NAGOYA

Saw Loser, a punk rock band from Singapore is on there Japan Tour promoting there new album. We will be touring with them for a few shows while they are here in Japan and today was our first day playing with them, we played at Nagoya's Apollo Theater. It was a weekday and we we're all pretty bummed out that not too many people showed up. Even though the crowd was small we all rocked out and had a good time. It was nice meeting Saw Loser, look forward to playing with them again. After our show Mr. machiyama took us out to his favorite bar. He's been going to this bar for more than 10 years!! When we got there the owner treated us great and played our cd through out the bar. I was amazed to see that Mr. Machiyama still had his own 1 year old bottle of whisky at this bar!!

LIVE HOUSE CARGO in SAITAMA

After the show at BBC NORTH, we stayed at Archy's house from No☆Gain and played a showed together again at Saitama's Live House Cargo. The punk scene is really hot in Saitama, I wanna come back and play again! Thank you everyone!

BBC NORTH TOCHIGI

It's been so long since we have played with No☆Gain! Finally we found the time to meet up again and play a show together. We played at Tochigi's BBC NORTH which was right above La-Mer Surf Shop. The live house was in the middle of no where, but many people showed up and it was a really cool event!! Downstairs in front of the surf shop there was a BBQ going and upstairs a punk rock show!! PERFECT!! Thank you to everyone who showed and rocked with us! Hope to play here again someday!

KANAZAWA AZ

It's been awhile since I updated, sorry have been reaaaaallly busy these past few weeks! We played at Kanazawa's AZ today. The day before we played KEMURI played and they left us a six pack of beer! Thank you!! It was our first time playing at this venue, it was clean and the sound was good. I heard that it used to be a " DENKI-YA " ( electric goods company ) before it was a live house.

WILD BLUE YOKOHAMA

Today I had a day off so I was looking through some old videos that I had and I found this video of me bodyboarding at Wild Blue Yokohama. Wild Blue Yokohama was a huge indoor pool that had everything from water slides, waking pools and of course the wave pool! The pool produced little 2~3 foot waves that were fun to mess around on. When I first came to Japan, I would get so anxious to surf, not knowing how to get to the beach and not birnging my surfboard at that time, I was told about Wild Blue and I found my cure.

I've never surfed in a pool before and was a bit skeptical, but after my first wave, I was addicted! Each wave was only a short ride, but just enough to cure that " wave hunger " that I got from being in Japan. Not only was the wave pool fun, but the staff and the regulars that went there were really nice. Almost like an indoor pool family, young kids to older ojiisans who almost went to Wild Blue everyday. They knew the pool really well and were good!

I prefer the beach over surfing in pools but I liked how this pool brought people of all ages together and formed sort of a community. This place was perfect for the older people who couldn't go to the beach, people who had work and didn't have time to go to the beach, people living in Tokyo that couldn't make the long drive to the beaches, and for beginners who wanted to learn how to catch waves.

Unfortunately, because of lack of buisness and the high cost of maintaining the pool, Wild Blue closed down. A condominium was built where it once stood. I miss going there and all the people that worked and played there. Luckily I got this video to remind me of those good times. Check it out!

SENDAI MACANA

We had a show today at Sendai's Macana Live House. It was our second time playing here and third time in Sendai. Compared to the last time we played, which had only about 5 people ( reeeally quiet people.. ) this time there was a larger audience and some people even had our T-shirts on! YEAH! We got two more shows in Sendai this tour, I'm looking forward to seeing everyone again!! Just to think that people way out in Sendai know of us and are singing our songs makes me really happy! Thank you Sendai! see ya soon!


Kaz and Mr. Machiyama..... two shot!!♥

GUNS N' ROSES!!! nuff said!

Today we went to Tokyo Budokan to watch Guns N' Roses!!! Mr.Kurihara from AUDIO-TECHNICA hooked us up with some invitations!! THANK YOU SOOO MUCH!! I've loved GNR from ever since I was a little kid, I remember when I first heard " Welcome to the Jungle " I was immediately hooked!! Plus at that time EVERYBODY loved GNR, it was a time in our teenage lives, where the music they played gave us that rebellious, F@CK school, surf, sk8 and just have fun motivation! I was never really a party freak, but I would listen to my GNR cassettes ( you notice I said cassettes.. ) with my friends while sk8ing and driving in my friend Jay's car. My uncle showed me a video he had of them playing live in Japan, it was so cool!! We would blast the speakers and drive the neighbors crazy!! ahahaa! SLLUUURRRRR!! Then they came out with " you could be mine " which was the song for TERMINATOR 2, which was one of my favorite movies!!

