good morning. sitting here in my hotel with a fast internet connection but not fast enough to return everybody’s emails. if you don’t hear from me, don’t worry, i’m still alive. just have too many things going on. sorry….

if you asked me 10 years ago when kelia was 7 years old if she would become famous? i would have said “yes.” just too sweet, pure, and a heart of gold…..

barbecue is all about enjoying great food with great people!!

wanted to thank the boys at HIC for the hard work cooking the meat in the hot sun. i was sweating just taking this photo… this was barbecue #2 in 2 days. the first night we got here, hayato invited us to his dad’s house for a hawaiian style bbq with family and friends. big family with big hearts…. thanks to the maki family for bbq 1 and thanks to hic for barbecue 2!!! where’s the photos? sorry, i was too busy eating…..

the other day, i seen somebody driving what i thought was my car. i ran to the door, opened it, tackled the guy to the ground, and called the police. turned out, it wasn’t mine. sorry dude…..
hey, i have tons of photos and video of this trip. can somebody let me borrow some time? gosh, i’m so busy and don’t even have time for my afternoon naps anymore….
busy week! tokyo for one more day. then heading to izu for a 3 day photo shoot, then roxy challenge on the 14th followed by the party on the 14th night. gosh, i heard a lot of people are coming! i can’t wait!!!
oh, wanted to thank akudo-san and his kind staff from standard california in ebisu for the great time last night. and double thanks for the bottle of jack. horse sashimi, liver sashimi, raw egg on rice, cold beers, and jacksan to finish up the night. my phone died last night and couldn’t take any photos. can you guys send me some? thanks…
and last! congratulations shun murakami!!!! i know you could do it and it was just a matter of time!!! i’m sure the boys in hawaii are stoked for you!

WINNER SHUN MURAKAMI!!!!

Japan Saiko!!!

hey, i finally got internet connection!! it’s only day 3 but it feels like tammy, kelia, and isaiah have been with me for a month. so many things have been happening. all good!!! last night had the 1 hour fireworks show at ichinomiya. it was pretty long and i bet pretty expensive. then went to sample some raw chicken, raw liver and intestines at the coolest izakaya in chiba. my phone wasn’t working so couldn’t take photos. kelia has it on hers so watch for it on her blog. went to the oakley grom contest at shidashita this morning. good waves and good vibe! but first, got so many photo that i’ve been trying to post from my iphone but for some reason, it’s not letting me at times….

it’s always good to see nao-chan. always smiling and always surfing really good!!

i was driving to the airport and passed by takayuki fukuchi’s shop. so of course, i stopped by….

come to find out, he just opened Port Surfing School over there in katagai. i met fukuchi in 1990 at the world contest. ever since then, i really liked him. why? because he’s super nice and kind. always smiling!!! by the way, fukuchi was also a JPSA champion a few times. i remember one year at the marui pro at torami, fukuchi beat shane powell man on man. then he beat sunny garcia man on man. that time, i was taking care and staying with sunny but i was so happy to see fukuchi come from behind to pull one of the biggest upset in japanese surfing history…

wanted to thank aoi-chan for drawing me a map on how to get to the airport. it took me less than an hour and cost me nothing to get there. i use to go the long way spending over $30 and taking 1.5 hours. thanks aoi-chan for saving me time and money…

also want to thank masaki harada for taking care of isaiah in chiba. that means a lot to me…

it’s amazing how many kelia fans there are in japan. i’m glad kelia is finding that out. she must have signed hundreds of autographs and took hundreds of photos already. kelia is enjoying japan and told me today “uncle, i want to live here.” really????
**heard a rumor that kelia is going to be on a cover for a huge fashion magazine in japan. i hate rumors but love this one….
gotta shower and enjoy a great evening in tokyo!!! it’s time for kelia and tammy to get a taste of Culture Shock!!!!