For the last few months, I've secretly been filming for a movie. I couldn't say anything until the movie was done. It's a action movie and I get to play the role of a superhero. It should be coming out in theaters very shortly. In this movie, I'm a superhero that can see ghosts. I track down all the bad ghosts that haunt houses and I wait for the residents to leave. When they are gone, I sneak into the houses and fight all the bad ghosts. The hardest part about everything was learning how to fight with a sword. It took a lot of practice and I had a lot of help from a Kendo Master, Kenji Ikura. Besides seeing ghost, I also have super powers. Just think of a ninja, samurai and a really strong wrestler. Put them all together and you get me. I am "The Holy Ghost Hunter". You can check out my video on facebook. It's just some behind the scenes footage and a sneak peek of one of my fighting scenes. Enjoy!!!

Okay, I will admit that this whole story is a lie. Actually, I was doing an interview for PBS. PBS is doing a documentary on Jake and they wanted to ask me a few questions. I just thought that it would be fun to act like I was filming a movie instead. hahaha.

Puapua designed an ukulele that was made in Vietnam. It has a very big and bright sound. In my opinion, I think it's great for people that like to strum. I like to pick a lot so I prefer an ukulele that has a slightly warmer tone. If you like traditional Hawaiian music, you might want to check this ukulele out if you're looking for a new one. Anyways, I made a short funny video that features the Puapua model. I'm planning to make a video for Puapua that talks about all the different "Hawaiian made" ukuleles. Just so that people can understand the differences in tone and the way they are built. The video I made is just a demo to check out the sound and video quality in the store. I didn't shave or fix up my hair but my mom said that I still looked handsome. hahaha. Also, I really don't know much about building ukuleles but I tried my best to explain the different features it had. I chose the Puapua model because not too many people know about it. If you like the big and bright sound, it's a great ukulele for the price. Enjoy!!!

I just posted a new video on my facebook page. I actually put this video together for Brian. We went golfing last week so I just wanted to show him some of my highlights. hahaha. It's pretty funny. I'm not sure if he's going to remember any of the shots from the video. Anyways, enjoy!!!

You can find my videos on facebook. I go by the name "Makoto Shima".


新しいビデオをフェイスブックのページに更新したよ。　実はこのビデオはBrianの為に更新したんだ。　先週一緒にゴルフに行ったから僕のハイライトを見せたかっただけなんだ。　はははっ。　結構面白いよ。　僕が打ったショットを彼が覚えてるか分らないけどね。　何はともあれ、楽しんでね!!!　

My skin is starting to peel because of my sunburn last week. Sooooooooooo itchy!!! My dead skin goes all over my bed when I sleep. I have to sleep on a towel now. hahaha. I really hope this goes away soon. All I did today was scratch myself from the time I woke up till now. Oh, I also went golfing. I got more sun today. hahaha. Oh, I also won a new watch today while I was golfing. Today wasn't a regular "golf with my friends" day. It was more of a team competition. It was fun. I'm almost done with the fishing video and then I'll get started with today's golf video. Making short videos is like my new hobby now. That and scratching myself. hahaha. See you guys later.


日焼けのせいで僕の皮がむけてきたんだけどめっちゃかゆい!!!　寝るとき皮がむけてくるからタオルを敷いて寝ないといけないんだ。　はははっ。　早く直るといいな〜。　今日は一日中自分をかき続けたんだ。　それとゴルフにも行ったけどまたいっぱい日差しを浴びちゃった。　はははっ。　それでなんとゴルフの景品として腕時計をもらったんだ。　今日のゴルフは友達とただ楽しい時間を過ごすゴルフじゃなくてチームせいの試合だったんだ。　とても楽しかったよ。　もうすぐで魚のビデオが終わるからその後はゴルフのビデオを作るつもりなんだ。　最近は短いビデオを作るのが趣味になってきたよ。　それと自分をかくのもね。　はははっ。　また後でね〜。

I went fishing with my dad yesterday. We caught a total of 7 or 8 fishes. We had to let all of them go. None of them could fit in our car. hahaha. It was fun though. I got way too much sun. Right now my body is red and soooooooooooo itai. Next time I will wear a long-sleeve shirt. hahaha. I'll be working on a fishing video soon. See you guys later!!!


