KKs Vacay: V-Land and Mauli Ola Foundation 121213

Surf Report: 2-4 Feet (4-8 on the face)
Water: Warm
Winds: light off shore
Atmosphere: Sunny

I'm sick and tired of this perfect weather!

Said nobody ever.

Waimea Bay Rainbow

Sunny skies, with the occasional chance of rainbows.  It's just so perfect in Hawaii.

Francis, Alex and I walk to V-land once again... It's another uncrowded morning since it is an in between day for surf.  There's a little bit of swell in the water still.

We paddle out as usual, and see the Uncles, and the surfer lady again.  She's out here EVERY SINGLE FUCKING DAY.  Crazy.

I've grown accustomed to the line up here, and I guess the locals have seen me enough to let me have some set waves.  I go for a nice set, and the surfer lady snakes me.  But, she sees me approaching her from behind, and kicks out.  I bottom turn up the face, and do a cut back.  I pump a few more times, and cut back again.

I thank her later in the line up for the wave.  She smiles.  I compliment her for her wave yesterday in Japanese.  She was taken back a little bit.

"Oh you speak Japanese?"

"Yes I do," I told her.

"That's great.  Yea, that wave yesterday, I had to go on.  There won't be an end to the shit I might hear if I didn't go for that wave," she said.  Wow, she is a charger.  Not only that, but she's actually really good at surfing too.

"Where are you from?" I ask her in Japanese.

"Kanagawa," she says.

"Oh, that's great, did you move here?"

"Yes, we moved here a few months ago.  Well, my husband and I finally got green cards, so we were able to move here, finally."

"Oh, what does your husband do?"

"He's... ummm. Do you know Takayuki Wakita?"

"UH YEA?? He's one of my favorite Pipe surfers!"

"Oh, that's great!  He's my husband.  We finally moved here."

"WHAT??? You're Wakita's wife??"  How crazy is that?  Wakita has a spot in Pipeline named after him, because he surfs that bowl all the time.  It's a really crazy drop, and no one surfs it but him.  Hence, the Wakita Bowl.

"Wow, it's an honor to meet you.  I love your husband's surfing.  That helmet, and the way he curls his back when taking off, it's so sick," I tell her.

"Aw thank you.  He'll be so happy to hear he has fans.  He's doing the commentating for the Pipeline Masters' Japanese broadcast"

"Oh is he? That's great, because the past commentators have all sucked.  They don't even speak Japanese, it's more Hawaiian Japanese.  My friend and I always say we could do a better job commentating on this."

She laughs, and says that she'll tell her husband that so he won't mess up and disappoint the Japanese listeners.

There were tons of waves today too, and as always, the Soft Top Bandito was taking a lot of waves.  Alex... he just charges.

Francis was going for the barrel again.  He had some sick turns going right too.  V-land is definitely a playground for any surfer.

There was this girl named Heather that I started talking to.  She had a cute black bikini on.  She is a graphic designer from Ventura who moved here about a month ago.  She said she's only here temporarily, but loves it so far.  I told her that I surfed C Street before leaving for Hawaii, and she said, "Wow, small world."

I got this one right where I stalled for the barrel.  It was so beautiful, the wave face just stood up like a wall.  However, the lip never curled over.  It just kinda mushed out where I was.  I was stalling and stalling and waiting and waiting, but this wave never curled.  It was just a green wall of glass.

We surfed three hours this day, and called it a day.  Alex and Francis went back to Town, and then Justin and Jillee came up.  They took me to the North Shore Farmers Market.

We later bought some beers and drank on the beach near Sharks Cove and watched the sunset.

Cheers!

Sunset

Blazing Horizon

This never gets old

Then, we jammed up to the Turtle Bay Resort, and went to the Mauli Ola Foundation's 2nd Annual benefit concert.  We got to see Donavan Frankenreiter, Tahitian dance, a local reggae band, Makua Rothman, and The Green.  This night was so epic, I couldn't believe it.

Sunny Garcia

I got to meet Sunny Garcia that night, along with Makua Rothman, Kala Alexander (he made a very heart-warming speech for the Foundation - I even saw him in the hallway and shook his hand), and tons of girls.  The girls... they seemed bored at this benefit concert, checking their phones and trying to distract themselves.  We never once took out our phones to distract ourselves that night.  We had so much fun just laughing, joking, dancing, and partying it up.  My phone died, so I couldn't take many photos, but as Justin said, "You have your HD camera in your head bro!"

We even became "part of the band" by making our empty cups full of ice into shakers and playing music with Donavan.

When Makua was about to go on stage, I saw him in the hallway.  I gave him a hand shake, and said that we surfed at V-land yesterday, and that I looked forward to hearing him sing that night.  When he came on stage, he shouted out, "How many of you guys surfed at V-land with me yesterday??"  A personal shout out for me?  How nice!!

F-f-f-f-f-f-front Row Seats for Donavan!!

During the Green Band set, we were rocking out.  We danced our asses off.  Didn't care who was watching, we were vibing with the music.  We were in the front row for god sakes!!  It was amazing.  My ears were ringing at the end of the night.  The Green Band's main guitarist gave me his guitar pick and shook our hands.  He definitely appreciated us dancing our asses off.  

Chris Cote and Jesse Billauer

At the end of the night, we were too tired to go to the after party at the Surfer Bar.  So, we went home.

A wonderful night at the Mauli Ola Foundation

Justin and Jillee were headed back into Town because Jillee had work, and they needed to get some gas.  I told them there are two gas stations on their way home.  We said good nights and I went to bed...

I get a call from Justin, saying that none of the gas stations are open.  So, they slept on the futon couch that night. 

KKs Vacay: V-Land double sesh and Comfort Zones 121113

Surf Report: 3-5 foot Hawaiian Scale
Water: Warm
Winds: Off shore
Atmosphere: Clear

Francis came over in the morning and we walked over to V-land again.  As we made our way out to the uncrowded line up, I see a guy bottom turn, smash the lip, bottom turn, layback snap, bottom turn, kick stomp and stall for the barrel, and then punch out of the closing wave.  Immediately, I knew it was Taylor Knox.  His style, his flow, unmistakeable.

As we make our way to the line up, we see Pat O'Connell take off on a set wave.  The surfer girl we see all the time is out once again, along with the normal Uncles that are always here.

"I like to paddle longer strokes here," says Pat to Taylor.

"Hey Taylor," I casually say.

"Hey, wsup dude?" he answers back with a smile.

It's a quiet in between swell day.  Nothing crazy, but still some size, with plenty of waves to go around.  There are good vibes in the water with everyone trading waves.  I get a few waves to myself, working on my round house cutback.  Francis asks, "Did you grab rail on that cutty?"

