School's Back in Session 083013

Surf Report: 2-3 feet
Water: Cold
Atmosphere: Sunny
Winds: Null

School's back in session!  How can I tell?  Well, the line up was full with high school groms.  "How was your summer?"  "What did you do?" were the questions that were being tossed around the line up.  Lots of kids were dropping in on each other. 

The line up cleared up around 745, and the locals finally had a time to ourselves. 

Mel had to poop so she came to the line up right on time. 

She got some nice rights after I gave her the advice of crouching whenever she feels like she's gonna fall.  Our natural "instinct" is to extend when we are about to fall, but if we can fight that and crouch, we'll make the wave.

I caught a lot of rides on my 5'6" Zippy fish.  it was getting so easy to catch waves that i started practicing more on my turns than just pumping down the line.  I tried to do three lay backs.  One i gouged but fell on my back.  I then tried to put less oomph on the lay back and made the turn, but it was less gougey.  The third I gouged again and fell.  Practice practice practice!!

The waves stayed consistent and we kept sharing more and more waves amongst the crowd. However, I had to go to work, so I cut out early. 

Mahalos Mother Ocean!!! 

Fuck you tax season. 

Wetsuits to Dress suits 08292013

Surf Report: 1-2 feet
Water: Cold/cool (spring suit will suffice)
Atmosphere: Sunny!
Winds: None

surfed before work today with da roomie, Mellie Mel!  We had to come in separate cars cuz I had to go to work, but we paddled out together out front of 26th Street.

The locals were out, including Mr. Mike, Ross, Mitch, and Don Kadowaki.  I took out my fish, while Mel took out Pat's 2+1 egg shape fun board. 

LOTS OF FUN WAVES!!! I couldn't believe there were some fun ones.  the fish worked great.  i have to keep this blog entry short since i'm at work, and it's tax season.

however, i wanted to share a little quote i heard on NPR news a few weeks back.

IF YOU DON'T WRITE, YOU'LL DIE. 

perhaps this means if one doesn't put their thoughts on paper, a form of self-expression, then they will die.  or that writing is a creative outlet for people, and as we all know, creativity breathes life into our rather dismal hustle and bustle life style.  in any event, keep writing!!

Mahalos Mother Ocean!

FLAT Ocean and Moving Out

It's been flat for days.  I've gone to the beach, gotten skunked, and headed back home twice already this week... hopefully the weekend would be rideable?

Finned on one of the "small" days - Lucky I wore a spring suit

On a personal note, I just moved to a new spot out of my parents place.  The place is located in Venice, and I moved in with two girls, Melissa and Annie Rose (we call her AR.) 

When I visited my cousin in NYC over Memorial Day Weekend, we went shoe shopping.  After I bought my pair of shoes, she looks at me and said, "You need to move the fuck out of your place." 

At first I thought to myself, "What the fuck?"

But then I listened to her.

"You've been helping them out financially long enough, and you've lived in that small room for your whole life.  It's time for you to move out and grow on your own."

She was absolutely right.  So, I went house hunting, thinking maybe I could buy a house. 

Soon, though, I realized that my debt to income ratio was too high, and no one will give me a loan.  Stupid financial institutions... they created this god damn mess, and now young people have to pay for it? 

Enter Mellie Mel.  She's made an appearance on my blog a few times... she's an overall good person, good energy, and a teacher.  We attended UCLA together at some point, but we never met at school.  Rather, in typical KK fashion, we started talking at a Surf/Skate shop called 9 Star, and have remained friends since.  It seems like we both make friends wherever we go. 

Wolfy the house cat

Living Room

My bedroom! yay for a queen sized bed

We always talked and discussed our teaching woes and life events going on, and so when I mentioned to her that I couldn't find a place to buy, she offered to let me rent at her house located in Venice.  I've been to her house numerous times to cook and hang out, so this was a golden opportunity for me. 

Her and her boyfriend, Pat, are amazing people, and I'm glad to be part of this loving home.  And AR is one hilarious girl. 

Our garage - bunch of surf bums we are!!

So, I am still looking to buy a place, but for now, I'm settled into my new (old) community of Venice.  Since I am a graduate of Venice High, a lot of things are familiar, but then again, a lot of things are different. 

Cheers to change!!

Mr. Pragmatic 070713 - 26th Street

Surf Report: 2-4 feet

Water: Warm

Atmosphere: Sunny!

Winds: None

I forgot to mention, one of the errands I had to do yesterday was to buy Khang’s Neck Beard.  It’s a custom shape for him, but he was looking to sell it.  He willingly let it go for me at a steep discount, no doubt he wants a brow-job from me later ;-)

I wanted to go to a point break to test it out, and was gun-ho about going to Zero’s.  However, I couldn’t recruit anyone to go with me, so I stayed local instead… which turned out to be a great call.

Mellie Mel texted me at night, saying that “it was time” for her to return to the salty bastion we call home.  She said she only had about an hour of surf time but she will try to paddle out.

Matt said he had to stay local too, since he was tired from yesterday, which included a BBQ at his sister’s place in the Valley.

Khang was surfed out, and was not paddling out before work. 

