H1N1 Influenza getting its toll in Japan

I have decided to keep an outline for the H1N1 Influenza happening within Japan. The speed that the virus is spreading is exceptionally fast and masks are almost out of stock from the stores. As more and more people are moving around Japan to avoid infected areas, moving over to Osaka meaning that if there is a breakout, the virus will eventually spreads at a even higher rate.

10th May 2009

First cases of H1N1 flu were tested positive on 3 people who have flown from North American to Narita, Japan earlier this month
. 49 fellow passengers on board has been quarantined as well. The four has recovered since.

17th May 2009

8 confirmed cases of H1N1 flu found in Kobe areas. 3 students from prefectural government-run Kobe High School and 5 other students from Hyogo High School were confirmed infected with the new type of influenza virus H1N1. A 17-year-old of Kobe High School was confirmed to have infected with Type A influenza in a gene test. Tests by the National Institute of Infectious Diseases also shows that two 16-year-old, a male and female of the same high school has been tested positive as well. Kobe municipal government made an decision on last Saturday to close 99 municipal schools, including kindergartens, primary schools, middle schools and high school in eastern Kobe until this Friday.

17th May 2009,1343hrs (GMT +09:00)

Nine more high school students has been tested positive, bringing the numbers to 17. Most of those infected has not travel abroad recently. Meanwhile 7 more people are suspected to be infected with H1N1 flu in Hyogo prefecture, including a teacher, a University student and five high school students.
17th May 2009,1741hrs (GMT +09:00)

20 more people has been tested positive for H1N1 flu. Bringing a total to 32 cases. The group consisted of 18 high school students from Osaka and Hyogo prefecture, where 8 of them were already ill. A college student in 20s and a teacher in his 40s was also tested positive for the H1N1 flu.

18th May 2009 0153 hrs (GMT +09:00 )

Number rises to 93. 53 cases in Kobe has been confirmed while 36 cases in Osaka has been reported. Authorities has asked more than 1,000 schools and kindergartens to stay shut on Monday.
18th May 2009,1108hrs (GMT +09:00)

Number reaches 121 after 25 new case were announced. The new batch of H1N1 virus was confirmed in Kobe. Also an employee in Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group has also been infected. She works in the Sannomiya branch in kobe. 70 other non-managerial employees at the same branch was told to stay at home.
18th May 2009,1751hrs (GMT +09:00)

H1N1 cases soared to 129. More than 2,000 schools and kindergartens has been shut off after Japan authories warned that real number of infections from the H1N1 virus could already be in hundreds.

18th May 2009, 2006hrs (GMT +09:00)

H1N1 flu cases has risen to 163 cases. No cases was reported for Tokyo.More than 2,000 schools and kindergartens has been asked to shut down to slow down the spreading of the H1N1 virus.

20th May 2009, 1129hrs (GMT +09:00)

The number of Influenza H1N1 infections in Japan rose to 196 on Wednesday, most of them school students, as the outbreak spread to a third western prefecture, officials and media said.

The latest confirmed case of the H1N1 virus was a man aged in his 20s in the Shiga prefecture, who had last weekend visited the city of Kobe where the outbreak started.

20th May 2009, 1223hrs (GMT +09:00)

The number of Influenza H1N1 infections in Japan rose to 228 as outbreaks spread through to a third western prefecture.

22nd May 2009, 0621hrs (GMT +09:00)

One male in in Saitama (埼玉県) has been diagnosed to be contacted with the new swine influenza (H1N1). He had traveled to Osaka and Kyoto from 17th to 19th May, the period of time which swine influenza (H1N1) has been first discovered in Japan.

22nd May 2009, 0920hrs (GMT +09:00)

One Japanese has been quarantined in a India's hospital after being suspected to have contacted the swine influenza, as reported by Japan embassy in India on the 21st of may. The flight has departed from Japan's Narita airport and landed on India's New Delhi on the 20th of May.

1st time using email blogging

the weather is nice today and i decided to test out the blogger feature.

I did not expect it to be that easy and fun.. One of the good feature provided by blogger, the only bad thing is that emailing through mobile phone in Singapore cost a bomb....

Seriously, I have neglected this blog totally, because I was wandering in my own world the past few months, or last 2 years... Right now I am going to recall all I have done in Osaka, and do some write up asap ...

Coffee Cattleya, Coffee Made From Sacred Water



Outside of the shop, they hanged a frame saying the following...





\seriously, perhaps of the mental effect of the frame which I saw earlier at the doorstep, the coffee does taste exceptionally cooling... The sacred effect ? The shop also had a nice atmosphere, like old english pub.



Way back to the train station



We decided to walk our way back to Kyoto station and we saw this temple which are decorated with bright orange beams.. (I forgot the name, will update again) and saw this American singing along with the ducks and birds. Sentimental eh !? Perhaps we are not sawing much of this in Singapore anymore. Anyway, there was this old man feeding the ducks and pigeons at the side, which is prohibited in Singapore as well ... Should include that in my new blog as well.



As we walk deeper in the temple, I found this ! I know this is a vintage car, but I am not sure what maker it is. This car is certainly still works, looking at the number plate it has. Anyone any clue ?






Lunch at Kyoto


My Yuba lunch set



In Kyoto, the famous food are Tofu (豆腐), Yuba (ゆば) and Unagi (鰻). As my friend was visiting Kyoto for the first time, I thought it would be good to bring her for those, but we only managed to eat Yuba and Unagi as the Tofu are quite pricey, around 1,500 yen (S$ 22.50).

Some might wonder why Kyoto is famous for Tofu and Yuba. One of the reasons is because Kyoto is place for Buddhism devotees where there are thousands of temples within the city, while another reason is because Tofu and Yuba requires lots of water during the making process and quality of the water affects the taste of the end product. Kyoto's water is famous for its purity and thus helps to make the Tofu and Yuba tastier.