CardThanksgiving care packWhat a way to celebrate Thanksgiving.

This evening I heard my doorbell ring. I hate that sound. It's either NHK at my door, asking me to pay for their stupid programming or some Japanese Jehovah's Witness trying to convert me. But as fate might have it, tonight I decided to open it anyways.

Low and behold, score! It was a special delivery. At first I thought it was probably the mug cup that I painted during my trip to Fukui Prefecture earlier in the month. But when I took the package from the delivery man it was way heavier, and the postage on it was a whopping $42.00 US. What was inside, a complete Turkey dinner!! Timed just right, 2 days before Thanksgiving, all individually perfectly wrapped in tissue paper.

OH  -  MY  -  GOD.  (in my best Janice impression)

And so I thought I wanted to tell the world about her kindness in the only way I know how, through this blog, and hence through Facebook. I've got the bestest friend in the world! I love you Jay! You're an ANGEL!!!! I'm gonna have the greatest Thanksgiving EVER!

How a simple word changes

I'm not green anymore. I've been around the block my fair share and learned a few things here and there. I thought it might be interesting to write down all the words I've used in place of the word "good" in my lifetime,just for kicks. Kinda amazing to see how my slang has changed over the years.

Not in any particular order of course, but here's a sample of words I've said instead of plain ol' "good":

Bye bye drivers license

In Japan you get points (demerits) for each violation/ticket that you get. Points get erased after 3 years. License suspension comes after getting more than 6 points.

So back in October 2007 I had my first of a string of tickets.  Speeding - 2 points, riding with more than 1 person on a 50cc scooter - 1 point, speeding - 2 points, then the straw that  broke this camels back, a parking ticket - 2 points. For a grand total of 7 points! = I just got my license suspended for 30 days.

The thing that pisses me off is that non-moving violations are just as bad as speeding tickets! So my parking ticket was equal to riding my scooter at 100mph! What horse shit.

They really like to rub in the fines here too. So on top of all the other fines I paid for each ticket, I have to pay a 13,800 yen fine to go to traffic school for a day (6 hours of long-winded lectures) AND community service!  I have the "option" of being a cross-walk guard for an hour or paying 5,000 yen to take another driving test. MOTHER FUCKERS!

I SOOO wanna go to this.

Who's with me? Near Seibuen is this little jewel. Thats right. A pool jump! How sweet is this??? At S-air you can board and practice all those silly tricks you always dreamed about doing with almost no consequences!1 session that lasts 2.5 hours goes for 3200yen with an all day pass going for 4500yen, Everything is availble for rent too. All the way to the wetsuit to keep you warm after soaking all day long. Woohooo!!! Rodeo 5 here I come baby!

... and knowing when it will happen.

How many of you have made a bucket list? I made about 2 months ago on a whim after adding the facebook app. Pretty nice idea I thought. Do all the things you want to do before you kick the bucket. Nice. So there I was on facebook writing down the things I always wanted to do.

Then yesterday my Mom tells me that my Grampy is sick. Colon cancer. Doc says he's got a few months left. What is someone supposed to do with that information? Especially at his age? His memory is going, he's got cataracts, he walks at the pace of a turtle... What could he possibly have on his bucket list that he could handle? So the family has elected not to tell him, to save him the anxiety and the worry. I'm not so sure about that. At first I thought it was wrong. I thought that he should have the right to know. But now I'm not so sure. Of course if I received that information myself at my age now, I'd quit my job and go buck wild on my bucket list while I still can. But when I'm his age and in his condition, when I'd consider it a major feat to make it down to the convenience store and back without getting lost, falling down and breaking a hip, when I would be suprised that I could actually finish bowl of rice porridge for dinner. I wonder if I would really want to know? Would you want to know?

Below is my bucket list. So obviously an unrealistic young persons bucket list.

