hello, on the 2nd day of my vacation here in thailand. gosh, this place is amazing. kind of a mix bag of indonesia and the philippines. except, no waves. i came here to explore deep inside and that’s what i did today. got on a train this morning, caught a taxi, got on another train, and rode it to the end. 3 hours later, i was at this local fishing village that was freaking awesome. nobody spoke english, no english writing anywhere to be seen, and absolutely no foreigners. i was lost… it reminded me of the first time i went to japan and got lost in shikoku. felt pretty helpless but managed to communicate somehow. had my camera so took some stills and some video clips. got back to my hotel late this afternoon and took a nap. a 5 hour nap. it’s 11pm and i just got up. going downstairs to grab a bite to eat and try to go back to sleep. i didn’t want to do any internet shit here but just thought i’d post a blog. anyway, going to the dentist tomorrow to have my teeth cleaned, then go deep into the country to an open market. once you get out of bangkok, the people are so friendly and nice. i had a fun day trying to talk to the locals and seeing the real thailand… check out some of the photos i took today….

this lady was really kind to me. even thought i couldn’t understand one single thing she said, she just kept on giving the thumbs up. gosh, i should have taught her the shaka….

the watermelons we have in hawaii are green. the ones here are yellow. and oh so sweet….

the local diesel train runs once every hour. when i got the the station, i seen it driving away. at first i was bummed out but then i thought about something. i have all freakin day…. haha… what’s the rush? i was saying to myself “slow down kirby”….

the village i went to has one of the biggest markets in thailand. imagine the whole ala moana shopping center all filled with little stands. this is one of the hundreds of the chicken stands. not one part of the chicken goes to waist here…

when i seen these eggs, i was wondering what the heck was it. is it from a dinosaur? it was actually curry powder….

then i found my favorite part. the fish market. this is how they do it here in thailand….
**oh, i got to go and get something to eat before everywhere closes. took a lot more photos. check um out later…. goodnight…

we pulled up to this factoy in yugawara. they process aji or akule. from the live fish to the box. we seen everything. this is local style fish factory in japan and i really enjoy visiting places like this.
**oh, just wanted to say that if your a foreigner coming to japan. please don’t walk into factories like this unless you ask for permission or know the locals. luckily, ryota’s mom took us there so everybody was pretty friendly. when i first came to japan a while ago, i walked into a fishing port and it was not a good welcoming. luckily i couldn’t understand japanese back then…. haha… just wanted to say “respect the locals and don’t bother them while they work because japanese are hard workers and focus on their work. that’s all….

**been going to wakayama for years now. every time i go, kimura-san takes me to this underground sushi/sashimi local restaurant called “Ushio”. the food there is so dam good it’s unbelievable. and it’s not just the food, it’s the atmosphere. super nice people that make you feel welcomed. i wish we had someplace like this in hawaii. maybe someday i will make one. then you guys can come over and eat the fish and stuff my friends and i catch. good idea yeah? i really love places like this and i was so glad tony and seth got to experience it. i don’t think they will ever forget it. i surely won’t…. thanks kimura-san, atsuko-san, and ushio for the awesome dinner in wakayama… mahalo…