hello everybody, i just got back to japan right now. gosh, it’s so cool here yeah? stoked. heard there’s another typhoon on the way. what perfect timing again. i hope it takes time for the waves to come up because i ain’t ready to go surfing yet. need a few days to reset. the food poisoning is still with me and my body feels weak. but not weak enough to keep me out of the barrel. haha… well, wanted to say thanks to everybody who made my philippines trip a memorable one. tokura-san, hayato, shinpei, kazuya, u-ske, masao, and everybody in the philippines… and thanks to surfing world and marine jack too. took over a thousand photos and hope to share them soon. and sorry for the late emails. give me some time to get to you. my inbox is full. it will take days but i’ll try. going to tokyo tomorrow. yeah!! never been there in a while. maybe hit a bar in roppongi by myself. haha. just joking…. anyway, be back tomorrow. i got to get some much needed sleep without 2 guys snooring out loud and a freaking irritating watch beeping all night…[:Zzz:]

this lady came to our room with a bucket of live mangrove crabs. 10 crabs weighing in at 5 kilos. for $20 we bought it all. and we ate them all….

they cook it here by boiling it in half water and sprite. add in a little chili peppers for spice and it’s done in 30 min….

did you know that it’s not good to take a girl on a date and eat crab? it’s because there’s no time for a conversation. but we aren’t on a date here so it’s all good. this is hayato’s plate after eating 3 crabs. gosh, the meat was so sweet. the sweetest crab i’ve ever eaten….

and last, this watch has been driving me nuts for the last 10 days. it’s hayato’s and he doesn’t know how to turn off the beep on every hour. so for the past 10 days, it’s beeped on every hour. times that by 24 and you got 240 times. day, night, and morning. i’m glad i’m leaving that watch behind. shit, it just beeped again. oh my gosh….

what’s up guys, gosh, a lot of things going on here on our last few days on sairgao island. there was an island wide blackout so no electricity all day yesterday. our room was so hot!!! no a/c so we had to get out. yes, it was cloudy again so we went to watch the chicken fights. we bet on a champion looking chicken and lost. it was pretty intense. took some photos and video so will post it later. but gosh, the chicken fights here are the real deal. i went to one in hawaii before but it’s just not the same. the chickens fight till death and the dead one is immediately on the fire. i swear, those guys were eating the chicken about 10 minutes after it lost. it’s totally illegal in america but it’s the national sport here in the philippines. something you to see. anyway, getting ready to get our plane back to cebu today. going to pack up my stuff, pay the bills, and be back in japan tomorrow. salamat sairgao…

the other day, hayato and i went diving for fish. as i told you before, there’s no fish in the philippines. but we tried anyway. and yeah, there was no fish. but there were tons of shells. stuck these in my pocket….

check out this little piggy. so cute….

and check out his brothers and sisters. these piggy’s mother died while giving birth so this kid is looking after them. then once they get big, this kid will probably kill them and eat them. that’s daily life here in the philippines…. and speaking about pigs, i’ve seen hundreds of pigs here, but none bigger than kalua. not even close….
**just wanted to say much mahalo to gerry, susan, and naoki from sagana, the staff at kesa cloud 9, and all the local boys here. i had an awesome time and will never forget your hospitality. salamat….
**anyway, gotta get out of here. can’t wait to get back to japan and eat sashimi with an ice cold beer…. see ya….