.  

At one bar I overheard a couple of Aussies having a discussion about Ian Thorpe.  Many of you swimming fans may remember “The Thorpedo.”  He is an Australian swimmer that won a bunch of Golds and set several world records at the 2000 and 2004 Olympics but retired from swimming in 2006.  Well, apparently after he watched Michael Phelps win 8 Golds in 2008, he got the itch for a comeback.  He hasn’t swum competitively for 6 years and is now trying to make the Australian Olympic team in the 200m and 100m.  He was 21 when he won in 2004 and is 29 now…looks like he is opting for his own version of the Schmeis35for35…I’ll call it the ThorpedoLaunchfor29. 

Hearing all the swimming talk made me decide to wake up the next morning at 6am and do an 800 meter (1/2 mile) swim for time.  Note to self, time trials the morning after having drinks probably isn’t a great idea.  I ended up doing pretty well with a time of 14:20 and could have definitely pushed it more.  I was pleased overall though as my pace for the entire half mile was as good as my best pace for half that distance from a few weeks ago.  Progress is definitely motivating.  Plus, I was glad to squeeze in one last cold swim in the 70 degree outside pool at my hotel when the air temp was only 55…great mental toughness training.  After freezing my ass off in the pool, it was off to Tokyo. 

Tokyo, Japan

I think being from the United States makes us think that once you’re in Asia you must be really close to every country, but it was still a 4 hour flight from HK to Tokyo.  I watched Bridesmaids on the way which I heard was great from a lot of people.  I will no longer be friends with those people.

After arriving at Narita airport, I still had a 1.5 hour drive to the Hilton hotel in Shinjuku…a neighborhood in Tokyo.  The drive was interesting and it makes you quickly realize that Japan is really another world.  English is not widely spoken and many signs are only in Japanese.  It was obvious that it was going to be much more difficult here than Kuala Lumpur and Hong Kong had been from an English standpoint.

One of the first things that stood out was all the people wearing face masks.  I’d say ~15-20% of the people wore them from what I saw.  One of the more hilarious things I’ve seen in awhile was some guy smoking a cig while his mask was pulled to the side.  Can you say ironic? 

I’m pretty sure this would be like a guy walking around 24 hours a day with a condom on and only deciding to take it off when having sex.  Think about that one for a sec…I think my disturbing analogy is actually pretty accurate!

The other funny thing about the masks is that people tend to not wear them indoors.  I really don’t get the logic of wearing it when you’re walking around outside with great circulation of air but not inside where the circulation sucks.  I guess the air quality is that poor.  I’m also not sure I get the cost/benefit analysis of the masks.  Let’s say, for argument sake, that wearing the mask makes you less sick for 3 days out of the year (that seems generous by the way).  Even if that were true, is it really worth wearing it 365 days for that benefit?  I think one variable that would need to be factored in is how good looking you are.  Clearly the uglier you are, the more sense the masks make.  Also clearly, my face is far too pretty to hide behind a mask…

Anyway, I got to the hotel around 7pm and checked into my room on the 27^th floor.  I was absolutely exhausted so ended up flipping mindlessly through channels on the TV before bed.  It seemed on most channels, the only thing I could find was continuous coverage of the insane Earthquake and tsunami footage from 2011.  Almost a year ago to the day was the monster 9.0 quake that hit Japan…this was the anniversary.

Unbelievably, I fell asleep around 9pm my first night in Japan and was woken shortly after by my room shaking violently.  The glass of water by my bedside table fell to the floor and a loud rumbling filled the air.  I tried to stand up and realized the entire Hilton was literally swaying back and forth to the point it was difficult to stand.  It was an Earthquake…and a big one. 

My room was on the 27^th floor with a view overlooking Tokyo.  It had full wall windows and I was staring out to the city as the Hilton was rocking back and forth.  I could clearly hear screaming from around the hotel…people were freaking out.  Now, I’ve been in several earthquakes before and they’ve got my attention, but I’ve never felt threatened.  This time was completely different…I was petrified.

The swaying and shaking literally went on for over 3 minutes.  If that doesn’t seem like much, count to 180 slowly while being several hundred feet in the air thinking the building you’re in is going to collapse…let me know what 3 minutes feels like then.  I didn’t know whether to try to make it out of the building, somehow find cover, or what.  Getting in an elevator didn’t seem like a great idea but the thought of trying to run down 27 flights of stairs didn’t make much sense either.  I was basically just frozen. 

Finally, it all stopped.  Silence was followed by the sound of sirens a few seconds later.  I don’t get easily freaked out by anything (one of my self-proclamations is that I would be the world’s greatest Fear Factor competitor) but this did it.  It scared me…a lot. 

I can’t even imagine what the quake and tsunami the year before must have been like.  Remember, this was almost 1 year to the day after the Japan quake that a 9.0.  Many scientists are predicting another huge one in the next 3 to 4 years in the area…who knows when that will come.  I later found out that this was a 6.9.  That is a ridiculously big earthquake for sure but nothing compared to the 9.0.   

I went back to bed with my heart seemingly beating faster than it does even on my most difficult runs or swims.  I couldn’t sleep.  I lied flat on my back staring at the ceiling.  I had no blackberry reception so couldn’t call anyone.  It literally shook me up.  After not being able to sleep, I ended up just going down to the gym at 4:30am and riding the stationary bike for 25 miles…crazy boring but I figured I may as well get something accomplished since I couldn’t sleep. 

A few hours later I made it to the office.  The #2 guy at Amex was also scheduled to visit the Japan center that day on the corporate jet.  He cancelled last minute due to earthquake but I still went ahead with everything.  When I got to the office, many people were talking about it.  After the quake last year, Amex now provides all Japan employees with hard hats and a first aid kit that has several days of water and other supplies.  Everyone keeps this at their desk…jeez.

Anyway, I had a great 2 days meeting people who I’ve worked with by phone and email many times before.  One thing that was clear to me though is just how little many of them are likely getting from big phone meetings in English.  Seeing their faces, they clearly can’t follow the conversation but they obviously do better than I would do in Japanese.  Case and point:  for lunch one day I walked to a restaurant, sat down, and was handed a menu 100% in Japanese with no pictures.  Ummm, yeah.  I decided the best move was to just get up and walk out…throwing darts at a Japanese menu to select my meal didn’t seem like a good strategy.

Finally, I’m on the plane back home.  Despite an Earthquake, language barriers, being exhausted from 2 weeks of travel, and having a hectic schedule, I still managed to stay on track with all my workouts.  I ended up hitting it hard on 11 or the 13 days of my trip which is likely what I would have done at home as well.  I plan to do my first Sprint Triathlon on April 14 and then have the huge Half Ironman with my brother on May 5.

I’m definitely on track with everything with my only concern still being my knees on the run.  But hey, if this Asia trip and earthquake didn’t stop me, it’s hard for me to imagine that anything will.

It’s good to be home,

Schmeis