good morning. wow, i had a hard time sleeping because i was so excited from yesterday… i set off in the morning to meet my grandpa fukunaga’s older sister for the first time in my life. was i nervous? heck yeah. i made sure i brushed my teeth, shaved, and wore decent clothes. i felt like i was in high school getting ready for my first date. it was weird. gosh, i’ve been waiting for this day for a long time….

i catch 2 trains and get off at hakuraku station in yokohama. i was lost!! all i had was an address so i walked into an office near the station and asked for directions. the lady was really nice and printed out some maps for me. could i understand it? nope.. but after 20 minutes of walking in the hot humid weather sweating from head to toe, i finally found where i was looking for….

walking on the outskirts of the city is so interesting. i saw some pretty cool stuff on the way…

check out this bus stop. isn’t that cool? i wonder how old these chairs are…

imagine looking at something like this? i swear, the streets in japan are the hardest to navigate. i stopped by and asked 4 people on the way and nobody knew where i wanted to go. i showed them this map and they just shook their heads.

from 10:30 am to 2 pm was one of the highlights of my life. after talking to my grand aunt, i learned so much. i learned a lot more about my family, i learned a lot more about my roots, and i learned a lot more of what the 1st generation japanese went through when they immigrated to hawaii. my grand aunty is 93 years old and from all things we talked about yesterday, i could write a book. i’ll have more stories and photos coming tonight. as i was leaving the station heading back home, i had a millions of things going through my mind. but the coolest thing was my grand aunty has 7 children, 11 grand children, and 3 great grand children. these are all my cousins i didn’t even know i had. multiply that by my other 3 grandparents, thier kids, and grand kids, and great grand kids, i probably have a hundred cousins in japan. now that’s pretty cool. my journey has only begun… have a wonderful day!!!

Good dog food from Whole Food’s.
Oishi yo!

wow, what a wonderful day!!! i’m so happy. to tired to talk about it so will tomorrow…. have a great night!!!

the first thing i do when i come to japan is eat, eat, and eat. last night, i looked at the menu with tempura, sashimi, shabu shabu, sukiyaki, and all other things. but what made my stomach growl is the maguro kama. it was sooooo good!!! especially the big eye ball….

i spoke of keoni watson on a recent blog. i didn’t know what to call him. a waterman? a big wave rider? it had me thinking. then when i was on the airplane reading the makai magazine, i saw his face on the back cover. and underneath read “Ocean Ambassador.” that’s the words i was looking for…. hey keoni, thanks for the email. those paddle boards really cost over $3,000? gosh, that’s expensive! maybe i’ll take up your offer of letting me try one. i’ll give you a call when i get back to hawaii. and i don’t want to practice, i want to just jump in with you big boys at sandy beach on a big rough day, and paddle down to waikiki. and you don’t have to wait for me. shit, i can’t wait!!! shoots… by the way, nice shot on the back cover. you look kind of scary? i wouldn’t want to race with you. haha…

the roxy jam is coming soon and i can’t wait! i’ll keep you posted on how to watch it live…
The 16 top surfers of the Roxy Jam Biarritz series
Jennifer Smith (USA)
Coline Menard (FRA)
Chelsea Williams (AUS)
Justine Dupont (FRA)
Julie Cox (USA)
Kassia Meador (USA)
Kelia Moniz (HAW)
Geodee Clark (HAW)
Leah Dawson (USA)
Isabelle Braly (AUS)
Miku Uemura (HAW)
Kelly Nicely (USA)
Yoko Furuichi (JPN)
Yuko Shimajiri (JPN)
Summer Romero (USA)
Rachel Barry (USA)