Day 5 continued ( ^ ^ )

After the morning made it up to Tokyo to watch Kyokushinkan's World Tournament. It was a extreme interest to me as head punches were allowed.

The entrance to the area.

 Attendance aside from family members of the competitors was sparce.

 Team compeition semi finals. There were no retrictions based on gender or physical size. The gals fought boys bigger than them. ( ^ ^ )

 Kids had sharp techniques!

 Compulsory breaking before the fights. Suprisingly quite a few failed and had to try a seocnd time with minimum 2 boards.

 World Tournament competitors. The Bulgarians and Russians were BIG!

 After the tournament went to Shibuya to meet friends for dinner. I needed a Bufferin !

 It was amazing no on bumped into each other!

 Chef making shaved noodles!

 Spicy dumpling soup!

The dumplings were plump and juicy.



Japan Day Five Y ( ^ ^ ) Y

Yokohama Dojo ( ^ ^ )

Last night was the first practice with Yokohama Dojo. It was great! The enthusiasm of all the students was exhilarating. It also felt like a giant pre-school! Gahahahaha.
Will upload some vids later on.....it may take a while.

Negishi Shinrin Park, Sunday's practice location.

Member who braved the rain to particpate in the Sunday morning sesssion.

Also had the Sunday morning Session today. Unfortunatley it was raininh but then again it kept it nice and cool for practice. Three Pokemons and three mommies showed up for the session. The Seniors??????? Fufufufufu. Shihandai had an Iai demonstration to attend so he had a good excuse. Gahahahaha

Off to Tokyo to watch the Kyokushinkan World Tournament. Should be interesting as it uses to face punches with specialized gloves.

More to follow!





Japan Fourth Day??????

It was cloudy and rainy all day, so Michele and her mom suggested we take in a movie at Sakuragicho. (^^)

The Minato Mirai area where the movie theatre was located.

Another view of the plaza in front of Landmark Tower.

Kids can commute to and from school safely by themselves.

A smoking room by the movie theatre waiting area.

Michele and her mom selecting seats for movie.

Close up of the ticket machine.Neat!

After the movie we had the hard task of deciding where to eat!

We all agreed on Tonkatsu!

After dinner Michele and her mom went home while I wandered around the area visiting old haunting grounds. ( ^ ^ )

Needless to say it took a long time getting back to the hotel!
OSU!

Japan 3rd Day

      Today I went to my grandparents Grave at Gokokuji, Tokyo to report the passing of my mother, their only daughter. This was the main purpose of this trip to Japan. I was relieved to see that the grave was in good shape and well maintaned. Unfortunately the concrete Torii gates fronting the grave had become too unstable from subsequent qaukes and had to be removed. Thank goodness no major damage was sustained.

The wooden bucket in front was to carry the flowers and water to the grave. It was a very hot and humid day and I was able to sprinkle water and cool my grandparents.

 Kyokushinkai Founder, Oyama Sousai's grave is also in the same Temple property. I also paid my respects  Sousai. ( ^ ^ )

 The main temple or Hondo at Gokokuji.

 Some monks greeting visitors to Gokokuji

 The keeper of the florist shop on the grounds of Gokokuji.

 A tough looking sentry by the stairs leading up to the Hondo.

One of many memorials on the grounds.

The evening was spent with some FB friends ( ^  ^ )

 Fresh sashimi!

 Fresh mini crabs! ( - -;)

My FB friends. It was a fun and relaxing evening!

Eri, one of my Karate Students in Yokohama. Strong in Karate and Drinking!

She's holding a half a graefruit which is squeezes into the glass of sochu!



Japan 2nd Day

My "home" for the next 11 days. Very compact but has everything I need. ( ^ ^ ).

 Mini Kitchen comes with the basic utensils for cooking and eating.

Mini Refrigerator, Plasma TV, Microwave, Toaster oven and my Bed!!!

The bath! ( ^ ^ ) it's a tight squeeze but I can still soak leisurely in the tub.

Strolled through Chinatown before hooking up with my daughter and her mom.

 Like all Chinatowns in the world, its colorful and jam packed!

 There were a lot more ALL YOU CAN EATS than before.

 Hmmmmm Tempting!

The main temple in Chinatown Yokohama

For whatever reasons there was a Hawaiian Shop in the middle of Chinatown!

 We ended up at Soup Curry place that My daughter loves to eat at.

 I had the 12 vegetables curry at spicy level 3. I still sweated!

 My daughter had the beef at level 5.

Her mom had the Okra curry at level ????? Burn Da Mouth!!! ( _ _ )

BUT IT WAS ONO! (delicious in Hawaiian)

More to follow! Time to catch the train to Tokyo!
Ittekima-su! Y( ^ ^ )Y

Japan 2102 Y( ^ ^ )Y

Safely arrived in Japan yesterday and thanks to Shihandai William was able to crawl into bed a little past midnight. But alas! My body is on Hawaii time and so after a short restless sleep I woke at 0330 and am now waiting for the Buffet Breakfast to begin at 0600. As some of you may know, one of Shihandai's many hobbies is car racing (the legal kind), so i got to get a ride in a souped up car with fins and all. But  not to worry he is a very careful driver. He had just returned from his studies in the States and was briming with confidence.
Since I couldn't check in at my usual Hostel due to the late night arrival(beats a two hour trip from Narita!) I stayed at a hotel in Chinatown and what a name ! Super Hotel, I really like it, Too bad its not as cheap as the Hostel.

      As I mentioned I've been up since 0330. I decided to take an Asaburo 朝風呂。I haven't soaked Japanese style since retiring and going back to Hawaii. Ahhhhhh, It was sooooo relaxing! Now I need to figure out how to get an Onsen (hot spring) into my schedule. I only have two free days left!
     Another great feature of Japanese hotels are its toilets. The seats are heated (if needed) and your derriere is cleaned with pressurised water that is also temperature and pressure controlled. There are some folks that get addicted to the cleaning! ( ^ ^ )

I also liked the fact that the front entrance is secured and locked at midnight and you have to remember your room entry code to get in. Gahahahaha Who can remember such a thing when you're out drinking past midnight! Incentive to go to sleep early.

Just back from breakfast at 0630 hours. Whew! Am stuffed! A very decent spread with variety of breads and jams, pastries, salad, two kinds of meat, rice porridge, a large selection of drinks. It's included in the room cost. ( ^ ^ )

The buffet line, very clean and orderly.

The coffee machines with all sorts of choices!

 My first pickings, Egg Salad on toast, yogurt, pork sausage, mini burgers and rice porridge

Rice porridge with pickled veges, seaweed and umeboshi.

Boiled organic egg.Very tasty as is.



Off to Japan

I will be going to Japan on July 3rd to take care of my mother's affairs and to make a report to her parent's grave in Tokyo.
While in Japan I will see many old friends from work and Dojo. I will be very busy. ( ^ ^ ) My nights are rapidly being booked up, Of course I will be conducting classes as well.
The schedule for classes are 7, 8 (Sunday morning) 10, 12 14 and 15 (Sunday morning).
The Kyokushinkan tournament will be held during my stay so  hopefully I can go see it.
Two weeks will go by fast. But then, with the current yen rate, any longer I will be penniless. Gahahaha. I truly miss the days $1.00 was 360 yen.
I hope to post some pics from Japan.
Osu!
Richard