the second row 4th guy from the left is Maoh Toda. this was maoh’s 2nd indo boat trip but 1st time to mentawai’s. it was 6 years ago when we went together to north sumatra on a boat and got fun waves, but nothing special. this trip was better. more waves, more barrels, more fun, and more sashimi. the day before we boarded the boat, maoh was at keramas in bali battling the top 100 or so professional surfers from japan. maoh made the finals and came in 4th place. what a huge accomplishment! i was stoked for him, but even more stoked to see him get the barrels of his life….
Maoh,
can you believe that we’ve been on 3 boat trips together? 2 in indo, and one in the maldives. i was looking for a photo of you on our other boat trips and couldn’t stop smiling at all the memories. don’t you think our boat trips keep on getting better and better? better surf? better sashimi? well, i was really impressed with your surfing. i surfed with you before in knee high miyazaki and let me say this, “your surfing shines when the waves are overhead.” watching you getting barreled and coming out with the biggest smile on your face was a great memory for me. i’ve seen most of your barrels through my 200mm lens and seen you smile made me happy. your such a nice down to earth person that’s easy to travel with. your mannerism and kindness is one of a true warm hearted person. so where are we going next? let’s start planning for next year because without you on the boat wouldn’t be the same. take care, surf hard, keep on smiling, and spread the aloha!!
mahalo,
kirby

i took this photo of you 6 years ago at teros. OH MY GOSH!!! YOU LOOK EXACTLY THE SAME!!
**CLICK HERE FOR MAOH TODA BLOG….

Free Dinner Tonight!!

good morning. 7 am and once again small waves on the south shore. maybe chest high sets if your lucky. not too many guys out at bowls now. maybe everybody is getting tired of surfing small waves? when the next overhead south swell hits, i bet you there will be thousands of surfers in the water. i’ll probably be surfing all day long. see some fun 2′ waves on the north shore at laniakea. ummm…. well, i’m looking at my surfboard in one corner of my house, and my speargun in the other. it’s a tough choice….. have a great day…

if you want good food here in hawaii, you have to know where to look. just because there is a long line, that doesn’t mean that it is good. some places have long lines and when you finally get what you’ve been waiting for, you could be disappointed. i’ve seen many places in hawaii do a lot of advertising to get customers, it works, but only in the beginning. keeping the customers coming back is the key. here is the line at Romy’s shrimp on the other side of the island over in kahuku. it takes 1.5 hours to drive there, 30 minutes in line, and 30 minutes to get your food. that’s over 2.5 hours but is it worth it? heck yeah!! i love it there and go there all the time. forget all the other shrimp wagons out there, go straight to Romy’s and you won’t be disappointed…

then you have shave ice in hawaii. if you have a great location, and a lot of famous people go to your shave ice stand, you get famous. the lines are long but does it mean it’s the best? NO! i know places in hawaii with long lines and when i eat the shave ice, i say to myself “what? why?” but at Waiola Shave Ice in town, you can’t go wrong. this place is pretty hard to find and has a line all day long, but when you do, it’s worth the wait. i eat here a lot and everybody i take there agrees with me, this is the best shave ice…. oh, i forgot to mention that Island Snow shave ice in kailua is pretty dam good too. that’s President Obama’s favorite shave ice in the world…
**so here’s what i’m trying to say. just because you see a long line, that doesn’t mean it’s good. the key is too look at the line. if you see mostly tourists, it’s probably a tourist trap, meaning, not too good. tourists read guide books and go to places that have money to advertise. now look in the line again. if you see mostly locals or all locals, it’s most likely good. why? because locals know where to look for good food and eats. we don’t look at guide books so if we want to eat something good, we know where to go. well, at least i do. i’ve been living here too long to be going to tourist traps. in fact, most of the places i go to won’t be found in guide books. want to know where? i tell people to look on “Nevermind Street.” haha..


meet the newlyweds ayumu-san and his lovely wife. ayumu is a really good surfer who lives near mount fuji. it’s their honeymoon here in hawaii so it’s surf/shop/surf/shop. we surfed at kewalo’s in the morning and pretty much scored until the crowd came out later. ayumu caught so many waves and was surfing really good. after we came in, i took them to a secret chinese restaurant. a place where has a line with no tourists, and a place that is not in any guide books. best chinese in hawaii? yup… i just hope they don’t tell anybody where it is… haha… some secrets are best kept secrets…
then we went somewhere to get some cool license plate frames. that’s a secret too…. yes, some secrets are best kept secrets….