In everything, there is always the first time
— I just need to report to you this: I fell ill getting ready to cover the 45th Tokyo Motor Show, an international biennial car show featuring the concept models of Toyota and some of the biggest car manufacturers in the world.
I’ve been covering it uninterruptedly since 1993.
Arriving here via PAL jet on Sunday, I walked in the rain going to a seafood lunch at the 300year-old Chrysanthemum Restaurant found at the foot of the 1,600-year-old Narita Buddhist Temple.
Several hours later, I walked in the rain again going to a steak-and-shrimp dinner cooked in front of you at the New Otani Hotel.
In each meal flowed liberally hot sake, the famed Japanese rice wine.
The following day when I woke up, I could barely get out of bed. Joint and body pains. Severe headache. Fever. I took biogesic and Levox antibiotics. No way.
Tuesday afternoon, Carlo S. Ablaza brought me to the hospital.
The English-speaking, white-haired Japanese doctor at the Sendagaya International Clinic “shot” me in the throat with tiny gadget and its screen showed: “Fever 38.8.”
Next, he extracted blood from my right middle finger and had it tested in his lab. In minutes, he was back. “You also have bronchial infection,” he said. “There is now an influenza outbreak here but you are lucky you do not have the influenza bug.”
Finally, he had me “dextrosed,” massively injecting into my right arm liquid antibiotics contained in a huge bottle that took 20 or so minutes to drain.
With his job done, he said: “Tomorrow, you will start feeling better again. But to sustain your recovery, you have these four kinds of tablets to take in the next five days.”
The tablets totaled 62, to be all finished by Sunday (tomorrow).
And I am scheduled to arrive in Manila today, God permitting.
So, overall, I was holed up for six days from Sunday to Friday at Room 1937 of 5-star Keio Plaza Hotel towering 30 floors into the sky. Lonely at the top.
First time this has happened to me, getting sick in an official coverage overseas since I first covered the Singapore Pesta Sukan Games in 1976.
Oh, well, as they say, there is always the first time.
Thank you for your forgiveness, dear readers.