Dirty Dozen +1 (Around the world...)

[mizanation]

last night, i went to a party at tyrone's bar, area cube. the party was thrown by the dj group soul camp. soul camp is a collection of b-boys that have been representing hip hop in okinawa for about 20 years. the music last night was a mixture of east coast hip hop, rare soul and super, super rare jazz cuts. i'm not sure where they do their digging but they go deep!

shouts to dj keisuke.

dj moriki on the left, one of the founding members of soul camp.

it was yu-chan's belated birthday.

shiho-chan getting her drink on. you can see that someone gave her a good luck rope from the big tug-o-war.

[sybaritical]

working ninja tabi-boots into your everyday ensemble has always been a nagging problem for the fashion conscious modern ninja.

ooh, how bout a ninja tabi boot in the form of an AF1 or a chuck taylor? i said it first!

Alas. Margiela got the drop on you with this one, at least.

[mizanation]

Alas. Margiela got the drop on you with this one, at least.

DAMN YOU MARGIELA! DAMN YOU TO HELL!!!

[sybaritical]

I shouldn't get too worked up about it.

Given the choice he'd probably want to live in Okinawa hanging out with bikers and beatniks, so you still win convincingly on points.

[mizanation]

I shouldn't get too worked up about it.

Given the choice he'd probably want to live in Okinawa hanging out with bikers and beatniks, so you still win convincingly on points.

i think martin margiela is perfectly happy hanging out with supermodels and millionaires.

[heflys]

Alas. Margiela got the drop on you with this one, at least.

For some reason, the ninja turtles came to mind when I saw those shoes.

[mizanation]

so, i just started teaching english at four different elementary and junior high schools.

it's been fun so far but more challenging than i thought it was gonna be.

between that and everything else i've been doing, i've hardly had time to sleep.

but, i promise to put some updates up, probably the final updates, this weekend!

[drapygo]

woah! that's a lot of work, going around 4 different schools. gotta do what u gotta do tho.

[denimdestroyedmylife]

thank you mizanation

[lenn]

i want my teachers to be like miz

[mizanation]

another crazy night tonight, tomorrow should also be eventful. will post pics later. good night.

[Guest mattes]

After reading miz's blog make me want to go to Okinawa.

[beatle]

is It Over ????

[mizanation]

almost, i have to make one more update and then, i will ship the jeans back to new york.

[kino]

aww it's the end of an era!

[selaviso]

is It Over ????

please beatle say it aint so!

[Analyst]

so, i just started teaching english at four different elementary and junior high schools.

it's been fun so far but more challenging than i thought it was gonna be.

between that and everything else i've been doing, i've hardly had time to sleep.

but, i promise to put some updates up, probably the final updates, this weekend!

Miz, have you been kancho'ed by any students, yet? Hilarious...

[mizanation]

actually, i don't know what kancho is and it hasn't happened yet. maybe in okinawa they don't do kancho, but we shall see!

*edit* i asked my wife about kancho and yes, they do it here. hopefully, it won't happen to me!

[mizanation]

a few days ago, we visited binten. binten is a modern bingata artist. bingami is a traditional okinawan method of dyeing fabric. the process is hundreds of years old, but binten has a very modern approach to bingata. he uses bingata to make modern clothing, he even does bingata on denim!

he had an interesting fake iguana.

binten is a very cool guy. i am looking forward to collaborating with him on some interesting projects.

[mizanation]

the other day, our friend yamamoto-san visited us in japan. he's actually the person who introduced me to my wife. anyways, he's a great guy and a very special friend to us. he owns his own technology firm and spends a lot of his time travelling all over the world having crazy adventures.

first we took him to victor's shop on park avenue. victor has lived in okinawa for decades and is originally from india. victor is a very kind person and is loved by everyone in this town.

[mizanation]

lots of interesting stuf in victor's store.

[mizanation]

my favorite part is, of course, the curry and spices area.

victor and i always discuss the finer points of indian cooking. we discovered that we both like to add a little chat masala into our curries! also, he says he will give me some besan so i can make one of my favorites--kadi pakora. thank god for victor-san.

he also has pipes and incense for when you need to relax.

[mizanation]

next stop, the sabani cafe for some coffee. this place is very nice--some of the best italian food in okinawa city.

"sabani" is a type of traditional okinawan boat. they still have sabani races in okinawa to this day. here's a minature version.

this is the guy who makes it happen.

[mizanation]

yamamoto-san shared an interesting story with us. he has a lucky lighter, a limited edition dupont shaman--a bic, this is not. those of you who are into expensive lighters will know that this is a true big baller's lighter.

anyhow, someone stole this lighter from yamamoto-san when he was at a bar. this made yamamoto-san very sad as he was very attached to his dupont--he always felt that it gave him luck. a few weeks later, he got a call from the police station. they had apprehended the thief who stole his lighter! apparently, the guy who stole it took it to a pawn shop to hawk it for money. the owner recognized this lighter as a limited edition dupont and called dupont to have them look up the serial number. when the registered name didn't match the name of the person who brought it in, he called the cops and had the guy arrested.

so, yamamoto-san's lucky lighter returned to him safe and sound.

[Spastic_Koala]

As usual, excellent pics miz. Thanks!

[mizanation]

for dinner, we went to burari, an izakaya that serves okinawan food.

they have awamori in clay jars divided by alcohol content.

appetizers--steamed soybeans, tofu with salted squid and japanese mountain yam with okinawan mozuku seaweed.

sashimi of a local okinawan fish. they took what was left over from the sashimi and deep fried it to a crisp.

this is shiikwasah. it's like an okinawan lime.

breaded fried chicken

deep-fried pig's feet with sweet and sour sauce.

fuu champuru. kinda like an okinawan stir fry.

stewed pork ribs. this pork was so tender, you could cut it with the side of your chopstick.

eggplant with miso sauce.

[denimdestroyedmylife]

^ is that you, father?

.......

[mizanation]

i noticed a bunch of old dudes in the back. they all looked pretty cool so i went over there and asked if i could take their picture. turns out, one of the guys there is the father of the guy who owns the izakaya. him and all his friends came out to support his son's little restaurant.

then, in walked kamida-san! apparently, he is an old friend of the guy who owns the izakaya.

another friend of his was at the bar. he showed us his kamida leather collection.

three guys who grew up together.

for dessert, we had blue seal ice cream.

[mizanation]

next we, we went to cocoroco chicken. this is the best damn peruvian-style rotiserie chicken i've ever tasted! there is a cocoroco chicken in brooklyn, but this place smashes it with an iron beak. okinawa's kokoroko chicken has been around forever and is a big favorite on this island.

there was a bunch of old people in one of the rooms have a big get-together. man, do okinawan old folks love to party. maybe that's the secret of their famed longevity? i took a picture of them.

forgot to take a picture of the chicken, will take one next time.

[denimdestroyedmylife]

for dessert, we had blue seal ice cream.

"nah, it's just a little ice cream"

BWOUAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHA