flying to nagoya is getting easier for me. i know how much time it takes and i know how to get anywhere. from nagoya airport to chigasaki takes 3 hours and costs 12,000 yen or $110. pretty expensive when you think about it.

i was starving when i got to Saito-san’s house. luckily i had 3 really nice girls giving me food. great to see Isuzu-chan as it’s been a while. stoked to see Ayako-chan as she’s ranked #6 in the world for professional bodyboarding now. that’s awesome. and nice to meet you Mami-chan from hokkaido. tell your mom thank you for the amazing seafood! i couldn’t believe how good the crab was, and i couldn’t believe that there was 1 kilo of ikura right in front of me.

Naoka is going to hawaii for 3 months. he moved out of his apartment and is taking a big step in his life. it must be so exciting!

i forgot who’s crazy idea it was, but nobody liked Naoka’s hairstyle. so we decided to have him sit down as each one of us takes a cut out of his wild hair. Matsuo was first.

Then Eri-chan.

Then Ayumi-chan. the cut i took was off the side so it was pretty generous. you should have seen where Hikaru cut. OMG!

Saito-san, Kanae-san, Ayumi-chan, and Mami-chan. all having fun.

Nishi, Eri-chan, Naoka, Matsuo, and Hikaru. such beautiful people that make my life so beautiful because their in it.

this was still in the beginning. i got there at 9pm and i remember sleeping at 4am. it was a crazy long night of fun.

i was wondering what Eri-chan and Ayumi-chan were doing in the kitchen. seemed like they were trying to open another bottle of wine. what kind of wine opener is that? i’ve never seen it before.

hahaha. that was the coolest wine opener i’ve ever seen!

i had to put him on his back and take this photo. haha.

after we all left, some of us went for a bike ride to the beach. i can’t believe we all made it home safely. i’ve never had such a hard time riding a bike. the next day, Akko-chan sent me this photo of her pants that ripped when she fell off her bike. haha.

the next morning we woke up to some waves. felt so good to have a surf with my good friends. i use to hang out in shonan for months at a time. this is some of my best japan roots and i will never forget all the fun i had. and still have. thank you Matsuo for always looking after me like a brother.

haha. here’s the result for Naoka’s haircut after we were all done. it’s pretty dam bad, but it still looks better than before. good luck in hawaii Naoka!
Eri-chan told me i was yelling in the street at 3am “I love Shonan!” i don’t remember, but i’m sure that was my true feeling. i can’t wait to go back again. thank you my friends!

omg, i can’t believe just 2 days passed since i left hawaii. it seems like a month already but come to think of it, i was still on a boat in indonesia a month ago. time is just flying but at least i’m enjoying every minute of every trip. so before i forget, let’s back up to 2 days ago.

i woke up at 4am, picked up Sakurada-san and Hashimoto-san. we had a wonderful time surfing. half way during our morning session, Sakurada-san’s surfboard hit him in the shoulder and he dislocated his shoulder. yeah, it popped out! i went up to him to see if he was ok and i watched him pop it back in. i could tell he was in pain but he said “no problem, i’m ok.” you’re ok? omg, should i call the ambulance? should i take you to the hospital?” he says “no, i’ll wait in here so please take Hashimoto-san for her last wave. i take Hashimoto-san for her last wave as she surfed excellent all morning. ok, it was time to go in and Sakurada-san didn’ t look like he wanted to go in. he said “i still want to surf!” what??? he couldn’t even raise his arm over his shoulder. i knew from looking at his eyes at he really wanted to surf more. we are men, so i understand that feeling. “ok, let’s GO!” we paddle back out, wait for a big set, he paddles, he stands up, and that happened to be his best wave all morning long. after that, he said, “ok, now i can go in.” i was really impressed. what a strong man with a strong heart and will. we eat an acai bowl and pastrami sandwich, i drop them off at their hotel at 11:30am, i jump on the harley and go straight to the airport. no shower, still sand on my feet, and still sunscreen on my face. i weave through traffic and make it there in record time: 13 minutes to be exact.

i knew the flight was sold out and it would be a miracle to get a seat. i believe in miracles so i go and wait it out. 10 minutes before the flight leaves, i hear them call my name. Mr. Fukunaga, you are very lucky as you got the last seat on the airplane and it happens to be a business class seat. YEAH!

i sit down, take a deep breath, and i’m going to japan to see my friends!

always cool riding the airplane checking out all my secret surfing and diving spots from the air.

i told myself before i left, “hey, you eat anything and everything you can. you lost weight so go for it!”

this is my favorite part of the Delta flight. the dessert cart! she asked me which would i like? i told her “everything.”

it was so good!

the flight was the easy part. getting to nagoya to chigasaki was the hard part. 4 long train rides and very very crowded. i was running from platform to platform because i didn’t want to miss the party.

i heard a few days ago about a party celebrating Saito-san’s new beach front mansion in chigasaki. i really didn’t think i could make it so i didn’t tell anybody. i pull up at the party and i was more surprised than them. i didn’t know this many of my friends would be there. i was so happy to be celebrating a big moment in so many peoples lives. it made me realize how lucky i am to have such wonderful friends in japan. and when i look deep into this photo, i realize that go-naminori has brought us all together. that’s awesome!
after 3 beers and 6 jack/cokes, everything went a blur. somehow i took some photos that will crack you up. will post later. from drunk haircuts, to gay kissing, to cork cock, to ikura, to falling bikes, and falling stars. it was an incredible night to remember.

I haven’t been here in a long time.
Such a cool place to visit.