finally!!! welcome back to hawaii! this year started off rough but when i woke up this morning and seen the clear blue sky, i knew it was going to be a great day! a little windy, but you couldn’t ask for anything more. sunny, warm, and sunburn!

paddling out to bowls early this morning watching the sunrise was amazing. the waves came up from yesterday and not too many people out. score!

Tou-san and i surfed for over 3 hours. i’d say she caught about 50 waves this morning. a very energetic girl super stoked on surfing. she is a firefighter in chigasaki, japan. wanted to say hello to Seiji-san and the other firefighters! i respect all of you!

this is called Hiyoko manjyu. thank you Tou-san. hope you enjoy the rest of your first hawaiian trip!

oishi desu. i love japanese snacks!

and last, wanted to thank Matsu for sending me this new years photo from Austria. gosh, i wish i were there! someday….
well, winds backing down all week with waves on the north shore. should be some good surfing going on. see you out there!

had a great time with you Okinawans!!! keep on surfing!!!!

i drove by diamond head yesterday in the evening and couldn’t believe how big the waves were compared to the morning. double the size and looking really fun. only had 1 surfer out. too bad it was getting dark or i would have paddled out. i’m thinking this evening will be good too. yes, it’s windy, but the waves are super fun and long. i’d say solid 4′ on the sets.

do you remember the sunny hawaii? ever since last year, december 31st, the sun hasn’t been out. it’s been raining everyday and super windy. feel so bad for the tourists that came here for the new year. i took this photo in december on a typical hawaiian day. hopefully the sun will peak out today.

i was so happy to see go-naminori official blogger Tiare Thomas on the cover of the new Honolulu Magazine. congratulations Tiare!!!

last night i was near diamond head when all the power went out. it was pitch dark and scary. actually, really scary!

if i had a million dollars last year, i would have put all of it in the currency market. why? because i knew the yen couldn’t be that strong for that long. now a year later, the yen weakened to 88.12 per dollar. in simple math, i would have made 15% on my money or $150,000 in 1 year. regrets? no, because i don’t have a million dollars. instead, i changed $1,000 dollars so i made $150. yeah!