Dream 13 Daily Journal 3/14
3/14
Ok, so today was very fun. I can totally see why Joachim comes to Ibaraki instead of Tokyo now. It’s so less populated and the people tend to be very polite. Since there is less going on you can really take some alone time to focus your mind when you want too. Plus, Mach’s gym has a full weight room, bags, showers, and even a ring.
Starting this morning I first woke up at 5:30am, and then rolled around til about 7:30am. From then til about 9am I was writing emails, jotting down notes, video taping my room, and outlining some workouts for when I get home. Little did I know that Joachim had been up from even earlier. If we had known we would of probably gone for a jog. Once we were up we started looking for a coffee shop. Mach’s father, and brother misunderstood our question and made us some coffee. I have to say it was really damn good.
Then the real quest began. We went in search of breakfast. Unlike Tokyo, Ibaraki doesn’t have a ramen/udon shop on every corner. We walked around for almost 1 hour. It wasn’t that bad since we got to really check things out, but at this point we were pretty hungry. We walked up to a Sushi Resturaunt, and realized that all of the eateries only open at 11am, and we couldn’t wait another 30min so we ate breakfast at 7-11. 7-11 here in Japan has far better food.
I had Chicken Kara-age, and bought some natto to eat with my rice. Natto is fermented soy beans that has many health benefits, and gives good energy. Unfortunately it’s slimey, and smells bad. I think I grossed Joachim and Celina out a bit. I told them they probably wouldn’t like it but they tried it first. Joachim said “It looks like something I crapped out”, as he looked away.
After eating breakfast we went back to the Dojo, and then trained. The three of us basically did a Jiu-Jitsu marathon workout (If you train at FTCC you know what that means). Sean also held mitts for Celina since she is fighting soon. The training went well. I felt a little jet lagged, but felt much better after a hot shower.
After that we went to take some photos of Joachim with his Tokyo Five gear in a traditional Japanese setting for his sponsor. We came back and then headed to lunch. Mach’s wife got us a table at a resturaunt that he frequents before his fights. Since he cuts 18kg he eats a 9 piece sashimi plate, and a large salad with a little miso dressing. That’s exactly what we ordered. It was perfect, and at the sametime we got to experience what Mach goes through when he gets ready to fight.
Then it was off to the grocery store. We got cases of water, fruit, yogurt, and a bunch of house hold things we needed. We got back around 6:45pm. I used the internet, and watched some highlights on my phone with Mach’s dad for about an hour. I also heard a good quote indirectly from Mach’s dad from Sean. He said “if Aoki was my son, i would beat him”. I beleive its in regards to Aoki’s behavior.
Joachim, and I then went to 7-11 for some hot lemon vitamin C drinks. On the way there we got to discuss Bibiano, about life, and about coming up with a plan to get me a fight. It all ended with us saying “let’s train MMA tomorrow!”. Now I’m off to get some sleep for the awesomeness that will happen tomorrow.
Good night!
