Hey there

Bit different weekend. Went off work an hour early (woo-hoo, 7pm!) on Friday because there was a neighborhood get-together. The businesses in the area pay an annual sum and that pays for barbecue, beer (mmmm..Asahi), chicken wings, nibblies, watermelon & shaved ice (japanese summer dessert) and fireworks for kids and kids at heart. People had tatami mats on the road, shoes off, eating at low tables, with lanterns strung up and kids and families everywhere, not just salarymen. It was fun and food was good. Had an interesting conversation with my colleague’s friend whom I asked why Japanese eat whale meat? He thinks that since Indonesia has so many whales and Japan so few, it justifies why they should hunt whales there..besides, whales eat lots of fishes at one go (with their huge mouths) Before I get any angry emails about what he said – yes, I do know that whales eat krill and plankton. I’m not sure if whales do eat sardines, but I doubt that the harpoon boats stop to ask the whales before they fire. This issue is touchy but from my personal experience, chinese people are also taking sharks to extinction (shark fin’s soup) and eating exotic clams and fish in protected dive sites and marine parks so I don’t want to point fingers at other cultures when my own is flawed as well. But I wouldn’t make whale stew or eat shark fin soup anytime soon.

The next day, got picked up at the Hilton (3 mins walk from my apartment) at 503am sharp. I sleep in my swimmers, T-shirt and boardies with packed backpack on the side so that the only thing I have to do in the morning is roll out of bed and head out the door. The purpose: surf at a spot 2 hours drive from Tokyo. After having to take the train and walking everywhere, it was great cruising on the elevated highway past Shibuya, Roppongi, Rainbow Bridge, Odaiba, Tokyo Disneyland…boys were checking surf reports on the radio and on their keitai (handphone). Taro-san’s 5’8″ was pretty short, but the wetsuit was a perfect fit – dunno how the heck he ever managed to fit into the wetsuit?? The surf was not as small as I was worried it would be, but pretty cruisy waves were good because I’ve been landlocked for the past 7 months. Nice shoulder to head-high sets (Japanese guy sized) in the morning that got blown out in the afternoon but still surfable. Really such a difference surfing in Japan – after the surf, they got out huge containers of water and a wooden rack (like the bathhouses) and took turns rinsing off. All the cars there had gallons of water in their boot, and all (no exceptions) the surfers stretched before going in. Post-surf we had soba or rice sets in a noodlehouse for lunch (complete with central rock garden, koi and bonsai) Taro-san called my suggestion of Macdonalds “dame-mono” – no-way food – Awww shucks.

Surf wasn’t as crowded as all the stories I’d heard but there were a lot of drop-ins. Japanese manners still pervade, and no one was shouting or hooting. The boys parked for an afternoon nap right in front of this Japanese chick sunbathing, who glared at us for perving. I was innocent, but she glared at me as well anyway. I didn’t understand why she didn’t just go down on the beach instead of lying in the parking lot sunbathing (???) – but then I noticed the nice manicure job with sparkly daisies she had on her feet. In this case its possible to go to the beach without actually going on the beach.

We had shabu-shabu when we got back to Tokyo at 11pm. Cool restaurant called Butaya (Pig shop) with so much kawaii piggy memorabilia – only in Japan. We had pork skewers, pancetta, pork in sauce, salad, shabu-shabu and noodles, felt like a real pig at the end of it. Got home about 130am. 2 different friends described Tokyo-ites as being “robot-like” but I think that they also like to laugh and joke a lot – only when they’re with their friends. It’s been good to see things from the other side. And compared to my past warong/little hut/meat pie/fish&chip post-surf lunches, the noodle house was really impressive. Heck, the noodle house was impressive, period.

Got fireworks and want to go to this cool robot/tech place in Odaiba next weekend and I also have to pack because my flight is next Thurs.

It’s been such an unreal experience in Japan.

See yall.
Shi.