I've always wanted to see GNR play live and being able to watch them after so many years, was like a dream come true!! My Unlce saw them awhile back and said that it was one of the best concerts he had been too! The show was killer, AXL was the only original member left, but they still rocked!! So many songs, so many memories, I had to fight back the tears!! One thing is for sure, no matter how many years pass by, they still rock and their songs are unforgettable. I want to be in a band like that, GANBAROO!

Surfing the Typhoon

As you probably all know, a huge typhoon hit Japan, well mostly the southern part. For most people, typhoons mean, rain, strong winds, stopped trains and staying inside your house all day, but for me it means WAVES!!!!! Usually before the typhoon peaks and right after it goes away, the waves in Japan are perfect. My first session in the morning was pretty good, the waves were head high and conditions were really good. I came home ate and rested then went out again, the waves dropped and got a little choppy but was still fun!

Everyday there is this man who wakes up early in the morning and takes pictures of the surf and different scenes of Shonan. Today by chance he took a few shots of me~ ehehe! Thank you! I hope its ok to use your pictures! Felt so good to get in the water, reminded me of being at home in Hawaii.... can't wait until the next typhoon!!

EBISU MILK: SFS VS. TYPHOON !!!

Today we had our first show in Tokyo for our " CHANGE THE WORLD TOUR 2007 " The show was at Ebisu Milk and we were really worried if people would show up because of the typhoon! To our amazement, at the last minute, the typhoon changed it's course, the rain stopped and the sun started to peak through the clouds.

Opening up the show was CHOKE SLEEPER. It was our first time playing together and for me watching them perform. I was really impressed!! They have been a band for more than 10 years and it really showed!! They played really good, had great stage presence and most of all really knew how to get the crowd going!! Great show guys, thanks for playing with us!! Even though there was a typhoon near by, I was amazed at how many people showed up~ ! I want to say thank you to everyone who came by and showed their support, it was fun singing with all of you and because of everyone that showed up, our first show of our tour was great!! Thank you and hope to see you again!!!

LIVE AT TAKASAKI FLEEZ IN GUNMA

We had a show today at Takasaki Fleez. It was our first time playing in at this venue, Fleez is known as one of the best LIVE HOUSES in Gunma! The sound was great and the live area was big~ Not only is Fleez known for it's livehouse but also for their famous Curry!! 900 yen OOMORI!! A little spicy but hits the spot!! I made some new friends in Gunma, I hope we can come back and play at Fleez again!




bass player from BALL HAND BOX


ADDICT CREW

BILLY'S BOOTCAMP !!!

Lately I have been seeing the commercial for Billy's Bootcamp on TV. I remember when he came out with " Tae-Bo " and I never thought much of it. Since it was raining pretty much all day today I decided to try out the AB workout ( onaka ). In the beginning I was like.. " hmm.. not bad, I can do this EASY!! " but after the first 5 minutes I started to sweat and breathe heavily. Billy and the rest of his team do not stop for 30 minutes ....straight exercise!!! By the end of the workout I was pouring with sweat and could not move!!! After taking a shower I checked out my weight on the scale and within 30 minutes I lost 1.5 kg's!!! My stomach felt tight and I felt really good!! Dam!! Much respect to Billy and to anyone who can do this workout!! IT IS VERY HARD!!! GANBAROOOOO!!

Practicing at AUDIO-TECHNICA...

In just a few days our " CHANGE THE WORLD 2007 TOUR " will begin. We'll be going to more than 30 places all over Japan to promote our new album and of course try out all of Japan's famous food! ehehe! This week we have been practicing our tour live set and working with our new sound man Mr.Machiyama. Audio-Technica has been nice enough to let us practice at their private Artist's Studio, the studio is really nice and Mr. Machiyama can record us so that we can listen for improvements and make adjustments. These past few days have really been a learning experience, we want to make the best sound we can so that everyone can enjoy an exciting live! Thanks Mr. Machiyama, Mr. Kurihara and everyone from Audio-Technica we appreciate your support and kindness! " Heart to Heart " So watch out Japan cuz we're gonna F@CKING ROCK THIS SUMMER!!!!!!

Refresh your soul...

After recording, I finally had some time to stay home and relax. Now that it is rainy season, I have been in the house a lot. I like " hikky-komori " style sometimes, but after awhile I really want to go out and enjoy the outdoors. Today, to my suprise, it was a sunny day!! Akila had to do some business in Chiba so I went with him and we got to do a little surf session after. The waves were pretty small but after jumping in we had a good time. Living in Hawaii for so long I was very " zeitaku " which means I took it for granted. I would only go surf when the waves were perfect, but after moving to Japan, I realized a true surfer goes out even if the waves are small ( my dad's words! ahahaha ). Even though I didn't catch too many waves and the size wasn't too great, I felt really refreshed after. It's always good to jump in the ocean and receive nature once in awhile.



Tobacco plants, hard to believe something so fresh and green can be the leading cause of lung cancer