after 2 years of operations, air asia is shutting down it’s japan flights. say bye bye to the $30 tickets from narita to okinawa!

after mexico, i was thinking of going to costa rica for a few days. but the flights were filling up and i didn’t want to take any chances. luckily i got on this full flight on standby back to hawaii. the seat was small, but i wasn’t complaining. if i missed this flight, i would probably still be in atlanta right now. they cancelled 36 flights yesterday because of the storm in hawaii. whew! that was a close call. unfortunately for my sister and the 2 boys, they are stranded in LA till wednesday.

cool to see Matsu and Toda-san hanging out in japan together. i miss these guys.

a dolphin was in trouble near the shore on a beach in china. these chinese guys picked up the dolphin to take photos for their facebook page. right after this, the dolphin died. stupid!

want to congratulate my friend Kekoa for spearing this ono last week. 42 pounds of sashimi! good seeing you today buddy!

Welcome to Lovers Island!
Good morning 5:45am.
Waves ugly!
Strong South/East winds at 20mph.
Chest high at Ala Moana but stormy conditions.
Afternoon winds turning back to trades so better conditions. Cloudy becoming sunny later.
Tropical Storm Flossie is gone.
I’m going surfing.
Have a wonderful day!

woke up this morning wondering where to go. rain, wind, and weird east swell forecasted? thank goodness, the forecast was totally wrong.

first, i needed power so i ate my japanese power breakfast. gosh, now i know i really love japanese food. i don’t want to eat mexican food for a long time. haha.

so i drive by diamond head to get a good idea on the waves. where was the 10′ east swell? instead, there was a south/west swell coming in from the opposite direction of the tropical storm. jumped back in my car because i knew bowls would be good.

Takashi-san on the left is a videographer for japanese tv. i worked with him a few times and he’s a very nice guy. then on the right is a very important friend. Keizo-san was probably the first japanese guy i ever met. he’s the guy that gave me good advise on that crazy day on niijima island back in 1990. instead of getting into a fight in a foreign country, he cooled me down and guided me on a good path to tokyo. it was that trip that made me want to live in japan. it’s good to see you again Keizo-san!
we paddled out and the waves were super glassy, perfect, and head high. when we got to the lineup, there were only 3 guys out! we surfed 2 hours at totally empty bowls. i think everybody was at longs or costco buying water and batteries. haha. anyway, the waves stayed off shore and perfect all day long. tomorrow will be different so stay tuned.

my friends been looking for shells recently. i had a chance to go today but surfed instead. next chance, i’m going!

look at my friend Brent’s collection!!! OMG!!! all i want is one! or maybe 2? if i find some shells next time, i will give one to you! wish me luck!