"Naw, hands free!"

"Oh that was sick," he compliments me.

Francis is going for both lefts and rights, and pulling into the barrel.  He says he caught about three or four barrels this day, getting pinched on a few of them.

A set of twins and another grom paddle out, with a very familiar face accompanying them.  It's Makuakai Rothman!! He is on Uncle duty today.  He is on the inside, pushing these kids into waves.  A lot of the Uncles recognize this, and kick out or pull out of the waves when Makua pushes the kids into waves.   This makes me smile since I realize that this is a real surf community.  The Uncles recognize the kids, the future generation, catching waves, and let them enjoy the waves.  A real sense of community, family, and ohana.

"I just got barreled!" yelled one of the kids.

"Yeeaaa you did!!" shouts Makua.

"Hey Uncle, why don't you push me into waves?" says an older surfer.  We all chuckle at this.

Makue paddles out to the line up leaving the kids in the hands of another Uncle.  Just then, an eight foot face rears its pretty head from the distance, and the surfer girl we always see paddles for it.  She misses the wave, and pulls back.

"Ho, too small huh Auntie?" Makua jokes.  She looks a bit embarrassed for missing the wave.

"Hey Makua, how's it?" I ask.  "You working on a new album?"

"Hey brah, yea I am!  January 28th, it should drop," he answers.

"Sick brah.  Keep up the good work!!  Love what you do."

"Oh mahalos bruh!  You coming tomorrow right?"

"Oh for the foundation concert yea?" I know about the Mauli Ola Foundation concert since I follow the Foundation on instagram, and a lot of my surf heroes have been posting about it too.  "I'm trying to make it, yea.  The Green's playing too!"

"Yea, I'm going on right before them.  Come check it out brah!"

"Sure thing man, I'll be there.  When's sound check?" I ask.

"It's at 2.  I gotta go soon," he answers. "_____-san, nanji desuka?" he asks the surfer girl what time is it, in Japanese. 

"It's 11," she answers. 

He is riding this weird pointed tail, flat rocker, round nose surfboard.  He starts to dig and paddle into what seems like a nothing wave.  "HEY HEY HEY HEY!" he starts to yell.  An Uncle on the shoulder stops paddling and Makua takes off.  He gets barreled, then takes the wave all the way to the inside.  He paddles back out to the line up and chats with other people.

A five foot wave (ten foot face) pops up, and Makua starts yelling, "Go Auntie, GO!!" The surfer girl digs, kicks, and scratches, and takes off on one of the most beautiful waves of the morning.  She takes it all the way in.

The waves start getting juicier, and it gets really fun from here.  I don't know how many waves we catch, but it was a shit ton.  The skies got grey as the waves got heavier, and towards the end, I got stuck on the inside.

There is this guy who paddles out who looks super familiar... he's goofy footed, has some Hurley stickers on his board, and surfs really well.  Francis and I know he's a Pipe specialist from Kauai, but we don't know what his name is.  When I am stuck on the inside, he casually takes off on a five foot wave (ten foot face) right in front of me.  He casually takes off from the peak, and makes the drop.  He takes the waves all the way to the inside, and slowly paddles back, as if his elongated hair and arms are an extension of the Ocean and he flows like a jellyfish in the water.  I watch his surfing, mesmerized.

We surfed four hours this session, and we were drained.  We head back home for the time being to refuel.  We google image surfers that we think the mystery surfer is, and finally discover it was Aamion Goodwin. 

Alex comes for the afternoon session.  He is rocking out his soft top as always, and we walk down to Vland.

"Oh shit, its Kala Alexander," he says.

Kala is barefoot, shirtless, and on the side of Kam Highway.

"Where is it?? WHERE IS IT??"

He has his left foot on this guy's neck, his left arm grabbing hold of the man's right wrist, and he is jack-hammering this guy in the rib cage.  'WHERE IS IT??"

"Kala, I swear, I don't fucking know!  I swear, if I knew, I'd tell you!! I sw-"

His voice is cut off from his own screams.

"WHERE IS IT!! TELL ME WHERE IT IS!!" Kala exclaims.

He is now elbowing the guy in the rib cage.

There are two huge dudes that look like bouncers, around the two.  They have that look of, "If you want to get involved, you go through us first."

It's a quiet neighborhood, the North Shore.  Kids playing in the drive way, roosters crowing every morning - it's paradise.  But not all that glitters is gold, and this is the dark side of the paradise.  I'm guessing it was either drugs, money, or drug money.  Either way, we were not getting involved in this North Shore pounding.

We walk past the brawl, well, more like a beat down.  A brawl would be two people fighting, but this fight was just one sided.  We later question if this was the right thing to do...

The sunset surf session was CROWDED.  All the groms were out, including the billabong girls team.  It's so crowded, it feels like over-capacity.  I am uncomfortable surfing in this crowd.

One of the Uncles paddles out.  He has white hair, and a mustache.  He paddles for a set wave, and I am in the way, along with another billabong girl.  "GET OUTTA THE WAY!!" he yells. He takes the wave with a scowl on his face, and has to straighten out because of me.

"GET OUTTA THE WAY DAMN IT!  GO HOME OR GET OUTTA THE WAY!" he screams.  "DAMN!! ALL THE KIDS ARE IN THE WAY.  GET OUTTA THE WAY OR GO HOME!" he yells again.

I.  Feel.  Terrible.

I paddle up to him, and apologize.  He smiles, and says, its ok.  Well, that was easy?  I'm not sure.  Shit happens, I guess, and he might of had a bad day at work or something.

I catch NO waves this session.  Alex, aka the SOFT TOP BANDITO, catches anything and everything that moves.  He's on fire, once again.  Francis keeps to himself, dropping into a wave here and there.  The sun was setting quickly, and I was growing uncomfortable with the sun light dimming and my vision obstructing me.

"Gosh, would you look at that?" says a thick Aussie accent.  "So beautiful."

"Yea, it's amazing isn't it?  I never get tired of it," I tell the man next to me.

"If I'm reincarnated... I wanna be seeing that again," he says.

"Maybe as a marine animal?" Francis chimes in, with his Brown Jesus smile.

"HAHA! Yea!  A marine animal!  That would be awesome!" says the Aussie.  "I'm so aggro right now, I can't catch a wave."

"Me neither man, me neither."

"It doesn't help that I'm white either.  Even when I live here, I can't surf here since I have to work all the time.  And when I can surf, no one gives me a wave.  It's a double whammy.  I just can't win," he tells me.

"Well, at least you live here, that's lucky man," I remind him.

