good morning. first of all, i want to wish everybody a happy 4th of july!! it’s independence day in america and i’m feeling pretty independent now. today is sunday in japan and it makes one week since i’ve been here. i haven’t even seen the ocean yet and feel like a city boy. i’m no city boy and if i can’t jump into the ocean anytime soon, i will dry up like a dead fish. i heard the waves in hawaii have been small but it’s ok, i want to go diving!!! i must have gained 10 lbs since i got here eating such good food. but so what, i think i deserve it right? ramen, sushi, sashimi, yakitori, yakiniku, and everything you can imagine. i better get going to eat my daily breakfast which is natto, rice, miso shiro, and grilled fish. have a nice day!!!

when ever i’m in hawaii driving home from the beach in the evening, i use this road. as i come down the hill, i think to myself “wow, i’m glad i don’t live in concrete jungle waikiki. that’s just too much for me.” i like playing in waikiki, but wouldn’t be able to live in waikiki. it’s just way too fast for my life right now….

this was our little boat party last april. sashimi, bintangs, umeshu, and kusaya. kusaya? yup, akko-chan brought the kusaya all the way from niijima. i almost threw up when i smelt it. the only person happy was tokura-san…

this was our little boat party in april 6 years ago. hayato, tomo, kubota, tokura-san, maoh, and callahan. i think we all were a little more wild back then. haha. the boat we were on was named the “Kartika.” the Kartika isn’t here anymore. it caught fire in the kitchen and burned to charcoal a few years ago. but at least we all got experience a part of north sumatra history!!! salamat pagi!!!
*last, i was researching some scientific sites to get an idea of the typhoon patterns for this year. it’s july and nothing is out there? why? i found out why. el nino is to blame. one site said that because of el nino, typhoons are having a hard time forming. they predict this year to be a late typhoon season. i’ll come back later….

Kanpai!

any of you seen the korean drama “Winter Sonata” or “Fuyu no Sonata?” i did. well, one of the main actors Park Yong Ha committed suicide the other day. i was watching the news and it was sad. i wasn’t sad for him, i was sad for the people he left behind. his family and fans all crying and stuff made me sad, and upset. suicide is a touchy subject and i don’t like to talk about it. all i have to say is i think it’s a pretty selfish act. look at all the grieving people left behind. i always had mixed feelings about suicide and wish there was something i could do to help. maybe push them into their first wave? i think that would work. ahhhh…. suicide sucks!!

now moving on to more positive things. i just picked up the new surfer girls magazine yesterday. yeah, i actually bought one. why? i don’t know. maybe i couldn’t wait for my free copy? there are some pretty cool surfer girls in there…. this is yoko furuichi. great surfer and great person. read the article…

this is yuko shimajiri. this is a beautiful photo that kenji sahara took of her for this go-naminori ad. i really like it. another great surfer and great person. check out their blogs on WWW.GO-NAMINORI.COM…..
**pick up the new surfer girls magazine before it sells out….
**and last. wanted to congratulate the Japanese soccer team for doing an awesome job in south africa!!! it’s amazing how big soccer is here in japan and other parts of the world. what the heck happened to america? till this day, i haven’t seen a soccer game on tv in hawaii. in fact, i didn’t even know america had a team. that’s crazy…. but i had a great time watching the Japanese team represent japan very well. omedetou gozaimasu!!!