i jump in a cab from my hotel in tokyo and start my long journey to osaka airport. i ask the taxi driver to take me to shinagawa station which i thought was really close. i was daydreaming and thought it was taking a while. i look at the meter and it was over 2,300 yen! omg! i was ready to tell him to stop, get out, and walk. but it was way too hot!!! so i watch the meter go to 2,500 yen and we finally arrive. i thought to myself, “don’t i have a free rail pass? what the heck was i doing in a taxi?”

i get to the station and jump on the shinkansen and head to shin-fuji to have lunch with friends. if i didn’t catch that taxi, i would have had to catch the next train 30 minutes later. so paying 2,500 yen for an extra half an hour with my friends is cheap. in fact, it’s priceless. everything happened for a reason.

Toda-san picks me up and drives me to the beach to check the waves. small perfect little waves. gosh, i wish i had my longboard!

Toda-san is a pro at flying these helicopters. it’s not easy. i bought one before and actually crashed and broke it on my first try. Toda-san’s a pro at it and i can’t wait for him to bring it to hawaii!

after we surf, we go to Toda-san’s house and his new bike caught my eye. a classic 50cc honda.

so of course, i have to take it for a joy ride! when i got back home today, the first thing i did was to look for a used one. haha. don’t be surprised if you see me getting one and riding it to the beach in hawaii.

had a great lunch with Tomoyuki-san, Takami-san, and Toda-san at their local restaurant. fish everywhere!

my favorite is the kinme nitsuke. so good!!!! gosh, i was in fuji for only 3 hours but had so much fun. it’s amazing how much fun you can have in such a short time.

then back on the free train and headed to osaka. it took me 4 hours to get there and i needed the nap.

then got one of the last seats on the flight luckily! sat down, drank my orange juice, thought what a wonderful trip i had, reclined my seat, put on my headphones, slept, and woke up in hawaii. a very comfortable ride!

then passed by diamond head, looked and realized how beautiful it was, and took a deep breath of fresh air.
i’m glad to be back home. work starts tomorrow as i’m looking forward to surfing and being in the ocean every single day!
check out the short video Toda-san sent me from yesterday. thanks Toda-san! see you in Indo!
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4D9tpR-NdMM&list=UUtJ9f51MbFKk–YrDV2t-xg[/youtube]

I’m home! Going surfing!

the tourist coming to japan these days have it so easy. everything is in english and the train system is so user friendly for foreigners. when i came here for the first time 24 years ago, nothing was in english. it was tailored for japanese only and i had such a hard time getting around. i remember getting lost and lost for hours on the train. but i guess that was a good thing because it was those times i learned japanese and how to survive here.

clearing off some photos from my desktop. here is one of japan’s most hidden secrets, the river mouth.

when ever i’m in hawaii, i dream about surfing days like this in japan. just taking off, setting the rail, and timing the barrel. a lot of people ask me where my favorite waves are and my answer is always japan. you won’t find a more perfect setup anywhere else in the world.

and not only river mouths are good, here is another secret reef point. breaks similar to an indonesia wave. oh so perfect too!

stuck my hand through a wave and took this photo. clean underwater barrel.

traveling around seeing my friends and surfing with them is awesome. the great part of traveling, and the great part of surfing. aloha Muramatsu-san!

then i get to tokyo and arrive at my hotel room. i open the door, look in, and wonder, “where is the bed?”

then i turn the corner and OMG! there is the biggest bed for kings! i slept so well and didn’t want to get out of bed in the morning. i was so stoked! this room was huge!!!

and last night was my last night on this wonderful trip and it couldn’t have come to a better end. the best piece of steak in the world with the best drinks and friends you could ever imagine. a lot of people hate me, and sometimes i hate myself. but i think it’s very important for me to share my experiences with you because i want all of you to know that “DREAMS REALLY COME TRUE!” and if this dream life isn’t true, please don’t wake me up! haha.
see you guys back in blue hawaii!