Eat like a King

Kimura-san on a really nice wave!  It’s been a while since we surfed together so this is a treat.

Kimura-san’s been coming here for decades so all the locals love him.  They give him pretty much any wave he wants.

Surfing and traveling at this age is inspiring.

I’m having a lot of fun hanging out with the Wakayama surfer boys.  Every wave they catch they are stoked.  And every Bintang before dinner they are stoked.  That’s how to live life.

The fruit juices here are so fresh.  It doesn’t even cost a dollar for one so I’ve been drinking a lot of these throughout the day.  

And an average sate lunch will cost less than two dollars.  You can basically live like a king here for a few dollars a day.

I custom ordered this 5’10 for small junky waves but the waves haven’t been junky.  This twin fin with low rocker is very fast.  Very easy taking off and very easy turning it.  I feel 10 years younger when I ride this board.  Can’t wait to try it out in Hawaii!

Only a few days left in this surf trip and I’m not looking forward to going back to reality.  When you’re here, you forget about everything.  I know once I get back to America, I’m going to put on the news and see the chaos that’s going on.  I’m starting to think it’s a lot safer to live in Indonesia.  I love it here.

The Sound of Silence

Nyepi was so amazing! I saw a trillion stars and hundreds of shooting stars. The silence was golden!

Nyepi, the Balinese “Day of Silence,”

I wasn’t planning to surf so much but I’m surfing so much.  5 days in a row of perfect waves and perfect weather.  Can’t help but ride some of the most perfect waves around.  Nothing compares to this if you come from Hawaii.  Indonesia is special and I’ve always told everyone that Indonesia has the best waves in the world.  

Surfing 3 perfect days of left hand endless waves.  If we had waves like this in Hawaii, I wouldn’t leave.  So traveling 44 hours to get here was well worth it.  I’m already planning a trip for later this year.

Nyepi, the Balinese “Day of Silence.”  It falls on March 19th which is tomorrow.  I’ve been coming here for over 30 years and always wanted to experience this.  Luckily, this is the year the timing worked out.  Nyepi is a Hindu new year that is dedicated to self-reflection, fasting, and meditation.  It starts from 6am to 6am the following day.  The entire island of Bali shuts down for 24 hours.  Everywhere is closed including the airport.  You can’t leave your hotel, no wifi, no lights, no cars, no bikes, no surfing, and nobody walking outside.  Bali will be in the dark!

The Hindu culture is cool.  It’s a very strong religion and everyone respects it.  Beautiful colors, beautiful people, and beautiful traditions.  

Tomorrow will be the first time for me to experience a day of silence.  I won’t leave my hotel room all day, and I’m looking forward to star gazing at night.  It will certainly be the best time to see the Milky Way, Southern Cross, and many planets.  

I’m in the country now so this is a view I get all day long.  

Going to meditate, self reflect, and just be present for 24 hours.  This is very exciting for me because I’ve never done this in my life before.

This is the beach break right in front of my room.  I surfed 3 rounds here already and many more to come.  The most people out was just one person.  Yes, it’s still a secret spot but I have a feeling it won’t last for very long.  So for now, I’ll surf another round today, and watch empty barrels all day tomorrow.  See you guys after Nyepi is over.