Something that clearly struck me amazing was the food in Japan! We ate like kings. Every time we ate anywhere it was an experience and a half. Everything from Moss Burger to Korean BBQ was absolutely delicious. Even McDonalds tasted better for some reason! I went to sushi one evening with Ryo from Reunion wetsuits, my wetsuit sponsor, and my good friends Yama and Tsun. I really didn’t know what to expect other than amazing food. Although I love sushi in the U.S. , it was quite different in Japan. The presentation was wonderful and it always tasted fresh. I mean, where else in the world do you go to sushi and the sushi chef does magic for you? I mean, come on! That’s exactly what happened that night. We were about half way through with our meal and all of the sudden the sushi chef started busting out magic tricks. At first, he mesmerized us with a couple card tricks that you’d figure any magician would be capable of doing. Then he got really crafty with the big finale at the end. By the looks on their faces, I had a feeling Ryo, Yama, and Tsun were exalting me in Japanese as he did wherever we went. The chef had me pull out a card and it was the ace of spades. Then e asked me to sign it. I concluded he was just asking for an autograph assuming Ryo had been telling him about the upcoming event in Taito, but little did I know, he was contriving the finale of all finales. He slid the card back in the deck and set the stack of playing cards back on the table in front of me. I watched him carefully, not knowing what was coming next. He slowly pulled out a brand new, unopened bottle of green tea from a little cardboard box behind the sushi bar. Then he began signing something in Japanese on the top of the bottle; most likely his signature but for all I know, it could decode the magic trick. I may never know. My eyes scoured it, watching his every move. He slowly ripped away the green wrapper from the little plastic bottle, and right away, I couldn’t believe my eyes. The ace of spades playing card I had just signed was now inside the unopened bottle of green tea! Even my Japanese friends that brought me there were in just as much shock or more than I was. We were astonished None of us could believe our eyes. We thought of every way possible he could’ve done it, however, to this day, I still can’t make logical sense of it. I kept the souvenir and it still sits on a shelf in my room. Everybody asks what it is, and I always have an interesting story to reminisce upon. They always have the same reaction, “That’s not possible!” I tell them . . . “Only in Japan.”
