good evening. i was thinking about something today. thinking about the first 2 years i lived in japan. back then, there was no internet and no cellular phones. so the only way to check the waves was to drive down and look for yourself. i use to get up every morning at 6:30am and drive 30min to the nearest beach, which was kugunuma. look there, and drive all the way to some river mouths up the coast. sometimes it took 40min, and sometimes it took 2 hours. depended on the traffic. but i use to do that every day for 2 years. so i was thinking about all the flat days were i would drive all around and go back home at 1pm without even surfing. that sucked. then i would remember the good days where i’d score perfect waves with nobody around. yeah, nobody around. i surfed hanamizu, banyu, and other secret river mouths before all by myself. now the we have good surf forecast websites and everybody with cellular phones, things will never be the same. do i prefer the old days? or the new hi tech days? i think i like it how it was before. just the feeling of not knowing how the waves are until you pull up to the beach was exciting for me. now days, i already know before i leave the house. i think surfers now days are too spoiled. or too lucky. and i feel kind of sorry that they will never experience the feeling i use to experience every morning here in japan. rain, or shine, or snow, just go. and when you score epic waves by yourself, it’s all worth it..

i went back into my inbox folder and started throwing away old emails. then i came across this one gordinho sent me. this was this past winter but it felt like years ago… after being in japan all this time, now i really want to get back to hawaii and get barreled. and spit out… i miss surfing big waves….. ahhhhh….

this is my office. the best office in the world. backdoor…. i remember this wave well. i pulled in this barrel just for the photo. almost got hit in the face by a water housing, and broke my board. not a good day in the office…. but i ain’t complaining…. 7 photographers? nuts….

and check out this guys office. now that’s one office i wouldn’t want to be in. hope his company has a good life insurance plan…..

the other day, i got an email from hawaiian slack guitarist kawika from hawaii. he’s was in the band that opened for jack johnson at his concert in japan last week. he also played 2 songs along the side of jack. anyway, how small is this world. he saw the video i posted on youtube and sent me an email saying mahalo. he knows tony moniz, wade tokoro, and sean yano. all surfers i know too. small world…. anyway, kawika is playing at the kokua festival in hawaii this weekend where jack johnson will be performing too. gosh, wish i was there… anyway, wanted to say thanks to kawika for the email and can’t wait to get back and see you jam somewhere in hawaii….. CHECK OUT THIS CLIP OF JACK INTRODUCING KAWIKA…. ALOHA…
i was so stoked when i heard kawika’s band play before jack. i was really missing hawaii this time and listening to live hawaiian music made so happy. mahalo…

check out this old school japanese restaurant in hayama we went to last night. first time i ate such good traditional food in shonan….

it was tokura-san’s birthday yesterday. ever since i met tokura-san, this was only the second time i celebrated his birthday with him. he’s always on some boat trip this time of year and never in japan. gosh, just like me too. i’m always in some weird country for my birthday too. anyway, the first time i celebrated his birthday with him was on a boat in north sumatra, indonesia. that was 4 years ago. so i was really happy to celebrate it last night in japan. happy birthday tokura-san and wish you another happy year of surfing….

check out this menu. it was like a 10 course dinner. everything so delicious….

this soup with fish and tofu was awesome….

and the sashimi? melt in your mouth….

i don’t know what you call this. kind of like a dynamite? but 100 times better…

and the dessert was the best i’ve ever eaten. there’s not even a name for it. house special? i don’t really like dessert but i loved this one….

lifetime friends…. thanks for the awesome dinner….