OMG, welcome back summer! the blue sky, the warm water, and the cool trade winds. it was a perfect day! so happy to be back to normal here in hawaii and as for the weather for the past 10 days? i don’t know what that was!!! but for the next 10 days, it will be looking super good for now!
i was down at ala moana park yesteday watching everybody starting to line up for the floating lantern ceremony. it got too crowded so i came home and watched it on tv. omg, i couldn’t believe how many people were down there!
i’m not a religious kind of guy so watching this ceremony on tv was a learning experience. each lantern was a symbol of a loved one that passed away. it was kind of sad watching the people light the candle and setting the lantern on the water.
this woman is the top of the top in buddhism. her name is Her Holiness Shinso Ito.
and yes, ala moana beach park looked amazing once the sun set. such a beautiful japanese ceremony bringing people from all walks of life together. at each and every memorial day, i always remember my Grandpa and Grandma Osaki, and my Grandma Fukunaga. they are the reason i breathe the air do today. and i am very thankful for that. maybe next year i’ll place a lantern in their memory. and if i do, i know i will cry. it’s sad even thinking about it.
watching someone play the Koto brings me chicken skin. i can still clearly hear the songs my grandma use to play for us when i was a little kid. Sa—Ku—Ra—
well, the waves were awesome! uncrowded surf all day long. had fun surfing with Akudo-san this morning, then had fun surfing with Eriko-san this afternoon. more surfing all day every day all week. going to be a busy week, but a very happy one too. see you in the water. goodnight for now.
Monthly Archives: May 2014
Lantern Floating Ceremony
Blue is back!
Kalakaua and Kuhio.
Perfect Waves, Perfect Contest
the waves were absolutely perfect yesterday! i couldn’t believe how many empty unridden waves i saw barrel flawlessly. welcome to perfect ala moana bowls!
Local Motion Maki Yamamoto always enjoying every wave.
super stoked to see Sara Wakita making the finals!
such a cute girl and great surfer. i’m sure her dad Wakita is proud of her.
and another Wakita, Taichi. following in his dad’s footsteps. i can’t wait to see this kid charging 15′ pipeline!
Angela Vernon in the finals! i can’t believe this girl just started to shortboard a few years ago and is surfing so good!
as a photographer, these are the split second moments i like to capture. doing the bottom turn, coming up to the top for an off the lip, sprays coming off the tail, determination, nice colors, totally focused, and beautiful diamond head in the background. one of my best shots of the day.
the final could have gone either way, Isaiah or Seth as winners. the scores must have been really close as both kids were unstoppable. Isaiah Moniz on top of his game!
Seth Moniz is the youngest of the 5 Moniz kids. through the years, i’ve seen him get pushed around, seen him always in back of the line, and seen him always get the short end of the stick. not in a bad way, but in a natural way of growing up as the youngest. i use to tell my friends that Seth is going to be the most fierce competitor of the family. now the time has come. this kid doesn’t want to be last anymore, he wants to be first in everything he does. the little kid taking down the bigger kids fair and square. i love it! congratulations to everybody who entered the contest. you guys and girls are all winners!