I get to the beach, and see a girl with a longboard on the sand.  I see an outline of a figure approach her, and try to convince her to come out.  From the way the figure walked and carried himself, I knew it was Shan.  Shan and I used to be best mates, but I say used to for a reason.  We had a falling out years back, and we talked it out right then and there.  I told him that if I ever see him in the line-up, he needs to paddle away from me.  Yes, it was that bad.  I think it all went to shit when our company hired him to fix our computer.  My computer had been infected by a virus, and so we hired him to reformat and retrieve the uncorrupted data.  Unfortunately, he didn’t make a legit back up of our files, since he assumed that the files were backed up already.  He reformatted the computer… and all our data was lost.  Years and years of work, all gone in a matter of seconds.  My boss was pissed.  I was pissed.  I had to tell him off.  But, at the end of it, I told him, “If our friendship suffers from just a few thousand dollars, then I guess our friendship wasn’t really worth it, but I don’t want anything between us to change.”  I sincerely meant that, but I guess he didn’t hear it. 

Things between us changed from that point.  He seemed to have this lingering chip on his shoulder.  He and I used to hang out – hell he’s even slept over my house a few times.  But all of that changed, and he stopped calling me or picking up my phone calls.  In the end, our relationship deteriorated, but he still kept in touch with others in the DRC.  Fast forward a few years, and I see Shan in the parking lot of 26^th Street.  My dad had shot some photos of us and was present.  Shan just quietly gets changed, doesn’t even mutter a hello or anything, pulls out and stares at us, and drives away.  My dad said, “What the heck was that? He couldn’t even say bye to me?”

I explain to my dad how Shan doesn’t like me, but that doesn’t excuse Shan for the disrespect towards my father.  So, I talked to him that day over the phone on why he was acting that way.  Long story short, he was still holding on to this monster between us, saying that I singled him out, and that I would drop racist jokes on him and would chastise him all the time.  “I’m the victim here” is all I heard from him.  I questioned him on how he was the victim, saying he dropped racist jokes all the time, and he would call me “asshole” and “jerk” but I never let that bother me. All he kept saying that he was in no way wrong in the way he disrespected my father that day.  I gave him my two cents, and we parted ways by me telling him not to be in the line-up when I am surfing. 

Now, my boss, I like to call Mr. Pragmatic.  He has handled million dollar business deals all his life, and at one point, he had his best friend and his other best friend’s (who passed away in his arms) widow bickering over who gets what.  Those two, we shall call A and B, do not see eye to eye, even till this day.  However, my boss was able to keep them both happy and structured a business deal so that the widow got what she deserved from her late husband’s work, and the surviving partner got his share of the action too.  And, they are both still our clients.  Again, millions of dollars at stake (and millions of dollars offered as a bribe, no doubt), and my boss was able to do all of this.  Hence, Mr. Pragmatic. 

I want to be greater than this man.  In order to achieve this, I have to emulate what he does, and do it a hundred times better.  It ain’t easy though… but I figure, I have to start somewhere. 

Enter Shan.  I see him paddle out, but I don’t give him a hard time about paddling out where I paddle out.  In fact, I cheer him on to a wave.  I mean, the waves this day were pretty darn fun.  However, I do not go out of my way to talk to him.  Perhaps it’s because I cherish my inner circle of friends, and I do not want to have him in my inner circle of friends. 

First wave, I catch one right in front of Shan.  It was a nice take off, and the board worked great. 

Tom was out and he was catching a lot of waves.  On a right, he threw the board out so hard that he came unstuck.  There was a lot of spray that came out, and his tail was even showing out the back.  Man, this guy can really surf. 

I see Matt and we have our broment.  He and I split peaks.  We are all having a ball. 

Mellie Mel comes out!! She says that she was planting in her garden in the morning, and saw my text and headed out to the beach.  So glad she made it – it’s been over a year since she surfed with us.  She is one of my cherished inner circle friends.  Her sea arms are way out of shape, and she gets her ass handed to her a few times by Mother Ocean.  She does manage to catch a wave, though, and I cheer her for it. 

I see Shan paddle for a left… Matt pulls out for him, and Shan… well he hasn’t progressed at all.  I think that’s something that I would never understand.  His surfing is the same as it has been for the last five or six years.  He stays crouched down on his surfboard, letting out a loud “Woooooo~” as he makes the drop, and that’s it.  Nothing has changed.  No pumping, no carving, hell, not even a few steps forward on the longboard. 

I think that’s another reason why our personalities clashed.  I’m always about refining and improving any skill – whether at work or at play.  I think progression and the sense of achievement is a great joy and rewards oneself intangibly. 

I laugh out loud at this.  Here I am, doing what I despised about Shan – holding on to some monster between us.  Holding on to this “thing” that doesn’t exist and that has deteriorated a relationship between two humans.  There’s no reason why two people can’t co-exist in the same environment.  So, if he wants to surf 26^th Street, fine, he’ll surf 26^th Street.  But I’ll tell you one thing – the 26^th Street Ohana does not stand for the way he surfs.  Just because you can catch every wave, doesn’t mean you should.  

This Neck Beard.. it feels like it was made for me.  I love the dimensions, and how easy it is to get from point A to point B.  I would drop in to the wave, and then eye the section I want to be at.  One quick pump, and I'm at the section I just eyed.  The board felt so great under my feet, I couldn't help but feel good all morning.  So, thank you Khang for hooking it up!!! 

Matt takes off to get his morning started. 

Mellie Mel and I stay out until 930.  We make plans to have dinner together that night at her house.  Her roommate, Cara, is about to leave for Denver, so we cook up a feast of Quinoa salad and Branzino for the three of us. 

Mahalos Mother Ocean!! 

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!!