Water: Cool
Winds: Trade winds
Atmosphere: Sunny
The night of the 2nd of January will forever be embedded in my head as the day the Dojo almost went down. De Roy and I were cruising, watching television and shooting the shit. There was a storm passing through, so the winds were howling, and rain was pouring down sideways.
"Man, the windows are gonna blow down," De Roy said to me, laughingly.
He got up to go to his room, when BOOOOOM and a loud CRACK rang through my ears. The windows right in front of me blew in, and there was wind and water just drenching our carpet.
"SHIT! THE WINDOWS JUST BLEW IN!" I yelled.
I got to my feet, held the plastic covering of the windows. De Roy ran in, and we started to hatch out solutions to stopping the rain from coming into the house.
"I think this is where the Dojo goes down!" De Roy says to me.
"Not without a fight!" I reply back. So dramatic, I know.
I grabbed some towels to wipe down all the water coming in. De Roy grabbed duct tape and started taping down the plastic covering to no avail. We tried duct taping the borders, but the tape wouldn't stick. We taped the whole thing across, and the winds kept blowing it off. The water seeping through didn't help the adhesive sticking together. I started to unplug the cords of all the electronics with one hand as I held down the plastic covering of the window. I broke off the remaining wood pieces that remained of the window.
"Maybe we can duct tape body boards onto this?" De Roy exclaimed.
"How about we get those doors and put them up against it?" I said.
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| Dojo ain't goin down without a fight!! |
We prop up the door, and we push the couch to hold up the door. For now, that will do.
We wipe down the windows and the surrounding carpet. The electrical equipment around the television was all wet, so we wiped those down too. Still, felt unsafe to plug anything back in, so we kept the television and wifi off.
So, what to do? No TV, no internet makes Jack a dull boy.
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| Jammin with De Roy |
Bust out the ukulele's!
We jam for about an hour or so, and the winds kept howling. The rain stopped eventually, but the winds wouldn't. It's a noisy, turbulent night, but we manage to have our fun. We knock back a few beers in the process of jamming, and I learn some new skills from De Roy. He fucking shreds the uke.
I am dead tired by this point, and ready to go to bed. I've had a long day, and it's already 930 PM.
"What? Klaude's not going out?" exclaims Justin, from his room. I'm in the living room.
"I know right? Isn't he on vacay?" shouts Kev.
"What the shit is that?? He's on vacay, and he doesn't want to go out?" replies Justin, loudly.
Yes, I can hear you two motherfuckers, okay?
Justin comes into the living room. "What's this that you're tired? I ride back in this shitty weather, after a hard day at work, and you don't wanna party? Didn't you party with Da Boys on your first night when I wasn't here? And you're not gonna party with me??"
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| Shot of Jameson, chased with apples - The Russian Way |
"Fuck you guys, I'll get changed," I say, pointing two middle fingers at Kev and Justin.
And so, we party that night with Justin and his first college roommate, Sam. We start the night off with three Jameson shots each, and from there... things are a blur.
[Scenes Missing]
We go to a bar, and have more shots of Jameson. I talk to a girl who is with her family, and her dad calls me over.
"Hey, what you do?" he inquires.
"I'm an accountant, I do taxes," I reply.
"Ok, what you doin talkin to my daughtah?" he asks.
"I'm just saying hi, happy new year, how are you. Nothing malicious," I reply.
"Ok brah."
"Don't worry Uncle, I got nothing but respect for you and your family. I'm nothing to worry bout," I tell him.
[Scenes Missing - Sorry again]
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| Anything tastes good at 3AM, but the gyoza's were bomb as hell |
Three missed calls from Francis. It's 930 AM. He texts me. "Let me know if you want to surf dh. U can use Alex's board. Around 10"
"I just woke up," I reply.
"All good. On our way," he replies.
Shit. Well, here we go. I am not hung over, but just exhausted. Exhausted from saving the Dojo from the storm. Exhausted from partying. Exhausted from staying up so late. But here is Francis, with Nicole, picking me up to go surf Diamondhead.
"You can stretch on the beach," he says to me as I do a downwards dog. Fuck.
"Ok, let's go," I say to him.
We arrive at Diamondhead, and it's packed. Seems like everyone knew that there is a wrap from the swell and that surf is good here. Nick and his sister, Kristen, meet us at the hillside parking. We carry down longboards down the side of the cliff. This is actually the first time I go to Diamondhead from the side instead of the donkey trail.
I am tired, but once I get out into the water, I feel rejuvenated. The water feels great. There are all kinds of people out today - rippers, chicks, groms and ke'iki's, tourists alike. I find myself to the side of the main pack, in hopes that one wedges up for me.
Francis paddles towards the pack. The waves look steep on the take off but mush out immediately. There are people getting some short rides on shortboards and long rides on longboards. Hopefully Alex's red board will be the right choice for me today.
A peak wedges up for me, and I paddle for it. The wave mushes out before I can even pop up. Wait for a bigger one, KK.
A bigger wave appears, and I paddle for it. I have to go straight in order to avoid the people on my inside. I try to muster a bottom turn, and just fall off. I forget that I am on a longboard instead of a shortboard. I can't just turn this thing on a dime.
I try for another wave, but the take off is too steep. I bail out, and get dragged by the board and the wave.
I go for another right, and get a longer than normal ride. I see Nicole and Francis on the inside, and try to continue the ride, but I lose balance trying to steer the board into the pocket and eat shit. It's too bad... that was probably the longest ride of the day for me.
I tell Francis that I am going to lay out on the beach, and he asks if we can switch boards. I unstrap Alex's board from my ankle and receive the foamie from Francis.
Nicole says," Catch a wave in with me, Klaude!" I try, but the waves aren't breaking where we are sitting.
I see Francis catch a wave on the red board. He takes it as far as he can until the wave mushes out. "It's so hard to turn!" he says.
I paddle back in and make a makeshift shade by propping up the board against the rocks. I rest on the sand as the sounds of waves crashing ten feet away from me rock me to sleep.
I hear Nicole's voice in the distance. She purposely flicks water at me to wake me up. I throw sand back at her butt in retaliation. We all call it a day and head back to the showers.
People are just chilling on the beach in their bikinis and boardshorts. It is truly a beach day after the storm. Who would have imagined that after a huge storm like that the sun will be out and the day would be so gorgeous? We shower, and start to head back to the parking lot.
"FUCK! OUCH OUCH OUCH!" I yell. I stepped on some thorns that Francis warned me about in the beginning. One is stuck in my foot.
"That's why you wear slippers, brah!" yells Nick.
"Fuck that shit," I tell him.
We get back to the car, and decide to go to Health Bar to eat some food. We are all exhausted, and after we part ways, I take a nap.
Francis, Nicole and I agree to meet up later tonight for dinner at the Olive Tree Cafe, where one of their roomies, Seva, works as a chef. This place is right next to a wine store, which has limited selections, but since the restaurant is BYOB, it is doing very well. The restaurant itself is great, using only locally sourced ingredients. We order oysters, hummus, babaganoush, tabbouleh, crab ceviche, and a main dish. Francis and I get the fish souvlaki, while Nicole got the lamb souvlaki. Every thing tastes fresh and made with tender love and care. The only downside was that the coffee machine was broken so we couldn't enjoy the baklava with some coffee. All in all, five out five stars. This place might be my new favorite place to eat in Hawaii. Definitely top three restaurants.
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| Appetizers!! |
Mahalos Mother Ocean! And Mahalos to Fransauce and Nicole for dragging me out of bed, even though I wanted to just sleep in. Hahaha. I would have been much less productive fosho.
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| #sogood |
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