OMG!!!!!!!! Jbay contest live!!!! OMG!!!!

went to check out the waves early this morning at Isounora. the surf city of kansai! couldn’t believe how many people were here! full parking lots and lots of surfers at 6am. omg!

the weather was cloudy and raining. the waves were knee high and onshore. but that didn’t stop the thousands of hard core surfers that drove here from osaka.

there were thousands of surfers out! hard to fit every surfer in a photo as this is only one small section of the beach. times this photo and people by 20 and you figure out how many surfers were out. it was crazy!

i’ve been short boarding for my whole life and there is no possible way i could have stood up even on one wave this morning out there. long board yes, short board no. that said, there were about 600 short boarders out.

so instead of hassling with tiny surf and thousands of people, we packed up the minivan and went surfing a secret spot with nobody out and lots of current. such a good workout!

i kind of forced the girls to paddle out with me because i didn’t’ want to surf alone. had no idea the current was ripping like a river. maybe that’s why nobody was out? haha. anyway, thanks Judy-chan and Miwa-san for keeping me company this morning. great workout yeah? your arms will grow by tonight. haha.

best wakayama guide in the world, Kimura-san.

the kind of last minute traveling i do isn’t for everybody. i can’t plan a thing because i don’t even know what’s going to happen. at first, i use to get stressed out, now, i just laugh. it’s the way i chose so can’t complain right? so trying to get out of hawaii to anywhere in japan was hard. narita was all fully booked so my next try was kansai. luckily i got one of the last seats! if not, i would have flown to fukuooka. if not, i would have given up and probably stayed in hawaii. that was that, now is now. i’m here and going to enjoy every moment. everybody asks where i’m going next? that all depends on the waves as i’m going with the flow.

talking about going with the flow. i always wanted to go to europe. my friend that travels the exact way i travel has been stuck at the airport in rome for a week! she’s been sleeping at the airport every night because she can’t get a flight out. that’s crazy! but the cool thing is she’s been texting me everyday with positive words. “Hi Kirby, enjoying another night of our amazing European vacation at the airport. Haha.”

always happy to jump on a long flight to anywhere. perfect time for me to take everything slow in my fast life. probably the only time i have to say in one place for that long of time. so i sit, think, reflect, and enjoy the wonderful ride. and knowing i’ll be arriving in japan soon, it makes it even more exciting.

last time i came to KIX, i had a 2 hour nightmare wait in the immigrations line. this time, a long 1 hour nightmare wait. japan tourism is booming big time!

then headed back to wakayama and like always, felt like i was coming home. friends, laughs, food, and memories.

one of the reasons why japan is my favorite country in the world is because of the food. can’t get any better than a lobster swimming in the tank, then swimming on your plate when you’re eating the sweet meat.

the hamo nabe was awesome! super fresh and super good. yeah, the hamo was alive and swimming a few minutes before too.

Kimura-san busted out a special bottle from his Jacksan collection. it was my first time drinking the “Master” and i loved it. it was so smooth!

the best way to cure jet lag. i couldn’t have slept any better after this.
thank you Kimura-san for picking me up from the airport and for the wonderful time in wakayama. i could seriously fly back to hawaii now and would still have had a wonderful trip in japan. and it’s only 13 hours since i’ve been here! see you around!