i went to visit this wonderful survivor named Abe-san who lives in oshika hanto. i pull up to his temporary housing unit at 6am and i knew it was too early to wake him up. i waited a little and was about to leave then i thought to myself “i came all the way here to meet this man and i can’t go back to hawaii without meeting him.” so i wait and wait sitting on the table outside his door listening to the various species of birds singing. it was so peaceful. then at 7am, Abe-san wakes up and finally comes out and says “i knew it was about time you would be coming.” haha. he always tells me that as he gives me a big hug. i sit down and listen to his stories as we talk about the events that took place and will be taking place around his temporary housing. Abe-san’s village nearby got totally wiped out and he told me that they are never ever going to rebuild. pretty sad story coming from a very strong and positive man.

wanted to thank Yumi-chan for the wonderful gifts from osaka! oishikatta!!!

right in the heart of tokyo lies this small mom and pop restaurant a friend suggested to me. they have a special lunch special that i tried for the first time. you get rice, miso soup, tsukemono, tofu, and get to choose any type of fish they have out on the counter. it was super delicious! and only cost $9.80. i’ll be back!

caviar and abalone with champagne? if i saw this on someones blog, i’d hate them too. haha.
well, i’m back to hawaii and back to my normal lifestyle. no caviar, no river mouths, no uni, no hotels, and no long drives. just a simple lifestyle. that 9 days of travel in japan was amazing. i’d have to put it in my top 5 ever trips out of the thousands i took. good waves, good food, good experience, and most of all, good friends. everything was perfect and i couldn’t be a happier traveler. next month i have 5 days off and if i take another trip, guess where i’m going? yes, i’m going again to the land of the rising sun!

Seth Moniz @ Kewalo’s.
So amazing!
Photo by Heff
Good morning 6:30am.
Bowls head hight and clean. 30 surfers out. GOOD WAVES!
Diamond Head overhead and side wind.
Trade winds at 20mph.
Super sunny and warm.
Surfing 2 rounds.
Have a wonderful day!

i jump in a cab from my hotel in tokyo and start my long journey to osaka airport. i ask the taxi driver to take me to shinagawa station which i thought was really close. i was daydreaming and thought it was taking a while. i look at the meter and it was over 2,300 yen! omg! i was ready to tell him to stop, get out, and walk. but it was way too hot!!! so i watch the meter go to 2,500 yen and we finally arrive. i thought to myself, “don’t i have a free rail pass? what the heck was i doing in a taxi?”

i get to the station and jump on the shinkansen and head to shin-fuji to have lunch with friends. if i didn’t catch that taxi, i would have had to catch the next train 30 minutes later. so paying 2,500 yen for an extra half an hour with my friends is cheap. in fact, it’s priceless. everything happened for a reason.

Toda-san picks me up and drives me to the beach to check the waves. small perfect little waves. gosh, i wish i had my longboard!

Toda-san is a pro at flying these helicopters. it’s not easy. i bought one before and actually crashed and broke it on my first try. Toda-san’s a pro at it and i can’t wait for him to bring it to hawaii!

after we surf, we go to Toda-san’s house and his new bike caught my eye. a classic 50cc honda.

so of course, i have to take it for a joy ride! when i got back home today, the first thing i did was to look for a used one. haha. don’t be surprised if you see me getting one and riding it to the beach in hawaii.

had a great lunch with Tomoyuki-san, Takami-san, and Toda-san at their local restaurant. fish everywhere!

my favorite is the kinme nitsuke. so good!!!! gosh, i was in fuji for only 3 hours but had so much fun. it’s amazing how much fun you can have in such a short time.

then back on the free train and headed to osaka. it took me 4 hours to get there and i needed the nap.

then got one of the last seats on the flight luckily! sat down, drank my orange juice, thought what a wonderful trip i had, reclined my seat, put on my headphones, slept, and woke up in hawaii. a very comfortable ride!

then passed by diamond head, looked and realized how beautiful it was, and took a deep breath of fresh air.
i’m glad to be back home. work starts tomorrow as i’m looking forward to surfing and being in the ocean every single day!
check out the short video Toda-san sent me from yesterday. thanks Toda-san! see you in Indo!
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4D9tpR-NdMM&list=UUtJ9f51MbFKk–YrDV2t-xg[/youtube]