good morning. 6:30am. 2-3′ on the north shore. rocky point looks pretty good with 5 guys out. in town, bowls is chest/shoulder high with 8 guys out. clean condtions with light trade winds. i’m going surfing…. have a nice day… **oh, about that hot filipino chick on my blog last night. his name is “Tom”…. and i ain’t kidding….. haha…

something is wrong with our world. seems like every country in the world is strange now. weird weather and weird things happening. perhaps “global warming”?? it’s november 8th today and we haven’t had a single HIGH SURF ADVISORY for our north shores. instead, we got a few high surf advisories and even a high surf warning for the south shores. and when i went to the outer islands in bali last month, the water was freezing cold. yeah, freezing cold water in bali. i had a 2mm full suit and it was still cold. up until this year, i use to rush back to hawaii in late september or early october to catch the early north shore swells before the circus gets here. this year, i got back here late and i didn’t miss a thing. are our winter seasons getting pushed back 2 months? that’s what happened last year. could we have 3 solid north/west swells in april again? what ever happens, i’m getting a little worried. for the past few years, seems like there’s records being broken in every aspect of our weather. could it snow one day in waikiki? could the eddie aikau contest waimea bay contest be held in april? if you asked me that 10 years ago, i’d say your crazy. now, i don’t know. and if it did, i wouldn’t be surprised… anyway, gas is $3/gallon, the yen is 113 to the dollar. good time to get some gas and buy some dollars….
**here is nada sou sou hawaiian style. sang by keali’i raichel and it’s called “Ka Nohona Pili Kai” from the album “Ke’Alaokamaile”. i went to his concert a few years ago and when he sang this, i got goose bumps. i remember him saying that this was such a beautiful song he heard in okinawa so he decided to translate it to hawaiian. it goes like this….
**and wanted to say thanks to holli for sending me this link. yes, holli is okinawan and really proud of it. so is every single okinawan i know of, both in hawaii and japan. if i was okinawan, i would be proud to. i love everything that has to do with okinawa. and i learned that by spending a lot of time there. the people, the food, and the culture. awesome place to visit and if you haven’t been there before, your missing out. i know some hawaiians that got stationed there in the military and wouldn’t want to live anywhere else….. so to all you higa’s, oshiro’s, and other japanese/americans, i mean okinawan/americans in hawaii, get to your roots and get your ass to okinawa. you won’t regret it…

what’s up guys, gosh, the waves in town were going off today!!! surfed my hideout spot this morning and it was perfect… head high and no winds. came home, took a nap, and went to check the waves this evening….

this was bowls at 4pm. no, that’s not ants, that’s over 35 surfers. no thank you…

this was diamond head at 5pm. the waves were super good but there were 150 guys out with no parking on both sides of the road. no thank you… headed straight back to my hideout spot. it was packed. 5 guys out. haha… anyway, a great day of surfing. the water is cleaning up. i could actually see the reef. surf town again tomorrow. save gas…. goodnight…

this is mitchbergh again. the guy who gave me the shell….

i found a photo of him 4 years when i was in saraigao. that’s him on the far right….. gosh, he grew up pretty fast. that year, i taught some of the boys how to do the “shaka”….

this is also 4 years ago. the girl next to me is luma. luma is the best filipino cook in the world. when you go on boat trips, you usually lose weight. but not when luma cooks. next is gerry from sagana resort. good surfer and super cool guy…. and to the far right is scott countryman. scott owns “the king” and is one of the only guys who does surf charters in the philippines. he surfs, dives, and has one of the nicest boats i’ve ever seen. scott, please keep those spots secret and if anybody wants to go there, tell them that i have to be there. then i’ll be in cebu the next day.. haha….

i wasn’t joking when i said luma knows how to cook. check out our menu for sept. 07, 2004. this was the second time i’ve been on the boat. everyday, the menu would change. remember, this is no 5 star restaurant with super markets around, this is on a 120 foot yacht in the middle of the ocean somewhere in the philippines…. great job luma….
*that was 4 years ago. this was this year in sairgao….

there was this hot chick hanging around the contest. i’d see her everyday like 4 times or more. she’d just be everywhere. eating at the restaurant near our room, at the parties, at the contest, and even taking a tan on the beach with her bikini….

finally, i got the balls to ask her what her name was. and i was lucky enough to get a photo of her.. i’ll give you her name tomorrow….

good morning. 6:30am. north shore is flat. town still has head high waves with perfect conditions. yesterday lighthouse looked all time. i’m going to go check it out. have a nice day…

diving bali style… andre speared this dogtooth in bali and within a couple hours, there were perfect sashimi slabs. this is the lifestyle. catch a fish, and share it with family and friends….
**this song is out of okinawa too. rimi natsukawa singing nada sou sou is one of my favorite japanese songs. it’s number one on my “on-the-go” playlist on my ipod. such a beautiful song. up until now, i really didn’t understand the meaning of the song. now i do. such a beautiful song. sad, but beautiful….

another photo for the boys. straight out of okinawa…
***just watched the news. BRITISH AIRLINES JUST BANNED SURFBOARDS AS BAGGAGE ON ALL FLIGHTS…. that sucks…