had an awesome time with Mr. and Mrs. Naganuma-san this morning. we went down to the wild west side! their first time down there so must have been weird going to the other side of oahu. a side where not too many tourists go. first stop was Ko’olina to check out Mickey Mouse and friends.

a lot of people think this is a natural lagoon. WRONG! somehow Ko’olina talked the government into blowing up the reef and making 4 lagoons. something i wouldn’t have accepted for any amount of money. sad.

i went to Ko’olina many years ago when they were just building it. they even planted these coconut trees because it wasn’t there before.

then off to one of the most beautiful natural beaches in the world, Makaha Beach. nothing man-made here because the hawaiians living there wouldn’t have allowed it. no way!

some 3′ sets at Makaha. it was so beautiful!

standing on the edge of the wide white sandy beach. beautiful and hot!

when ever i go to the west side, i always stop on the way back and eat the best Filipino food on the island. so good that i refuse to post where it is on my blog. restaurants like this are better kept a secret. all you can eat buffet for $9.99. in fact, i think the only japanese that walked in these doors were the japanese i took there. it’s that local.

Mr. and Mrs. Naganuma-san enjoyed their first experience of filipino food. they really liked it!

this was my plate. and guess what? it was only my first round. went back for round 2 after. i could barely walk out the door because i was so full.

then stuck in heavy traffic back to town. watching the new rail project being built really brings a lot of doubt to my mind. i would love for it to work, but i really don’t think it will. oh well, we shall see.

then went to wash the filipino food down with some gelato!

then i had an hour break so i jumped into bowls at 1pm. it was empty and every single wave was barreling. i got 2 barrels on my first 2 waves. did about 30 off the lips and called it a session. the waves were like indonesia barreling all the way through. thank you to the straight off shore north winds! tomorrow will be epic too! can’t wait!

12:45pm: OMG! Diamond Head Perfect!!!!

gosh, surfing with Ai-san and Rika-san seems like so long ago. BUT, it was only a week ago from today! are my trips short? or is my memory getting short? or both?

Ai-san with the perfect smile paddling out early morning.

great job Ai-san!

and great job Rika-san! you girls did so great! thank you for the wonderful surf morning! and can’t believe i still went straight to the airport with sand on my feet. haha.

Akeo and Matsuo for the DJ’s. both cool guys with great surfing in their blood. both Dove riders for over 20 years. says a lot about these guys loyalty.

so happy that Asayama-san drove all the way from Saitama to see me. we had a great time in hawaii this summer and i was happy to hear all his stories on how he loves surfing so much. a great man with a brand new life at 66 years old. just ask Asayama-san and he will tell you that it’s never too late to start surfing.

and it’s never too late to start yoga too! after his first ever yoga session together in hawaii, Asayama-san went back to japan and practices frequently. so stoked for his new genki lifestyle!

the contest was amazing! just happy faces everywhere! good to see grass roots surfing living on for 40 years of excellence.

everybody supporting each other. from start to finish, everybody was winners!

Shin-san always with plenty of aloha!

last, check out this cool outside bath in chigasaki. awesome!