good morning. 6:30am thursday morning. small surf around the island. east wind swell hitting sandy’s and makapuu and wrapping around to diamond head. want to know where the best surf will be today? go surf diamond head around 1 or 2pm. that’s going to be the call today. see you in the water….

went to therapy sports bar out in hawaii kai last night. pretty cool place. i wish we had that bar when i was living out there. anyway, bumped into calvin maeda. calvin is the marketing manager for steinlager beer here in hawaii. he turned us on to the new STEINLAGER PURE. it’s a new beer that just came out. get this, no additives and no preservatives. made from water, malted barley, hops, and yeast. sound familiar? yes, just like bintang beer in indonesia. so chemicals so no hangover. i was in the middle of my corona when calvin bought me the steinlager and after i took my first sip, i couldn’t finish my corona. it tasted really smooth with no aftertaste. ended up drinking that all night. from now on, i’m drinking STEINLAGER PURE….

they are having a $3/beer promotion out at therapy and other bars in hawaii. try it, i’m sure you’ll like it….

when i picked up tony and seth from narita airport in japan, this is what they got to see on the way back to shonan. i had to stop the car to take this photo. gosh, i could never get bored of looking at mt. fuji. it’s just too magical…

then we dropped by the dove factory to pick up some wetsuits. these are not just dove workers, this is one big family…

good evening. drove around today checking the waves in town. i knew it was small and windy but i wanted to see it with my own eyes….

pulled up to diamond head around 1pm. the waves looked so fun at cliffs and lighthouse. head high, clean, and not too many surfers out. i was so dam lazy today. i really wanted to surf but didn’t want to walk down the cliff and paddle all the way out. one week ago, i would have jumped off the cliff to surf. i just felt like being lazy today so i came home and took a nap. a much needed nap… by the way, is golden week over? where are all the japanese? been driving through waikiki and haven’t seen too many tourists. heard the hotels are pretty slow too. i can’t figure it out? the dollar is so dam weak now you can buy anything you want here. anyway, where ever you spent your golden week this year, hope you had a great time….

this is my mom’s remote control. i thought it was a joke. this thing is bigger than my laptop….

check out little kairi’s off the lip at uluwatu’s. this kid’s going to get good… wait, he already is…. check out kairi’s blog by CLICKING HERE….

speaking of groms, the volcom VQS championships is coming up this weekend in california. 14 and under grom division winner gets $8,000. that’s sick… i’m watching it live and cheering on the kids…. who? isaiah moniz, seth moniz, kelia moniz, and nao omura…. yeah, they all had to qualify to get into this prestigious contest. go get um guys and girls. kick some ass…
**for more information: CLICK HERE….
**and last. some sad news from Myanmar. if you don’t know where myanmar is, it’s right next to thailand and use to be called Burma. the cyclone hit there a few days ago and the death toll might exceed 100,000 people. i really feel for these third world countries that are affected by natural disasters. why? because most people die because there are no warning systems set up. we are so lucky here in america that we have top experts forecasting weather events and have all kinds of warning signals which give us time to prepare. but in countries such as myanmar, indonesia, philippines, and most third world countries, there are no such warnings. you could be outside flying a kite and here comes a cyclone. or you could be drinking a maitai at the beach and here comes a 40′ tsunami. that’s how they live their everyday lives. whole entire families can be taken out in a flash. pretty scary yeah? something to think about…. check out this list of worst natural disasters in the world’s history. this past cyclone in myanmar will probably make the list…
Bhola cyclone, Bangladesh (East Pakistan), 1970. Death toll estimated at 150,000 to 550,000.
Hooghly River cyclone, India and Bangladesh, 1737. Death toll: 350,000.
Haiphong typhoon, Vietnam, 1881. Death toll: 300,000.
Coringa cyclone, India, 1839. Death toll: 300,000.
Backerganj cyclone, Bangladesh, 1584. Death toll: 200,000.
Great Backerganj Cyclone, Bangladesh, 1876. Death toll: 200,000.
Chittagong cyclone, Bangladesh, 1897. Death toll: 175,000.
Super Typhoon Nina, China, 1975. Death toll: 171,000.
Cyclone 02B, Bangladesh, 1991. Death toll: 140,000.
Great Bombay Cyclone, India (from the Arabian Sea), 1882. Death toll: 100,000.

good morning. 6:30am wednesday morning. waves came down in the country but still some small left over 1-2′ sets. town is knee/waist high. wind swell so diamond head probably is the best. a little windy but if you know where to go, you can surf head high surf by yourself. bowls has 6 surfers out and it looks pretty slow. pretty slow sounds good… that’s what i’m doing today…. enjoy…
**yesterday was such a peaceful day. it felt so good free diving and laying on the bottom looking up at the sun rays shining down. i wish i can run away and live underwater for a week or so. seen a lot of fish, turtles, and this manta ray was following us around. i know there were sharks around but glad i didn’t see them. you know the feeling? the feeling of something watching you? yeah, i know some of the big boys were checking me out with the bloody dead fish hanging on my weight belt… yikes….

we dove into the sunset. haven’t done that in a while. gosh, life is good….

i took my brand new lens and water housing out to test it. i wanted to make sure everything was working so i took this first shot of kelia taking off. after i looked through the viewer, i was super stoked to see this photo focused super sharp…. from then on, i just blasted away…. i love digital…

i remember the first time kelia did this. it was late last year. now, she got it wired… i’m going to try to do one too…. hope i don’t break my ankle….

after we came in, i was checking out these hawaiian plants on the side of the road. thought it was pretty cool so i took a photo. looks fake yeah? but it’s real….