Goldenwest with Da Boys 070613

Surf Report: 1-3 feet

Water: Warm

Atmosphere: Gloomy

Winds: Meh

Matt wanted to do a trip to HB.  I was itching to get out of LA.  I wanted to go to Zero’s, but I always love a trip to the HB area.  HB has a special place for me since Nicky and I first camped out in our car there to surf all day.  It was a broment that I cherish till this day.  Too bad that ninja has disappeared from the surf scene – he has social obligations that are paramount to him at this moment of his life. 

Khang was to join us on this trip, and I called Hideki to let him know we were going to Brookhurst.  He said he and Chris would be out there. 

The plan was to get on the road by 530.  I had gotten a massage from Dais Friday night, and so I couldn’t sleep until late.  I was worried that I may not wake up in time for this trip… and that kept me up even more. 

Surprisingly, I woke up before my alarm sounded.  It was 417 AM.  Holy shit.  I took my time getting ready.  Man, I used to stay out past this time, and now I’m waking up to this time.  My my how times change….

I pull up to Matt’s well before the 530 mark, and he is quietly getting his stuff ready.  The man’s studio apartment in El Segundo simmers in the morning cold, and I could smell his manly stench coming from inside… definitely a duckbutter depletion night, I thought.  I load my stuff into his car, and we go down to the garage to get his gear.  As we pull out, we see Khang pull up in the van.  We all hit the road a little past 530.

The trip down is smooth, and we make it to Brookhurst by 615 AM.  We check the surf… and it’s dismal.  The wind is already blowing sideways there, and there aren’t so many people in the water.  We know it – we got skunked.  I call Hideki to see where he is, but no answer.  “Probably didn’t wake up,” I tell Da Boys. 

Matt emphasizes that he wants our input in where to paddle out.  He once took me to a spot towards Oxnard, where we got skunked, and so we stayed out at Ventura County Line that day, albeit my plea for us to return to 26^th Street.  Turns out that day, 26^th Street was firing, and I gave him a hard time about not getting my two cents in when we make a surf trip together.  Since then, he has taken Da Boys opinions to heart.  We say let’s check out other spots, and we can decide then.  It’s not like it’s going to be any better elsewhere, anyways.

We drive past the pier, and we can see the contest scaffolding being built.  We see Goldenwest, and it looks do-able.  We drive up to Bolsa, and it looks like shit.  Back to Goldenwest it is.  I text Hideki that we are going to Goldenwest.  It is close to 700 AM already by this point.

I had to poop badly this morning.  Khang and Matt go ahead to the lifeguard tower and let me poop at the stall.  My poops have been smooth but lacked fiber from this day.  I do a quick one-two wipe and I’m back at the beach, Da Boys waiting for me to return. 

This day was an okay day for surf.  Matt and I caught a back-to-back wave, both going left, but I think that was the highlight of the day.  Khang sat outside as he always does, and waited patiently for the bombs.  Unfortunately, that bomb set didn’t come to him until an hour in to the session.  We finally saw him catch that bomb set, and we let out a sigh of relief – Da Boys have all caught their waves, so all is well in the universe.

Matt mentions how Goldenwest is so mellow.  This is “my spot” for surfing Huntington Beach, so I guess I just gravitate towards the mellow places in the surf world.  There were lots of beginners in the water, but even the skilled longboarders weren’t hogging all the waves and it was an overall mellow mood all morning.

Once we get back to change, we see Hideki pull up.  He said he surfed Brookhurst, just as we had planned.  I felt terrible that he surfed there without us, especially since he always makes the trip up to Manhattan Beach and it’s rare for us to surf together in HB.  I need to make more trips down here to show him some bromance. 

We all go eat at Pho Vie and get our fill in for amazing Pho and eggrolls.  I buy some Banh Mi for my family and we’re off to LA.  Matt and I both have obligations this afternoon, hence why the furthest we travelled was to HB. 

Rick is texting Matt, saying how good the secret spot further down south was.  “Firing” “You missed out” “How was HB” (sarcastically, of course) were the texts Matt read aloud for us.  Oh well. 

We had fun.  Saturday with Da Boys, awesome food, and enough time to start handling errands for the day. 

Mahalos Mother Ocean!!

Mushy Friday 070513

Surf Report: 1-3 feet

Water: Cool

Atmosphere: Gloomy

Winds: Null

It’s been over a week since I’ve surfed this session, but I haven’t written about it… so here it goes.  It’s 3 AM and I can’t sleep, so might as well have some night owl fun on the computer.

