Happy Thanksgiving Day to all of you back in hawaii. please save some turkey for me. this is the first time in my life i haven’t been able to eat turkey for thanksgiving. and i think it will be my last because i don’t want to travel anymore during this special holiday. i’m getting ready for a long 3 day tour and expect to be driving for 20 plus hours or so. it’s a road tour that i’m looking forward too. see you somewhere in japan!!!

as i was leaving my hotel in okinawa to the airport, there was a box at the front desk waiting for me. i wasn’t expecting anything so i was wondering who it was from. i opened it and there were 2 bottles of shochu, one imo shochu, and one mugi shochu. there were also 4 glasses, and 2 beautiful big apples. i was wondering what kind person could have sent me this?

i opened the envelope and it read,
Kirby san,
Okinawa no minnasan to nonde kudasai.
(please drink this with everybody in okinawa)
Have a good trip!
Masato S.
masato-san is from akita who reads my blog. we share the same dream. and for me to receive a box of goodies from him, i’m speechless. i don’t know what to say except “doomo arigato gozaimasu”. it’s been over 3 years since i started my blog and i’ve met the coolest people. most don’t even have a face but i’m sure we will meet someday. the comments and emails i get everyday just makes me want to share more. i get a lot of emails from surfers but also get a lot from just ordinary people. people that want to travel to hawaii, to japan, and to the places i go to. that makes me super happy because i know very well that traveling makes you a happier person. it makes you realize that you have to enjoy life more and don’t worry about the little things. and once you become a happier person, people around you will be happy too. so get your passports out and explore this beautiful world….
oh, getting back to the shochu from masato-san. thank you very much. i was leaving okinawa so i couldn’t share it with them. instead, i will take it back to hawaii and when my okinawan friends come this winter season, i will open it and yell “IYASASA”…… mahalo…
**and last, i got this from a magazine i read on the airplane.
Five Questions All Single Women Should Ask a Man.
1. What are your short-term goals?
2. What are your long-term goals?
3. What are your views on relationships?
4. What do you think about me?
5. What do you feel about me?

Here are my answers to these questions:

1. to get back to hawaii and get barreled.
2. to surf until i’m 100 years old.
3. i love my surfboard.
4. i think your nice for buying me a new surfboard for christmas.
5. i feel that you should have gotten me a bar of wax too.

haha…. just joking….[:?????$B!x(B???:]

good evening on this chilly day. i haven’t been this cold in years. i forgot how it felt to wake up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom. leaving your warm bed coming back to a cold one. i spent one winter season in japan back in 1992. that was my first, and my last. it’s too cold for me to live here. just one more week and i’ll be back to hawaii. i’ll so my best to eat good food and keep warm.
heard there are some huge waves in hawaii now. by next week, the sand should be off the beach making for some good pipe/backdoor conditions. a few medium swells on the way so it’s going to be barrel time again. can’t wait!!!

if any of you haven’t been to the memorial near suicide cliffs in okinawa, you should go. it’s pretty heavy and makes you realize that war is evil. nobody wins….

mensore from the fishmarket in naha….

there are so many side roads that take you to the beach. when i went diving the other day in okinawa, we were driving though these cool bushes. if i lived here, i would buy a 4×4 truck and explore every single road that leads to every single beach….

after we came back from the begin concert, there was kimchee nabe waiting for us. takahashi-san really knows how to make me happy. i sat in front of this nabe and ate like a pig. it was soooo good. i came to japan to eat nabe and that’s just what i’m doing….