good morning. once again, false alarm. no big swell on the south shore. it looks head high and junky. bad wind and weak swell. what happened? don’t know…. north shore came down too. 4′ out there with clean conditions. too small for the last day of the x-cel pro. try again mid-week when the next swell supposed to hit. anyway, the weather is clearing up. have a nice day….
**on my last day in the philippines, i woke up early and was walking the beach looking for shells. then this kid i met 4 years ago asked me what i was doing. i told him i was looking for shells. he disappeared and i just continued looking. as i was eating breakfast later that day, he came to the restaurant and took this huge perfect shell out of a plastic bag. he said “here kirby, this is for you”. traveling through different asian countries, i understand that nothing is for free. so i asked him “how much do you want”. his answer was “nothing, it’s a present for you”. then he walked away. gosh, i felt so stupid asking him how much he wanted for it. i wanted to tell him sorry but he left right after. i felt pretty shitty but at the same time, so happy that he gave me something so valuable from his heart. later that day, i saw him at a restaurant near my room, i asked him to come over because i wanted to get a photo with him. i will never forget this kid…..
this kids name is “mitchbergh”. i met him 4 years ago at cloud 9 and he remembered me the first day i got there. these are the kind of experiences that make traveling worth it. so mitchbergh, if your reading my blog, thanks so much buddy. i’m glad i met you and i will keep this shell in my house for the rest of my life. salamat…
then get this. on my way out of cebu airport, they scanned my suitcase and the customs guy saw the shell. he told me to open my suitcase and told me that the shell was illegal to take out of the philippines. he told me to give it to him. i looked him in the eye and said “no”. and i meant it. i explained to him that this isn’t no ordinary shell, this shell was given to me from a friend and there was no way i was giving it up. we had a stare down for 20 seconds or so and i wasn’t going to give in. then the custom agent looked at me and said “ok, close your suitcase”. i told him thank you and was on my way. now the shell is in japan at matsuo’s house. i was too scared to bring it back to hawaii this time because i didn’t want to take the chance. i’ll bring it back next time for sure. i have a shelf of shells in my house from around the world and there is a space for this special shell. a shell that reminds me how lucky i am to have met such a special person on the other side of the world….
***WARNING: 2 million gallon sewage spill in pearl harbor…. STAY AWAY!!!
