This past weekend

Went down to Ise to do some surfing. A few pictures:

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Although it was a nice 24C outside, the water was really cold so I was able to borrow a full 5mm wetsuit and it kept me warm. I was able to stay in the water for about 3 hours in the morning and about 2 or so in the afternoon. According to the regulars the waves were crap but for me it was good takeoff practice and great wave reading practice.

Kazama S15

Kazama’s private 15 has always been a favorite of mine. These throwback shots from 7Tune got me digging my own car again & really make me want to finish it up here soon. I need to look at these more

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GP Aero

Msports hood

 Masa rear wing

not digging a few elements of the car….but I plan on fixing those small things with my own creation.

 

And I wonder if I’m skinny enough to sit on my door now….

More Bihoku Shots

A few of my favs from this past weekends 1st D1SL round…but for the full gallery be sure to check out the album on Flickr.

 

No action shots…as I was playing around with my new video camera. So I hope to get some sort of decent video up soon.

At work…

It’s all about Reese’s and Wolfenstein3D on my iPod

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Bihoku

Went to Rd.1 Bihoku yesterday. Good times. Team Origin did well: Teramachi finished 3rd and Fukuyama 6th. More pics and video to come.

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HNL It’s all over too soon

The last day we flew out of HNL around 4:30 in the afternoon so we had plenty of time to get a last few things done before we headed back to Kyoto. Got up in the morning and finished off the remaining spam musubi and random things left in the fridge before heading back to the beach for a final surfing adventure. I had to rent a board and I went with a 10′ hardtop…something I wish I had done much sooner. I liked the board a lot…but more on all that a bit later. For lunch we went to Lulu’s Waikiki as it happened to be just next to our condo…and I had yet to have locomoco the entire time we had been in Hawaii. They have a sign on the stairs (in Japanese) saying their loco moco in the best in Waikiki…bold statment…..

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So for one thing its kinda huge…and it looks amazing…so it must be..right? I dunno, I was dissapointed. The brown gravy they use is like the kind you find in Hungry Man salisbury steak dinners. It was just do dark and salty for my liking. But really it was good, I’m just being a loco moco nazi. The view from the place is also nice:

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After a bit of last minute shopping we were at the airport going through endless security checks. I actually had a problem with some of the macadamia nuts that I was brining back…like nobody ever carried those out of Hawaii before?!? Anyway, I had to get one last, wholly American, unhealthy treat before heading back to Japan….root bear float!

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/Paradise

 

 

We interupt…

..this Hawaiian vacation, with a picture of what is so right about drifting in Japan:

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D1 driver..check

No helmets…check

No race suits..check

No harness..check

No cage..check

People inches from a sideways car going close to 70mph…check

Will the states ever…devolve?!?

Check the full article I snagged this from over at 7Tune.  

HNL Day 6

Looing thru pictures, I forgot to be honest when we went here, but we went to Blazin’ Steaks near King’s Village for food at some point…when I don’t recall haha But the food was decent and for $6 you get a lot. Make sure to use the KBBQ sauce they have out…it makes the plate!

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Anyway, on with our 6th day. In the morning ran to the Waiola Store to grab some Spam musubi. So so good! I guess this place is famous for their shave ice as well but didn’t have a chance to try it. I also had the Spam musubi from ABC…and it doesn’t compare to this handmade stuff from Waiola.

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After relaxing a bit we headed to the beach again and got a good 2 hours of surfing in. This was also the last day we had the car so we had to take the board I was using back, the last day I’d have to rent one down at the beach.

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I had been crazing some Korean food for awhile and Mayu said she knew a good place, so we went to Seoul Garden and ate a ton. All this food for around $15 during their lunch special hours was a nice deal. I missed Korean food so so much. It’s so freaking good.

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While we still had the car for a few hours we drove around a bit, we started out by driving a bit up to Diamond Head, but it was a bit overcast and we were short on time so didn’t climb to the time. Maybe next time…

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We also ran over to Hawaii Kai just to say we did, as well as going up into Manoa Valley to take a look.

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I stopped and got some snacks…I miss these two a lot:

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Since we had a late lunch we didn’t get around to getting some food until decently late after dropping the car off so we decided to walk over to the Mai Tai Bar for a few drinks, a little bit of food and a nice table on the beach.  The atmosphere was great, a nice quite table right on the beach, nice a dark and the drinks and food were great (albeit kinda pricey). I’d recommend this place though, if nothing more than the nice seating and laid back feeling.

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HNL Day 5

So like I said we rented a nice little Geo to run around in. Decided to go up to the north shore, but 1st I had to run to Boots and Kimo’s in Kailua for bfast. You have to get the banana mac nut pancakes (so I was told) so went ahead and did that. I can honestly say these are the best pancakes that I have ever had…ever…period. And a side of the Portuguese sausage to get some protein and try and offset the likely hundreds of grams of sugar I had from the pancakes. Everything I had been told and read about this place said we would have to wait for a seat…but we just strolled right in and sat right down. By the time we left however there was at least 15-20 people waiting outside…niiiiice.

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While in Kailua, went to Kailua Beach Park…simply amazing.

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Jumped back on the highway and drove up to the north shore:

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After checking out the beaches for awhile, headed in to Haleiwa for some shopping and lunch.

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Been wanting some mexican while in the states and thought it would be hard to find some decent grub in Hawaii but had luck with Cholos in the North Shore Marketplace. I went with the fish burrito, and nice large burrito filled with Ahi. Mayu had their chicken burrito…both were great and were authentic for sure. The chips and salsa also get a thumbs up.

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Failure……….I just wasn’t able to do it…had to do the doggy bag

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Needed a coffee fix, so grabbed some from Coffee Gallery a few stores down from Cholos. The cafe latte using their espresso roast…so good I had to buy some to take home.

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After buying a few things, we headed back to Waikiki and later grabbed some decent pizza and such at Arancino Di Mare. We enjoyed a seat outside so it was too dark to take pictures…but then again I can’t always ruin the ambiance with me grabbing my camera out all the time haha.

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HNL Day 4

So I’m back in Japan, but I am going to update the blog with the rest of the trip…if nothing more than for myself to look back on. Enjoy. Day 4, made some quick bfast including some fresh mango and 100% kona brew.

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Caught a episode of Scrubs…miss this show! Afterwards headed out to the beach to surf for about 3 hours.

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After getting back to the condo, grabbing a shower and such we headed down the street to Rainbow to get some lunch. Boneless chicken plate with gravy, macaroni, and a slush float…freaking amazingly good.

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We split the plate so I was still a bit hungry…and Leonard’s is just up the street so I wanted to stop in there for sure to get some malasada’s. One sugar, two creme , and one banana creme. Never had these before, but wont be the last for certain. Nice and doughy, just melts in your mouth.

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After, we decided to rent a car for a few days to do some running around. I seriously thought about renting a Lambo, Ferarri or Exige but ended up with a Geo Tracker haha. After all that fun renting a car from some shady ass joint, it was time for dinner already. Been dying for a burger so headed to Kua ‘Aina for one of theirs. Per Logans recommendation I went with the bacon avocado burger. It was huge, I killed it, it was epic.

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