i met the coolest surfer couple from Sapporo. Ikuko-san and Kei-san just love surfing, and love hawaii. i seen them in the water before but it was the first time we surfed together. as soon as we got to the beach, Ikuko-san told me “i want to get good at surfing.” ok, that is easy! she really wanted to turn so i gave her some tips on the beach, and off we went in the water.

how do you turn? make sure you look forward, keep your knees bent, and once you want to turn, look toward the hilton rainbow tower. yes, so easy! Ikuko-san’s first wave and first turn. after she finished riding the wave, she didn’t have to tell me how happy she was, i could tell from her smile. pure surfers stoke!

Kei-san is an awesome surfer! i’m pretty sure he could be top 10 in the japan pro longboarding circut so easily. good style, good turns, and long rides. this is a very nice bottom turn.

and this is a very good off the lip. great surfing Kei-san!

Ikuko-san surfed the day before and didn’t catch a single wave. this day, she caught over 25 waves and rode them all perfectly. confidence is they key to catching waves!

the weather was so beautiful! riding into diamond head is always so fun!

and Kei-san has a great walking game too!

cool photo. longboard air.

as a photographer, these are the kind of photos i try to capture. why? because there’s nowhere else in the world like this. welcome to paradise!

a newlywed couple that will be sharing their whole life together, both in the water, and out of the water. happy wedding, happy future, and happy surfing! thank you again for the wonderful time in hawaii!

Welcome to Hawaii Toda-san and Takami-san!
Good morning 5:45am.
North shore coming down to 4-6′ today.
Triple Crown Reef Haleiwa Pro ON at 8am. 2-4′ and good!
South shore waist high with shoulder high sets at Diamond Head. No wind so clean conditions.
Haleiwa good on North shore. Exciting contest.
Diamond Head good on South shore. Perfect conditions.
Surfing all day.
Have a wonderful day!

woke up this morning and looked at the waves, so beautiful! but since i’m in the water everyday, i went golfing instead.

Nomura-san is one of the best sports trainers and stretchers in japan. a super cool guy with lots of talent. it was my first time golfing with him so i was looking forward to it.

i suck at golf! i use to be pretty good, but now i suck because i don’t play anymore. after some bad shots, i started to stress out and wonder “what the heck am i doing here?” i forgot how frustrating golf can be. and after today, i don’t think i’ll ever play again. i love my ocean stress free life.

Nomura-san is a really good golf player. he helped me with my swing and also kicked my ass in the game.

i didn’t realize how far golf has come. the equipment is so high tech and so expensive! here is Nomura-san’s golf set. big bucks!

and here is mine. when i pulled it out, Nomura-san told me “wow, those are some antiques.” haha. so old, do dirty, and so rusty. no excuses, but that doesn’t help my game. i ended up losing, we ate lunch, and went for a surf. as i was rode my first wave, all the golf stress went away. never again.

surfing is my life, hawaii is my life, and my friends are my life. triple happiness. welcome back to hawaii Inaida-san and Yuki-san! you guys all surfed so great today. and Nomura-san, great gopro video today. haha.

then i came home and watched some heats in the triple crown of surfing that started up today. so stoked Joshua Moniz advanced today. Seth and Isaiah surf tomorrow. triple crown, triple threat!

thank you Inaida-san and Yuki-san for the mentaiko and natto from japan. i love it!

this was my morning breakfast. i had full power all day long!

and had a wonderful dinner at Gaku last night. i haven’t eaten good sushi in a while so this platter made by Manabu-san melted in my heart.
another long day with great experiences. great people, great waves, great rides, and great news. everybody is happy, so am i!