I remember this July 4^th session as nothing spectacular.  Cheryl came out early, and I was stoked to see her.  Matt was out on Rick’s Zippy fish.  The water was cool, but too warm for a full 3/2 wetsuit. 

Matt and Cheryl saw me stretch right in front of them, but I went north towards the brick house to paddle out.  When we finally see each other in the water, Matt questioned why I went that way.  “I thought you saw us!” he said.  NOPE!

Cheryl got her cardio going this day by going back to her car to feed the meter, then forgetting her keys, walking back, finding her keys still in tact, and then finally calling it a day.  She put in money but wasted it by forgetting her keys. 

Matt and I switch Zippy fishes, but the surf just wasn’t cooperating.  It was just terrible.  But at the same time, seeing their faces made the session so much sweeter. 

I biked down to the Promenade this day to say hi to Khang and Dais.  I buy a spring suit from Quiksilver, and continue my journey down to the Venice circus, where I see a grom from Switzerland tear it up at the skate park. 

It was a quiet July 4^th this year… I didn’t even go out.  Instead, I stayed home with my parents and watched fireworks on the TV.  I had to go work the next day, but I wanted to surf, so I kept it conservative that night.

Mahalos Mother Ocean!!

July 4th Slop 070413

Surf Report: 1-3 feet

Water: Cool

Atmosphere: Gloomy

Winds: Null

It’s been over a week since I’ve surfed this session, but I haven’t written about it… so here it goes.  It’s 3 AM and I can’t sleep, so might as well have some night owl fun on the computer.

I remember this July 4^th session as nothing spectacular.  Cheryl came out early, and I was stoked to see her.  Matt was out on Rick’s Zippy fish.  The water was cool, but too warm for a full 3/2 wetsuit. 

Matt and Cheryl saw me stretch right in front of them, but I went north towards the brick house to paddle out.  When we finally see each other in the water, Matt questioned why I went that way.  “I thought you saw us!” he said.  NOPE!

Cheryl got her cardio going this day by going back to her car to feed the meter, then forgetting her keys, walking back, finding her keys still in tact, and then finally calling it a day.  She put in money but wasted it by forgetting her keys. 

Matt and I switch Zippy fishes, but the surf just wasn’t cooperating.  It was just terrible.  But at the same time, seeing their faces made the session so much sweeter. 

I biked down to the Promenade this day to say hi to Khang and Dais.  I buy a spring suit from Quiksilver, and continue my journey down to the Venice circus, where I see a grom from Switzerland tear it up at the skate park. 

It was a quiet July 4^th this year… I didn’t even go out.  Instead, I stayed home with my parents and watched fireworks on the TV.  I had to go work the next day, but I wanted to surf, so I kept it conservative that night.

Mahalos Mother Ocean!!

Summer Iz Here, Even Just For A Day 063013

Surf Report: 2-3 feet

Water: Cool and a few Cold Spots

Atmosphere: Sunny!

Winds: None

Found some free parking on the hill, and the parking lots are full even before 700 AM… so it was a no brainer.  I’m amazed that the parking lot gets full so quickly during the summer.  I kinda hate it, but at the same time, I guess it’s ok.  More people coming out to surf and sharing in the stoke!

I park behind a family that I surfed with yesterday.  It’s a double father and daughter combo, so it’s really cute to watch them all wax their surfboards up and paddle out together. 

The sun was shining today, and I brought my 3/2, but I opted to stay in boardshorts.  I gave Matt a call, and he answered the phone lethargically, saying that he had to help his mom out running errands and so he’ll be missing the surf.  Oh well~

I took out my fish because I’ve been riding my Don Kadowaki Rocket shape for a while, and I wanted something new under my feet.  The 26^th Street Ohana were out in full force, and since the sun was shining, there were more people wearing spring suits and boardshorts today. 

I catch my first wave, a right, and pump down the line.  I try not to move so much on the wave now, and let the board ride the wave.  The board will ride the wave as she is designed to do, and all I have to do is stay on my feet.  I pump all the way down the line casually and kick out. 

There are plenty of waves for everyone today.  Kim, a 68 year old surfer who has an amazing smile, paddle in to the set of the day on her foamie.  She took a huge left from the peak and got all the way to shore. 

Mike the Vet took a nice right that I hooted him into all the way to shore. 

Mr. Oscar was catching some nice long lefts on his twin fin fish.

