Shark!

Today I surfed at tsujido in the morning and it was pretty good. I was waist high with a pretty nice sand bar. In the evening I went stand up paddling with my friend Shinjo to this island called Eboshi. It took us a good 1 hour to get there and on the way back I had this weird feeling that something was following us. I looked back but I didn`t see anything. Then all of a sudden a fin slowly pops up! It was about 7 feet long. Shinjo and I paddled for our life! We eventually made it back and it was one experience I will never forget. It was my first time seeing a shark in Japan and I hope its my last.

contest cancelled

The contest was cancelled because there was no waves. The only time it was breaking was when it was low tide and when it was high tide it was like a lake. I ended up spending 2 nights at shizuoka for no reason. I didn`t even surf one time at shizunami but still had a good time crusing with my shaper Mitsu and Yasu from Drift Surf.

Sick

The waves have been really good the last couple days but I got sick probably from the dirty water. I guess my body is not used to the waters of Japan. I `ve been just resting at home watching some more tv shows. The pictures above are pictures of a guy eating ramen upside down and ice cream carving. I have contest in couple days so I hope my body gets better.

pretty good waves

Today when I woke up I heard a really loud noise right above my head. It sounded like a jumbo jet flying right over my head. The sound was actually thunder. It was the loudest thunder I`ve ever heard in my life. At first I couldn`t believe it because it wasn`t raining and the clouds did not look that dark. After the thunder stopped I went surfing and the waves were solid 2 feet and lining up pretty good. I surfed for 7 hours total today. For dinner we went to eat Yakiniku and afterwards we started watching fun tv shows. Most of the shows are so funny that I can`t take a picture because Im rolling on the ground but this time I managed to take a picture.

Chiba

After 4 long hours in the car we arrived at Chiba. We ended up surfing this place called Wada and the waves were real fun. It was about solid 2 feet and there was a good sand bar so the lefts were real good. Not as good as Hawaii but It was the 2nd best surf session I had since I came here. For lunch I ate some barracuda and it was pretty good. Typhoon Fengshen is not looking so good right now. Its moving away from Japan so I hope it cutsback toward Japan real soon.

Typhoon Fengshen

Finally a typhoon has appeared on the horizon. Its still way down south of Japan but it looks like it will start moving north toward Japan pretty soon. I hope we get some good waves. Seems like Hawaii is starting to slow down a little. Now its Japans turn to get some good waves. Today the waves were half a foot and real onshore. Tommorrow should be the same but rainy.

Flat

Today I surfed some really small waves with a soft top board. It was really small but really crowded. Now I know the reason why so many Japanese love Hawaii. Next time when you think about not paddling out because its small or crowded, just remember its probably way better than Japan. I also went cycling up Enoshima Island. Enoshima is one of the top tourist attractions in shonan and there are many things you can do. Other than that, I ate some more sushi. The picture above it a picture of my favorite snack. Its a Jelly with real tangerine in it. At night I went to the driving range with my friends. It was really fun and I am gradually getting better with my driver. I hope its surfable tommorrow.

NO waves

I woke up this morning, went on surfline just in time to see a solid 4 foot set rolling through the line up at bowls. Right when I saw that I lost my appetite. When is the south shore going to stop already? It make me sick... Im in Japan surfing waves as big as the Concessions trail with 300 people and Hawaii is going off with only a handful of guys. Atleast I got one thing going off in Japan, the food. Today there was no waves at all. It was flat as a lake but still it was way more crowded than a good day in Hawaii.

For lunch I went to this Ramen shop that is famous for being the most hottest ramen in shonan. Not hot as in spicy but literally hot. You seriously can`t eat it without burning your toungue. I waited five minutes but still burned my toungue. For dinner, I went to eat yakitori. Tommorrow is another flat day so I have no idea what to do.

Finally some waves

Today I woke up at 5 am and my friend Chabo picked me up to go surf Ibaragi. The drive was about 3 hours and when we got there the waves were about 1 foot but had a nice sand bar. Surfed for like 4 hours and I finally did a bottom turn today! Haven`t done one for a week already. Lol. After we surfed we went to eat and we found this soda machine but instead of Soda they had canned saimin. All you have to do is open the can and its ready to eat. After a long drive home, I went to eat with my friend Takeshi. We went to this chinese restaurant and Takeshi tried the cold noodle challenge. If you can eat it all in 20 minutes (Including the soup) its free but if you cannot then its $30. I was going to try but I ate a lot of lunch so I didn`t. Good thing I didn`t try because thats a lot of noodles. Takeshi ate about 3 quarters of the noodles but could not eat anymore. Nice try Takeshi! Next time its my turn!

More small waves

Today was another typical day in Japan. The waves were flat and crowded(the picture above is actually an uncrowded day, wait till you see this weekend). I`ve been working a little at the surf shop that I am staying. I just do deliveries to other surf shops riding on a bicycle. For Lunch I ate some good sushi and I ate some more ramen too. Today on the drive home I got into my first car accident! I hit a tree when I was reversing into a parking stall at the shopping mall. LOL. I went a little too far back and just barely tapped it. There`s no damage on the car nor the tree. Supposed to get waves next week tuesday and wednesday. Nothing big like the south shore but big enough to do a turn.

Small waves

The waves were really small the last couple of days. It was just like surfing small bellows. I ended up surfing and standup paddling. Standup was kind of hard because there`s a million people out and the waves are almost half a foot. At night I was just cruising and watching tv. Japan has the most funniest tv shows! I was laughing all night. Japan TV shows are way better than Hawaii. They have everything from funny stuff to game shows to surfing contests. No typhoon swells forecasted yet. South shore should be going off friday till tuesday atleast. I hope the waves come up real soon.

contest result

I ended up getting =13th at the ASP taito event. Im a little dissapointed because I should`ve made that heat but I missed the heat winning wave. Im still pretty happy that I made it this far in my first asp event because I had one of the hardest heat draws even for the first heat too. After the contest I we went back to shonan where I am staying at my sponsors house. We went to eat some killer ramen and they made me drive there! I was a little nervous because everything is the opposite including the blinker and everything else.

Finally in Japan!

After a 8hour plane ride I am finally in Japan. This was my first time flying on JAL since I was little. When I first got on the plane I was hoping I didn`t sit next to some loud kids because I wanted to sleep. When I found my seat, i was really suprised. I sat right next to an old friend of mine named Anna. I went to the same middle school as her but I havent seen her since and I found out that we both go to UH manoa. Another person that was on the plane was a worker from my sponsor Eighty Eight Tees. What a small world! Also the plane ride was really fun because we each had our own little tv monitor and you could play video games using a controller. I played everything from connect four to space invaders.

The first day I got there I surfed at Taito but the waves were little bit too big and it was closing out. Today I surfed Taito up the point at taito and the waves were super good. It was just like Snapper rocks. The waves were super long and it was barreling perfect on the sand bar. I surfed 7 hours today and I actually got sunburned in Japan. So far I have been here only 1 full day and I already gained 7 pounds! I better stop eating or no one will notice me pretty soon. My contest is tommorrow and I have a stacked heat. I hope I make it out of my first heat.

Off to Japan!

I'm off to Japan for about 6 weeks. I haven't bought my ticket back yet but I am planning to be back around July 15th. Today I surfed at D-head for only a little while because I had to pack everything today. Went to a dog training class by my house and picked up some new shades from Oakley. Thanks Jason! I hope the waves are good in Japan. See you guys in July!