"What, you don't live here?  You look like one of the locals here brah," he says.

"Thanks, it's the hair," I say, tugging on my hair that I haven't washed in days.  It's growing long as fuck, and my skin must be dark as hell too.

This guy is named Brent.  He lives just blocks away, and his Brazilian wife body boards too.  He is a contractor, and works about 60 hours a week.  He moved here from Austrailia to get away from his hometown in order to grow. 

"You know, it was real comfortable back home... but it just wasn't cutting it.  And then when I visited back home, all the people who I hung out with, they're in the same place, doing the same thing, just being comfortable.  Just STUCK in that comfortable place.  I mean, it's fine for them, it's just not for me," he says. 

"Well, I've always found that people grow the most when they get themselves out of their comfort zone," I tell him.

"You know, you're fucking right," Brent tells me.  "Man, you're pretty driven, aren't you Klaude? You sound like a very driven person."

I laugh.  "I guess I am, yea.  It's the only way I know how to live."

We talk extensively as the dusk stole the light away from the horizon about comfort zones and drive.  I grew more and more uncomfortable, and at the same time, felt like I should take some of my own advice and stay uncomfortable.  I would have been out of the water thirty minutes ago, but I'm still here.  I'm putting myself in the uncomfortable situation.  I can't see Francis or Alex.  I'm at a point break with waves still coming, and I can't see shit.  I should get out - says my head.  Ok, stop listening to that.  Why not just catch a wave?  You're here, you're in Hawaii.  Be uncomfortable.  Grow!

I sit on the main peak.  I can't see shit.  But, I can see some of the peaks forming, and feel the water rushing up.  I start paddling for a wave, but it fizzles.  I paddle for another, and I feel the wave pick me up.  I air drop into the flats, bottom turn, and do a round house cut back.  I'm in the white water, taking the wave as far as I can.  The wave fizzles, and I jump off.  I'm in the shallows.  I paddle towards the channel, and then finally back to the beach.  I put myself in an uncomfortable situation, and felt content.  Finally, I caught a wave in this situation.

I walk back alone, in the dark, to my house.  Alex is already there.

"Brah, I thought you and Francis walked out already, so I ran up to this pair walking, and they were CHICKS!  I just kept walking..." We laugh at this.

"Damn, where's Francis?  Should we go look for him?"

"Naw, he should be fine, let's just kick it and have a beer," Alex replies.

Sure enough, Francis returns, and we all talk about the brawl of Kala Alexander.

"Did we do the right thing?"

"Should we have stepped in?"

"Naw, we would of gotten our asses beat."

"It was probably over something shady, too."

"If it was a girl being raped or beaten, then we should step in."

"Yea, I guess we did the right thing by not getting involved... but still."

I prepare some dinner for da boys this night, which included some left over pasta, rosemary pork, and garlic bread that Francis brought.  Cass came over too, and we all ate well, along with Chocolate Haupia Cream Pie from Ted's Bakery, courtesy of Alex.

Chocolate Haupia Creme Pie!!

We watched Pacific Rim that night, and Cass and Alex took off.  Francis slept over, and we both slept like babies that night.

KKs Vacay: V-land to Freddieland 121013

Surf Report: 3-5 feet Hawaiian Scale (6-10 feet on the face)
Water: Warm
Winds: Off shore
Atmosphere: Rain then Sun

It rained this whole morning.   It was a beautiful way to wake up on the North Shore with the roosters crowing and the rain drops rhythmically drumming down on the ground.  Another solitary moment to myself.  I breathed slowly.

I go through my usual routine of warming up.  Francis was on his way to surf with me today.  It was forecasted as a 3-5 foot Hawaiian day, so I was looking forward to some "real" surf.  I had set my limit to 5 feet on the face, and anything above that I would not paddle out.  But I quickly realized that anything under 5 feet on the face on the North Shore was not happening while I was here.  Everything will be above 5 feet on the face, and I would have to challenge my mental, physical, and spiritual self this trip.

This fat ass cat keeps the mice away

As I waited for Francis, I see this cat chilling on my door step.  He's one of the cats Myles owns.  In the manual he provides his tenants, the Padaca's warn to NOT PET THIS CAT.  The cat meows at me, and beckons to let him in.  I oblige.  He rubs on my leg and proceeds to go around his house.  After all, it is HIS house.  I am just a guest. 

Francis arrives and we exchange hugs.  He has brought two beers for our post surf brew.  He says he hasn't eaten yet, so I suggest we go to Haleiwa.

"The contest is running, it's really crowded right now," he says.

Damn, I didn't know the contest will be running in this size surf.  But then again, how big is it, really?

"Ok, let's go to Ted's then.  We can walk there."

Ted's Bakery Mushroom Omelette.  Heavy stuff

We arrive at Ted's and I get an omelette.  It's the "healthiest" thing there, but it's so greasy and cheesy that I feel a baby Ted inside of my belly... this can't be the best thing I've eaten before a surf...

We make our way back to the house and grab our boards.  We walk down the street, cross Kam highway, two blocks down, and end up going through the Sunset complex, which is more like a luxury home gated community.  We get to the beach and see Freddieland, and Velzyland in the distance.  The sun is shining by this point, and we walk down towards V-land's iconic wall.  I leave my sandals here and Francis and I start stretching.

"It's crowded today..." Francis says.

We start paddling out, and the crowd becomes apparent.  There is about three times as many people out today as there was yesterday.  On top of that,when we paddled out, a bunch of other people paddled out too.

"It's Pancho," Fransauce points out.

Pancho Sullivan - one of my all-time favorite power surfers.  His carves and layback snaps are so amazing!!  And there he was, right in front of us.

"Brah, the water level just rose five feet from all these people coming out," he said. 

It was so friggin crowded... I couldn't catch one single wave.  On top of that, Baby Ted in my belly was gurgling around and weighing me down.  I couldn't position myself, I couldn't paddle, and I couldn't surf.

"Ey, let's go over there to Freddie's.. it's less crowded so we might get some waves there," Francis says.  So, we paddle across the channel and sit on Freddie's for the rest of the session.

The left at Freddie's was working great.  The rights were short and kind of gutless.  Francis was killing it this session.  He took left after left after left.  Two turn lefts, three turn lefts, no problem.  He was just killing it. 

A small group of Aussies came out to surf too.  They were traveling to Hawaii, then to Panama, then to South America.  They were surfing pretty well too. 

This one fine girl came out in a green bikini and pink lip stick.  My god she was cute.  She was on a foamie, and killing it too.  I had numerous chances to snake her, but I was mesmerized.  She was so cute and hot, surfing on her foamie.  I couldn't bring myself to snake her. 

