what is holiday?

snowboarding in the powder by Mai-chan…

new year preparations by Niwa…

iPhone amazing photo by Nao-san…

Mt. Fuji with Toda-san and Takami-san…

pounding mochi with Yumi-chan…

Osaka with Akane-chan…

what did i do on New Year’s Day? first i foiled at sunrise, came home to eat mochi soup, went to visit my friend at the hospital, went foiling in the afternoon, and set up these mouse traps in my house…

Japanese are so clever to make these. now i can finally get the mice that are living in my house out of my house alive.

when i catch them, i will release them outside so they can come in my house again? haha…

i also cleaned up my room and finally put sand and shells in the glass i bought 6 months ago.

yes, i brought back sand from Indonesia, and shells from around the world. now i have my little world shell collection right next to my bed…

then dusted off my liquor collection. 2018 was a really tough year for me. i lost a very important person in my life. i actually still don’t believe it and part of me is still in denial. i’m living on to becoming a stronger person. i have much more purpose in life now, i cherish my family and friends much more now, and the little things in life don’t bother me anymore. last year is done and there’s nothing i can do to bring anything or anyone back. so my eyes are on the road ahead and everything is looking very promising. hope to see you on that journey…

This mans first wave of 2019! A great way to start the year…

Good morning 6:15am.
North shore 4-6′ and good.
Ala Moana waist high and clean.
Diamond Head head high and bumpy.
Trade winds at 20mph.
Sunny and warm day.
Going North shore.
Have a wonderful day!

the movie Bird Box has been in my mind ever since i watched it. so this morning, i decided to start off the new year differently. it all started early this morning at pitch dark.

i didn’t need a blindfold walking down the cliffs at Diamond Head because i couldn’t see anything anyway. i took small steps going just by feel. if i fell, i would roll down the cliff and my foil board would be totaled. so yes, keeping calm was the key as this was the first time in my life i hiked down a trail with zero light.

i paddled out in the pitch dark too. and when i got out to the outside, i couldn’t believe how big the waves were! big, windy, and crazy! all i could see were the street lights on Diamond Head and dark shades of big swells. it was beautiful!

i was pretty much blind, but decided to start off the new year taking risks. foiling in the pitch dark is not recommended at all. but high risks equal high reward…

the first 2 waves, i couldn’t see anything. i was foiling by feel and it felt so dam good!

it was actually pretty wild. the ocean was super rough and super alive. i was screaming and loving the feeling!

then it started getting lighted, and a few hard core surfers made their way out to the lineup. the waves cleaned up and it was absolutely perfect!

i already had my adrenaline rush so this was my last wave right as the first sunrise of the year was happening. this is called “living the moment!”

i felt like a free bird. i felt like the happiest man on earth!

this is going to be a wonderful year. been planning trips and dreaming big. 2019 is already so dam amazing! come fly with me…