Ross was killing it going left and right.  There were a lot more open lefts today, but Ross, a goofy footer, loves going vertical on rights.  Even if it’s a one turn right, he’ll go right and smash the lip.  He continuously smashed, ripped, and lacerated the lip on his backside. 

Everyone was catching waves.  There was no shortage of waves this day.

I almost ran over the dad of the aforementioned father-daughter combo that I parked behind.  I was going on a left and saw him on the inside.  I thought I could rip a bottom turn to avoid him, but I stalled too much on my bottom turn, and so I had to stop half way through my bottom turn.  I felt his board and calf hit my head.  I apologized to him profusely, and he asked if I was ok.  I said I was, and apologized again, and he smiled back.  We paddled away to our respective spots. 

Once the tide hit the low point, the waves started standing up more.  I was still catching waves, but I wanted to go back on my Don Kadowaki. 

I paddled in, ran up to my car, and switched boards.

I saw Uncle Miles and Miwa-san walk out as I was switching boards.  Uncle Miles caught a long right, as he always does, and also caught this huge left.  The lefts were definitely more open today.  Miwa-san is improving so much!  She has this shorter foamie to help her paddle into waves, and when she pops up, her back leg is completely bent to the point where her right knee is touching the board.  She then touches the face of the wave to gain balance, and then stands up, taking the wave to shore.

I caught one good right, and one really good left, just drawing out my pumps and carves on the face.  I thought to myself, I could go for another hour… it’s only 930… I have free parking… but then I realized I should just go home and call it a day.  It was a good morning already, and I have a lot to do today. 

I saw CC on the way back, so I walk and talk with her back to the beach.  We part ways and I go on with my day.

Paco's Tacos Pan Fried Fish!

I hung out with my cousin Jenny aka Bjork’s stunt double for an early lunch.  We ate at Paco’s Tacos, which is a household Mexican restaurant in Culver City.  They have hand-made tortillas that are the best in the city. 

At 200PM, I had to meet my friend Sasha and Alice for another lunch.  This was around the corner at Shojin.  This restaurant is a gluten-free, vegan restaurant, and just for this day, they had a special 10 course vegetable tasting menu.  I thought, “Oh, it’s just vegetables, it won’t be filling.” 

Boy was I wrong. 

It was more of a flavor journey into the abyss, culminated by a champagne supernova orgasm in your mouth.  Say. What. 

Mahalos Mother Ocean!!!

Yuzu salad with cucumber, followed by Red and Brown Onion Awesomeness

Potato wrapped in banana leaf(?) with Ginger Soy Sauce

Kabocha with salt and cinnamon - Best Dish

"Sushi" - Shiitake, Daikon Pickle, and Shiso with Ume

Shitake soup

Sake Paring - Nigori-Zake with sorbet

Delicious Black Figs

Just Because You Want It To Be Summer, Doesn't Mean That It Iz Summer 062913

Surf Report: 2-3 feet

Water: Freezing

Winds: Marginal

Atmosphere: Marine Layer GLOOM! WTF Sun?? I thought we were friends

First day back from injury… For those of you who don’t know, I got injured June 8^th, 2013.  Prior to that date, I was surfing almost every day, sometimes even twice a day, and that day was a huge SW swell that came in.  I was surfing for about 6 hours – first at Zero’s and then at Topanga, and on my last wave, I paddled outwards with my right hand instead of downwards and I felt my shoulder pop out.  This was a direct repercussion of surfing for 6 hours and exhausting myself.  I didn’t listen to my body at all.  I just remember the Village People’s “Live for Today” song came up on my tracklist as I drove down the PCH and saw Topanga breaking perfect rights, and I had to surf it. 

Well, I paid for being so ambitiously dumb.  But I was thankful that I got injured while surfing instead of some other dumb accident, which, if you know me, I’m pretty good at getting into dumb accidents and injuring myself. 

For the last three weeks, I’ve been rehabbing my shoulder by doing rubber band exercises, yoga, swimming lightly, and getting my friend Dais to massage it (he is an excellent masseuse and does house calls!) so I felt good getting back into the water. 

Unfortunately, no one told me that the water was freezing cold.  There was a marine layer and so I couldn’t see the waves, but I could hear them break.  I called Matt – he was at El Porto finding free parking on Rosecrance Avenue, and would meet me in the water. 

Jimbo, a bald surfer who is loud and plays hockey, was the only other guy with boardshorts on as we paddled out to the line up.  Immediately I knew that wearing boardshorts was a bad idea, since the water hit me like an upper cut. 

