Cabo Blur

It's been almost week since the Cabo Freak Festers showed up in Cabo. And it's all been a blur. With the amount of sensory overload going on down, it's tough to get a post up. So before I got into the cool, fun and 'what-the-f*ck' stories of Cabo Freak Fest, I'm just going give you some eye candy for now. Expect a Cabo Freak Fest wrap up soon.

Before shot. Jungle Cruise.

My wife and I in paradise.

Getting primed.

Backdoor section.

El Fuego. Still has it.

Miguel timing the backwash.

Chato in the water park known as Cabo Freak Fest.

You What?

YouRiding is your only bodyboarding video game on the market so make sure you support in all it's facets. YouRiding.com/bodyboard should be bookmarked and used whenever you feel the need to ride waves when waves are crap or if you need that feeling of getting air or barreled!

YouRiding is on the cusp of completing their new version, version 4, which is to include new 3D graphics. New sick perspectives, new riders and more! Stay tuned for that. Yes, I've got the link to the beta version of the new version. If you want the link, be sure to follow my blog then hit me up here with a comment.

For now, get your game on at YouRiding.com/bodyboard or find me on Facebook's version and battle me online!

Enough talk... get some!

Like, Share, Play...

Jeff Hubbard Nails It

I've been saying for years... Support those that support you. American bodyboarders take note. There are only a few clothing companies here in the U.S. that actually put money back into our bodyboarding community. Ocean Current, clothing sponsor of World Champ Jeff Hubbard, has been behind bodyboarding from the get go. I support Ocean Current 100%. I suggest you do the same. Jeff Marshall, marketing dude for Ocean Current, lined me up with some gear and I have to say, the Hubb trunks are the best wave riding shorts I've used in a very long time. The material they use for the trunks are super stretchy and is perfect for bodyboarding. Big props to Ocean Current and Hubby Guys for making sh!t happen.

The mark of excellence.

My trunks drying after a session in Indonesia.

Final Wrap Up :: the Indo Experience

The morning of our ferry ride, we saw waves in the one foot range. Pretty discouraging. After our corn on cob breakfast, we were off to one of my favorite islands, Nusa Lembongan. After an hour of a semi-smooth ride, we putted into the bay. We cut between the really good reef waves of Lacerations and Playgrounds but both were not showing waves. But off in the distance I could see Shipwrecks. My second favorite wave for drop knee. Shipwrecks was cracking! With a dropping tide, the wave was only going to get better. So we settled into our Villa at Mainski and bolted out there!

The next day was going to be a full one. We had snorkeling with Manta Rays lined up. An around-the-island tour on mopeds. And we wanted to get back in time for some waves. Plus, there was a barong dance in the late evening that we didn't want to miss.

Snorkeling with the manta rays at Manta Point was a first for Mailei and I. We kicked ourselves for not doing it before. Two words... freakin' insane! So that is definitely on the to do list for future Indo trips. Awesome! At one point, I had six massive manta rays surrounding me. Little timid but pretty spectacular.

I never let my group rent motor bikes unless we're on Nusa Lembongan. So on our around-the-island tour, we rent motor bikes and cruised around the island. Along the way, we stopped to see a kid named Kadek. He rents us a boat so the crew can get a first hand experience on how to push a seaweed farmer's boat. It's tougher than it looks but the boys nailed it. Next, it was off to Devil's Tear. We got some massive waves but not as big as the group before. Still cool.

The Barong Deance was another first. We had to be dressed in the proper attire. The boys had to wear dresses. Okay... sarongs. Only a few males go into the meditation state to be able to do the dance. This evening, one of the dancers in the costume was stuck in the spiritual state and the dance had to be canceled halfway through. The next morning we were off back to Bali for the last couple days of adventures.

Back on Bali, we chilled for another awesome sunset at Kuta Beach. But it was the rafting and the monkey forest that was going to raise the fun factor. Oh yeah, before I continue I have to give props to Mairo for slamming down the massive calzone within minutes! Back to the rafting... it was fun. In fact, we had Jully (a Korean girl that was on our tour van to the rain forest) jump from her raft to ours. She's crazy! Cool chick!

Every time I take groups to the Monkey Forest I'm a little nervous. You never know what the hell the little bastards are gonna do. But this time around, no one got bit but one monkey didn't really like Lawrence and rushed him a couple times. Everyone got a cool photo of a monkey on the shoulder except for Mario. All good though, no one got bit!

Mailei and I want to give each one of our crew a big fat thanks for being a part of the Indo Experience 2011. We hope you had a great time. Complete photo wrap up in September on www.mannyvphoto.com.

Next up, Cabo Freak Fest! You ready?

With only a few cars on Lembongan it's the perfect place to get on the hogs.

Devin on the seaweed farming boat. Skills.

Lawrence finally got it but was shaky in the beginning.

