I survived 3 disasters in 24 hours

MANILA, Philippines - March 14, Monday morning. It’s been three days after the great Japan earthquake. I am in a hotel room typing on Google: “What to do in case of a nuclear disaster.”I had just survived the great earthquake.

At intensity 9.0, it is the biggest earthquake in Japan and one of the top three earthquakes in recorded world history. I had also just survived the threat of a tsunami, having been only a few meters away from the sea. But what is getting me the most worried now is the threat of a nuclear fallout reminiscent of the days of the Cold War and the movie Terminator starring Arnold Schwarzenegger.

I ask the hotel concierge rather sheepishly where I can buy one of those yellow suits that Homer Simpson wears on his way to work at the Springfield Nuclear Plant. She gives me a nervous smile back but doesn’t answer.

Flashback. Friday, March 11, 2 p.m. My 11-year-old daughter Carina, my wife Karen and I were on the Disney monorail on our way to Disney Sea. It was going to be a magical Disney day. We were officially on a break from the annual Concepcion Industries shareholders meeting that was held in Tokyo just the day before. All 40 members of the Concepcion clan representing three branches and three generations were present for our annual planning as well as family bonding. Friday was our day off and the clan was scattered all over Japan. Some went to Disney Sea; some went on a tour of Mt. Fuji, while the rest were in various parts of Metro Tokyo.

The great earthquake — everyone is calmly seated on the floor.

Then at about 2:14 p.m. the ground shook.

At first I said, “Hey this is cool, there is an earthquake” But then I started to become concerned when the ground started to sway more violently for four minutes. It felt like the rocking of a boat amid strong waves and if you did not go with the flow you would certainly be toppled off your feet. Then it happened again. And then yet again. It was relentless.

Like endless waves of kamikaze dive-bombers attacking Pearl Harbor. It just kept going on and on and on. It got dark all of a sudden, there was a slight drizzle and then it became very windy.

At one point it felt like 2012, like the end of the world had come upon us. Was this the wrath of God? Or was this the latest Disney theme ride?

We were lucky to be in the open area of Disney Sea and so we were safe. I was just waiting for the fake volcano to collapse or one of the many chandeliers to fly out of Sleeping Beauty’s Castle along with one of the Seven Dwarfs. My thoughts immediately went out to my dad, Raul Concepcion, who was alone in the hotel room on the 19th floor. He later told me that when the earthquake struck he just stayed in his room, took a Valium, drank his favorite Bombay gin and slept it out. That’s how cool my dad is when the world is about to end.

We were not so lucky, however. We were trapped inside Disney Sea. All means of transport were cut off. We were marooned with Mickey Mouse! We took the risk and got out of the safety of Disney Sea in search of one of the five hotels located outside the park before it got dark. It was a leap of faith and it was only when we got out of the complex did we see the horrible scale of the damage. Sidewalks were cracked. Streets were flooded. There was mud and silt all over brought about by liquefaction, when ground water is forcibly pushed out into the surface.

We were, after all, on reclaimed land!

Pristine and orderly Japan all of sudden looked like a scene from Ondoy.  I saw two Filipinas hoping to get some comfort but instead they freaked me out when they said the word “Tsunami!” It was then that I realized — Oh my God, Disney Sea! Sea = water and water + earthquake = tsunami!

I was so engrossed and shaken by the earthquake that the thought of a tsunami never crossed my mind. Now my eyes turned skyward looking for the tallest structures that we could run to in case of a tsunami.

Drinks and hot food are offered for free to refugees, like Karen and Carina Concepcion, who sought shelter at a hotel.

We finally made it to the Disney Ambassador Hotel where we camped out by the entrance to shield ourselves from the bitter cold with temperatures fast dropping to 5 degrees Celsius. The place looked like a refugee camp with people sitting on every square inch of the hotel lobby. Yet it was clean, quiet, peaceful and orderly. There were still very strong aftershocks and we found ourselves running outside of the hotel over a dozen times. I thought to myself, “When will this end?”

It had been four hours since the big one and I was still feeling earthquakes of at least intensity 6.0 every 10 minutes! It was like the earth’s crust broke free and we were now on a bumpy wild riverboat ride that was out of control. The aftershocks were so strong that this would instantly make headline news in the Philippines on any ordinary day. We would continue to feel these aftershocks all the way up to our departure for Manila four days after the earthquake.

Since the Disney Ambassador Hotel was full, I had to leave my family and venture into the unknown to look for a hotel to stay the night.  Hotel after hotel was filled with refugees and were fully booked. It was only while lining up for a hotel at the Hilton that I first saw on television the horrendous images of the tragedy that had just struck Japan. I saw black water like a monster from the sea devouring rice fields and everything in its path as far as 10 kilometers inland. This could happen to me here, too!

