w-inds. to words: Ryuichi in the USA [from Isao Kitou's blog]

Saturday, September 24, 2011

Ryuichi in the USA [from Isao Kitou's blog]

This was translated from Isao Kitou's blog.

Journeys to America Part 3 by Isao

Whenever I go to America,
I'm shocked at how excellent it is.
Our destination this time was San Diego ~ Hollywood
During [our stay] the things we did were
staying at Torrance
at 4:30 we left the hotel
we took the highway 405 to San Diego
we speedily drove the car down South
The morning sun faced the highway or the sea.
we stopped the car and went down a road continuing on to the sea,
our mood enhanced

The Point we often went to was
at the very southern end of Orange County
This was San Onofre State Beach

(The holy place of Longboard)
Beside it is the American force base Camp Pendleton
and from the beach you can see the San Onofre nuclear power plant.
This is "Trestles."

The picture we took together was of
the foreign resident of California, the surfer Yagichan
When we came here, he was a beach guide.
He gave us information about the beach waves that day.
He also guided us around the Point
Every year in October at the "Trestles,"
there is a surfing contest,
held for the Japanese who come here often.

It's the "Southern California Japanese Surfing Contest."
Yagichan is also training for the tournament

This became like the shadows in Stand By Me

Crossing the railroad to the beach

The Point is known for having the geographical shape of a leaf
If there's a current and wind,
waves come as if they were created by a machine
This is my favourite point.
That's "Huntington Beach"

This point is
around 60 km south from Los Angeles Airport
This ranges within 150 km North of San Diego

Even if this is [fundamentally] a central place for surfing, it's famous internationally.

Which is why surfers from around the world all gather here.
(Huntington Beach is also known as Surf City)
They also open an international competition every year.
As expected, this point is also a high level [of difficulty to surf],
being in the water

Even if I'm just looking out from the pier, this has become my studies.
You can go to a beach volleyball tournament annually
Beach volleyball is also popular.
From Huntington beach we went a little South
I often go to Newport Beach.
There's a surfboard shop there.

Whenever i come here, I want to get a new board.
And then on our last day,
We had to pack our bags to return home
and [here is] the beach by the hotel
"Manhattan Beach."

The sun shines radiantly at this beautiful coastline.
Surfers and beach volleyball players come here to the edge of the waters
Joggers and people out for a walk come and go.
Rollerbladers, skateboarders, and even bikers
come and go
Spreading out from the beach town area are upscale homes and many shops.
All in all, it's as if it was a painted picture.
That's is the image of a Californian town

There weren't a lot of waves,
but at the end, the experience of feeling the West Coast is burned [into our memories]
I was surprised by the dolphins and pelicans.
Our meals consisted of
Pizza

or hamburgers

or tacos

ramen

and we'd often go back there at night.

This is the highway to Hollywood

The weekday Hakuza and streets are the holiday Dangouzaka ordinary traffic congestion

With drowsiness and fatigue, this delay was very difficult for us.