We had a great dinner with some old friends from Japan on Saturday night. They are all designers at Honda, and part of the crew that I did all my surfing and snowboarding with while I lived in Tokyo, they've since been transferred to work out here at Honda in Los Angeles. Kanchan was one of my first friends in Tokyo, we met just a month after I landed in Tokyo in 1999, I got to scare the bejesus out of his family up north in the countryside when I stayed with them for a weekend of snowboarding. I asked if I was the first white person they ever had contact with he said yes, jokingly except for his grandpa who probably saw them over the sights of his rifle back in the day!
Fujiwara san is leaving back to Japan next week, he spent 5 years here, living right down by the beach, one of the senior interior designers for Hondas. Such a nice guy, sorry to see him and his wife heading back so far away. I'll probably still get to see him at least once a year everytime I go back, its custom to go out for a night of drinking and revelry everytime I'm in Tokyo.
Jiro and Kyoko I met years ago as well but only really got to know them since we've all been in LA. Watching their son Mario grow up here in the states has been so much fun, he just turned 3 and doesnt speak Japanese! He understands it fine but speaks to everyone including his folks in English. SO CUTE. Jiro has been my main surfing teacher too, he is an incredible surfer and turned us on to our main weekend surf spot down in Manhattan Beach. This past week I caught some amazing waves! Some of the best yet! Such a trippy sport, there is so much you need to remember and organize mentally in a few split seconds when trying to catch a wave, its almost as if your brains perception of time alters so you can achieve everything you need to.. When I stand up in shallow water after riding a good wave, its as if I don't remember what just happened, I need to remind myself what I just did, absolutely unlike any other feeling I have ever had. Love it!
1 comment:
Well said.
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