Final Surf for the Year?!

Sunrise yesterday morning. (Photo by MH). On the longboard for this session. A bit chilly early in the morning though. Also got a bodyboard session back on Thursday the 29th before leaving for Tokyo, again early in the morning. Big waves!




Scored some nice rides on the bodyboard late yesterday afternoon. (Photo by MH). Out this afternoon too, this time with MH. Not quite as clean, but still fun.

TOKYO!

We stayed in Shin Okubo, which is one stop from Shinjuku Station. It couldn`t have been further away though. All the staff in our hotel were Korean and on the streets and in the restaurants you heard a mixture of the two languages. KOREATOWN BABY! We ate Korean Gimbap among other things. I love this stuff!





We also went to Tokyo Disneyland. This place is a MADHOUSE - even on a Friday (October the 30th). However since we went through the gates when they opened at 9am, I figured we had to stay until they booted us out at 10pm - gotta get our money`s worth! Pretty tired the next day though...





Had to make the trek to Tokyo Tower before the game on Saturday to see the giant rugby ball promoting the 2011 Rugby World Cup back in New Zealand. Loving it!





How often do you see the All Blacks perform the haka to the Wallabies before a Bledisloe Cup match in Tokyo?! AWESOME! Especially since NZ won. And the fact that most Japanese rugby fans seem to be All Black supporters. Final score 32-19.





Lastly a bit of culture. We headed down to Kamakura on the Sunday to do some temple touring. Being the weekend, it wasn`t actually that peaceful though... This was at Tokei-ji Temple.

52 Dishes in 2009 #35-43

#35 Sausage Casserole. I should have stirred the pasta in with the sauce, instead of trying to layer it. Looks kinda funny. Tasted GOOD though.





#36 Chicken and Tomato Pasta. Simple but GOOD.





#37 Chili Burrito. Again simple but GOOD.





#38 Breakfast Casserole. This was actually my second time to make this. Definitely a good idea to make it the night before, then refrigerate it before heating it up when you want to eat it - otherwise it doesn`t hold together that well. I also checked the comments at the bottom of the recipe and toasted the bread second time round, which definitely stopped it turning out so soggy. A potato base would probably be even better though...





#39 Mango and Pork Fried Rice. Not bad.





#40 Minestrone. Way better than what the school lunch centre in town turns out.





#41 Potato Lasagna. Cooked the potatoes in the microwave for five minutes beforehand, as comments on other recipes complained of the potatoes being underdone. Turned out pretty good.





#42 Potato Fried Egg. Another one that`s simple but tastes REALLY good.





#43 Beef and Potato Mousakka. I actually used ground chicken instead of beef. Also added eggplant (from our garden!), as well as a bunch of herbs and spices. It turned out okay, but I didn`t really go for the yogurt topping. MH seemed to like it though.

Back in the Ocean

We had no waves here for (what seemed like) the LONGEST time. It was rough! The sunrises were nice though... This was last Tuesday.

Fortunately this Monday they came back - and they were BIG. I only had about thirty minutes after work before it got dark, and I ended up catching just the one (on the bodyboard for a change). At the time it SEEMED like the longest left-hander I`ve ever caught here - I was probably just excited to be back in the ocean...





WEDNESDAY MORNING. I didn`t think I was going to ride this one out to the end, but fortunately I managed to sneak through before the wave broke. Nice! (Photo by MH)





THURSDAY MORNING. Makes going to work so much easier! Unfortunately for MH though, she doesn`t quite have time to surf before work anymore... (Photo by MH)





FRIDAY MORNING. Back on the bodyboard again. ALL GOOD. (Photo by MH)

RoosterCAST Episode 22

Music = Gang Starr - Now You`re Mine

Recent SURF

This session was so much fun! So nice to be out before work last Thursday morning. The waves weren`t that big, but were really really sweet. (Photo by MH.)





I stayed on the shore Sunday afternoon and just took photos. Seeing Tommy on this one, it was probably a mistake!





NABE getting some too...





And MH...





The moon was nice as well!





I did go out surfing Monday morning and ended up with just three waves in one hour - and they were all lousy! Didn`t know what was going on!!! (I`m second from the right. Photo by MH.)

52 Dishes in 2009 #33-34

#33 Hot Chicken Salad. I cut the amount of mayonnaise, but I probably put too much cheese in. It turned out a little heavy, but okay.



#34 Mashed Potatoes. Would you believe I never really ate mashed potatoes growing up?! They`re pretty good though - and easy! Added some garlic and cheese - all good.