The news pointed out that I was in an area that was under a red alert tsunami warning. That’s when the Hilton told me that there was no room after lining up for almost an hour! My heart slumped but I never gave up. The last hotel was the Sheraton Tokyo Bay. This was closest to the sea. I heard the Jaws movie theme playing in my head. Instead of a shark attacking me it would be a tsunami eating me up. Yet something inside me told me that I would be able to find a room there.

Success! There was a room and I made sure that it was high enough to avoid a tsunami. I never was so happy to get my room keys. Now I just had to walk five kilometers back to pick up Carina and Karen at the Disney Ambassador Hotel amid the bitter cold, darkness and the earthquake-ravaged streets while hoping that I could run fast enough to outrun a tsunami with Tokyo Bay just a stone’s throw away! Finally, my marathon training could be put to good use! This was all wishful thinking, of course.

The hotel lobby at the Disney Ambassador Hotel: There were still very strong aftershocks and we found ourselves running outside of the hotel over a dozen times. I thought to myself, “When will this end?”

We finally settled in at the hotel but the aftershocks were so strong that we had to run down the fire escape from the 11th floor twice. Carina and Karen were so traumatized that they ended up sleeping in the lobby of the hotel just like the others who were refugees inside the hotel. I was too tired to do that and just updated my Facebook status with my contact details on the hotels public Internet café and went off to my room to get some sleep.

That’s when I received frantic telephone calls from my Tita Marivic, my Tito Jocon and cousin Bernie to rescue his sister Michelle who was trapped inside Disney Sea. My cousin Vina picked up on my Facebook status post and that’s how they found me, as the cellular network was busy. It was now 2 a.m. and Disney Sea was about six kilometers away.

It was an hour’s walk beside a sea wall that would certainly not be enough to protect against a tsunami. But the biggest challenge was how do I explain to personnel to allow me inside as very few people speak English at Disney Sea. I asked the concierge, Takayuki Katana, to write in Japanese to explain that I came to rescue my “sister.”

I got the note, packed a few Mickey Mouse crackers I had bought earlier for dinner in case Michelle was hungry, said goodbye to my family and was off to go save Michelle. That’s when a Good Samaritan came in. It turns out Katana told the front desk manager, Hisashi Oinuma, about my dire situation and offered me a ride to Disney Sea! I could not believe it. He was like an angel sent from above. I felt warmth of God smiling upon me on a cold dark bitter night.

Toppled bikes all over the streets.

 We were off to pick up Michelle in a nice heated car with comfortable leather seats and it was not long till I saw her with husband Eric and daughter Kayla packed like sardines on the restaurant floor. I excitedly and frantically waved at them. I wanted to shout, “Let’s go! Let’s go!” But the place was so quiet and my thoughts went to those that could not leave and had to stay the night. I felt like an American G.I. in the play Miss Saigon rescuing people on a very limited space on the helicopter.

Michelle’s family was one of the lucky ones to get a seat.  Michelle and Eric at first seemed startled but the thought that they were truly rescued with a nice warm room waiting for them brought a smile to their faces.

Michelle and I were the last ones to be reunited with the rest of the clan in Tokyo. All of the family members had harrowing but funny stories to tell.

We came to Japan for a family bonding experience and we got more than we asked for. The entire clan rallied together to make sure that everyone was okay and accounted for. Our Blackberries and Facebook proved to be our lifeline. Everyone was calm, brave and strong and that got us through the crisis as a family.

The big story, however, is about the amaz-ing Japanese people. Throughout this un-precedented crisis of an earthquake, tsu-nami, nuclear crisis, blizzards, floods, power outages and food shortage, the Japanese people have remained calm, disciplined and dignified.  They have such a strong sense of community. It was not kanya-kanya but everyone helping out each other whether family or stranger. There was no palakasan. Everything was organized as a result of having an emergency plan and constant drilling exercises.

  To the Japanese, every human life is valuable. You can see this respect of the dead in media as they do not show decaying bodies or people wailing in hysteria — images the Philippine media would just love to show.

Water oozing out of the ground as we were on reclaimed land.

 There are many acts of kindness and many Good Samaritans whose names we shall never know. The Japanese with whom my daughter shared two crackers with and ended up being reciprocated with a tray filled with food. The hotels that gladly let strangers into their hotel lobby and gave them blankets, water and hot food. And, of course, the manager who drove me in the middle of the night to save my cousin. These are just some examples of the kindness and generosity of the Japanese that we shall forever be grateful for.

 It truly is inspiring to see the nobleness of a people and the greatness of a country shine at the time it is needed the most. It is so heartwarming to see the innate goodness of human nature that is in all of us. Hopefully it does not take a record-breaking earthquake to jolt us to bring out the best that we can be for each other.