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.

The best whisky in the world!
Cheers!

i couldn’t believe how beautiful yesterday morning was. the red sky sunrise was awesome. the night before, i asked Nakamoto-san if he wanted to sunrise surf, he said yes, and it was a great choice.

Nakamoto-san hasn’t surfed for a while because the waves have been flat at his home break Isounora. but yesterday, he made up for the last 2 months as he rode about 30 waves from start to finish.

i gave Nakamoto-san all my recommendations of places to eat these past 2 years. he went to all of them. so i took him even deeper into our local culture. the best poke, roast pork, and local food in town.

and local style is eating on the sidewalk. had a great morning session with Nakamoto-san. thank you for joining me for the red sky surf session!

then i went home, checked the flights, and found out that the rest of the week is oversold. so it’s either stuck in hawaii? or jump on a flight that leaves in 2 hours for nagoya. i was packed in a few minutes and ready to go. front and back packs.

yes, i rode the yamaha to the airport like this. crazy? i think so. haha.

got to nagoya, was tired, so decided to spend the night. jumped on a couple of trains, and headed to an apartment in the residential area.

so crazy walking up and down back streets looking for my room.

finally found it. this is the first time i’ve ever done anything like this. kind of weird.

found my little apartment room i rented a night for 3500 yen or $30. such a great deal.

felt like home here.

thank you Yuki-san in nagoya for letting me stay at your apartment. i really liked it and will be back again!
slept 3 hours, woke up at 4am, and had another long adventure. that’s another story. going to take my much needed nap before my wonderful dinner in tokyo tonight.