when i was on standby yesterday waiting for my ticket, i was nervous. but when i seen seat 1J, all the nerves went away. i knew i was going to have a comfortable flight to japan. it’s the first time i drank champagne at 10 o’clock in the morning…. ended up watching 4 movies, ate good food and ice cream, took a nap, and next thing you know, i was at narita…

why do i come to japan every typhoon season? because of this! i tell my friends everywhere in the world that no place has better waves than japan. when it’s good, it’s good. but when it’s not good, it’s not good. so the wait makes it all better. i’m ready, my boards are ready, my spearguns are ready, and my camera is ready. so come next typhoon, i’m moving around. so to all my friends in japan, please keep me posted. and see you really soon!!! by the way, this photo was taken by kinsan at a really secret spot on an outer island somewhere in japan. if i tell you where, i’d have to kill you afterwards…
have a great evening!!!!

good morning from steamy humid hot japan. gosh, when i got off the airplane yesterday, i felt the heat. 30 seconds later, i was sweating!!! but it’s ok because the cold draft beers with sushi taste much better!! i’m on day 1 and i’m getting excited on what’s ahead! i’m going to 7/11 to look for oden. have a nice day!!
when i first came to japan, i couldn’t speak japanese. many people ask me how i learned. here is it:
when i first got to japan, i had no friends, there were no waves, there was no cel phones or computers, or no nothing. i had lots of free time so i use to walk to the video store down the street and rent japanese dramas. why? because i thought the chicks were hot! haha. just joking… watching dramas only in japanese forced me to learn japanese. i started from “moshi moshi” and learned lines such as, “doshite sonno koto shita no?” or “zutto anata no koto ga suki datta!” no those aren’t pick up lines, i rented love dramas on purpose to i could learn everyday japanese and at the same time, keep me entertained….
on my last trip to japan, i found a secret website that shows every single japanese drama ever made. so i started to watch my all time favorite “Hoshi no Kinka” drama and got hooked!!! i ended up watching the whole dam drama. haha..

meet aya, no this is not the famous actress sakai noriko that got arrested. this is aya and the only name i have for this girl. aya is deaf and probably had the worst luck with love in the world. i couldn’t help but feeling sorry for her the whole drama because everything that could go wrong, went wrong for her. she must have cried 100 x in the drama and smiled only a few. it was pretty dam sad….

here she is crying again. haha… the cool thing about this drama website is that there are subtitles!!! yeah, back in the days, i didn’t know what the heck they were talking about because it was only in japanese. now i know everything and finally understand what happened. you might think i have free time to watch a drama? no, i watched it because i’m still learning japanese and this is the best way. if you ever want to learn japanese, i highly recommend watching dramas. ummmm, which one should i watch next??? any recommendations?
as far as aya, i will always feel sorry for her. no matter in fake life or real life, she’s always the poor girl that just couldn’t find love… kawaiso….

getting back to the mentawai crew. got a few more to introduce so i’ll continue. the guy in the back row 4th from the left is Tomoyasu Toda. i met toda-san 20 years ago when surfing the JPSA circut in japan. all i remember is that he was super skinny and dark all the time. he quit surfing to become a snowboarder and now he’s back. back bigger than ever! meaning his stomach.. haha… toda-san is 2x bigger than 20 years ago and surfing with 4x more power…..
hey toda-san,
first, wanted to say thank you always for your big kind heart. the way you support go-naminori and myself is unbelievable. your always there for people and you can truly be counted on. thanks for all the waves you’ve given me at your home break, thanks for making me eat so much food and gaining weight, thanks for entertaining everybody on our trips, and thanks for being a true friend. you might look scary to most people, but i tell them that your a little teddy bear but just don’t get that little teddy bear mad. haha… take care and see you real soon!!
mahalo, kirby


so there we were on our first surf session of the trip at bankvaults in mentawai. we were surfing all alone when this other boat filled up with hungry surfers arrived. like always, there seems to be no manner when they think japanese are in the water. they paddle out and try to catch everything in sight. i get pissed because there is absolutely no respect. japanese surfers are just too nice and won’t drop in. as for me? i go! anyway, then here comes a set, i yell from the dingy, “GO TODA-SAN”, knowing that a guy was trying to snake him from the inside. toda-san went anyway and while i was snapping the 8 shot sequence, i couldn’t stop laughing. toda-san paddled back out and then the guys started respecting the japanese. i want to frame this photo because you don’t see too many of these around…
**CLICK HERE FOR A BIG JAPANESE STAND UP PADDLERS BLOG NAMED TODA…..