After about four hours in the water, we called it a day.  I was dead tired.  Baby Ted was still brewing in my stomach... never again will I eat there before a surf session. 

We walk back to the house and share a brew. 

Cheers!

"Nicole said that I should just take the next few days off and surf with you.  She said, 'You don't have to take me to work, I'll drive myself.  Go hang out with Klaude, you haven't seen him in over a year.'  She's so good to me." 

So, Francis will be staying and surfing with me for the next few days. Chee!

Runch is served

Acai Smoothie

We went to get lunch in Haleiwa.  I wanted to get some shopping done too, so we stopped off at Celestial Natural Foods.  We ate in the Beet Box Cafe, where I had a mushroom burger.  VERY ONO.  I got some shopping done (super expensive to eat healthy in Hawaii - now I understand why people will opt out from eating healthily to eating poorly here.  A pack of strawberries cost $9.99)  I get my shopping done and we head back to the house. 

The Pipe competition is still going on, but we opt to drink beers on the road back home.  Four hours of surf was exhausting.  Francis goes home and I fix myself turkey bolognese pasta and watch some TV.  I take a walk down to Sunset beach and see the most beautiful sunset. 

KKs Vacay: Velzyland 120913

Surf Report: 2-4 feet Hawaiian scale (4-8 feet on the face)
Water: Cool for Hawaiian standards
Atmosphere: Sunny
Winds: Off shore

I was awoken by my the gentle humming of my cell phone and a car's exhaust hurriedly going up the road.  It sounded like Alex's car.

Missed Call: Alex

I call him back.  "Hey, I think that I heard you go past the house.  Turn back around."

Alex has made the trek to the North Shore with one of his buddies, D-Roy.  I sheepishly greet them.  It was my first full night's sleep since getting to Hawaii.  The Dojo is great, but having your own bed is definitely something that was missing on my vacation.

I give them a tour of the house and tell them to settle in.  I hadn't done any grocery shopping, so I could only offer them water.  I tell them I have to do my shoulder exercises, and then we can go surf.

"This is a sick place!" Alex and D-Roy say.

"Yea, it's really nice, I really out-did myself with it here."

"Where do you wanna surf?"

"Well, V-land is right down the street, and I got this place so we can surf there, but we can surf wherever," I tell them.

"V-land sounds good man, I haven't surfed there in a long time," D-Roy says.

"We can walk there, it's just 3 blocks over that way," I say.

"Man, walking's for POOR PEOPLE!" Alex says.  "I'll drive."

"Really man?  It's right down the street..."

"I'll drive," he insists.

Fine, drive.  V-land is literally three blocks down.  It wasn't much of a drive.

I  brought my Neckbeard out to this session.  We parked our car, and walked down the asphalt, through some trees, and bam, there's an A-Frame peeling right in front of us.  There are about ten, twelve people in the line up.  There's a knee boarder, some body boarders, a chick, and a few uncles surfing.  I mean, it's a weekday, what did you really expect?  Plus there isn't much swell in the water.

We stretch, and D-Roy says, "Man, it's gonna be COLLLDDD."

"Oh you Hawaiians, so spoiled," I laugh.

The Soft Top Bandit paddles out, and I follow him through the channel.  I start thinking to myself, man, this is the spot that every Hawaiian talks about.  The legendary Dale Velzy's name is on this spot.  Buttons surfed here.  The Ho's.  The Rothmans.  The Bustin Down the Doors.  They all surfed here.

The wave itself is like Trestles.  The rights are nice and long, and the lefts are there if you're willing to put up with the shallow inside.  The take off is steep, and the sections barrel most of the time.  The inside is shallow, so you don't want to get caught on the sets.

I learned the line up this day, and where to line myself up.  There was a definite pecking order, where the Uncles and the knee boarder had priority.  We waited for wider sets to break and picked off the smaller waves.  Alex aka the Soft Top Bandit was in the thick of things and charging hard.  He inspired me to charge into the pack and go for the set waves.

I caught one good wave where I got two round house carves off.  The wave was so fat and meaty that two round house carves fit into the face.  I pumped, bottom turned mid face and arched around, then pumped from the white water and did a round house again in the flats.

D-Roy was wearing similar boardshorts to this other local, so I found myself hooting at the wrong dude.  Oops.

The guys in the line up were very helpful.  They told me if I saw a peak pop up to the left of me, then the wave will bend right where we were sitting.  If it broke outside, then it will swing wide and break to our left.  Those ones are bigger and harrier, but they offered a barrel off the take off.  I missed one of these wide ones where an Uncle was telling me to go, but the lip was barreling over me so I bailed out.  Still getting used to this break... I felt a bit inadequate in my abilities, naturally.

"I like these in between days... they make my winter.  Everyone would be out and crowding the spot if it was a big day... but these in between days... when no one's out?  They're the best," and Uncle said.  I have to agree.  I didn't quite understand what he meant by "crowding" but I will find out soon enough, since I was living down the street here.  

We surfed for a few hours and called it a day.

Kev had called us, and he said they were en route to the North Shore.  We said we needed to grab food, so they should meet us in Haleiwa.   

On the way there, we had parked at Wailua Bakery.  The place was PACKED.  I saw Sage Erickson's sexy ass there as we walked by the line.  She was talking with some other professional surfers.  So, we opted out of Wailua Bakery and decided to try a Viet Namese place.  Unfortunately when we crossed the street where the Viet Namese restaurant was located, it was closed.  So, we decided to eat at L&L.

Alex had lost his $20, so I bought the boys lunch since they came all the way out here.  Kev and B-Sauce showed up to the L&L, and ordered some food too.  Alex was still bummed about his lost $20, so I told him we should retrace our steps, and maybe it will still be out there.

After we eat, we cross the street and start to retrace our steps.  I find a $5 bill on the ground, so I thought to myself, "Oh, I should give this to him so he doesn't feel so bummed."

Then, I see a crumpled up $20 bill near our car.  BINGO.

"Yo! Found it!!  I found this $5 and was gonna give it to you, but since we found your $20, I'm gonna keep it."

"Whaaaat? You found the $20?  And you found a $5?" Alex was flabbergasted.

We get to my house and give the boys a small tour.  Then we go to V-land where we surf a second session.  The second session had more or less the same crowd of Uncles, the chick, and more groms out since school was done.  It was still pretty small, but I struggled catching waves while not running over the groms on the inside.  Alex, of course, took a lot of waves on his soft top.  We surfed for a good two and a half hours this second session, but it was more of a learning session for me than anything. 

