kind of had a scary drive yesterday. it was raining, super cold, and it seemed like people were driving faster than usual. and to make things worst, i had the car navi telling me one way to go, and my iPhone navi telling me another way to go. so confusing driving in japan!!!

finally made it to shonan and was stoked to see Matsuo and Kenji. both guys i knew since 1992 when i first went to shonan. wish i had more time to catch up on things as we can go on talking forever. but i was happy to see them still surfing and still healthy.

then i dropped by the dove factory to pick up my new wetsuits. Nakajima-san and Inomata-san are the brains behind dove. both surfers for the surfers. thanks for my new wetsuits guys!

then going back to tokyo was even scarier. i decided to take a different approach. used the tomei expressway and i was driving on unfamiliar grounds. traffic, speeding, accidents, rain, angry drivers. i’m glad to have made it back to tokyo alive. once again the car navi telling me in japanese to go one way, then my iPhone telling me in english to go another way. i listened to my iPhone and made it back to tokyo in 1.5 hours.

then had a beautiful sushi dinner. i’m officially spoiled.

then i slept at 9pm again, then woke up at 2am. tried to fight it for a little and gave up. i was wide awake so i watched a movie, then checked out the world surf charts to plan my next trip. things looking really good for next week!
well, gotta get ready for the overnight flight back to hawaii. looking forward to getting some good sleep so i have enough energy to go surfing tomorrow. have a beautiful day!

ate an awesome dinner last night at a teppenyaki restaurant in tokyo. shrimp, abalone, steak, mushrooms, beer, wine, and great company. everything was excellent!

then it was whisky time. it’s been a while since i got to sit down, relax, and sip on good whisky. tokyo is awesome! great food, great drinks, and great people. thank you Inaida-san and Yuki-san for a wonderful relax time! sorry i fell asleep at 9pm. haha.

good morning 3:30am in tokyo japan. slept too early last night so woke up too early. feel so fresh and active that i want to do something, but there’s nothing to do. maybe watch a movie? read a book? or think about my life. got a long day ahead. jumping in the car and taking a drive to shonan. hope to see some surf and surfers!

when i arrived in nagoya, i was walking around looking for a good place to eat. i just wanted good food and was looking forward to it. i found a yakitori restaurant that looked and smelt good. walk in, order my first cold draft beer. and since i can’t read the menu, i just look over to see what other people are eating and say “i want that, and i want that.” haha.

i started off with scallops and hamachi sashimi. i learned something important this night. “never order sashimi in a yakitori restaurant! if you go to eat yakitori, eat yakitori. if you want to eat sashimi, go to a sushi restaurant.” i made a really bad call.

but the yakitori was excellent. went down good with cold beers. got back to my apartment, slept good. woke up early, 3am to be exact. wanted to do something so found a yoga studio in the city.

walked out in the dark morning trying to catch the 6:30am class. my map said a 10 minute walk, a 10 minute subway ride, and another 10 minute walk. then why did it take me an hour to get there????

try to figure this out! now you know why it took me an hour to of somewhere accessible in 30min? i was getting lost on the subway and streets in the freezing cold.

finally found the yoga studio and it was closed!!! omg! what happened to the 6:30am class? i stood in the front and waited and waited. as i was about to leave, a girl walked in from the dark hallway heading for yoga. i asked her “is there yoga today?” she said “yes, follow me.” i went into a room and there they were, 10 ladies and 1 man doing yoga. i pay my 2300 yen ($20) and grab a yoga mat. the instructor told me “excuse me sir, please go to the locker room and change into your yoga wear.” i told him “sorry, this is my yoga wear, the same wear i wore on the airplane, and the same wear i wear to dinners.” you should have seen his face. everybody else was wearing the top of the line yoga wear and i looked like i was going to dinner or something. haha.

then yoga starts. the instructor says “ok, please start.” i say “huh, you’re not going to teach me?” he says “no, everybody comes here and does it on their own.” omg! i was wondering what the heck i’m doing there then? pay 2300 yen to do yoga on your own? shit, i should have just done it in my room. so i follow the poses from a lady in front of me. i end up doing yoga for 1.5 hours. after i left, i thought to myself “what did i learn today?” i learned how to yoga by myself! yeah! it was my first yoga experience in japan, and probably my last.

then jumped on a 1.5 hour train ride up to tokyo. stopped in roppongi to eat my favorite tokyo ramen. gosh, i love this place!
then came back and took a 3 hour nap. that’s why i’m so super jet lagged. will try to go back to sleep. namaste.