back in JAPAN.

I'm looking for the right string to pull ...

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I don’t know what’s next.

But I know that you are all worried.

But please trust me; I'll make the right decision.

I'll keep you posted.

JAPAN ***

My dear friends I left Japan for a couple of days to Singapore. The German minister of foreign affairs and the embassy the advice German citizen to leave the country until the situation is more clear and stable. I can't say for how long I will be gone. I took some days off work. I'll try to find out about the situation via the German embassy and news.

I’m so shocked and sad. I don’t really know what to say. But I would like to let you know my Japanese friends, sisters and brothers, that I’m with you and if I can do anything for you please let me know.

Please take care of you and your family.

I hope you understand this decision.

kAi

some kind of nature - 野沢温泉村

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It’s an early morning again 3:18 am I’m wide awake sitting in a car heading north east. I took a day off work to join three of my workmates on a trip to Nozawa Onsen Snow Resort.

Nozawa is located in Nagano prefecture around 4.5 hour’s north east of Nagoya. It’s one of Japans most famous snow resort. The second ski lift was built in the 1950’s and the area was sites of the Winter Olympics in 1998.

The village has 30 hot springs and 13 public onsen and the best thing about them is that they are all for free! I took on the challenge and explored them. It is just amazing all these hot springs. I NEVER had such hot onsen in my life before and I went already to many different ones. Phhuuuuuuaaaahhhhh it was just too hot even the Japanese couldn’t deal with it. Warning signs where tagged all over in the entrance area and next to the natural water tap. But nothing could stop me so I gave it a go and boiled my self a bit.

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The streets are free of ice and snow because it boils in every corner and hot water floods the streets. Foot baths line the alleyways. When ever you feel cold you can take your shoes off and 'warm' your feet up.

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I don’t know if I mentioned earlier but Japan is the place to eat. Food is very much celebrated and the culture is based around a beautiful, significant and sometimes a bit crazy food culture. Where ever you go you have to try at least one ‘special’ regional dish. So I had to try one of the famous Oyaki Manjuu dumplings which are steamed over onsen water … oishikatta _ lecker!

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… the snow was just incredible and the scenery stunning.

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POWDER SESSIONS.

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wellcome to twentyeleven. -the very first-

be prepared

&

protected in 2011

happy new year.

Schneewittchen - mirror reflections PART II.

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Almost two month passed by and I didn’t have much time to post any of the treasures. I guess it’s time to post up!

To be honest I don’t know where to start. So I would like to follow the Hollywood trend and come up with a Part 2. I mean Harry Potter managed already to come up with a part 7.1 or how do you call a sequel of a sequel …

Right so here comes ‘Schneewittchen - mirror reflections PART II’ and soon there will be a bit more background info to the visuals.

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keep on reflecting.

THEanniversary2010 周年 - Shū-nen***

one ...

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really!?

liquidDEVOTION.

I’m sitting in a tiny rental TOYOTA (what else, it’s my job) heading towards the Philippine Sea. It’s 3.44 am by now, I wanna reach the sea by 5.30 am hoping for the best churning&wild, presume the worst/ flat&calm …

I’m once again on my way to challenge Mother Nature. It’s early, but Japan never sleeps cars are passing by … anyhow I decide to take the country road. What ever that means; the country road leads me through an endless urban landscape. It seems that I’m floating through a never ending city. Red traffic lights generate virtual elastic bands which are constantly trying to hold me back from the great escape out of the city …

The spot is just 120 km away but the distance just doesn’t shrink. The red elastics just keep on haunting me. Maybe I should have invested the money into the highway fee ...

I finally reach 'Irago' the peninsular at the south coast. The road becomes smaller and the red elastics turn into zebras from here onwards. It’s still early. So only some grand mothers are out for the morning walk. I’m driving straight to ‘Irago Akabane Loco’ the spot with my favorit wave … I arrive around 5.45 it’s packed????!!! I can’t belive it where are ALL these people coming from? I barely find a parking spot. 

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Getting out of the car, pulling out the boards the people are looking at me as usual – as I thought – but after climbing the little hill I knew that there was another reason to be double surprise seeing my face down here …

The waves where rolling in as I’ve never seen it before around here … so clean, crystal & chest high. Whhooo how beautiful!

But what are all these people doing here? And only ‘long boarder’ in the water. Even though it would be the perfect ‘short board’ day … and all these tents & flags.

It was the one and only Long Board competition that takes place once a year at Locos. I couldn’t believe it today of all days when the condition where just PERFECT and I was early enough, prepared and ready to get smashed by the incoming swell, they had there ‘Long Board Classics’!?!

Anyways I talked to some locals, improving my Japanese, to find out that this event will take all day long and the ocean would be blocked the entire day.

°°°°

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Ok plan B.

I knew that just of that spot there is a slightly less protected brake with a similar wave direction.

And there it was …

Solid sets where rolling in. Not too many closed out waves and lots of people waiting & observing from the cliff. For what I didn’t figure out … I surfed my first session around 6.20 am.

SORRY NO PIX only surf. But I took some in the afternoon for you when the swell dropped and I tried to escape from the blazing sun …

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keep on paddeling.