Mario had it down.

Devil's Tear.

The Mainski transport mobile.

Lawrence and Mario getting close at Manta Point.

Mario with a snap at Shipwrecks.

Lawrence rail grab carve at Shipwrecks.

In full trance.

Sarongs all around.

Sunset at Kuta Beach.

Mario isn't scared!

Low bamboo bridges almost took out Devin.

Group shot at the half way point on the rafting tour.

Devin and his new buddy.

Mario trying but no dice for the shoulder monkey.

Lawrence had this guy on his shoulder for about five minutes.

Chow time.

the Indo Experience G2 Wrap Up Part 1

The last time I posted, I was just on the cusp of entering the brutal world of Bali Belly-ism. Yes, it was our second night in Sumbawa and my digestive system was attacked by who knows what. Just as I was going into hell, Mario and Lawrence coming out of it. I was out for the last couple days at Lakey's but was able to handle the two hour drive back to the airport and the hour flight back to Bali.

Other than getting our money's worth of the Aman Gati Hotel's toilet paper, Lakey's was good to us. The boys had Lakey Pipe all to themselves at low tide a few days in a row. The food, when it stayed down, was delicious. I got to see some friends. Lunch at Rocky's house was always a treat; especially when Devin was handed a naked baby. Hahaha. Dan and his lady were doing their thang at Lakey; chillin' and waiting for the big waves. Richard was there but I didn't get a chance to say hi. I only wish the waves were a little bigger. And yes, we didn't really need Bali Belly. Off to Sanur on Bali for a night then ferry to Nusa Lembongan.

About 99% of people Mailei and I bring to Indo miss home about this time in our trip. So we blind side them with some food from of the west. After checking into our hotel in Sanur (port town for our ferry), we headed up the road and had some KFC and Dunkin Donuts. It was enough distraction to get us to Lembongan the next morning. I think it was enough grease and sugar to kill the bug I had in my belly!

Nusa Lembongan delivered the goods; waves, food, culture and some social interaction... yes, girls. Check back tomorrow as we wrap up with awesome Lembongan and Bali photos of waves, monkeys, manta rays, calzone the size of Mario's right leg and more!

Death Penalty!! Uh, no thanks!

Sunsets at Lakey's are always amazing.

Devin trying his luck on Lakey Peak left.

Rocky's wife always delivering yummy food.

Rocky has a good life.

Mario slotted deep on Lakey Pipe.

Lawrence finds some shade.

Mario on the knee with only about a foot of water under him.

Devin in the midst of a Lakey Pipe spit.

Dunkin' Donuts take away the homesickness.

Devin with the photo of the trip!

Road To Lakey

The flight to Sumbawa island was quick and easy on Lion's Air. Mario, unfortunately, had to deal with a hangover but was able to pass out. That is until the baby in the lap of the lady next to him started crying. Every five minutes or so, the baby would bust out a loud screech and the mom would look at me and would mouth sorry with a smile. Poor Mario.

An hour later, we landed at Bima Airport. I have to remind the crew to not let any porter touch your bag unless you are going to pay 'em. Other than the porters on Ko Pha-Ngan island in Thailand, these are some of the most aggressive I've seen. So we all had to be on our toes. Boards and bags in hand, now it was a two hour drive to our destination, Aman Gati Hotel. We had 'Moose' at the wheel and he got us there in no time. Mario slept most of the way but swore that it was a six hour journey. We checked into our rooms and that's when it happened.

Lawrence managed to be fine after our warung crawl and it was obvious Mario was hurting. But just as we settled into our rooms Mario AND Lawrence were attacked by Bali Belly. Yes, the shits. I feel sorry for Devin because he had to deal with the sweet aromas of the bathroom they were sharing.

It was a rough night for the crew. The next morning Devin and I dawn patrolled it to ensure we got some waves before the crowds showed up. Mario and Lawrence took the morning off to deal with other matters.

Later, that afternoon we all headed to Lakey Pipe. This is a bodyboarder's dream wave. Perfect left hand reef break. And at low tide it's all bodyboarding only. I was scraping my fins on the reef on every wave. It was good to get some fun good waves under our belt.

Mario started to come around on night two. Lawrence is still feeling not-so-good but he's hanging in there. One more day, he should be good.

We have four days here so more photos of all the action on the next post.

New airline now flying to Sumbawa. Lion's Air. $12 bodyboard bag fee. $25 surfboard bag fee. Not bad.

That's Irwan behind the cardboard. He's a cop in the town of Dompu. Halfway between Bima and Lakeys.

Double checking to make sure our boards made it.

The fans cheer for the arrival of the boy band.

The boys checking it on the new concrete tower at Lakey Peak.

A view from inside Lakey Pipe.

Lawrence still went out and got some waves even though he body was fighting off something.

Our home for the next few days.