1. Travel faster than the speed of sound
   

2. Experience zero-gravity
   

3. See Machu Pichu
   

4. Go whitewater rafting in the Grand Canyon
   

5. Ride a gondola in Venice
   

6. Go reverse bungee jumping
   

7. See the aurora borealis
   

8. Knock someone out
   

9. Get a PADI scuba license
   

10. Learn to read a Japanese newspaper
    

11. Cruise the Mediterranean
    

12. Have a threesome
    

13. Go to Carnival in Brazil
    

14. Be a father
    

15. Visit all 7 continents
    

16. Eat some Matsuzaka beef
    

17. Truly believe in God
    

18. Play Jai Alai
    

19. Catch a marlin in open ocean
    

20. Ride the back country of Alaska
    

21. Drive a Ferrari at full-throttle

People say it's one of the easiest tricks that you can do on a snowboard. So I researched on youtube some how-to videos. Low and behold a 15 year old boy named Brandon nails these awesome backflips over and over, explaining step by step how to flip. Nice. I read all 23 pages of his youtube video comments trying to extract all the wisdom that he gives his commenters.  Then I downloaded the video onto my iTouch and I must have watched that video over 50 times.  I even went as far as emailing the guy! He was so helpful. 4 emails later I get all the info I need... Stuff like lean back,  start with 3 foot jump, tuck your knees, don't think too much etc. Then I started my 3 day "training program" at school which was just practicing back flipping on a giant mattress at school to get used to spotting the landing.

And then this past weekend I went to Hakuba Happo-one to try my first backflip. The result?

Like a full laid out gainer straight onto my face. All that stuff I thought so much about all week just went out the door once I took off from the jump. It's actually not as easy at people say. Reason being it really depends on the jump you do it on.  With a 360 you can pretty much do it on any just any kicker right off the bat, and you'll at least land on your feet if you spin flat. With a back flip you'll have no idea how much to rotate unless you just go for broke and try it the first time. It sure is fun as hell though.

I landed 2 out of about 10 that day, getting my first clean landing in 4 tries. Check out my other two videos that I was able to get. I didn't want to force my friends to video me all day so the second jump and another one some time later in the day is all I got. I can get the rotation. But I think I'm flipping a little off axis so I land off balance. Backflips man.. So FUN!

>> See my 2nd jump

>> See another jump

Ogo Ono-loa Hawaii Restaurant

In Japan, Loco Mocos usually have demiglace sauce instead of gravy and on top of that they mess it up even more by throwing a salad on top of it. So I don't usually do restaurant reviews but when I heard some people raving about the real Hawaiian food they found in Akasaka, I just had to check it out.  After a dissapointing trip to Akasaka on a Saturday night (they don't open weekends) I came back the following week on a Friday night arnmed with a reservation. I'm happy to report that Ogo Ono-loa is the real deal.

A Hawaiian plate with chicken lau-lau and kalua pig, the restaurant's 2007 Aloha Poke Festival winning teriyaki ahi poke, two scoops rice, some poi and two beers. Nice tasty stuff. I wouldn't say it was better than Ono Hawaiian Foods in Kapahulu but for a restaurant in Japan, this is authentic as it gets. And since this IS Japan, you pay for it. A whopping 7480 yen for it.  I'd say about 2-3 times the price of what it costs back home. But if lunch at Kua Aina costs 1500 yen here I guess the 2980 yen price of the Hawaiian Plate at Ogo's is about right even if the portions are a little tiny.

So if you've got the urge to splurge on some real Hawaiian food in Japan, Ogo's i s your best ch oice.   

Ho brah, da udda dey, I wen spahk dis page on da web. An den I tawt ho cuz, stay fo'eva since I wen bus da pidgin! Fo real brah I neva tawt dat I wud foget but since I wuz one small keed, ma maddah wen tell me fo stop. She sed no speak lidat bumbai you get one haad time fo get one job. Den jus lidat she wen pu me out Kaulawela skoo (das right nex Liliha Square nea Mayor Wrights) and she wen sen me private skoo. Was haad but das awri cuz I wuz still one small keed.