I took off on a set wave that came to me on the inside.  It was a beautiful wave, but it seemed to close out in front of me, and I thought I could have gotten around it.  The wave crashed, and I couldn't get around the section.  I was now stuck in the shallows of V-land.  And when I mean shallows, I mean knee deep with sets breaking on your head.  Nothing you can do but take it without duck diving, stand up, get your feet cut up, and hope the sets let up.  I paddled around the reef, and paddled back into the channel and politely bowed out of the line up. 

However, in hindsight, I should have just pulled into the barrel first, and then think about what to do with the section ahead of it.  I had missed the barrel.  I was pissed at myself for missing the barrel.  It was RIGHT THERE.  It was mine for the taking.  I took off smoothly behind the peak, and all I had to do was to shoot for it.  Instead, I went around it, and got punished.  Indeed, the safest place to be on a wave is inside the barrel. 

Sunsets in HI

That night, I got invited to the Outrigger Canoe Club's Annual Christmas party.  I had to drive into Town during rush hour, but hey, it was a party.  It was an all you can eat buffet, and I had a grand time. There was some entertainment and games played by the staff of the Outrigger Canoe Club.  There were some cool people I met there which I hope to keep in touch with, and not to say that there were a few alcoholic beverages to be had too.  The party ended, and we ended up at the bar.  Alex was having some girl trouble with Cass, so he was in a foul mood that night.  Francis and I took off early in the night, and we came home to the Dojo, only to confront Cass crying her face off about Alex.

Buffet!!

After listening to her cry her heart out, I told her "I gotta drive back to the North Shore, so I'm taking off."  I felt bad that Francis is stuck with this, but he's dealt with it before, and he told me he left after I left too.

My first plate

The drive back to the North Shore was long and quiet.  There are no radio signals that reach out here, so I drove in silence with my thoughts ringing inside of my head.  It was hard not to get tunnel vision, and I was lucky that I got home safely. 

KKs Vacay: Watching the Pipe Masters and North Shore Rental 120813

Surf Report: 8-10 feet solid
Water: Warm
Winds: Off shore
Atmosphere: Sunny

I woke up kinda late... I couldn't sleep last night.  The Dojo smoked me out last night, and I had to bow out as they passed a joint while loading up the bong.  I chilled in the living room, where they proceeded to smoke wax dabs.  Damn, they smoke a gang...

I had thousands of thoughts shooting through my head and couldn't sleep... gotta sleep... Pipe Masters tomorrow...

I woke up around 7:00 and started to get my stuff together.  I didn't want to take everything with me since I'd be on the beach, so I packed my backpack and my uke, and headed to Bogart's.  I got my Acai bowl to go, where a girl just handed me one she just made.  "The guy said he'll be back, so you take this one," she said.  The place was packed with marathon runners taking a break?  or something.... I'm not sure, but it was packed already.

I made my way to the H1 and headed to the H2, making that fateful drive to the North Shore.  There are windmills dotting the hills now... a change in scenery I will have to get used to...

For just for a day, our King and Queen
Would visit all these Islands and saw everything
How would they feel about the change in our land?

Could you just imagine if they were around
and saw highways on their sacred grounds
how would they feel about this modern city life?

-Braddah Iz Hawaii '78

As I approached familiar breaks like Chuns and Left Overs, the traffic started to get heavy.  It wasn't that bad really, but there was no street parking... I saw a $10 parking "lot" and paid the guy at the front and parked next to a family.

"Let's go!  Beach day!" the parents were telling their sleepy kids.

The famed bike path

I took all my stuff with me since I didn't want any break ins.  I had packed some snack bars and what not to keep me going during the day until I decided to leave the beach.  A sign pointed "PIPELINE" right by, so I crossed the street, crossed the bike path, and headed through the two houses.  I can hear the contest horn going off....

And BAM, I was in between the Volcom house and another house, right in front of the Banzai Pipeline.  What luck!  I walked down the steps to see the third heat underway - Alejo Muniz vs. Marcus Hickman. I set out my beach towel next to these groms sitting on some camera equipment and plopped down.  I started to eat my Acai bowl as I watched the contest, live and direct.

My View of Pipeline / Backdoor

I saw many heats this day from 8:30 in the morning... I saw the camera groms were actually just guarding a photographer's stuff, a photographer named Sebastian Imizcoz.  Two babes sat at the camera gear for a while until he returned, as he would do standing photography, and then put on his fins and helmet and go photograph in the water.

The Volcom House

Joel Parko and Matt Wilko walked by and said hi to the babes and Sebastian too.  So, this photog must be famous.

Bruce Irons

Kissed by the Hawaiian Sun

I was going back and forth between my "seat" and the competitor's area getting autographs and photo's.  One thing that was common between the surfers: They were all STOKED to give me their autograph.  Genuine happiness oozed from them when they signed my book.  They didn't just scribble whatever, they made sure their autograph looked good.

Seabass after his 10 point ride

Hearing the roooooar of the white wash so close, the spit every time a wave crashed, the surfers risking everything for a barrel, and the cheers of the crowd was ELECTRIFYING.  It's unlike anything I've ever seen.  I've watched this context countless times on the web, but it doesn't compare to being there, touching the grainy North Shore sand, smelling the ocean breeze, feeling your skin bake under the sun, hearing the ten foot waves crashing and the announcers that you can name over the PA, seeing the epic wipe outs, feeling the pounding of the waves and the water washing away the spectators who are too close, and just the vibe of a beach day picnic mixed with the superbowl of surfing all together.  It was sensory overload for me.

Gabriel Medina - he has HUUUUUGE feet, meaning he has a huuuuuuuge shoe box

I talked to some people during the day.  Some came from Boston, North Carolina, Argentina, Germany, and Brazil, all to watch this contest.  Most of these people I talked to weren't even surfers - they just wanted to watch the contest though.  They would comment, "Oh wow that was so deep!" and "Oh my god!! That was such a steep drop!!" Surfing is truly becoming a globally recognized "sport."

Brazilian Butts

I watched the Pipe Masters from 8:30 AM till 2:30 PM.  I was high off of my mind, not even feeling hungry.  I told myself though, that I should eat, and so I bowed out from the contest.  I went back to the parking "lot" and there was a food truck called the Beet Box Cafe truck.  They had pretty healthy stuff and everything was locally grown, so I got a Beet Box Burrito.  It was deeeelicious!

Freddy P!!

The Beet Box Cafe truck

I made my way to my car, and packed up my stuff.  I headed towards my vacation rental, which was past Sunset Beach, two blocks past Ted's Bakery, on a small road called Comcas Road.  Children played in the driveway so I had to drive slowly.  I saw the place I would call home for the next eight days.  A family was still packing up and about to leave.  I pull up and say hi to them as they hurriedly packed their things to make space for me. 

