good morning. gosh, we’re having such a good time here. the waves are small but who cares. i just surfed chest high cloud 9 this morning. the water is so clean… and the food we’ve been eating? unreal. went to a yakitori place last night in the town. choose what you want to eat, and they cook it for you. we had chicken, pork, and half of an aku, or katsuo. it was so good…… this trip is different than any other trip because i’m with 7 japanese guys that all have camera’s and video cams. and yes, we are using it all the time. so this trip will be well documented for sure. anyway, all we need is some waves, then this trip will be perfect. well, for me, it’s already perfect. salamat…..

there’s a little place we eat across the street. they have a little pig on the side tied on a leash. i asked the lady when they were going to eat this pig. she said in november, for her daughters 1st birthday. shucks, i wanted to be here so i can eat the feet. haha. it’s a joke.. sorry kalua…. but you know what, there’s so many little pigs and chickens running all over the place. if you go to a restaurant and order chicken, they will grab one, break the neck, and it will be served to you in 30min. that’s how it’s done here. back home, we just run to costco…. spoiled people….

want to live the dream? buy cloud 9 resort. but make sure you invite me every typhoon season. if you don’t, it’s not for sale….

to get around here, you need to jump on a motorcycle. for 20 peso, or 50 cents, you can get a ride into the village. but expect to ride with other passengers. i shot this photo from the back, sitting in front of me was hayato, then tokura-san, then the driver, then shimpei on the handle bars. that’s 5 guys. haha….. only in the philippines… anyway, we went to the festival yesterday in general luna. right when we got there, it was finished. oh my gosh…. anyway, we walked all around for a place to eat. we were so hungry that we didn’t even care what we ate…..

all the dishes tasted good. the one in the middle was the best. i offered hayato to try some but he said no thank you. then when i was on my last bite, hayato told me that i was eating dog. i lost my appetite. ruff ruff…..
**how’s this, the mango here is so good. sweet and juicy. i ate mango chicken curry, mango pancakes, and a mango smoothie. and i’ve only been here 2 days. mango fever. right now, i’m going to order some more mango pancakes and a mango shake for breakfast. maybe now my meat will taste as good as kalua’s… [:??$B”y(B???:]
**oh, and how’s this. gerry from sagana and the guys at billabong gave me an invitation for the contest. shit, so lucky. there’s 44 surfers and the format will be like the WCT. round 1, 3 man heats, 1st goes to round 3. 2nd and 3rd got to round 2. so we all have 2 chances to surf cloud 9 with 2 other guys out. WQS judges are here, the billabong bosses, and some bad ass surfers from japan, tahiti, europe, hawaii, bali, australia, and california. yes, this is an international contest and it is so international. they even flew in an australian doctor for the event. philippines is going big….. all the boys are on the ferry coming tonight so it’s going to be a mad house from tomorrow. well, starting tonight…. have a great day and be safe and happy. just like me….. haha….

good evening, mabuhai from the philippines. gosh, it’s like paradise here. woke up this morning and the waves were small. in fact, it’s been small here for the past 10 days. some of the traveling surfers staying here for a while look pretty disappointed, you can just see it in their eyes. wake up, check the waves, it’s flat, go back sleep, pray for tomorrow. but it’s ok for us because we just go here but i know that feeling of waking up to flat waves for 2 weeks straight when i went to tonga. i understand that the waves aren’t epic everyday here so i’ve prepared myself before i got here. i just think like this, “if i score, i’m lucky”. that’s the cool thing about trips because it’s not only about the waves, it’s about the people you meet, and the experiences you have. i’m so fortunate to come to the philippines to shoot the contest for a japanese magazine. now i get to show people images of this beautiful country through my eyes. i can’t post any photos taken off my canon camera. you have to wait until one of the upcoming Surfing World magazine. but i snapped some off my small dig. camera so check these out.

this is the stage for the contest. when the contest is on, there will be thousands of people here. i actually got scared the last time because i thought the stage was going to break. it’s parked like sardines….

yes, this is where tokura-san, hayato, and i stay. see that coconuts? i ate one this afternoon and it was the sweetest coconuts i’ve ever eaten….

ohayo gozaimasu. i took this photo lying down in my queen size bed. cloud 9 is right between the coconut trees. i jumped in for a morning session. it was only knee high but i was out there all by myself so it was so relaxing. got a couple and went in. the water is so warm and crystal clear….

check out this poster. it’s a national beer drinking contest sponsored by san miguel. the winner gets 500,000 pesos or $11,000 usd. shit, i’m going to get my entry in. so now you guys know the real reason i came here. yes, to become the filipino national beer drinking champion. haha[:?????????:][:?????????:][:?????????:]

hello everyone, finally got to cloud 9. it took a while to fit our boards and stuff on that little propeller airplane in cebu. it was a little 15 passenger plane which they had to take out the half the seats to fit our board bags in. when we checked in, they even made so get on the scale so they could figure out where to seat us to keep the airplane balanced. so half the plane had our boards and the other half had us. it was a pretty smooth. a little scary, but smooth. we got this room right in front of cloud 9. while lying down on my bed, i can see right out to the lineup. sick… well, as for internet access, got to walk down the street so don’t know when i can post this. also, the sim card i bought for my cell phone in cebu doesn’t work here. shit, i wasted two dollars. going to try to find another one tomorrow. oh, and how’s our dinner we had tonight? chicken mango curry. it was so healthy and good. anyway, getting ready to sleep but hayato is sleeping right next to me snoring so loud. hayato!!!! haha…

now he’s snoring again…. hayato!!! haha….

looking out the little plane heading to cloud 9. not too many people know this, but the water in the philippines is as clean as it gets… well, that’s if you stay away from the cities…

and this is u-ske and kazuya checking out the suckling pig for lunch. it was so soft and juicy… sorry kalua….