here i sit on the coffee table of the sansscouci2 on the way back to padang. these past 2 days were incredible. it was 4:30pm yesterday evening when i went down to my bed to finish up the book i was reading. i was on the last 3 pages and ready for a nap when hayato came down and told me the waves were good. i already came in from a surf and got a 20 second barrel so i was pretty much over surfing. so i told him to send the dingy back to wake me up if the waves are good. i fell asleep. 10 minutes later, the dingy comes back and tells me “kirby, waves going off”. really? i was half sleeping but went anyway. i jumped in and my mind wasn’t there. the waves were pretty good but my timing was way off. i seen hayato, zuccho, and numajiri get sick 20 second barrels but i was just sitting on the outside waiting for a good one. the sun set, it was probably 6:30pm or so and it was getting pretty dark. everybody was on the dingy waiting for me and i was thinking to myself that i should have stayed in bed. then there it was, a huge set creeping in from the dark. i turned around as everybody was yelling “go”. i took off, pulled into this huge barrel, got so deep, made it out, pulled in again, again, and again, and rode the wave for 1 kilometer, or about a half of mile. i kicked out in the dark and looked back at the lineup. all i could see was a little dot in the water, that dot was our dingy. that was by far the best wave of my life. nothing even comes close.
then i wake up today and the waves were even bigger. i got another 20 second plus barrel and rode it forever. that was the 2nd best wave of my life. mentawai has the most perfect waves in the world. i’ve been here many of times but things are only getting bigger and better. i’ve seen video’s of kelly slater and andy irons getting long barrels out here. ours were longer. and if you don’t believe me, ask the guys at the kandui surf camp who took them surfing. they will tell you the same thing because they were out and getting the waves of their lives too.
i’m surfed out. i’m tired, i’m happy, and i appreciate my life more than ever. just wanted to say thanks to everybody that made this trip happen, and to everybody that we’ve met along the way. we all have new memories, new friends, and over 10,000 photos that’s enough to make a 100 page article….. stay tuned….
and i’ll just leave you with this….

SURF YOUR DREAM….. GO-NAMINORI….

here is a google photo of suicide cliffs in okinawa. i remember checking the waves there 9 years ago with satoru-san. we were all in the car driving around checking the waves when he told me about the story of suicide cliffs. from what i remembered, what went from a happy car ride, all of a sudden turned heavy. it was kind of a touchy moment for me that i will never forget. satoru-san was telling me about the thousands of okinawan people that jumped off this cliff during WW2 because they were scared to be captured by the americans. and about people digging caves in the mountains and committing suicide. gosh, i was shocked, and still am. being 4th generation american/japanese, i’m feel stuck in the middle. yes, i’m proud to be american, but at the same time, i’m proud of my japanese heritage. there are a lot of things that happened in WW2 that still bother me. i took asian studies courses in college and was taught a lot about the war. my own grandparents were right in the middle of it. imagine living in hawaii as a 1st generation japanese national and waking up to bombs at pearl harbor from your own country? and imagine watching the news of an atomic bomb being dropped in the middle of your hometown, hiroshima. i get chills even thinking about it. my grandparents and great-grandparents went through a rough time here in hawaii during the war. but they never complained about it once to me. all they said was “war is bad, everybody loses”…. gosh, i can go on and on and around and around. but getting back to that drive along suicide cliffs 9 years ago. thinking back at it now, the thing that fascinates me is how people can forgive. they put the past aside and treat everybody equal. and by me going to okinawa and becoming so close to the people, i learned how to do the same..
**i hate talking about the war and stuff but i think that we should all know what really happened. even our kids. till this day, i have japanese people coming up to me and saying bad things to me about america and stuff. i can understand that. but i think they don’t know both sides of the story. i was fortunate to learn both sides and from what i learned. we were all wrong. just like my grandparents said….

so here i am sitting here on the boat after day 7. there is just too many photos and too many stories to post. 3 photographers together have the most amazing photos ever. i’ve never seen so many good photos in one surf trip, and it ain’t even over yet. we are heading to some secret spots and this might be my last blog from mentawai. i’m going to start gathering the photos and video clips together to make on of the best surf trip story ever published. what magazine? don’t worry, be happy. keep you posted. but for now, i’m going to enjoy the last 4 days. then after this trip is done, i’m going to do some exploring in another country on the way back to japan. eat sushi during my transit, then back home to hawaii. please nobody call me to surf because that’s the last thing i want to do. i’m going to put some time aside to plan another boat trip for next year. and i can’t wait!!!

and if you thought our sunsets were amazing back home in hawaii or japan. take a look at this. this was our sashimi and bintang time every single night. wish you were here… mahalo and see you all soon…..
**by the way, for all my friends that are planning to come to hawaii in june, i have bad news. i won’t be there. another adventure came up that i couldn’t refuse. so june 6th to the end of june, i’ll be off island. well, actually on another island, or islands. i learned a lot on this surf trip. and that is to travel more. travel, experience, and life a happy life….