Beto - Brazilian artist

Inside, I can see a man working furiously to clean up the place for me.  This man is none other than Myles Padaca - one of my surf hero's that surfs Sunset Beach.  He made the contest's final round in 2010, and I watched the whole contest cheering him on because of his power moves and style.  And, he was shirtless!

He greets me, showing me the whole place.  "You have allllll this space to yourself!" he said.  His wife, Chaney, came down with extra towels.  "If you need extra bedding because of a guest sleeping over, just tell us and we'll provide them for you," she said.  "Here are your keys," as she handed them to me, "and I hope you enjoy your stay.  The Medina's were just here, and we had a double move out, so it's been crazy." 

So, that family that just left was Peter Mendia's family... another surf family.  Another surfer I look up to. 

The Living Room

I settle into my new spot... I turn on the Laker game and debate if I should go back into Town... The traffic will be horrible.  I better just stay put.  After all, I'm supposed to relax on my vacation, not drive through traffic and be stressed.  Good thing I brought some of my stuff with me.  It's not much, but I'll be fine. 

Queen sized bed

I walk to Ted's Bakery and get the "healthiest" dinner plate, a deep fried mahi mahi with mac salad and rice.  It was meh.  They're most known for their desserts. 

The shitter

A quiet night of solitude for myself.  It was a stark contrast from the hustle n bustle of Waikiki and the Dojo.  There are no lights around the Country.  Crickets and birds chirped the night away as I melted into my bed at 10:00 PM. 

KKs Vacay: Surfing Puena Point and Meeting JOB 120713

Surf Report: Overhead++
Water: Warm
Winds: Off shore
 Atmosphere: Sunny with patchy clouds

Cassandra, Alex and I pile into my rental and head off to the West side.  We stop off at the local shop to pick up some water and snacks and get on the H1 freeway.  Tunes are jamming, and we tell each other stories and jokes the whole time.

"So there was this girl that had a seizure in the midst of giving head to her boyfriend and bit his dick off," Cass says.

"WHAT??"

"Yea, so she went into shock, and her teeth clamped down, and her boyfriend couldn't wrench out his dick from her teeth, so he had his dick bitten off."

"Hash tag dick bitten off," I say.

As we make our way to the West side... we see a familiar scene.  The swell isn't hitting the West side again.  It's pretty flat every where.  It was maaaaaaybe two feet on the face.  We pull into an empty parking lot, and contemplate our move. Paddle out? Or drive back to the North Shore?

"Let's go to the North Shore," I say.

And so, off to Haleiwa we went.

As we pulled into Haleiwa, the whole parking lot is PACKED.  It's insane.  We find a parking spot as Alex goes to pee.  I go to see the break, and there are legit overhead waves rolling through perfectly through the point all the way to the Toilet Bowl section.  First wave, a braddah takes off behind the peak, double bottom turns and makes it around the section.  He then blasts the lip and shreds the rest of the wave.  The next wave, another local braddah takes off behind the peak, and shreds the shit out of it.  The next wave, another local braddah... on and on and on.

The walk to Puena Point, with Alex's sexy butt leading the way

"There's no way we can compete with that.  We're not going to get any waves.  It's all the locals out there right now," I say.

"We can try Puena Point, it's more for kooks, but we might be able to get some waves there," Alex says.  "It's right over there where we drove past to get to Haleiwa."

Cass

We pull into a crowded parking lot at Puena Point.  Cass offers to drive around to find parking so Alex and I could see the waves if it's worth paddling out.  We walk through a small passage full of palm trees and get to the paddle out spot.  There are a bunch of surf schools teaching people to surf on the inside, and on the waaaaay outside, we can see overhead sets rolling through the point.  The rights look fast and shallow, while the lefts look long and shreddable.

"I'm sold," I say.  "Let's paddle out here."

"How's it looking boys?" Cass says from behind.

"Oh shit, you found parking?" Alex asks.

"Yea, found parking, so are we paddling out here?"

"Yea, let's go for it."

We all get changed and grab our boards.  I brought over Pat's Nezzy board, the biggest and juiciest board in my quiver for the North Shore.  It's a 6'3" x 19 1/2 x 2 5/8 behemoth with a pin tail.  Cass is on her longboard 2+1 set up, and Alex is on the soft top once again. As we walk towards the path, there's a man in a raised yellow Jeep, blasting loud house music.  There is a house in the Dojo that has a similar car like that, so Alex asks the owner if he lived in Town.  He said no, as he stuffed his face with poke.  He wished us good luck as he jammed to his house music. 

The Emergence of the Soft Top Bandit

This session was quite difficult for me.  I set my "limit" on paddling out to 5 or 6 feet on the face because of my shoulder injury.  Legit overhead waves meant 7 to 8 feet on the face today.  Not only that, the place was crowded as hell.  I didn't catch one single wave until the very end because either an Uncle or a local was already on it, or that I would be hitting someone as I took off.

Cass took off on three waves.  On all three waves, she snaked someone.  She was a bit unsure if that was ok, but I reassured her that she has a cute bikini on, and so the view from behind would be a pleasure if she dropped in on someone.

Alex was straight CHARGING.  He was taking off deep on the set waves on his foamie.  He took pretty much every wave that rolled through his way.  He went both left and right, making every drop and every wave.  It was pretty hardcore.  I couldn't believe it. No one in the line up could believe it.

I got one final wave where I played dodgeball on my take off.  I look up to bottom turn, and see the section closing out ahead of me, so I straighten out.  I signal to Cass that I was out.

I paddle in to the shore and wait for Cass and Alex.  Cass comes in, and realizes a huge gash on her board.  She felt really bad and apologetic towards Alex, who brushed it off as if it was nothing.

"Better the board than you, Cass," I told her.

"That's right," Alex said.

The old dude in the yellow Jeep was still there, jamming out to house music.  There was another car, blasting Jawaiian music, as if competing for air space.

"Where should we go eat?"

"Wanna try Pupukea grill?"

"Yea, I'm down, let's go there," I replied.  

And so, off to Shark's Cove we went.  Pupukea Grill is a food truck located right by the Shark's Cove.  It's a mainstay of the North Shore with delicious, healthy food.  We pull up next to the gas station where the Pupukea Grill is located, and can't find parking.  So, I just park on the side of the road next to the mailbox of the gas station.

