OMG, i broke the 21 year streak!!! i use to drink coffee until i finished college and never went back to it. it makes me feel weird and makes my stomach go crazy. and it also keeps me up for days. so i haven’t had a cup ever since 1992. yesterday i was really thirsty and got served what i thought was a glass of coke. i took the biggest sip, swallowed, and thought something was different. OMG, it was coffee! i thought it was pretty funny as my mind and body started feeling weird right after i put down the glass. haha.

eating in a fishermans house is the best. everything fresh, and everything interesting. some whale, abalone, ika, tako, and more.

i’m not a big whale eater but this one has had to be the best i’ve ever tried. a piece of meat together with a piece of fat. melts in the mouth!

and they call this whale bacon. it actually tastes like bacon too!

and my favorite abalone! thank you to the Kimura-san family in Kobuchihama for serving us a wonderful lunch!

then last night we had an amazing dinner. before we were all strangers to each other, now we are great friends. i met Saito-san in chigasaki as we were loading our trucks for mission 1. he came by to help and made a generous donation. i could tell he wanted to come with us at that time, and ever since, he’s been involved in our missions. i met Kiku-chan in sendai on mission 3. her story crushed my heart and still does. i met Ryoko-san in ishinomaki on mission 1. her story crushed my heart and it still does. and i met Kimura-san in kobochihama on mission 1 and his story crushed my heart and still does. the hardships these people went through is too hard to talk about. but how they moved forward and got through the hardest times in their lives is something that gives me strength. just super amazing people. we all met in totally different places, but sitting at the same table enjoying each others company is where we are today. we are all friends, and We Are All ONE! thank you Saito-san, Ryoko-san, Kiku-chan, and Kimura-san for an amazing night. i had a great time and am so happy we are all connected to each other. see you all again!

Kobuchihama Oysters!

today we drove to oshika hanto where villages after villages got totally wiped out by the tsunami. this is the place where we spent a lot of our first missions because this was the last place that got any kind of help from the outside world. and it is here where we met some amazing people that became our friends. to see the smiles and to see everybody moving forward is so amazing.

Abe-san’s entire fishing village got wiped out. it’s been almost 3 years and he’s still living in the temporary housing. but every time i see him, he has such a big smile on his face. i remember after M1 when i told him “i’ll be back.” i don’t think he believed me. now i just walk to his door, knock, and he comes out as i say “Aloha!” and every time, he’s very surprised to see me. we hug, we talk, and i tell him as we drive off “i’ll see you again!” and now, he believes me.

then we drive to Kobuchihama. this is one fishing village that didn’t give up. right after the tsunami ruined their whole village, all the fisherman got together and bonded. they worked from morning to evening cleaning up the fishing port. there were buoys, houses, fishing nets, wood, trees, capsized boats, and even smashed cars all over the place. little by little, they got this village back into shape. now it’s functional again and business is starting back. a great story on dedication.

Kimura-san took us for a tour. he knows i love oysters so one of his fisherman friends grabbed some out of his bucket and opened it right there. omg, so fresh and so juicy!

Saito-san eating the most fresh oyster possible. one year growing in the ocean to 1 second in his stomach. i ended up eating about 15 and i swear i could have eating way more but i didn’t want to overdue it.

then Kimura-san told us to jump on his boat for a ride. we went out to sea to grab more fresh oysters and i couldn’t be a happier man. this is the very same boat he took out to sea right after the earthquake to get it out of the way of the tsunami. he ended up staying out at sea for 2 days with no water or food. what a chilling story. i’ll get into the rest later.

and yes, Kelia Moniz is 2x World Champion!!! she won the contest yesterday for the 2nd year straight and will bring back the ASP World Longboard Champion trophy to hawaii. good job Kelia! i knew you were going to be world champion once in your life, but i never thought twice. awesome girl!