War is ugly.
Good morning 6:20am.
North shore 10′ and still ugly.
South shore chest high and very pretty! Some spots head high and perfect! Winds weird. No wind now but becoming East? South/West? Surf early. Cloudy and some rain. Hopefully sunny later.
Have a wonderful day!

i took this photo exactly 4 years ago when it was the first time i met Team 3373 or Team Sazanami. Murakami-san and the old school boys formed this awesome team. waking up early morning in tokyo, jumping 3 vans, and heading to chiba to surf, surf, and surf. ever since then, i’ve been meeting more members of Team 3373 and they are all such great hard core surfers.

even though it was 4 years ago, i remember that day clearly. just a bunch of friends having a wonderful time with each other. the true meaning of soul surfing.

fast forward 4 years later to today. Sato-san is another member of the team. i had a great time with him this morning surfing and talking. the surf was pretty hard core. when we got out to bowls, Sato-san told me “wow, it’s uncrowded!” yes, there was only 1 other guy out. i told Sato-san, “the reason it’s so uncrowded is because most people can’t make it out here.” it was overhead, windy onshore, and 50 waves per minute. only the strong can survive. and at age 57, Sato-san survived!

Team 3373 surfed 70 times together in 2014. every weekend doing the same thing over and over. just a bunch of cool guys in their mid 50-‘s heading to 60’s and full of power. surfing created an unbreakable bond with these guys. the smiles will last forever. Sato-san, thank you for a wonderful morning surf and fun. i’m so happy listening to your stories about your team. i think that is the essence of surfing and i can totally relate to your dreams! surfing with my friends gives me pure joy, i’ve been doing it for 35 years and i still love it. getting closer to old friends and meeting new friends. that’s what surfing is all about. keep on surfing and keep on smiling!

and thank you for the Team Sazanami stickers! to Murakami-san and rest of the team, keep on surfing. forever young! hope to see you guys in hawaii!
then had a wonderful time this afternoon with a birthday girl. another awesome story that will have to wait for tomorrow. it’s 8:30pm and i’m getting ready for bed. it was a very long but wonderful hard core surfing day! good night.

totally forgot to post some tourist photos i took last year in panama. gosh, seemed like such a long time ago.

my dive buddies Demetrias and Jonathan on our domestic flight from panama city to ?. gosh, i forgot where we flew too.

i flew up a day earlier then the rest of the crew so i could check out panama city. caught the cabs around and explored some cool areas.

pretty simple. i like it.

this was a building near the fish market. all the fishing boats come here in the morning to drop off their catch of the day.

i thought this was pretty cool. a portable shave ice stand.

i had to try one! this guy couldn’t speak one word of english. so i have no idea what i ate. haha.

cool culture spots too. i really like the art in this wall.

i can’t believe i stayed in panama city. it was like shibuya or something. once i got a cab out, i could breathe again.

this is the old downtown of panama.

pano panama. panorama panama.

i even went to a local shopping mall. there was a carnival happening right inside.

the food court. i was kind of bummed seeing KFC.

and i was kind of bummed i couldn’t ride this. the guy said i’m too old. haha.

i went out to dinner by myself. just walked up and down some side streets until i seen something interesting. this panama beer got me into this restaurant.

i ordered the ceviche to start off with. went well with my beer.

then i ordered the deep fried dogtooth snapper, or also known as “pargo.” pretty dam good!

fruit stand local style.

i bought my panama hat, went to sit in the casino, drank some whisky, smoked a cigar, and gambled my life away. haha. just joking. i don’t smoke, and i would never gamble my life away. i actually won!
this trip wasn’t even a year ago. it’s crazy how fast time flies by. good thing i take photos or else i would forget everything that happened. seeing these photos makes me want to go back. explore more and maybe spear a giant tuna?