salamat pagi. another dream trip. just when you think you surfed the best waves of your life, you surf better ones. this past trip was amazing and everybody on the boat agrees that this will be the first time ever japanese have scored such perfect big HT’s. i’ve never seen any photos like the ones we have ever published in a japanese magazine. perfect stand up barrels, perfect smiles, and perfect times. we had an awesome diverse crew that were all strangers on april 18th, 2010. and are now all close friends. it was sad seeing everybody off at the airport yesterday but i know we’ll all meet again. i hope everyone a safe trip back to their homes. as for me, i’m stuck in malaysia waiting for a flight back to hawaii. it’s golden week so probably no luck. but i’ll be back for sure on may 3rd and can’t wait to step off the airplane back to my home, hawaii. as for all your emails, thank you. as for all my friends back in hawaii, see you soon. as for now, i’m going to take a 6 hour day nap. then eat malay food, then go to sleep again. have a great day!!!

i’ve heard that kaori-chan free dives. i talked to her about it before in japan but we never had the chance to dive together. this was the first time and i was really impressed how graceful she was underwater. she looks relaxed and comfortable going pretty deep. on this dive, we were in the middle of the ocean on this 60′ pinnacle. the current was pretty strong and there were fish everywhere. i’d say kaori-chan went down 30′ easily and speared her first big fish. check out hawaii skin diver tv producer kyle nakamoto documenting the whole thing. the video is amazing….
oh, wanted to thank my photo assistant toda-san for taking these photos. good job!!

hayato, kosei, kaori, kyle, and myself. we are all happy divers doing what we love to do, dive. on this day, we managed to spear enough fish for 2 days. huge sashimi and poke platters on the table. ahhhhhh, life is good!!!!

the airlines are getting so strict now days with excess baggage. before, the domestic flights in japan had no limit but now? only 20 kilos? what? i pulled up to haneda airport with 44 kilos. they told me that i had to either pay, or carry on 24 kilos with me. so what did i do???

carry on 24 kilos…
i flew with ANA and that will probably be my last time. i have a magic vip card from JAL and all my luggage to bali and okinawa was free, including my surfboards, and everybody else’s….

check out this photo of the happy BARRELS FAMILY….

there is a place in okinawa where:
if you wear okinawan made slippers, you get a free beer….
and if you wear a okinawan hat, you get 2 free beers….

and if your a girl who wears a bikini in the restaurant, you get half off your bill. haha.. how funny is that? in okinawa, it’s ok. but in america, this bar will be sued. why? because this is a classic act of discrimination. but america is america and okinawa is okinawa. see you at that restaurant this summer…

hello, just got off the boat from mentawai. awesome trip. score!! big barrels. i wrote a few blogs on the boat but had no internet connection so couldn’t post them. check it out.
hello from the mentawai islands. going to lose my signal so going to make it fast. first, the waves are going off!!! i thought nothing could be better than last year but i was wrong. we’re only on day 4 and i’m ready to go home. surfed out!!! barreled out!!! HT’s was going off!! we pulled up 2 days ago and nobody was out. 4-6′ with huge 8′ sets doubling up and barreling. we scored!!! then today? same thing but cleaner. took over 3000 photos and already have enough to publish in 3 magazines. not to mention a DVD. the weather is perfect, the swell is pumping, and the vibe is awesome. i don’t think anybody on this boat could be any happier..
we’re all having a great time so please don’t worry if your love one is on this boat. we didn’t have an internet signal to now. so here i am typing away while everybody is sleeping. we’re traveling 11 hours tonight to the southern tip of the mentawai’s. we surfed 7 spots already and are going for the record of surfing the most surf spots in a 12 day period.
aah… i’m getting tired. better get to sleep because we have lots to do tomorrow. first, check out this sneak peak….

when you travel, you have to travel with good people. this trip, there are great people. people from all walks of life having a great time in the middle of the ocean. gosh, i wish you were here….

since this is a huge project that will be featured in 3 magazines, i better not reveal too much. this was how HT’s was yesterday and today. this guys name is RedDog and he’s over 6′ so imagine the size of the waves. BIG and BARRELING!!! AND UNCROWDED!!! i shot over a thousand photos in this session, got barreled out of my mind, and broke 2 boards. it’s a tough job but somebody has to do it. wait till you see all the photos and video. it’s going to blow your mind….

if you go on boat trips with us, you will be able to eat fresh sashimi every night. we surf, then we dive for our evening sashimi platter, then we surf again. then as the sun sets, out comes the bintangs and the sashimi. diving is always a team effort and so is preparing the fish. wanted to thank everybody involved in making our evening pupu sessions a success. i can’t wait to see what we catch tomorrow…

this was sashimi platter for day 3. fresh fish and fresh poke. i’ll introduce all the members on this boat trip in an upcoming blog. but for now, just wanted to tell my family and friends around the world “Hello and wish you were here.”
and as for my emails, haven’t been able to check it. get back to you after i return to hawaii. mahalo…