昨日父親と一緒に釣りに行ったんだ。　計７，８匹釣ったよ。　最後には皆海に返したけどね。　なんせ車に入る魚が一匹も居なかったんだ。　はははっ。　結構楽しかったよ。　いっぱい日差しを浴びたから僕の背中はすご〜〜〜〜〜く痛いんだ。　次回は長袖を着ないと。　はははっ。　もう少ししたら釣りのビデオを作るよ。　またね!!!

I posted a new video on Facebook. I didn't do much for Father's Day. I celebrated it one day earlier since I had to work on Father's Day. I played tennis and then had a friend come over for dinner. We had a very small BBQ. Jake and my dad had plans already. So while I got to cook and play with fire, my son got to play with his rabbit. I think it came out to be a nice little Father's Day video. Enjoy!!! I'm at Pua Pua now so I shouldn't be making a new blog. Gotta go!!!

新しいビデオをフェイスブックに更新したよ。　父の日にはあまり出来事はありませんでした。　僕は父の日に仕事をしないといけなかったから一日早く祝ったんだけど、テニスをしてその後友達を家に誘って夕食を食べたんだ。　結構ちっちゃいバーベキューをしたよ。　ちなみにJakeと父親はもう予定が入ってたらしい。　僕が料理をしながら火で遊んでる間、息子はウサギと遊んでたんだ。　ビデオの出来は結構良い方だと思うよ。　楽しんでね!!!　今ぷあぷあで働いてるんだけどブログを更新してる場合じゃないね。　仕事にもどらないと!!!

It's so funny when I send an email to everyone at Pua Pua. All of the staff members are really close and we always share ideas with each other. The problem is that when I send an email, I usually type as I think. I sometimes sit in my garage for a couple of hours and just keep typing. My emails sometimes go on and on and on and at the end, I might say something like, "So I think we should consider offering a free lesson at 8:00pm." I think if my whole email just said, "I noticed that around 8:00pm, there's a lot of people walking around the hotel because they just finished eating dinner or they're just shopping around. Maybe we should offer a free lesson at the store." I'm pretty sure everyone would say, "Uh, okay. We can try it." hahaha. So if you're interested, here's the type of emails they get from me. I'll talk about some of the changes I've been going through and some future plans I have in mind. The thing is that it helps me to understand my own ideas clearer when I type it out. Here's what goes on in my tiny little head. hahaha.

