padang, indonesia is the epicenter of many big earthquakes. the big ones hit, the buildings crumble down, but they get right back up and rebuild. the indonesian people of padang must be strong inside. just by looking at their smiles and their daily activity, they look much happier than people in places that never get hit by big earthquakes. last time we were there, i seen this banner “AWAKING OF PADANG.” i was glad to see the people happily running around like nothing bad ever happened there….

looks crowded? look again. this is HT’s, one of the best world class right handers in the whole wide world. look closely. 8 of the 8 guys were from our crew. on a normal day, there would be 50 surfers out there. i’ve seen it before. but on this day, there was just us. our crew surfing big barreling right handers that most surfers in the world only dream of. gosh… i want more!!!

and last, isn’t this photo awesome? i was thinking of chartering this boat for our next mentawai trip. wanna go?

good morning. hey, where is everybody? it’s 6 am and i’m looking at bowls now. the waves are shoulder high and perfect!! only 5 guys out? yeah, 5 guys. i guess everybody is burnt out from the long weekend? if you haven’t surfed empty bowls before, you should go down right now! i’m burnt out too so you won’t see me out there today. have a nice day!!!

a long time ago, i remember going out for a dive and grabbing at least one or two big lobsters. we use to steam the tails and dip it into butter/garlic sauce, or cut it up as sashimi and dip it into wasabi/shoyu. then the head? either steam the head and eat the miso with a spoon, or cut it up and make miso soup out of it. we use to have lobster parties all the time with friends and beers.
now days, i hardly even see a single lobster on a dive. in fact, the last time i seen a lobster in hawaii is so long ago that i can’t remember. gosh, i miss the good old days….

the girl in the back row second from the right is eri nishikami. eri-chan is the distributor in japan for Honey Girl swimsuits. she use to live in hawaii, speaks 4 languages fluently, really smart, and is a hard core surfer. it was eri-chan’s second boat trip and now i know her favorite word, which is “YABAI!!!”
eri-chan,
how was that trip? yabai yeah? how was big ht’s? yabai yeah? how was the sashimi? yabai yeah? haha.. it was really fun having you on board with us. the jokes, the “rich man, poor man games,” the bintang evening sessions, and all the laughter. you have a personality of your own and can get along with anybody. i think everybody enjoyed your company and all the excitement. i hope we can travel again more in the future. thanks for helping with the translations, thanks for all the fun, and thanks for letting us see your happy face surfing at “The Hole!” the photos and video are awesome!!! see you soon either in japan or hawaii!!!
mahalo,
kirby
p.s. wake up earlier to go surfing. getting up at 10 am and going to the beach is too late. the winds are onshore and it’s too crowded right? go 5 am dawn patrol and your life will never be the same…. see you out there!

**CLICK HERE FOR ERI-CHAN’S HONEY GIRL BLOG….


eri-chan @ “The Hole” YABAI!! YABAI!! YABAI!!!

why pay money and go to the honolulu zoo when you can go to the hilton hawaiian village for free? theirs flamingo’s, penguins, turtles, and even elephants. haha. just joking on the elephants part. but i was there the other day enjoying the animals and after living in hawaii my whole life, i didn’t even know about it…

i was at kahala park yesterday evening and there was a huge photo shoot going on. i seen like 20 beautiful models and 10 professional cameramen and 10 lighting assistants. i just watched and learned. i learned about angles, lighting, and poses. they kept on changing into some pretty cool costumes, bikinis, and dresses. it was pretty cool….

want a postcard photo? go to the hilton hawaiian village in the evening and shoot the sun setting. i took this with my cel phone. totally amazing!!

and last, can you guess who that guy holding the tracks magazine up is? this photo is over 30 years old. like i said before, who needs facebook when you have go-naminori? this guy from australia who was trying to track down a friend for the past 30 years sent me an email. i forwarded the email to the old time friend and now their in contact. he also sent me some classic photos from the days… guess who?