i got my new passport!! what a relief!! last week, i was checking when it expires because i knew it was coming up. i’m going to indo this sept. and if i didn’t check it, i would have been stopped at dempasar airport for sure. why? because you need it to be valid 6 months after date of entry. well, i only had 5 months. being stopped in indo and then turned around would have sucked. so i had only 10 days to get a new passport before my journey starts. i was stressing out. then i found out that i could make an interview with a customs agent and get a passport in 2 days. and in 2 days i got my new electronic passport…. now i can travel around the world again for the next 10 years….
* i was checking out my old passport to check out the countries i’ve been in the last 9 years. australia, micronesia, south africa, singapore, philippines, korea, hong kong, fiji, samoa, tahiti, mexico, indonesia 6 times, and japan about 40 times. i guess i did my fair share of traveling. can’t wait to see where i’m going in the next 10 years. the journey continues. and now that i’m going to buy a new video camera, you’ll be able to join me. stay tuned….

***it was 8 years ago back in 2000 when i was invited on a boat trip to the mentawai islands, north sumatra, indonesia. surfing world photographer yoshiro nakayama, bali legend wayan ganti, and all the JPSA judges were on the boat. we had a freaking blast. i was the youngest one on the boat so i was kind of nervous being surrounded by these guys. but after a few bintangs, age didn’t mean anything. we all got along and had such a great time. surfing perfect waves with nobody around for miles and miles, eating fresh sashimi every night, the jokes, the sea snakes, and tons of ever lasting memories. back in 2000, there were only a few boats operating in the mentawai’s so we had the top spots pretty much to ourselves. it sure ain’t like that anymore so i’m glad i had my video camera and documented uncrowded mentawai’s…… this is part 1 of 4 so stay tuned for the rest…..

good morning. 7:15am thursday morning. waves on the north shore done…. looks super small up there and i think our winter season is pretty much over. gosh, how fast… town has some small waves. waist/chest high at bowls. got a bunch of surfers out there and quite a few out at the park. the tide is very very low so please be careful. i’m going surfing. got to practice for some small japan waves. i didn’t realize how much work and energy it takes to surf small waves. after i caught a long left yesterday at bowls, i was tired. i think i got spoiled taking off and just pulling into perfect barrels. that’s not good. well, it’s good but i better practice or i will look like a kook when i go to japan. haha… i’m going surfing. have a nice day….
can you believe that the iraq war was already going on for 5 years? and is there an end in sight?? no. no. no…. something is freaking wrong. what’s the problem? i want to know… after 600 billion dollars spent, almost 4,000 americans dead, how long more will this go on? i forgot why we’re even fighting and who we’re fighting. all i know is that young soldiers are dying everyday and when there’s no sign of the end, it’s pretty depressing. obama said that if he becomes president of the america, he’s pulling the troops out within 6 months. now you know who i’m voting for…..
**please watch this video of the fallen soldiers that have sacrificed their lives for the freedom we have. pretty touching. song by tim mcgraw called “if your reading this”….

good evening. gosh, it was such a beautiful day here in hawaii. kind of windy but the waves were super fun….

pulled up to bowls this morning and was greeted by this rainbow. and it was still there when we paddled out to the lineup. the waves were chest high and super fun. i got a couple sick long perfect lefts. thanks for those waves reid…. ended up surfing for almost 3 hours with banno-san and asaki-san. it was a great session….

after we got out of the water, we went to check out kalua…. here is asaki-san and banno-san petting kalua….

kalua loves when people cool him off with water. he was such a happy pig today. banno-san was telling me this morning that i have a good life. i agree. but i think kalua has a better life. eat, sleep, eat, sleep…. can’t beat that…

this was one of the last waves of the year for me on the north shore. kenji sent this to me and i think he took it last week sometime. gosh, from the worst winter ever in history to the best winter ever in history. i’m glad i was here for both sides because when the good came, good things happened…. thanks kenji for always taking my photo….. your the man….

wow, check out the new surfer girls magazine that just went on sale last week. kelia moniz cover shot!! yeah sis….
CLICK HERE FOR THE LINK TO SURFER GIRLS….

**and last, check out this funny photo i got in an email. what the heck is this??? if i had a chest like this, i wouldn’t mind because i would have a place to rest my chin to take a nap… free pillows…. haha….