the other day, i got an email from hawaiian slack guitarist kawika from hawaii. he’s was in the band that opened for jack johnson at his concert in japan last week. he also played 2 songs along the side of jack. anyway, how small is this world. he saw the video i posted on youtube and sent me an email saying mahalo. he knows tony moniz, wade tokoro, and sean yano. all surfers i know too. small world…. anyway, kawika is playing at the kokua festival in hawaii this weekend where jack johnson will be performing too. gosh, wish i was there… anyway, wanted to say thanks to kawika for the email and can’t wait to get back and see you jam somewhere in hawaii….. CHECK OUT THIS CLIP OF JACK INTRODUCING KAWIKA…. ALOHA…
i was so stoked when i heard kawika’s band play before jack. i was really missing hawaii this time and listening to live hawaiian music made so happy. mahalo…

check out this old school japanese restaurant in hayama we went to last night. first time i ate such good traditional food in shonan….

it was tokura-san’s birthday yesterday. ever since i met tokura-san, this was only the second time i celebrated his birthday with him. he’s always on some boat trip this time of year and never in japan. gosh, just like me too. i’m always in some weird country for my birthday too. anyway, the first time i celebrated his birthday with him was on a boat in north sumatra, indonesia. that was 4 years ago. so i was really happy to celebrate it last night in japan. happy birthday tokura-san and wish you another happy year of surfing….

check out this menu. it was like a 10 course dinner. everything so delicious….

this soup with fish and tofu was awesome….

and the sashimi? melt in your mouth….

i don’t know what you call this. kind of like a dynamite? but 100 times better…

and the dessert was the best i’ve ever eaten. there’s not even a name for it. house special? i don’t really like dessert but i loved this one….

lifetime friends…. thanks for the awesome dinner….

good morning. still pretty dam cold here. i just got some new summer clothes from spice so i wanted to wear it. i put on my new shorts, tshirt, and slippers and walked to 7/11 this morning. shit, i was freezing… for the past 16 years since i’ve been coming to japan, this spring has been the coldest by far… where’s the sun?? i’m going outside to look for it… with my jacket…. have a nice cool day….

when we were in chiba the other day, we would always pass this house on the way to isumi. looked like something caught fire to this brand new house. what a bummer….

found out from hayato later that a lightning bolt struck the tv antenna and burned the house. shit!! look at the hole in the roof from the bolt? scary yeah? when there’s lightning in japan, run and hide. i remember one time i was driving home from the beach and there was lightning bolts hitting things all around me. i almost cried. you never see those kind of things in hawaii. so many surfers have died in the water by lightning in japan. so please be careful…..

and wanted to thank jasmine once again for the awesome home made spaghetti she prepared for us…. gochisosama deshita….