Too Many Miles, Hours, Speeches, Foods? : Presidential pace: Fireworks in Sydney, then tennis in Seoul, then on to Tokyo. It was vintage Bush.

TOKYO — President Bush was 10 days and nearly 20,000 miles into his four-nation Australia and Asia tour when the pace may have finally gotten to him.

Since leaving Washington Dec. 30, he has worked 16-hour days, including official dinners every night, eaten exotic foods, gone from sweltering temperatures to frigid weather and taken rides on boats and helicopters.

His journey actually began before he left the United States with a long weekend in Beeville, Tex., where he hunted quail during the day, ate barbecue at night and stopped by a dance hall for a beer.

It has been vintage George Bush, and there has been no stopping him.

After a 10-hour flight on Air Force One to Hawaii to begin his trip, he jogged two miles before flying on another nine hours to Sydney, Australia.

Not an hour after landing, he was on a cruiser taking him across Sydney Harbor to view New Year’s Eve fireworks.

Up early the next day, he was jogging again, signing autographs and shaking hands.

That afternoon it was on to Canberra for two nights, then south to Melbourne for a few hours, then north again to sweltering Singapore.

The equatorial climate was one of thick humidity. Bush held a news conference in the broiling sun, delivered two speeches, visited a school and wound up at a state dinner that evening.

At the crack of dawn the next day he was off to Seoul, South Korea, where temperatures were near freezing.

Soon it was time for exercise. South Korean President Roh Tae Woo has an indoor tennis court. The temperature on the court was 34 degrees. Bush and Roh played anyway, then had a private dinner that night.

The next day was one event after another: breakfast with business leaders, talks with Roh at the Blue House, a joint news conference, a speech to the National Assembly.

It was foggy that afternoon, but that did not keep Bush from boarding his helicopter and making a scheduled appearance at Camp Casey to reassure 3,000 chilled U.S. troops that they had not been forgotten.

Then it was back to Seoul for a state dinner that night.

The road to Tokyo the next day was long and winding.

A helicopter carried him from Osaka airport to Kyoto, where Bush could not resist jumping into a game of kemari , in which a flaccid deerskin ball is kicked by elderly aristocrats.

Bush, who played soccer in high school, broke the rules quickly by bouncing the ball on his head. And when taken on a tour of the sacred enthronement room at the Imperial Palace, he looked as if he would like to sit down on the throne.

Reason prevailed, and he went on to open a toy store in Nara, flew the helicopter back to Osaka, then boarded the plane to Tokyo.

Apparently he was on the medallions of beef course at Wednesday night’s Tokyo banquet when he slumped out of his chair.

White House spokesman Marlin Fitzwater said he doubts that the President will slow down.

“He is a very physical and vigorous man, and I don’t expect any changes.”