Surfing on Christmas Eve

Chrismas eve. I got to the beach around 1:30 pm. Passed by the entrance and said Merry Christmas to the park employee, a nice older gentleman sitting by himself inside the boot. He waved back at me with a smile. I drove down the beach and there was almost nobody. Yeah, they all must be at the mall doing the last minutes Christmas shopping. There was just one lonely guy out there at the point,trying to catch a sloppy one footer. Surf is tiny today, if any. But I am here, so I went ahead and put on my wetsuit. The poor guy came in. We chat a bit. He said it was better an hour earlier but he think the swell is dying down now. I agreed with him. It looks so flat out there. Well, swimming is a good exercise too. He told me I have the whole Sano for myself. Wahoo! except for there is no waves! Walking down the beach, I dipped my foot in the water. Man,it is icy cold, may be in the fifty-ish degree. The sky is overcast with only a tiny speck of sunlight. The air is as cold as the water. Perfect! Time to get in.

It is sure small today. I struggled to catch a few tiny waves. Got one, stood up, rode a bit but not much going on at the Point so I paddled out to Old Mans. Waves are breaking over there, not by much. I caught a few one, two footers. It's kinda of broken, crumpy, bumby waves that most people would call junks. Well, one of the surfer I met later today told me: "You ride the waves you got, not the one you wished you had" so got to make the best of what out there. Strange thing, even there is not much swell today but where I lined up, there is a strong rip curl kept pulling me out to the ocean. It's kind of freaky. After a few minutes sitting on your surfboard, you ended up farther from the shore. I had to keep paddle back closer to the shore, thinking, if this stupid thing drifted me out to the ocean, there is nobody around I can ask for help.

I got a few more waves, got one last decent one and called it the day. I was getting a bit cold too. Walking back to my car, taking off my wet suit and at the same time I heard the Surfliner train horn going in the background. So I was thinking, the last train of the day, taking people back to their family, to a happy Christmas dinners with love ones. Merry Christmas to everyone. Merry Christmas San Onofre.

The moment

Ever wonder why surfers are so mellow? Yes, my friends, when you are out there, on the waves, you forgot all about this f. bullshit. Yes, it's all gone. Just you and the waves, the very moment that you stood up, the moment that you shred. That's it. That's all that's matter. All your body is living the moment. Yes.....

Lord of the Rings

I just watch Lord of the Ring again. Every time I watched it, I can see the relationship between the Ring and the greed that fell on the human race. Yes, the ring is the greediness, the ego, the power, the want-it-all human nature. Yes, one ring conquers it all. We has human beings struggle to free ourselves from greediness but we are not always successful. Why, is it because you never when your next meal will come from? Is it because you never know when on rainy days, do you have enough to survive? Why we always want more? More money, more recognition, bigger house, bigger cars. What is it? What is it that make us human to be greedy, has to be so egolistic? If we can conquer fusion energy, then energy will be limitless then we can produce as much food as we want, all the big houses that we want to own, all the nice cars that we drive. All problems will be solved, right? Yeah, until someone control your source of fusion energy, and you will have to pay for it. And it's all start all over again.....

My favorite surfers

Kelly Slater, Rob Machado

Jack Johnson's music

My friend introduced me to Jack Johnson's music and I like it. He is a surfer and a musician from the North Shore, Oahu, Hawaii. His music has a mellow, nice, flowing touch like that of a surfing waves. Here are a couple of his music video on YouTube. Enjoy:

Sitting, Waiting, Wishing (love this one):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0u-0X8sPe0&feature=related

Upside down with the cute monkey:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFjnit1wyus&feature=related

This one is with Ben Stiller, funny:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KefLz4DDrjo&feature=related

Jack Johnson's music video tribute to Kelly Slater, the greatest pro surfer of all time:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TW6cREqSdy4

Waikiki, Ala Moana

The world famous Waikiki beach. This stretch of white sand beach probably one of the most expensive beach front property in the world.


The crowd and tourists


Surfers on waves at Waikiki beach


Surfboard row.


Waikiki skyline seen from the water

This world re-known beach is where the Duke Kahanamoku surfed back in the 1900's. We stopped to visit the famous beach a couple times.

Me and the Duke.


Diamond head, as seen from Ala Moana beach


Got one. Ala Moana beach. Ala Moana beach is a local beach, right next to Waikiki. While Waikiki is where tourists go to, Ala Moana is mostly visit by local people.


Happy!

Waimea Jumping Rock

Waimea beach is a beautiful place in the North Shore, with sandy beach, tall white clock tower and giant waves in the winter. It is where big wave surfers go to surf 25, 30 ft huge waves. But in the summer, it is usually flat but it is great for swimming, snorkeling, sun tanning and rock jumping. This is the famous jumping rock in the North Shore. Jumping off this rock is like jumping off the roof of your house. I took this picture of the rock, noticed a guy just jumped off the rock in the background. My daughter and I both jumped off this rock but she actually jumped three times and I jumped only one. When you are up there and looking down, it is very scary, your heart beats a little faster. But once you commit, there is no going back. The good thing is it is over so quick, you don't even have time to scare. Fun and exciting.





In the winter months, the waves are huge. Just give you an idea how big the waves really are, look at this video at the surfboard shack web site. At the end of the video, you will see the big wave covered the jumping rock and the rock is at least 20 feet tall.

http://www.surfboardshack.com/waimea.html
Courtesy of surfboardshack.com