good morning. just wanted to wish everybody in japan a HAPPY NEW YEAR 2008!!! KOTOSHI MOU YOROSHIKU ONEGAISHIMASU….[:?????????:][:?????????:][:?????????:]
**6:30am and the north winds are blowing. 2′ junk conditions on the north shore and knee high clean waves in town.

went for an evening session last night at kewalo’s and get this? nobody out!!! score….. surfed into dark and felt pretty good. i can’t remember the last time i surfed until dark. the lights in honolulu looked awesome reflecting off the wave while i was riding it…. might have to do that more often. anyway, have a nice new years eve in hawaii and a nice new years day for the countries that are celebrating new years before us. gosh, that mochi soup must be tasting good…..

good evening. gosh, the waves today in town were going off….

this was the flag at diamond head light house. when was the last time there were no winds? i can’t even remember….

got a little south swell in town and diamond head was the spot today. there must have been 50 guys out this morning when i first checked it at 7:30am. then when i went back, it looked like this. still 50 guys out with nice lines coming in. what a treat…. i surfed bowls and it was perfect this morning. 6 guys out, which was hard to believe for a sunday. the sun was out, the water was clean, and there were some nice waves coming in. this is the hawaii i know….

and for you lucky tourists, the hilton hawaiian village lagoon is OPEN!!! they finally finished it and it looks awesome. clean water, white sand, and happy kids swimming around. there is a big pump that pumps in clean water from the ocean and pumps out the dirty water into the ala wai boat harbor. it sounds not fair for the ala wai canal but dirty water from the lagoon is still better than the water sitting in that canal. it should clean it up a little… we shall see….

where else in the world can you pull up in a free parking space, walk 15 steps over green grass, sit on a bench on a white sandy beach, and look at a clean lagoon with diamond head in the back? no where….

this is what the lagoon use to look like before… just joking….

good morning. 6:30am sunday morning. wow, no winds today. it’s been a couple of months since we had a calm morning. still cloudy but who cares. the waves are really clean this morning everywhere. north shore is 3′ with epic glassy conditions. even town has some waves. bowls some spots are chest high with clean conditions. i can finally surf without a wetsuit today. yeah!!! oh, wanted to thank carter and miwa for the awesome barbecue last night. good food and awesome house. and the chocolate fountain for the strawberries? oh my gosh…. i spaced out and forgot to take photos…. shucks… anyway, i’m going to enjoy this windless day in hawaii because i don’t know how long it will last. have a nice day….

nao’s father hand shaped me this killer wooden surfboard for me. must have taken a long time to do because it’s perfect. thanks so much for this special surfboard…

and shin-san and midori-san brought this spice set for me. you add shoyu in each bottle and the ingredients in there makes a unique taste. good for fish… thanks you guys too…..

and glad to see the boys back safely in japan… hi shun and ryota!!!!