i had a great flight to japan. landed at 2:36pm and actually made the 2:44pm train to tokyo. it took me 7 minutes to get off the plane, go through immigrations, buy a train ticket, and get on the train. one hour later, i was in tokyo. backpacking is the best! no luggage, no wait.

after a nice massage, it was dinner time. yes, the best in tokyo like always. i just love this place!

authentic traditional japanese. i can’t or never will eat at genki sushi ever again.

yes, this is OHMA GOSH tuna! straight from the famous Ohma fishing port. it just melts in your mouth.

and loved the uni from hokkaido! that’s where i’m going!

i always give my friends the best advise: “if you drink tequila, only drink Don Julio. never drink any other tequila, including patron because it will give you a hangover.” well, i’m eating my words now because i took a shot of patron last night and i have the biggest headache right now! i live my life with no regrets but i’m regretting that right now. haha.

then we came home and tried to burn down the house. haha. Inaida-san lighting the fire to keep us warm. what a wonderful lifestyle he has.

and what a wonderful lifestyle i have too. i told Inaida-san that a lot of people must hate me. but you know what? i think i’m still dreaming and will wake up someday. i just hope that someday is not too soon. but until then, i’m enjoying every minute and every breath. thank you Inaida-san for a wonderful night in tokyo.

got my jr rail pass activated. it costed me 29110 yen for 7 days of unlimited travel. i’m going to the top of japan and just that cost 32100 yen one way. it’s great to be a tourist in times like this because this pass is only for tourists.

i just finished booking my hotel for my first night in hokkaido. i’ll be soaking in that rooftop onsen tomorrow afternoon. can’t wait!
for now, going shopping to buy some warm clothes. have a wonderful day!

Welcome to Shinagawa!

i was really amazed on Konishi-san’s ability to learn. her goal was to short board in hawaii so that became my goal too.

before i teach someone how to short board, they must be able to long board. if you can’t long board, you can’t short board. long boarding is easier to learn the basics and once you got that, short boarding is very easy.

we went over and over on looking forward and keeping your knees bent. if you don’t do either or both, you will fall. pretty simple to teach, but very hard to follow because it’s a natural habit to look down at your feet. once you overcome that, you will improve very fast.

by that afternoon, it was time to test out Konishi-san on a short board. from her first wave, she did awesome! she just kept on getting better and better after each wave.

then i taught her how to do “ups and downs” and even a cutback. by the end of the day, Konishi-san was surfing super good on a short board.

it feels good to improve. it takes some people years and years to get from a long board to a short board. but Konishi-san did it in 1 day. good girl!