But for real kine, Now I no can speak la dis. Take me looong time fo rememba aw diskine stuff.  Afta leaving Kalihi, I wen move east side and I grew up one townie. So befo you get aw lolo an say "Eh brah, no ac! You no speak lidat!" Das tru. So wat boddah you?

But dat page fo real bring back some memreez. Get aw kine words I neva tink about fo long time. Chai click on da odda pages too (get moa den eighty-chree pages!) Get plenny words like hemo, an bumbucha, get ereding! Get aw kine old skoo stories like movies at Toyo by da Chinese Cultural Plaza. Ho da times wen change! But mo betta I stop cus dis making my spellcheck aw hemajang ladat.

Fo aw you haoles dat no can read dis. Chai dis one. But like ere'one say back home, "If can can , If no can... no can!"

Skate Banana 152Lib-Tech Skate Banana 152

This thing was so hard to find. I checked over 15 stores online hoping to take advantage of the strong yen/weak dollar. Not one of them had a Blue 152 in stock. I finally gave up and ordered one of only two available in Japan. I just got it today! Fresh outta the box, and unridden. But I already know how it rides. Why? Because on New Years Day. A nice guy named Scott let me try his brand new 152 and I took his ride for a spin at Nozawa Onsen.

FUN.

Usually when I hop on other people's boards I don't do so well right off the bat. But the banana felt good right from the beginning. I really liked the soft flex. Presses were easier, obviously I could lift it higher because of the soft flex and the rocker, but I could hold my backside nose presses longer too without falling over like I usually do.

With ground tricks, I could spin 3's easier than before and ollies still had lots of pop. But I couldn't do switch 3's off my nose because couldn't plant the nose into the snow to pop off. Too soft for that trick I guess? I'm sure it'll just take some getting used to though.

I'm 5'7" and the 152 size was more to my liking that my current 156. So I'm not really sure if all that good stuff was because of the better size/flex or the Banana tech or Magnetraction. 

Magne-tractionI know thanks to the rocker turns come much easier, I wouldn't call it squirrelly but for sure it seems that it can turn by itself. Banana tech just means that the board is already curved. Like you can spin it around like a helicopter when the board is sitting on the floor(obviously there's more than that but that's all I can explain). I didn't chuck my meat over any high ledges or do any kickers on that run so I don't know how landings are. But the Magnetraction wiggles/edge seemed to work when I tried to carve down a run.

Initials on the stickerIt's too bad that the board doesn't have the metal edges wrap all the way around the nose and tail. They're sure to take a beating with all the little plants/saplings that I run over. One other thing I do like is that someone actually took the time to sign the label stuck on it to show that it was hand checked. Makes me feel a little better knowing that I spent big bucks on something not mass produced in China. I'm going to Hokkaido in a few days. I'm so looking forward to riding my blue Banana!!

What do you do with it?

Read a book? Window shop? Me, I used to write on this blog. Then that died down and some idiot code-named “Jonathan” got me hooked onto a Facebook game called Warbook which then led on to *Battle Stations which then led on to *Elven Blood. I’m happy to report that now I don’t play anything. On the other hand, now, I don’t do anything. I sleep.

Like on weekends almost 12-13 hours day. It’s ridiculous. It’s like my brain shuts off and says, “Nothing to do, let’s sleep”. I even take naps at work for like 20min. It hits me right after lunch usually. How messed up is that? Thank God many of the other teachers doze off at their desk once in a while.

I’m getting dumber too I can feel it. My memory is going to crap. In fact I had to look up the names of those two games I mentioned with asterisks next to them because I FORGOT them. Seriously, how I forgot the names of the games I played for 4 hours a day, every day for like 2 months is beyond me.

I need to get my life going. Need to get beyond this procrastination and start studying my Japanese and A+ test. In fact writing this entry I’m sure is some sort of procrastination. How in the world do people get the motivation to be efficient/productive with their time?