Bintang Brutality

Introduced by an Indo Vet and incognito party animal, Angel Cruz, the Padang Padang  Warung Crawl has been added to the many other fun things to do on the Indo Experience. What the heck is Padang Padang and who the heck is a warung? Padang Padang is one of my favorite beaches on Bali. It helps that it’s home to one of the best left hand reef breaks in Indo. But the white sand beach is absolutely amazing. A warung is the Balinese word for restaurant. And at all the Padang Padang warungs, Bintangs are served ice cold. Now, if you add this all together it’s just like saying, pub crawl on the beach.

Lawrence is about the same size and girth as me. Devin and Mario are about the same size. So it would seem that the drinking battle was set. Here’s how it was supposed to go down…

There are six warungs on Padang Padang beach. But this day, we would only drink at five beers. One of the warungs was closed. At each warung, we all cheers to start the chung-a-thon and the first one to finish their small 12oz Bintang beer gets to call out a genre of music. The last person to finish has to sing a song from that genre. And after each warung, we all had our t-shirts signed by a worker from that warung. Plus, you get one star for making it through each warung. And at the end of the game, we are treated to a fish feast to help soak up all the alcohol.

After the first warung, it was clear as day. Lawrence was the drinking machine. Mario was right there with him holding his own. Devin did a great job but you could tell he went all out to not be last. I took my time to sus out the competition. I came in last here. Yes, I had to sing a pop song. With my crappy memory of song words, I went with Thriller and threw in some dance moves to throw off the fact that I didn’t know all the words.

The second warung was the one that defined the rest of the game. Lawrence drank his beer faster than the one before! Mario was right there with him again. And I just made sure I didn’t lose to Devin again. Devin lost. Devin sang a rap song. And we all know that there’s really only a few white guys that can sing rap… Devin isn’t one of ‘em. Hahaha.

The third warung was quick. Almost an instant replay of the previous warung. But at the forth warung, Nyoman Warung, we met up with a group that was ready to leave the beach. Turns out there were a couple girls in the group that were from South Carolina. And they wanted in. No one had an issue with it. “I’ve very competitive”, said Kate (one of the SC girls). It was on. Lawrence finally had some competition. Cheers… it was on. I had to take my time and watch them two go at it. Lawrence did what he has been doing from the start. Kate was chugging but half of her beer was draining down the side of her mouth and onto her shirt! She slammed the empty green bottle down and claimed victory. The crowd of 15 or so that gathered cheered for her. I didn’t want to say anything but I know for a fact, Lawrence out chugged her hands down.  Oh yeah, I almost forgot to mention, Kate’s wet shirt… yeah, it was white and she wasn’t wearing anything underneath. So the boys got a free wet t-shirt contest too!

Wayan’s Warung was the last stop and this is where we put it all on the line with large 20 oz Bintangs. It was evident we’ve lost Devin to the Bintang’s wrath. There were a group of big, and I mean massive, ju jitsu wrestlers at the warung. Devin was at the point where he wanted to test his skills and wrestler one of ‘em. But lucky for him he just got a photo with two of the guys, Paulo and Hamilton.

I still think to this point that Devin has no clue that Lawrence switched Bintangs with him at this warung. Lawrence drank about three quarters of his own beer before swapping out Devin’s almost full beer. And when Devin finished it before me, he claimed it for five to ten minutes afterwards calling me benchong (Balinese for tranny). We all were laughing and having a great time. And… we didn’t piss anyone off.

Then the grilled mahi mahi came out and it was feasting time! Mario rallied up a few French girls to join us. All good. It was nice for the boys to have some females to share a meal with. As usual there was tons of left overs. I did the rounds of serving up all the beach vendors and warung workers with rice and fish.

We ended the crawl with a human pyramid and Mailei was the one to get on top of the sculpture.

The 2011 Padang Padang Warung Crawl went down in prime fashion. Mailei and I wished we had Barbie on the beach to rally up more people to participate. She’s an animal! It would’ve been cool to have her there at every warung crawl. Barbie save your money and come back!

The next day, was travel day. One hour flight, two hour drive was in store for the boys. Mario wasn’t in top shape to travel this day. He spent most of this morning hugging the porcelain. Mario, Devin and I were fine. But this day was going to be brutal for Mario.

Bali Belly attacks some of our crew. Stay tuned with an update from the Aman Gati at Lakey’s.

Devin's mom didn't want him to drink. Turns out, he was the only that didn't get sick!

Master Rapper Devin.

Kate in the white tank top all smiles... and wet.

There she is.

The last round. Large Bintangs at Wayan's Warung.

Finish line fish dinner. Tasty!

We were all glad to have these guys on our side.

Another day in paradise.

Chicken Satay all around!

Devin challenges me to a drink off in Puerto Escondido!

Lawrence boarding flight 204 on Lion's Air.