ok, it’s tax time and time for me to log my travel for 2014. went to 6 countries, japan, panama, cambodia, indonesia, malaysia, and taiwan. stayed in japan for 41 nights, and in the other countries for 42 nights. off this island for 83 days which is crazy! my 2014 january new years resolution was to travel as much as possible, but i think i went a little overboard. but hey, what’s done is done. i had amazing experiences and the best time with friends and strangers. i hope i can stop my habit of just jumping on an airplane like i’m jumping in my car.

Kouji-san’s 2nd day of surfing was amazing. stronger paddling, better balance, and amazing surfing.

so stoked to see this kid getting better and better. he surfed for 2 days of the most challenging conditions but did awesome. see that kite surfers kite in the background? kite surfers don’t come out unless the south/west winds are stronger than 35mph. this day was very challenging.

last, for the past 3 weeks, i went to yoga about 13 times. i can feel the results already. my balance is getting better, my mind is more relaxed, and my body feels 10 years younger. all great things to a better life. i hope to continue yoga for many many years to come. you should too. namaste!

Happy Valentines Day!
Good morning 7:10am.
North shore 3-5′ and ugly.
South shore 2-4′ and uglier.
Super strong South/West winds at 40-50mph.
Cloudy becoming raining.
Going storm surfing.
Have a wonderful day!

when i went to pick up Fujita-san and Mariko-san this morning, i was so confused! the most confused in a while because i didn’t know what to do. the waves and wind in town were terrible! so terrible that no body was in the ocean! the worst it’s been in a very long time. so i ask them “hey, want to gamble? if we surf in town, we can have fun, but it will be very challenging. or if we go to the east side, there might be no waves or it might be too windy, so maybe no surfing.” Fujita-san said “let’s gamble!” that made me happy because when it comes to surfing, i like to gamble.

we pull up to the east side at a very local spot. i was thinking it would be crowded but i was totally wrong! nobody was out!!! perfect head high waves and straight off shore. we unloaded the boards and got ready to paddle out.

it felt like we were in two different worlds! south being so ugly, and east being so beautiful. Mariko-san was very nervous but after a few waves, the nerves went away and she surfed so good.

only the 3 of us in the whole ocean there. where was everybody? score!

Mariko-san caught so many good waves. great balance and great surfing.

then i went to the outside and seen Fujita-san on some really good waves. i could tell he was stoked!

i’m usually looking at diamond head, but today i was looking at jurassic park. it was so beautiful.

this was a pretty big wave Fujita-san took off on. super long rides and super fun waves.

i had such a great time. something very different today. in fact, i haven’t surfed out there in a very long time. we took a big gamble and we won the lottery! for our level, this was guarantee the best spot on the island.

welcome to jurassic park east oahu.

we were the first guys out. then 5 locals came out. still uncrowded, but we had our fair share. as we were leaving, it started getting crowded and super windy. the timing was perfect today. thank you Fujita-san and Mariko-san for the amazing day! i bet you are sleeping very good tonight. and wanted to say hello to the rest of the Oiso Surf Boys!
i came back to town and went to yoga. i couldn’t be in a better place mentally right now. another great day in the book of blogs!