mabuhai. the boys are in town. the hype is up and this contest is going to be one to remember. the trucks full with boards and surfers pulled up at cloud 9 around 5pm. some of the hawaiians are mikala jones, makua rothman, kamalei alexander, stephen kohone, rico, jason shibata, and some others. betet, tipi, and some of the boys came from bali. everybody seem stoked the waves came up today. had some overhead barreling sets. surfed twice and shot photos too. it was a long day so it’s time to sleep. had a great local style dinner. fried pork, mango chicken curry, pork adobo, and some warm beer to wash it all down. gosh, it’s so hard to get a cold beer around here. imagine being in the sun all day, super hot, sweaty, humid, and opening a warm beer in the evening. it just doesn’t taste that good. and the warm rum and cokes? well, i guess it’s better than drinking contaminated ice. we got a freezer/refrig put in our room so we just been making our own ice. anyway, back to the contest, get this? man on man heats? how’s that? all we need is some waves and this contest will be the one to remember. be back soon with some results. the contest should be on tomorrow morning. can’t wait… salamat….

a friend of mine emailed me asking me about the water in the philippines. he asked if it’s warm, and if it’s clean. yes, and yes. very very warm and very very very clean. if you don’t believe me, check out this photo from yesterday. what do you think?

and last, when ever i go hunting with my friend brandon. we target practice in the mountains. load up the car with a bucket full of ice cold beers, grab the bow and arrow, and shoot the dummy pig. gosh, you could shoot a pig a day here in the philippines. a friend down the street here is making a “imu”, or hawaiian oven. they got 3 pigs, 7 chickens, and fish. the stuff the chicken with the pork from the pig, put some fish around it, and wrap it in ti-leaves before putting it under the hot rocks. they will be digging it up tomorrow so can’t wait. now all i need is some poi….

get this, there’s a little shopping mall near the airport in cebu. there’s a little spa on the second floor. we all went there for a massage. the best massage i’ve ever had. yeah, even better than “cozy” in bali. $7 for an hour. can’t wait to get back there for another one. or two. and get this story. we had 4 guys so we made reservations to come back in 30 min. we went back and all had our own massage table. hatato, u-ske, and i were in one room. kazuya in the other. we started and 30 minutes into our massage, kazuya asked us if we started already. what? we all thought we started at the same time but it was not the case. he was lying on the massage table ready to go but nobody was there. we asked where this massage person was and they said, “stuck in traffic”. oh my gosh, that was classic…. we couldn’t stop laughing through out the whole massage. i still laugh when i think about it…. haha….

wow, just got a copy of the new Surfer Girls. check out who’s on the cover. yes, that’s YUKO SHIMAJIRI and YOKO FURUICHI. yuko and yoko went to thailand for a shoot and the photos came out really nice. check it out by clicking on the SURFER GIRLS WEBPAGE…..

also, check out the Go-Naminori ad. “Girls just want to have Fun”……

good morning. gosh, we’re having such a good time here. the waves are small but who cares. i just surfed chest high cloud 9 this morning. the water is so clean… and the food we’ve been eating? unreal. went to a yakitori place last night in the town. choose what you want to eat, and they cook it for you. we had chicken, pork, and half of an aku, or katsuo. it was so good…… this trip is different than any other trip because i’m with 7 japanese guys that all have camera’s and video cams. and yes, we are using it all the time. so this trip will be well documented for sure. anyway, all we need is some waves, then this trip will be perfect. well, for me, it’s already perfect. salamat…..

there’s a little place we eat across the street. they have a little pig on the side tied on a leash. i asked the lady when they were going to eat this pig. she said in november, for her daughters 1st birthday. shucks, i wanted to be here so i can eat the feet. haha. it’s a joke.. sorry kalua…. but you know what, there’s so many little pigs and chickens running all over the place. if you go to a restaurant and order chicken, they will grab one, break the neck, and it will be served to you in 30min. that’s how it’s done here. back home, we just run to costco…. spoiled people….

want to live the dream? buy cloud 9 resort. but make sure you invite me every typhoon season. if you don’t, it’s not for sale….

to get around here, you need to jump on a motorcycle. for 20 peso, or 50 cents, you can get a ride into the village. but expect to ride with other passengers. i shot this photo from the back, sitting in front of me was hayato, then tokura-san, then the driver, then shimpei on the handle bars. that’s 5 guys. haha….. only in the philippines… anyway, we went to the festival yesterday in general luna. right when we got there, it was finished. oh my gosh…. anyway, we walked all around for a place to eat. we were so hungry that we didn’t even care what we ate…..

all the dishes tasted good. the one in the middle was the best. i offered hayato to try some but he said no thank you. then when i was on my last bite, hayato told me that i was eating dog. i lost my appetite. ruff ruff…..
**how’s this, the mango here is so good. sweet and juicy. i ate mango chicken curry, mango pancakes, and a mango smoothie. and i’ve only been here 2 days. mango fever. right now, i’m going to order some more mango pancakes and a mango shake for breakfast. maybe now my meat will taste as good as kalua’s… [:??$B”y(B???:]
**oh, and how’s this. gerry from sagana and the guys at billabong gave me an invitation for the contest. shit, so lucky. there’s 44 surfers and the format will be like the WCT. round 1, 3 man heats, 1st goes to round 3. 2nd and 3rd got to round 2. so we all have 2 chances to surf cloud 9 with 2 other guys out. WQS judges are here, the billabong bosses, and some bad ass surfers from japan, tahiti, europe, hawaii, bali, australia, and california. yes, this is an international contest and it is so international. they even flew in an australian doctor for the event. philippines is going big….. all the boys are on the ferry coming tonight so it’s going to be a mad house from tomorrow. well, starting tonight…. have a great day and be safe and happy. just like me….. haha….