We get in line as we look at the menu, and I see a few cameramen following a blind guy.  He has a yellow stick, and immediately I know it's Derek, the blind Brazilian surfer.  So, I go up to him and his posse, and introduce myself.  I say in Portuguese, "Obrigado por inspiracion," (Thank you for the inspiration,) and he gives a big smile and shakes my hand.  The camera crew is smiling too, asking how I know about his story.  I tell him that I saw a video of him with Makua Rothman surfing Pipe, and that he's such an inspiration.  They tell me to check out the movie they are making of him called Beyond Sight.  I told them I will check it out, and to keep up the great work.

As we waited for our food, Alex hands me a Free Surf magazine.  We flip through the pages as we see all the amazing photography done by the big names like Bielmann, DJ Struntz, Jeff Divine, and Zak Noyle.

I sit down and order a salad and coconut curry quinoa dish, along with an Acai smoothie.  I needed the salad since I've been eating pretty much anything but greens, and I needed to feel human again.  All the good eats has made me shit liquids, and so it felt good to have green fiber in my stomach again. 

We all finish our meal, and head back to the car.

"Hey, that was Jamie O'Brien," Alex turns around and says to me.

WHAT

I swing around and see a tall dude with a Red Bull hat on, and the raised truck on 4x4's that I've seen countless times.  It's fucking J.O.B.!!

If you don't know this, I am a HUUUUUGE fan of JOB.  I love his surfing at Pipe.  He was one of the first surfers to win a Pipe Masters who only specialized in surfing Pipeline.  He goes switch foot in the barrel there, and has some of the heaviest waves of the winter every year.  On top of that, he shares my birthday of June 9th.

I tell Cass and Alex, "Guys, I have to go, I need to get his autograph!"

"Go! Do it!" they said.

So, I go back to the Pupukea Grill and smile at the people waiting in line.  My heart beat is racing but I keep it cool.  The cash register lady is taking out the trash, and replacing the garbage bag.  I patiently wait for her to finish.  My heart is thumping.  She returns to her register, and asks, "May I help you?" to me.

"Yes, may I borrow a pen please?" I ask eagerly.

"A pen? Sure," she replies.

She hands me a ball point pen, and I turn to JOB.

"Hey, Jamie, I'm a huge fan of yours," I say as I extend my hand towards him.

"Oh yea?  Sick man!  Hows it going?"

"Good, thank you.  Would you mind signing this please?" 

"Oh yea, of course!  What's your name?"

"Klaude, we share the same birthday.  We're both 69'ers." I reply.

He laughs at my 69er comment.  "Sick Klaude, did you surf Pipe today?"

"Hell no, that place is waaaaay out of my ability," I reply.  He's signing it.  He's really fucking signing it!!

"Well, you gonna come watch tomorrow right?"

"Yea, I will.  And look, I know you're not surfing in the competition because of the whole Ricardo Dos Santos thing, but I hope to see you free surf," I say.

He grins and hands me back the magazine.  "Here you go man, hope to see you there!"

"Thanks!"


He was genuinely stoked to give me an autograph.  Not only that, he wrote me a little message too: "Keep it real."

The four average looking girls flash a wide smile at me, as if to say, "Oh my god!! The guy we are with is really a famous professional surfer!! HE'S FAMOUS!"

We call them Pro-Hoes.

The reason why JOB can't surf in the Pipe Masters is because he punched a surfer during a competition at Tahiti.  The ASP barred his entry to the Pipe Masters even though he's one of, if not THE, best surfer out there.

Back at the car, Cass and Alex give me props for going up to JOB and getting his autograph.  I felt content, even though I didn't catch that many waves.  We make our way back into Town.  Alex knocks the fuck out in the passenger seat, so Cass and I talk on the way home.  We talk about careers and jobs, and how it's hard to find people who are driven in life.  I reassure her that she will find her niche, or group of friends, that she shares the same drive with, and sometimes, you have to cut out people who don't share that from your close circle of friends.  "What you seek is seeking you," I tell her. 

We get back in the afternoon, and we chill for a while.  Cass and Alex spend some quality time together, and are doing their thing.

The rest of the Dojo and I go off to Sandy's.  We body surf playful waves and come home.  The night is already dark, and I pop in Django Unchained.  I can hear from Alex's room that Cass and him are getting it on, so I turn up the volume.

"What do you want to do at your last night at the Dojo?" Kev asked.

"Actually, I wanted to just chill.  I'm pretty tired, and I want to go to the North Shore tomorrow to watch the opening rounds of the Pipe Masters," I replied.

"Freeaaaal.  Well if that's what you wanna do, then that's cool too," B-sauce said.

Later that night, I met up with Aiko-chan, a friend of ours from Los Angeles who moved back to Japan.  She was also participating in the Honolulu marathon, and flew in from Japan.  We meet up at her hotel lobby and walk around Ala Moana mall.  We catch up since we haven't seen each other since my sister's wedding in June.

The Dojo was quiet that night... The Boys respected my wishes of a quiet night and kept the living room empty and all did their own thing.  B-Sauce went to a birthday party, and so I didn't see him all night.

The sound of the water trickling down the turtle pond in our neighbor's property lulled me to sleep, as I tried to sleep... in anticipation of watching the Pipeline Masters live and direct for the first time in my life.

Aiko-chan and me, night before she runs for the Honolulu Marathon

KKs Vacay - Haleiwa and Sandy's 120613

Surf Report: 3-5 feet on the face Head High + on sets
Winds: off shore
Atmosphere: Sunny
Water: Warm - Duh, it's Hawaii

The three muskateers: Fransauce, Alex, and myself. 

I get up early, from my slumber on B-sauce's living room floor.  I start my yoga and theraband exercises slowly, and then make my way to Bogarts.  I ask Fransauce if he wanted a bagel sandwich, but he wanted an omelette with breakfast potatoes instead.  I get Alex a bagel sammich too, since his phone number changed to an 808 area code. 

We all eat our breakfast, pile our stuff into Francis's car, and hit the road to the West Side of Oahu.  I play some tunes from the back as we head to the West side, hoping the swell has filled in.  Francis points out a road with a center divider. 

"We got a 9-1-1 call when I was at this gas station further up, and I headed the wrong way.  The guy had cardiac arrest, and we couldn't U-turn forever.  I felt so bad." 

We start checking spots on the West Side.

"This place right here, it's usually a good indicator if there are waves on the West Side."

It was flat.

We drive further and further, but there were no waves.  The swell wasn't hitting here yet...

"Should we go to the North Shore?" Francis asked.

"Yea, let's go there.  I haven't been back since 2008 to surf North Shore."

"Where should we go? Puena Point?" Alex asked.

"How about Haleiwa?" Francis said.