After everything I've been through in the last 7 months, I've learned a few things. Not because of any bad choices I've made in the past, but because of some better choices I've been making recently. There's a huge difference in that which I won't explain. I don't want to sound like I'm giving a lecture. Although this could turn into one. hahaha. Anyways, I've been finding it a lot easier to stay focused on the things I do. When I say focused, I mean I've been able to choose things and "LIVE" towards getting it done. Kind of like how so many kids these days can just focus on their video games all day. When they're not playing their game, they're thinking about it and when they're sleeping, they're dreaming about it. Although I'll never encourage a kid to play video games, I can't help but be amazed by how focused they can be. As we get older and busier, I think it gets harder to have that kind of focus towards anything. I believe it's because I'm not drinking anymore but I'm starting to realize that my ability to focus on things are getting stronger. Being focused is pretty easy to identify, but the feeling is really hard to explain. I think it's like an emotion. The same way you can be happy, sad or angry, you can also be focused. I've been thinking about new projects I can do. Maybe make another full album and tour again or possibly open up another ukulele school on the other side of the island. I even thought about opening up a restaurant or bar. Of course we'd have live music every night like Tiki's Bar and Grill, Lulu's or Chai's Island Bistro. The problem with that is Brian doesn't want to perform every night. hahaha. Then this idea came to me this morning as I was driving to work. It's still too early to say anything though. However, this will definitely be my biggest project of my life. As a teacher, I've learned how to understand what kind of person someone is after talking to them for a few minutes. I can do that with almost anybody now. I'm usually wrong though. hahaha. My job also requires me to give my students challenges and watch how they handle them. When they are ready, I can try giving them a difficult or semi-difficult song to practice. If I do that too early, they'll get discouraged and say that playing the ukulele is too hard. If I wait too long, they'll say that playing the ukulele is boring and try a different instrument. Anyways, this may sound really funny but I've been trying to do all these things to myself lately. Of course I know exactly how I feel at anytime of the day, but I've been paying a lot of attention to why I might feel that way. If I feel lazy, why do I feel so lazy? Is it because I'm working too much? Am I losing my focus? Is there something I can do to snap out of it? If I feel better the next day, it's the same thing. Did I get more sleep then the night before? Is there something I'm excited about today? Do I just feel focused again? If I've been doing the same thing for the last few months, why am I focused today and not yesterday? All of these things will help me understand what I'm capable of doing and will also lead to better decisions as far as goals I set for myself. Here's a good example. We all know the feeling of wanting to learn an instrument or a sport. We all know how focused and motivated we are in the beginning. 2 weeks later we quit because we just lost interest. Have you ever thought about what happened in those 2 weeks? Was there something that could've been done that would've kept you interested or maybe something that shouldn't have been done? How is it possible that you were so excited about something and then just changed your mind 2 weeks later? I really believe that if we pay attention to these things, we'll learn how to succeed more times then quit or fail. After thinking about these things for a couple of months now, I'm starting to think that confusion is the biggest problem for myself and a lot of other people. If we could understand "everything" we wouldn't be afraid to try "anything". We're only afraid of the things we don't understand. We understand that car accidents happen all the time. We understand that so well that we still drive. In fact, I used to drive while talking on the phone all the time. Way more people die in car accidents then shark attacks. I don't know much about sharks though and they scare me to death. hahaha. When I used to go surfing a lot, that's all I would think about. It's funny though. If I could see the bottom of the ocean and I knew how deep the water was, I'd be perfectly fine. Also, if there were a lot of people in the water, I'd understand that the chances of me getting attacked and not someone else was pretty rare. That would also make me feel a lot better. hahaha. So with this being said, I'm trying to learn and understand what makes me feel the way I do. What makes me happy, sad or angry is easy to understand. What about lazy, focused, motivated or discouraged? I believe that these are the emotions that will make you succeed or fail in anything you try to do. When I set a goal for myself, I want to understand how I can "continue" to stay motivated and focused. It's okay if I sometimes feel lazy or discouraged. It will happen. I just have to understand that so I don't over react and also learn how to snap myself out of it. That's really hard to do after 2 or 3 months of doing the same thing. So I have about 5 months to figure myself out completely. After that, I'll be able to know if I'm trying for too much or if I really think I can handle another big challenge. I believe I still have a lot of fight left in me. I want my next fight to be something big. The main thing is that there's no sharks involved. hahaha.

Anyways, it's getting pretty late now. Time is usually the only thing that gets me off of my computer. hahaha. I'll find an old picture for this blog. So to end this blog, I'd just like to sum everything up by saying............

"So I think we should consider offering a free lesson at 8:00pm."

hahaha. Oyasumi!!!


ぷあぷあのスタッフ皆にメールを送ると面白いことが起こるんだ。　スタッフ皆は結構仲が良くていつもアイデアなどをシェアしてるんだ。　メールをする時はいつも考えながらタイプするんだ。　時々僕の家の車庫でもメールを打つんだけど僕のメールはとてもとてもとても長くなったりするんだ。　この前はこんなことを言ったよ、”これからは8時のレッスンもした方がいいと思うんだ。　気づいたんだけど、8時あたりになると食事を終えた人とかショッピングの途中の人とかでホテルの周りにいっぱい人が居るんだ。　だからその時間帯にレッスンをすれば”やってみようかな。”って気分になると思うんだ。　はははっ。”　　その他にもお店で変えたものを言ってみたり将来何を使用としてるか書いたりするんだ。　皆にタイプすると自分の中でも整理がつくしもっと理解できるんだ。　僕のちっちゃな頭の中ではこんなことを考えてるよ。　はははっ。

