Last night at Budnamujip. Great!
Good morning 6:50am.
North shore 4-6′ and junky. Onshore.
South shore down from yesterday. Waist high and crowded.
North winds at 15-20mph. Cold!
Clouds, sun, rainbows!
Going surfing.
Have a wonderful day!

garlic shoyu edamame! this is hawaiian style and we had this for dinner last night. homemade and so good!

this is my drive every morning on the way to my office. i stop, look, take a deep breath, and realize i’m in a great place. i love this island.

Kato-san is a great surfer. this morning we paddled out to bowls and the wind was onshore and waves were kind of junky. but as soon as we got out, the winds turned off shore and the waves got super clean. we surfed it for 1.5 hours all by ourselves. scored again! Kato-san owns Rr Hair Salon in tokyo and nagoya. he worked hard, planned his own business, and now has the free time to take trips like this. what a smart man! maybe i’ll visit him at his shop in ebisu on my next visit to japan. i really wanted to change my hairstyle someday and i think i found the place.

i asked him “have you ever eaten hawaiian food before?” he said “no.” so we went to Highway Inn and had the best hawaiian lunch. he loved it!
went major shopping this afternoon. working on a project that will be completed by the end of this month. when you see the final project, you will freak out! i’m already freaking out thinking about it!

it was over 10 years ago when i got a phone call from a world famous international photographer inviting me for a philliphines dream boat trip. i was really scared to go because that was right after 9/11. the news kept on reporting that terrorists train in the philippines and also reports of kidnapping and even pirates. but then i seen a photo of the boat we were going to be on. then i said “yes!” meet the “King of Sports.”

paddling back to this floating palace after a surf was like a dream. the captain/owner Scott Countryman and i became friends ever since. we’re about the same age, same level of education, same passion, same desire, and almost same everything. so we got along very well. the only thing that was different was he was a very successful world businessman. i’m still trying to catch up to him and live my dream someday traveling the world on my yacht.

the first trip was a mixed bag of us, one japanese, and the rest australians. all professional surfers world known. we surfed some of the most incredible waves on that trip.

then i went back the following year on the same boat with other international pro surfers from south africa, italy, japan, and australia. another great trip to remember.

then a few years after that, a crazy storm came across the philippines while Scott was surfing. he watched his dream boat wash up on the rocks right in front of him. it was totally destructed.

now he regrouped and is currently building his next dream boat. all solar power with no gas. Scott’s going green!

the last time in the philippines, we took a tour of the process and when it’s completed next year, it will be another dream boat floating around in the philippines. i can’t wait to cruise around and explore more surf with a great guy. see you again soon Scott!