"I wanna try Haleiwa.  I've never surfed it.  I've watched all the competitions though, so I wanna see it."

"You think Klaude will be ok there?" Alex asked Francis

"Yea, he'll be fine.  Just watch out for the toilet bowl section cuz it's shallow."

So, off to Haleiwa we went.

The familiar roads leading to the North Shore hit a soft spot for me.  I really love the North Shore, or the Country as Hawaiians call it.  There really isn't anything around here, besides local communities, world class surf spots, and Foodland.  Haleiwa town is a small, quaint town with surf shops, places to eat, and small clothing stores dotting the area.  We drove to a huge parking lot marked Ali'i Beach Park.  The famed Ali'i Beach Park that I always heard about on the webcast... and now I'm here.  I walk to take a look at the break, and it's just like how we see it on the webcast.  There were maybe ten heads out, and the five foot faces rolled in periodically.  There were kids playing in the shore break where the channel started.  It was a world class surf spot, but indeed a beach PARK, with benches and picnics being set up with people laying out on the sand. 

Alex and I wear jackets to protect our skin, while Francis lets his sexy brown skin bronze even more.  We grab our boards, and head down to the beach.  I stretch, and Francis points out the channel and where the toilet bowl section is. 

"Try to go around that section, and then just paddle straight out," he says.

So, here I am, back on the North Shore... paddling into some medium/small surf.  I can see the reef in the toilet bowl section, and paddle around it.  The toilet bowl section is super shallow, like the webcasters always say it is.  I see small groups of people sitting on the peak, and some scattered wide of the peak.  I sit wide of the peak first. 

I see Alex catch a set wave on his foamie.  I inch closer to where he took off.  I see Francis take off on a wave.  I inch closer to the pack. 

I take off on my first wave, and it's so easy.  It's such a perfect wave, I bottom turn, carve off the top, then pump down the line and carve off the top on the toilet bowl section.  It's so shallow I can stand here.  I paddle around it with a smile on my face. 

Francis took one left that he pumped down the line, and unleashed buckets of spray on.  He lost control of his board because he pushed so hard off the tail.


Alex was killing it this day, taking a lot of waves.  He is really good on a longboard, and it doesn't matter that it's a soft top - he was just killing it.  He is goofy, so he took off backside on a right.  It was steep so he grabbed rail on the take off to help angle the board.  I duck dived right near him on the head high wave.  He makes a huge backhand turn on the foamie and comes back stoked.

"Nice wave Alexxxxxx!" I say.

"Thanks Kimo!" he says.

"You know what the best part of that wave was?" I ask.

"What's that?"

"That I saw it!"  We laugh.

Indeed, the best waves we ride are the ones our friends see us on, since we share the experience of riding waves from two different perspectives: one as the rider, and one as the observer, hooting them as they drive down the line.

I catch a left where the take off was super smooth, and bottom turn.  I wait an extra second to make my turn, and feel my toes dig in to the tail pad.  It was a one shot wave, but I was happy to get that turn. 

"Yo! That was a sick turn! Shredddddding it Kimo," Alex says.  "You know what the best part of that wave was?"

Driving to the North Shore, you see pineapple fields forever

"No, what?"

"That I saw it!" 

There were maybe ten people in the line up the whole time.  I'm not sure how long we surfed for, but it was fun.  We all catch our last waves in and shower off. 

We decide to eat at Wailua Bakery in Haleiwa.  Immediately, we see Cheyne Magnusson and Matt Wilkinson eating inside.  I was star struck, but kept it cool.  We order our food, and proceed to sit outside.  As we walk out, Taj fucking Burrow walks in. 

"Oh my god!! it's TB!!! Guys, I have to get a photo with him," I say. 

He was with a girl and talking with Wilko, and so I waited for him to stop talking with Wilko to ask.

"Hey Taj!"

"Hey, how are you?"

"I'm good, thanks.  Look, I'm a big fan of yours, is it ok if we took a photo together?"

"Yea, right mate!  No problem!" He was genuinely stoked to take a photo with me.

"Should I take it for you?" the girl asked.

"Naw, we'll selfie it, we've done this many times," Taj said, as he smiled. 

Snap snap.

Taj Fucking Burrow

"Thanks man!  Good luck at Pipe this weekend!"

"Thanks mate!!"

Wow, he is payed millions of dollars to surf, and he was totally cool with some surf geek coming up to him and taking a photo with said surf geek.  How.  FUCKING. Cool.

We eat our delicious post surf meal and Alex has some jail bait call out to him.  She works at the Outrigger Canoe Club too.  She was with a bunch of other girls, and they had just shopped at San Lorenzo bikini shop.  They had a 50% off sale, which explain the throngs of girls going in and out of this parking lot with bags full of bikinis. 

The sign at the register of Wailua Bakery in Haleiwa

Definitely a must if you're on the North Shore

Alex has to get to work, so we head out of the Country.  We hit horrendous traffic, and so Alex takes a nap in the back.  Francis and I drive back on the H2 and H1 and get back to Town and wake up Alex.  Alex calls in saying he will be late for work.  I guess it's ok to be a little late for work in Hawaii... haha.

When we get back to the Dojo, we start playing some ping pong with B-sauce and Taiki.  After a few rounds of ping pong, we decide on going to Sandy's again. 



We body surf while B-sauce and Francis go shell diving.  It starts to rain a little bit as we get home, and we start deciding where we need to eat.  Taiki had dinner plans already so he wouldn't join us this night for dinner.

It's in the water

B-sauce wanted to take me to a noodle spot called YOTTEKO-YA.  This charming place is a gem!!  It was the best broth this side of Japan.  It blew all the ramen places I ate at in Los Angeles that I touted as the best ramen outside of Japan.  They use half chicken, half pork broth to come up with an elaborate tasting broth that is silky smooth.  I later asked the owner what was their secret, to which she replied, "It's the water.  Mainland water is not like Japan or Hawaii's water... so you have to use different techniques or gimmicks to get the flavor out, but in Japan, or Hawaii, it's the same water, so it's easy to get the flavor out."  Nuff said.

Afterwards, we go to Bubbies to get some mochi ice cream.  We each get four flavors... yum!  And holy shit was the cashier girl cute!!! I lost myself and found myself mouth agape and stuttering.  B-sauce clowned me on that. 

Alex came home with Cass that night, and Cassandra and I played ukulele together. 

B-sauce, with Fransauce in the background

"Where you wanna go tomorrow?" Alex asked.  "Cass wants to surf too."

"Let's go back to check the West side," I said. 

"Ok, let's do that then." 

The bounty of the day's hunt

My bounty of beauty for the day

Bubbies!!!