この7ヶ月間色々な事を学んだんだ。　別に悪い事をして学んだんじゃなくて良い事をして色々学んだんだ。　コレは説明は出来ないけどすごく大きな違いなんだ。　お説教みたいにしたくないしね。　最近は物事に集中しやすくなったんだ。　って言うのは子供がゲームとかに集中するのと同じことみたいなもので、最後までちゃんとやるってことさ。　ゲームをやってない時はそのことを考えちゃうし、寝てる時はそれが夢に出てくるみたいにね。　でも僕は子供にゲームを進めたりはしないけど、彼らが集中してゲームをしてるのをみると感心しちゃうんだ。 　思ったんだけど年をとってくると物事に集中するのが難しくなってくるようなきがするんだ。　僕はお酒を飲むのを止めてから物事に集中しやすくなって来てるような気がする。　集中するとそれに気づくけど説明はしにくいんだ。　なんか感情みたいに喜んだり，悲しんだり、怒ったりするような事と似てるかも。　最近は色々新しい事を考えてるんだ。　例えば新しいフルアルバムを作ったり、島の反対側に新しいウクレレ教室を作ったり、ティキバー＆グリルやルルズやチャイズアイランドビストロみたいな毎晩ライブミュージックがあるようなレストランかバーを作ってみたり。　ま〜問題はBrianが毎日ライブはしたくないって言ってるんだけどね。　はははっ。　それと今日の朝車を運転してる時に閃いた事があるんだけどそれはまだ言わないようにしてる。　だけどこれは僕の人生で一番大きなプロジェクトになるかも。　先生として最近は子供と数分話しただけでこの子がどんな子かわかるんだ。　実際は全然間違ってるんだけどね。　はははっ。　僕のもう一つの役目は子供達にちょっとした試練や課題を与えて、その子達がどのようにくぐり抜けられるか見る事なんだ。　それができたらまたそれよりちょっと難しい課題を与えるんだ。 難し過ぎる課題を与えちゃうと子供達はウクレレが難しいっておもっちゃうからね。　でも課題を与えずにいると今度はウクレレはつまらないって思わせちゃうから他の楽器にいっちゃうしね。　何はともあれ、最近はこのすべての事をしようとしてるんだ。　自分の気持ちとかはいつでもわかるけど、なんでこんな気持ちになるんだろうって考えたりするんだよね。　もし面倒くさいって思ったら、働きすぎてるの？っておもったり、集中力が切れた？って思ったり、気晴らしに出来る事はある？って思ったりする。　もし次の日がいい気分だとすると、なんで今日は集中できて昨日は出来なかったんだ？って問いかける。　昨日はいっぱ寝たから？　今日は興奮するなにかがある？　それともただ集中してるだけ？　もし同じ事を毎日毎日してるんだったらなんで今日はできて昨日はできなかったんだ？　色々な事が自分を良くしてくれて何が出来るか悟らせてくれるんだ。　これが良い例だよ。　人々は新しい楽器とかスポーツを習おうとする感情は理解できると思う。　その時はすごくやる気が出るもんだよね。　でも２週間したて飽きちゃったら止めちゃう。　その２週間、どうしちゃったんだろうって考えた事ある？　その２週間の間やる気を持続するためにできたことはあったかな？　凄くやる気があったのに２週間したらあきちゃうって事考えられる？　こういう考えに注目したら成功する回数が多くなると思う。　こういう事を考えている最近、自分は”混乱”が多いと思うんだ。　もし全部の事を理解できれば、なんでもできると思う。　自分の知らない物事はみんな恐れを感じる。　車の事故は毎回起こるって皆は知ってるよね。　それでも皆は運転する。　僕は前携帯電話で話しながら車を運転してたんだ。　サメに噛まれて死ぬより車の事故で死ぬ人の方が多いんだよ。　僕はサメの事はあまり詳しくないけど凄く怖いんだ。　はははっ。　前サーフィンに良く行ってたときその事をいつも考えてたんだ。　でも海の底が見える所までは平気だったし他の人がいっぱい居たら噛まれる確率が低かったから平気だったけどね。　はははっ。　こんな事を色々言ってるけど何が僕を動かしているのかを考えたりするんだ。 何が僕を喜ばせたり、起こらせたり、悲しませたりするかは理解しやすいけど、やる気を持続させられる方法がしりたいんだ。 　ま〜時々面倒くさいって思ったりしてもいいんだけど、それからすぐ抜け出せる方法も考えないと。　２、３ヶ月間、同じ事を考えながらするのは難しいかもしれないから５ヶ月してから考えるよ。　そのあと自分でやり過ぎかなとかまた新しい課題を成し遂げ慣れるか判断ができるよ。　まだまだやらないといけないこともあるんだけどね。　
何はともあれ、そろそろ夜遅いから寝るね。　時間だけが僕をコンピューターから突き放してくれるんだ。　はははっ。　なんか古い写真を張っておくよ。　このブログの最後に色々まとめてみるけど、　　

「８時のレッスンを始めた方が良いとおもうんだ。」

はははっ。Oyasumi!!!

