had a great time surfing with Komatsubara-san this morning. went early and surfed for 3 hours! i kept on saying go, go, and go, and he kept going, going, and going. super good session!

then we went to talk story with one of the most famous surfers in the world, Glenn Minami. i think surfer/shaper relationships are very important. if you can communicate, the chances of you getting a magic board increases by 100%.

thank you Glenn for making the time on a precious sunday to meet us. your new designs look amazing! can’t wait to get one!

then flew over to the north shore. ate hulihuli chicken which is a hawaiian local favorite!

if you see only tourists in the line, it’s a trap. but when you see more locals than tourists in a line, it’s the real deal. this hulihuli chicken in haleiwa is the real deal. only open on weekends. when i went to pick up the food, the girl working there says “hey, you are the guy that does videos yeah? i said, yes. then she says “you know Kazubo-san from okinawa yeah?” omg, what a small world! another okinawan/hawaiian connection. a friend of Kazubo-san is definitely a friend of mine!

half a chicken, pineapple cole slaw, and rice. the perfect local style lunch.

then we went to go check out the infamous pipeline. you would never imagine this place hosts the best wave in the world. it’s totally different in the summer. people get famous here, and people die here. looks so calm, but deep inside, it’s scary.

Komatsubara-san only seen pipeline in videos and photos. today was the real thing. standing in front of Gerry Lopez’s house, the heart of pipeline. take a look at the sky!!! no, i didn’t photoshop this photo, this is really how it looked today. no sky can get any bluer than this.

then passed by Waimea Bay. another place that makes and takes lives.

then passed by the bakery to pick up my favorite snow puffs. the best of the best.
going down. super burnt and tired. surfing again tomorrow with Komatsubara-san. hope to get some good sleep and some good waves. oyasuminasai.

North Shore today.
So beautiful!!!

forgot to post these photos from Guatemala. the colors, the people, the culture, and the food. all so very good.

went to do the full tourist underwater cave walk in Semuc Champey. pretty scary in the dark walking in knee to head high water holding a candle. a couple of times mine went out and it turned pitch black.

just enjoying the moment. in fact, enjoyed every moment.

then i rented this tube and went tubing down the coolest river. going over rocks hitting my ass, scratching my feet, and loving every minute of it. went down about 45 minutes and had kids throwing out beers, paddling out, and trying to make a sale. kids aged from 8 years old doing super great business and service as the river was flowing.

this was one of the backpackers hostel i stayed at for a night. had the coolest pool over looking the jungle. yes, i swam in it. and yes, i had to have a cold beer in it too.

my two backpacker friends. one from israel, and one from belgium. very interesting stories to tell and i hope to see these guys backpacking around the world somewhere in the future.

this was one of the eruptions that night on the top of the volcano. i couldn’t believe how close we were to it, and i can’t believe how crazy it was when i think about it. after every earthquake, there would be a huge BOOM sound followed by red hot lava shooting out. i was in my tent freezing cold trying to sleep, and covering my head in case of rocks came flying over. i don’t think i’ll be doing something crazy like that again anytime soon.