Typhoon Part 2

I fought the Typhoon...... and the Typhoon won.

I bow down in humility to Japanese Typhoons. Wow. Motorbikes are sent flying, branches are knocked off trees, windows smashed in, trains knocked on their side. All of Japan comes to a standstill; every bit of transport is cancelled, all shops close down immediately, (except for 7-11's of course, nothing closes those badgers, they just board up the windows and carry on regardless), roads are closed off, it was quite something. It was slightly unnerving, in that we were driving back from Fukuoka yesterday with a car full of food, driving with the petrol gauge on E for empty, and not able to find any petrol station open at 6pm. We were stuck in gridlock traffic, as everybody was desperately trying to get back to Honshue (the island I live on), so everytime the queue moved Laura and I got out of the car (to face the wind and the rain) and pushed!!!

After the Typhoon had blasted it's way through Shimonoseki leaving everybody bewildered, the only signs of it's presence are the small branches sweeping across all the paths and poor little bikes all on their sides, plant pots scattered everywhere, and knocked over signs all about the place. If you're worried about Merida, it's ok, she's safe and sound on the 5th Floor outside my flat. There was no way she was going to end up in the bushes.

However, at about 1am, Leanne was convinced the worst of it was over (ie, the howling whistling wind that could have given Wuthering Heights a run for its money had stopped rattling and shaking all the windows), and she proceeded to take us back out in the car, to speak to road safety dudes manning the roads to ask them where we could get self service petrol. And did we find it? Of course we did! This girl is truly dedicated to the "got any techno" cause. So with the tank filled up, we drove ourselves back over to the other island, for the last 2 hours of the night.

The challenge itself was worth it.