I worked from 10:00am - 11:00pm today. That's 13 hours!!! Yesterday I worked for 10 hours. Tomorrow will be another 10 hour day. I feel perfectly fine when I'm actually working. Sometimes the last hour can be a little hard for me. Driving home is the worst though. Driving is okay but I always think about how long my day was and how I have to do it all again tomorrow. And of course when I finally get home, it's a little after 11:00pm and everyone's already sleeping. That means I have to eat and relax by myself. That can get really lonely and boring!!! Maybe I need to buy a dog. hahaha. Anyways, I'm still trying to arrange my schedule. I haven't lifted weights since I got sick. That's almost 4 weeks ago. Also, I've only been playing tennis once a week instead of 3. I have to find a way to make time for those things. All I can think about right now is getting some sleep and hope that I wake up on time tomorrow. hahaha. Sometimes my body feels so tired at night that I start thinking I'm not going to hear my alarm the next morning. However, I've been working at Pua Pua in the morning for about 6 months now and I think I was late only once or twice. Definitely once. I'm a little surprised about that. In the beginning, I was thinking I'd be late about once a week. hahaha. Okay let me take a picture of myself for this blog and then I'm going to shower. After that I'm going to dream about exercising. You think dreaming about exercising will help a little? hahaha. I'll let you know if I get any stronger tomorrow. hahaha. Oyasumi!!!

I took some video footage of Iolani High School. I can't remember if I ever showed pictures of the school before. Anyways, I was trying to think of a creative way to introduce the school to everyone. I thought it would be fun to do it "interview style". I had one of my best friends interview me for this video. The interview itself might not look that professional but I think it's okay. At least you guys get to see the school and my classroom. Enjoy!!!


前に皆にイオラニ高校の写真を見せたか覚えてないから今回はビデオを撮ったよ。　何はともあれ、皆に学校を紹介するいい方法を考えてたんだけどインタビュースタイルにしたよ。　このビデオでは僕の親友にインタビューしてもらったんだ。　このインタビューはプロの仕事じゃないけど結構うまく行ったと思う。　皆が学校と僕のクラスルームを見れればいいかな〜と思ったんだ。　Enjoy!!!

We had a famous chef come over to our house last night and cook dinner for us. He also gives cooking lessons. Dinner was great and he's a really nice guy. The only problem with him is that he really really really talks toooooooo much. hahaha. When I was watching him cook he started talking to me and he never stopped. When I started walking away he was still talking to me. When everybody went home and I was trying to sleep, he was still talking to me. In the dark!!! hahaha. He's very famous though. Everybody in Hawaii knows him. Sorry but I didn't take any pictures. I had my video camera out and forgot about the pictures. I'll post some pictures of my lunch instead. hahaha. Don't forget, you can find these videos on facebook. Look for my secret page. I go by the name of Makoto Shima. hahaha. See you later.


昨晩、有名なシェフが家に来て料理を振舞ってくれたんだ。　彼は料理のレッスンもするんだけどすごくいい人なんだ。　彼の唯一の欠点はとにかく凄く凄く凄くいっぱい話すんだ。　はははっ。　僕が彼の料理をみてたら僕にすぐ話しかけてきて口が止まらなかったんだ。　僕がちょっと離れてもまだ僕に話しかけてきたんだよ。　皆が帰った後僕が寝ようとしても暗闇の中でまだ話しかけてきたんだ。　はははっ。　彼はとても有名な人手ハワイでは皆が彼のことを知ってるんだ。　悪いんだけどビデオを撮るのに夢中になっちゃって写真んを撮るのを忘れちゃったんだ。　だから代わりに昼食の写真を更新しておくよ。　はははっ。　それとフェイスブックでビデオを見れるよ。　僕の秘密のページを見つけてね。　Makoto Shimaで登録してあります。　はははっ。　See you later.