The Donavon Weekend. Sanuk's Opening Act.

Incredi-weekend. Glassy 3-4 foot right-handers, solid morning sessions, non-stop sunshine, the Donavon show on the beach, cold beer, random laughter, photos galore... good vibes all around. Love these trips where I not only get to hang out with old friends but meet new ones as well. ♥

It started on a Thursday afternoon when - through the kindness of Vangie and Ruby - I was given one-on-one time to interview Donavon Frankenreiter. See, I have been a fan of both his music and his philosophies on surfing/life since before I even learned to make the drop. So that afternoon? A good 10 years in the making. Brought Elaine with me so she could interview as well and we could maximize exposure for Sanuk. :) A few hours later, Donavon and Matt played at Gweilo's where good vibes and smiles were aplenty... and I won a pair of Sanuks! :D Just in time for my baby bro's birthday too!

Then it was off to El Yu at midnight on Friday. Left at midnight, arrived at 430am. Slept at 5, was putting sunblock on at 6:30. In the water by 7:30. Suffice it to say that it was three hours of super stoke -- friends in the line-up, 4 foot glassy peelers, sunshine, no jellyfish. The afternoon was filled with the costume surf contest, a lot of hanging out and prepping for the evening's concert... which by the way was likely the most amazing thing to happen for many a sexy surf beastie in the country.

Sunday: three hours at the Point, then got hit by the lazy stick and just hung out most of the afternoon with various peeps, using Kahuna's wifi to live Tweet photos.

On the road by 10pm and in Manila by 4am.

Missing Balian

Back in March of 2010, I was recovering from a bout with viral arthritis, an auto-immune illness and a break up. A trip to Bali had been booked months before and it was with a lot of excitement that I boarded that Air Asia flight to the Island of the Gods.

We split into two groups - mostly based on where we were all booked. We spent the first two days apart - constantly in touch via SMS and Facebook. One evening Dom, Annie, Wiwi, JP and Tin texted us to say they were heading to Balian in the morning. So Philip, Miki, Ja and I hooked up with Nata, rented an extra board for Jam, woke up at 5am and made the trip up.

And fell in love. If I could have married a surf spot during this trip, I'd have come home as "Mrs Balian."

We hit Balian twice all in all where we all scored fun rides, cheered for each other, had epic siestas on epic beds, ignored the annoying needle thingies in the water, stayed away from aggro haole boys (where is your aloha?!) and had the best time ever.

Jam and I weren't able to do a Balian trip this year though so my reunion with the spot I wanted to marry is going to have to wait.

For photos of my future husband, the Surf Spot, check out my gallery on Facebook.

*BALIAN is located halfway between Kuta and Medewi. There are accommodations in the area ranging from upscale to mid-priced. As of 2010, there were no backpacker-budget friendly lodges though. You can hire a van to take you there (I highly recommend Nata, hit me up for his contact deets) or rent motorbikes and make the drive up yourself. Leave early in the morning to beat the traffic.