i woke up this morning and was flipping through the japanese channels. seen a familiar face??? is this Tokiwa Takako? she’s like my all time favorite actress in japan. i had to look good because she looked different in this drama. is it really her? the image i have of Tokiwa Takako is still the young girl in “Aishiteru to utte kure.” the cutest ever.

had the best ever sukiyaki for lunch today. omg, i couldn’t believe it! i love sukiyaki and this was the top of the top quality!

i’m supposed to catch the 2:20pm bus to Mugi. i get off the train at 2:13pm in osaka, run my ass around the confusing station asking everybody where the bus terminal was. i thought it was in one direction but it was in the other. when i found out were, i ran through the big streets of osaka, through red lights, and almost getting hit by cars. i see it in the distance, it is 2:19pm. one more street to cross and i get there at exactly 2pm and 10 seconds. i ask the staff “i’m here to catch the 2:20pm bus to Mugi?” he tells me “sorry, you are too late, the bus left 10 seconds ago.” OMG! i forgot japan is the most on time country in the world. even 10 seconds and you are too late.

so after all that running and hustle in the 100 degree hot weather, i was sweating head to toe. i try to cool off but couldn’t. 15 more minutes of sweat until my body temperature was back to normal. now i had 2 hours to wait before the next bus comes. free time to read the new Hawaii Skin Diver magazine.

i finally board the bus. finish up reading the magazine, then start texting on my iPhone. 3 hours into the trip, i look outside and start to feel sick. i was sitting in the back of the bus next to the toilet reading and texting? not the smartest thing and not the best smell and smoothest ride. i felt like throwing up!

so i move up, doesn’t help at all. i still have 1 hour to go and i was about to throw up in the plastic bag they provide. my first ever time getting car sick. then i thought i should get off the bus bus but i knew there was no way the bus would wait for me. and being where i was in the most remote country of shikoku, i just curled up into a ball and started doing my deep breaths. finally arrive in Mugi, Yassan picks me up in the pouring rain, i felt sick, i had to cancel dinner (sorry Yassan and Tomokosan for waiting for me), and now all i want to do is lie down and hope this feeling goes away. the first time in many years i’m skipping dinner. that’s how shitty i feel. tomorrow going surfing and hopefully feel 100% right when i hit the water. but before that, a long 2.5-3 hour drive to the beach. omg. goodnight.

And amazing food. Itadakimasu!

by now, the whole world knows what happened in south africa. it headlined on CNN and BBC all day yesterday. my sister and i were texting each other that night. and since Seth is in south africa right now filming for a surf video, we were all concerned about him. as a pro surfer, you kind of have to surf in sharky waters no matter what. it’s just part of the job. but this is an exception. you DO NOT surf at the same surf spot that somebody just got attacked the day before, especially in south africa. that shark still swims around that area and is still hunting for prey. in this case, surfers. it’s his home, it’s his territory, and it’s his world. we are on the outside and should respect it.

super stoked on the new watch Maki-san just gave me. it supposed to give you surf report forecasts and everything. can’t wait to go back to hawaii and set it up. thank you Maki-san!

right before i came on this trip, i went to enjoy an afternoon at my super secluded secret beach somewhere in hawaii. as i was pulling up, i could see something on the beach i’ve never seen before. got closer and thought to myself “OMG, could it be debris from the tsunami?” 4.5 years later? really? i jump off the boat, swim to the beach, and approach what looked like a japanese fishing boat. OMG, a japanese fishing boat that was lost in the tsunami. all the way from japan! i was going to call the news and report it but didn’t want to expose this beautiful beach to the world. i took more photos and am hoping somebody can help me find the owner. and of course, there must be a story behind it too. if i lost my boat, i would want it back. so if the person that lost this boat wants it back, i’ll do anything i can to help him. thank you.