good morning. wow! feels good to be back in a air conditioned room sleeping on a comfortable bed alone. no people sleeping next to you, no snoring, no mosquitos, and nobody waking you up. i slept 8 hours straight and now that i feel like i got all my power back, i feel like surfing! haha. but once i step outside, i know it’s going to be another hot day.

there is probably only one place in japan where you would eat desert before you eat your meal. it’s all you can eat cake for 1 hour so while you’re waiting for your meal, you just start eating cake after cake. this was my first round. then i had another one after this. so 4 pieces of cake before lunch. gosh, my mom would have killed me if i did this as a kid. haha.

i ordered the dry curry. then i had some italian pasta.

then it was back to my sweets.

and sweets, and sweets.

then i finished it off with a brownie and vanilla ice cream. 5 trays so 10 deserts! i was so full!
then i jumped on a train and headed to tokyo. then i would love to tell you what i ate last night but i better not. lot’s of people already don’t like me. haha. then if i told you what i’m going to eat tonight, i would lose all my friends.
anyway, thanks to toda-san, takami-san, matsu, and tomoyuki-san for the wonderful road trip. i’m kind of bummed it has to end but i totally forgot i’ll be back in a few weeks. yeah! see you soon.
today is a relaxed day. going to lock myself in the room and work on my computer. have to sort out over a thousand photo taken these past few days. hopefully can post lots later. have a wonderful day!

Welcome back to Tokyo!

well, it’s been a super successful surf trip i have to say. we woke up this morning expecting smaller waves and windy conditions. wrong!!!! the waves ended up being 3-5′ and perfect. a perfect left with a lot of local happy faces. as i was in the water, i realized the true reason i love this country. the people, the places, the food, and the culture is just amazing. yes, there will be more waves tomorrow but i think it’s time for me to stay indoors. it’s been super hot and humid and my body is finally feeling it. getting tired and dehydrated in this hot sun hanging at the beach all day long. time to cool down because when i get back to hawaii in 2 days, i’ll be surfing everyday. i just want to thank everybody i met along the way on this trip. and want to thank all the locals for sharing your waves. when you come to hawaii, i’ll give you any wave you want! see you again soon!

we saw 18 boards break in the past 2 days. bummer for surfers, but great for the surfing industry.

as i was shooting yesterday evening at yugawara, i saw yo-chan, tokura-san, shun, and ren sitting in the lineup. i’ve known these grownups and kids for a long time and they are a part of japan surf culture, and a part of my surfing family. it’s always good to see cool locals everywhere i go in japan.

this is yo-chan on his TSSC Fat Bat. super cool board and super cool bottom turn. hey yo-chan, thanks for always taking care of me and my friends when i go to yugawara!

and last, i live to get barreled. there is just no way to explain the feeling. i travel around the world spending my hard earned money looking for barrels. sometimes people ask me why. the only way to find out the answer is to get barreled yourself. it’s adrenaline, it’s stoke, it’s power, it’s nature, and it’s the ultimate feeling as a surfer. thank you matsu for taking this photo of me in one of my best barrels at the spot i love to surf so much. i’m the luckiest surfer in the world!
now i’m going to jump on the shinkansen and head to a cool place and hide out for a few days. see ya!