I paddled out to a lot of familiar faces.  “Klaude! Good to see you!” said Ray, the guy riding the yellow longboard with red rails.  Mr. Mike was out, so were Orlando aka Rastamon, Toru, Roxanne, Kim, and the rest of the 26^th Street Ohana.  It was good to be back in the water… but FUCK!!! IT’S SO FRIGGIN COLD!!!!!!

I caught some really nice waves early in the session, going right on most of the waves.  Roy told me that I should draw out my pumps longer and higher on the wave, so I’ve been consciously trying that instead of ripping a bottom turn and hitting the lip.  “You look like you’re forcing turns too much.  No style.  Draw out the carves longer, and then worry about turns,” he told me when I was surfing every day.  “Let the board do all the work.” 

After the first forty-five minutes, I was hitting the wall.  There wasn’t any pain paddling or popping up, but it was just cold.  I couldn’t believe how cold it was.  I was paddling constantly trying to find warm spots in the water.  when I would find a warm spot, I would sit there and just wait.  I would hoot people into waves, and wouldn’t take any for myself. 

Finally, I see Tom Yam, and we greet each other.  I give him my injury update and I watch him surf some nice lefts.  He caught this one left that he took off behind the peak.  I hooted for him so a guy on the shoulder would back off.  Then, Tom put the afterburners on and just flew down the line.  He had so much speed his eye lids were getting peeled back from his skull.  He tried to pull in to the barrel but got smashed. 

And then, I see Bri!  And of course, Matt!  It was great to see them in the water.  I’ve seen them out of the water, but it’s different for us to see each other on land than it is in water.  Both instances of seeing each other on land and water are great, but seeing them in the water is way better.  We greet each other, and Matt is wearing boardshorts too.  Hahaha!  We are both the dumbasses who wore boardshorts in the line up.  HUZZAH!

I tell Matt that I probably can’t stay long, because it’s so cold.  He sounds disappointed, but he understands.  Plus, it’s my first day back in the water from injury, so wearing boardshorts was actually a blessing in disguise.  I only lasted about an hour and a half in the water, and most of the time I was just paddling to stay warm. 

I get out of the water after getting a close out and look back at the hazy Ocean.  The marine layer is still lingering, and the sun is trying to shine through… but just can’t.  But the atmosphere outside of the water is warm… too warm.  So weird.

I chill in the parking lot for a while playing my ukulele.  I need to get it re-strung, so I play it like there is no tomorrow.  CC stops by and we chat for a while, and then I give her my parking space. 

Juicy Shrimp with Pork Dumpling

I had lunch with my friend Jian at Din Tai Fung that day, all the way in Arcadia.  Yea, I drove from the cool coast to the hot ass valley for dumplings.  These dumplings are special.  They coagulate the pork broth and wrap them in dumplings, and then they steam them up so that when you bite into it, the pork broth gushes out like a ten inch black cock orgasming.  Soooo good!! 

Gotta have the ginger on it!!  Mouth wateringly amazing

Mahalos Mother Ocean!!!  It’s good to be back in you.  I was drowning on land. 

Oh, and I bought a “new” used ukulele!  Happy birthday to me~

Pono Ukulele Mahogany Tenor Body - so sexy

Happy Mother's Day 051213

Surf Report: 2-3 feet with the occasional 4

Water: Cool

Weather: Overcast and Glum

Winds: Light on shore

Happy Mother’s Day!!

Surf was meh this day… I don’t remember much.  Except… DA BOYS were out!  Dais, Khang, and I think Tom was even out there too. 

The waves were pretty shitty, but hey, when all your friends are out, it makes the surf session a hundred times better. 

I do remember Matt being stressed out like crazy and shutting himself out from the world since he had lots of school work to finish up.  He is leaving for Java on May 15^th, so he wanted to get everything done before then and leave free of any stress and unfinished business.  He said he took a page out of my book for this sacrifice.  Good for him… it’s a big sacrifice, and it sucks, but it will be all worth it in the end when he gets the job DONE!

Mahalos Mother Ocean!!  

On an ending note, I went to a Dodger game later that day!  I initially invited my mom, but she said:

"Is there anyone Japanese playing?"

Me: "No.."

Mom: "Then I don't want to go."

Mom: "Oh, but I heard you get a free Tote back, bring that home!"

sigh.  

It's ok, I took my extended family, the Morimoto's, out! 

Quentin, Maddie, and Mama Morimoto!! It was HOT!!!!