mabuhay from cebu….. good friday morning.. hanging out here in cebu and waiting for our flight to cloud 9. going to go do some shopping and check out the city. it was another hassle at the airport in tokyo. we were 50 kilos over so at the excess baggage rate of 2200 yen per kilo, we were looking at about $1000. hayato’s charm and the plumeria flower i took for the girl got it down to $450. still freaking expensive but that’s life…..

gosh, we are staying the the waterfront hotel near the airport. this is such a nice hotel with a casino and everything. this is us arriving lastnight. the guys from japan are shinpei horiguchi, kazuya sato, hayato maki, tokura-san, and photographer u-ske. it’s going to be a freaking fun trip…..

after we checked in, we headed to this local style barbecue. take your pick and they grill it for you. gosh, the dog was the best. haha. just joking…. anyway, got to get out of here, it’s an hour flight to cloud 9 so be back tonight. have a nice day…. salamat….

ohayo gozaimasu from shonan…. woke up at 6am, walked to 7/11, picked up some oden for breakfast, now it’s time to leave to the airport. it’s my first surf trip of the year. well, first surf trip outside of japan. i’m so excited that i could hardly sleep lastnight. i’m ready for some barrels, some fun, and some chicken adobo. i’ll try to stay away from eating dog. people asked me if i ever ate dog before and to tell you the truth, i don’t know. when you go to local restaurants in the philippines, you just eat what they serve. everything looks good and i love filipino food so i just eat what ever. anyway, got to get out of here. have a nice day…..

no, this is not backdoor, hawaii. this is cloud 9, philippines. it was 4 years ago when i was invited by the philippines government to surf the international contest there. i didn’t know what to expect and only took my small boards with me, which ended up being a big mistake. on the ferry ride over, a guy came and told us that the waves were going off and 17 boards were broken that day. i got nervous…. i shot this photo with my digital camera and this wave might look small, but it’s actually 8′ hawaiian size…

this was right after 9/11 so it was pretty dangerous traveling at that time. the u.s embassy posted a travel advisory for all americans to get out of the philippines immediately. but crazy guys like us were going in. these were our bodyguards. the met us at manila airport and were with us the whole trip. these guys became our friends and it was cool walking around with them. made me feel pretty safe. i would love to have these kind of bodyguards with me in hawaii. if somebody drops in, they going to get a granade up their ass. simple….

this was the hectic ferry ride over. that’s indonesian pro dede surayana next to me. at that time, nobody knew who dede was. now, the world knows who dede is…. that ferry ride sucked. long, rough, and packed….

between the finals, they had a 30min break. nobody was on it except for one bodyboarder. the waves were as perfect as it gets. your not supposed to surf out there because it was the contest area but i couldn’t handle seeing perfect unridden waves. so i grabbed my small board, and paddled out to try to get a few. it was freaking bombing 8-10′. my board was too small but i wanted to get barreled so badly so i just paddled my ass off. i remember my first wave being an air drop but i somehow made it and bottom turned into this big blue barrel. the barrel spit me out and i wanted more. i scored 3 back to back stand up barrels and i was as happy as a surfer can be. imagine, surfing in a country far from home, blue water, white sandy beaches, and some of the nicest people on earth. that was probably my best 30 min session ever. john callahan took this photo and it ended up being published in a japanese, european, italy, and this spread was in a russian outdoors magazine. score!! thanks callahan…..
**anyway, i haven’t gone back to cloud 9 since then because we went exploring other parts of the philippines by boat. i’m on my way there today and if it’s anything close to what it was 4 years ago, i’m going to score. just checked the weather maps and it’s looking freaking good. there is internet access from my beach front room in front of cloud 9 so i will be giving daily updates. billabong invited 40 surfers from around the world for this awesome contest. guys like jamie o’brien, mikala jones, along with other top hawaiians, top indonesians, and top australians. $20,000 is up for grabs and this is pumped up to be the biggest contest ever in the philippines. i’m stoked to be a part of it….MABUHAI!!!!!

good evening. japan finally cooled down. perfect weather right now. it took me a while to pack my stuff today. i’m ready for a 12 day trip. it’s been a long time and i can’t wait to sip on my margarita under a coconut tree on a white sandy beach[:????????????:]……

look at the forecast for the first day of competition at cloud 9. yes, that’s the philippines right to the left of that typhoon. hip hip horray!!!!

i just read in the newspaper that 1.5 million people die from kitchen smoke. yes, i said 1.5 million…. growing up in america, we take for granted our lovely kitchen stove that we can turn on with a simple turn of a knob. but in other countries like the philippines, indonesia, and vietnam, most families don’t have the luxury of a stove. if they want to cook, they have to gather trees, grass, or bushes and burn it to make a fire before cooking. and the smoke can be lethal. so the next time you turn on your nice stove, think of the people who don’t have that luxury. appeciate what you have because there are a lot of people that aren’t as fortunate. they actually risk their lives cooking for their family…
***and last, just wanted to wish Yoko Furuichi and Happy Birthday!!![:??$B!^(B??????:] check out her blog by CLICKING HERE…..