ohayo gozaimasu from shonan…. woke up at 6am, walked to 7/11, picked up some oden for breakfast, now it’s time to leave to the airport. it’s my first surf trip of the year. well, first surf trip outside of japan. i’m so excited that i could hardly sleep lastnight. i’m ready for some barrels, some fun, and some chicken adobo. i’ll try to stay away from eating dog. people asked me if i ever ate dog before and to tell you the truth, i don’t know. when you go to local restaurants in the philippines, you just eat what they serve. everything looks good and i love filipino food so i just eat what ever. anyway, got to get out of here. have a nice day…..

no, this is not backdoor, hawaii. this is cloud 9, philippines. it was 4 years ago when i was invited by the philippines government to surf the international contest there. i didn’t know what to expect and only took my small boards with me, which ended up being a big mistake. on the ferry ride over, a guy came and told us that the waves were going off and 17 boards were broken that day. i got nervous…. i shot this photo with my digital camera and this wave might look small, but it’s actually 8′ hawaiian size…

this was right after 9/11 so it was pretty dangerous traveling at that time. the u.s embassy posted a travel advisory for all americans to get out of the philippines immediately. but crazy guys like us were going in. these were our bodyguards. the met us at manila airport and were with us the whole trip. these guys became our friends and it was cool walking around with them. made me feel pretty safe. i would love to have these kind of bodyguards with me in hawaii. if somebody drops in, they going to get a granade up their ass. simple….

this was the hectic ferry ride over. that’s indonesian pro dede surayana next to me. at that time, nobody knew who dede was. now, the world knows who dede is…. that ferry ride sucked. long, rough, and packed….

between the finals, they had a 30min break. nobody was on it except for one bodyboarder. the waves were as perfect as it gets. your not supposed to surf out there because it was the contest area but i couldn’t handle seeing perfect unridden waves. so i grabbed my small board, and paddled out to try to get a few. it was freaking bombing 8-10′. my board was too small but i wanted to get barreled so badly so i just paddled my ass off. i remember my first wave being an air drop but i somehow made it and bottom turned into this big blue barrel. the barrel spit me out and i wanted more. i scored 3 back to back stand up barrels and i was as happy as a surfer can be. imagine, surfing in a country far from home, blue water, white sandy beaches, and some of the nicest people on earth. that was probably my best 30 min session ever. john callahan took this photo and it ended up being published in a japanese, european, italy, and this spread was in a russian outdoors magazine. score!! thanks callahan…..
**anyway, i haven’t gone back to cloud 9 since then because we went exploring other parts of the philippines by boat. i’m on my way there today and if it’s anything close to what it was 4 years ago, i’m going to score. just checked the weather maps and it’s looking freaking good. there is internet access from my beach front room in front of cloud 9 so i will be giving daily updates. billabong invited 40 surfers from around the world for this awesome contest. guys like jamie o’brien, mikala jones, along with other top hawaiians, top indonesians, and top australians. $20,000 is up for grabs and this is pumped up to be the biggest contest ever in the philippines. i’m stoked to be a part of it….MABUHAI!!!!!

good evening. japan finally cooled down. perfect weather right now. it took me a while to pack my stuff today. i’m ready for a 12 day trip. it’s been a long time and i can’t wait to sip on my margarita under a coconut tree on a white sandy beach[:????????????:]……

look at the forecast for the first day of competition at cloud 9. yes, that’s the philippines right to the left of that typhoon. hip hip horray!!!!

i just read in the newspaper that 1.5 million people die from kitchen smoke. yes, i said 1.5 million…. growing up in america, we take for granted our lovely kitchen stove that we can turn on with a simple turn of a knob. but in other countries like the philippines, indonesia, and vietnam, most families don’t have the luxury of a stove. if they want to cook, they have to gather trees, grass, or bushes and burn it to make a fire before cooking. and the smoke can be lethal. so the next time you turn on your nice stove, think of the people who don’t have that luxury. appeciate what you have because there are a lot of people that aren’t as fortunate. they actually risk their lives cooking for their family…
***and last, just wanted to wish Yoko Furuichi and Happy Birthday!!![:??$B!^(B??????:] check out her blog by CLICKING HERE…..

ohayo gozaimasu. gosh, all the things i have to deal with at airports really got to me yesterday. i usually fly japan airlines so they are pretty cool with things. united is a different story. i left hawaii with only one suitcase. i know i’m allowed to check in two suitcase at 55lbs. each. anyway, my one suitcase weighed 59lbs. the lady at the counter told me i was over and was going to charge me an excess baggage fee. she told me that if i was business class or first class, she would let me slide. but because i have economy class, she had to charge me. gosh, that made me feel good… so i told her i was going to take something out of my suitcase and check it in. she said fine. so i took out my 10lbs diving weight belt and put it on the counter. she looked at it in disbelief and asked me what that was. i told her that was my second suitcase. she looked at me and told me that it’s too small to check in. huh??? too small? now there’s a minimum size? the lady was really unfriendly to me and i know that i was trying to be on my best behavior. traveling all these years taught me that at the check-in counter, they own you. it’s pretty much by their rules. i could just imagine if i had my surfboards with me too. well, if i had my surfboard with me, i would have bought the lady flowers and got down on one knee like a little puppy. that usually works. but gosh, now i really appreciate japan airlines. they are kind and treat customers with respect. the united counter treated me differently. the lady made like i fly on united all the time. she gave me that “don’t you know” face and i hate that. and it sucked that it was in hawaii. i’m going to the philippines tomorrow and am limited to 20kilos to check in. i have 3 boards, my diving stuff, and my camera stuff, and my computer stuff. all probably weighing over 60kilos. i know it’s going to be another nightmare so i’m going to the flower shop before checking in. [:?????(J\(B????????????:]haha….. i know guys paying $2000 USD for their boards sometimes. and i ain’t joking…. so please wish me luck….

i trip out on the toilets here in japan. with the new ones, you walk over, stand up, and the toilet recgonizes you and the seats go up automatic. the first time, it scared the shit out of me. i thought there was a ghost in the bathroom….

see, it went up. and then the seat gets warm, then there is like a slight vacuum to suck up the stinky air from your [:???????????(J\(B:]. then you can shoot a warm stream up your butt to clean it up, then blow dry it with warm air. what an amazing toilet. i’m sitting on one right now…. haha…