September 9, 2003
Great Experience!!!

good morning. 6:15 am saturday morning. no sign of that new south swell. the waves looking pretty small right now but clean. the local motion surf into summer starts today and runs until monday. wanted to with all the competitors luck!!! i’m going to jump in the water this morning and wait for that new south swell. hope it comes soon!! anyway, have a nice day!
**i was out yesterday at canoes and somebody paddled up to me and introduced himself. Kazuto Toguchi, also known as “Kazu” in hawaii or “Toguchi” in okinawa. yeah, i said okinawa. kazu-san is from okinawa and told me that he went to the same middle school as Rikio Higa. yeah, go-naminori blogger Rikio! kazu-san was born and raised in okinawa and moved to hawaii in 1987. he grew up in naha city and moved to ginowan. he knows rikio but had no idea that rikio became a successful professional surfer in okinawa. i always say that “this is a small world.” and yes, “it’s a small world.”

i shot this photo yesterday of kazu-san because i wanted to show it to rikio next time i go to okinawa. but you know me, i can’t wait. so here it is…
kazu-san,
haisai[:?????$B!x(B???:]
it was nice to meet you yesterday.
thank you so much for checking my blog. i get really happy when people from okinawa check my blog because i have many friends there.
it’s funny how you found rikio through go-naminori.
i’m sure rikio was surprised too.
who needs facebook when you have go-naminori? haha…
isn’t it so amazing how hawaii and okinawa are so similar?
i like your email address: OkinawanAloha.
okinawans love hawaii and hawaiians love okinawa. it’s pretty easy to understand why.
the “Aloha” or “Mensore” is pretty much the same thing.
i can’t wait to go back there this summer…
we will see each other again in the water for sure.
and yes, we should grab some beers (orion) and talk about okinawa. i’m sure we both have a lot of stories.
and you can play the Sanshin??? oh my gosh!! can you play “Shimanchu nu Takara?”
let’s hook up for sure!!
take care and keep on surfing!!!
kirby
p.s. check out my favorite song and check to see if more of your okinawan friends are in this video…..
**CLICK HERE FOR SOME OKINAWAN ALOHA BLOG STRAIGHT FROM WAIKIKI!!!

good evening. i was talking to my 2 nieces yesterday and they were telling me how fun waikiki was. they were going this morning too so i wanted to surf with them. kelia said she’s going at 5:30 am. i told her i’d meet her out around 6. i called her at 6 just in case and guess what? she just woke up. eeh??? yeah, if i didn’t call her, i would have been surfing waikiki by myself. haha… anyway, we meet down there at 6:30 am and guess what? the waves were flat and it was super cloudy. they both were saying all morning how i should have been there yesterday. gosh, i hear that all the time….
the waves were hardly breaking but i had a blast surfing with my 2 nieces. they are still babies to me. i just can’t admit that they are young adults that like boys… uuuhh…

for those of you who don’t know kelia, she’s a clown. always smiling and always having fun. she has big plans this summer including the roxy jam pro contest in france, the nssa nationals in california, and possibly the roxy challenge in japan. japan? yes, things are moving forward and it’s looking promising. i’ll keep you posted. anyway, you know what really made me happy this morning? kelia told me that she wants to win the Roxy Jam in France. she’s been practicing long boarding all week and will until she leaves for france. the past years, she’s only been practicing a couple of times before the contest and wasn’t taking it seriously. i was happy to hear that. as i was watching her long board today, i was impressed on how graceful she is riding on the water. gosh, i wish i can go to france and watch the contest. i think this year is her year…

temari hates when i put photos of her on my blog. that’s why i put photos of her on my blog. temari surfs, quits, surfs, and quits. now she’s surfing again and for her to wake up early 2 days in a row to surf, she must be loving it. and if she’s loving it, so am i. surfing with my 2 nieces this morning made me a happy uncle. you girls want to go again tomorrow? call me up…