The hours I spent in the Hong Kong airport might have been tedious for some, but for me it was a great excuse to test out some of the local cuisine. After pointing to a picture on a menu with “Ho Yau Gon Lo Won Ton” written underneath, I was served a noodle soup which was a tad fishier than anything I’ve ever been served in the U.S. but after some getting used to, was really quite enjoyable. My traveling companion on the other hand complained of a weak stomach, avoided the local delicacies, and chose instead to go to Champions Sports Bar. To each his own, but I can’t help but feel that if you are going to travel somewhere totally exotic and new why not be open minded and take the opportunity to try something different?

Regardless we eventually made it to Manila where I grabbed a shower and three hours of sleep in a real bed before heading to the local airport to catch the 40 minute flight to Naga. We left Orlando, Florida at 8 am on Wednesday morning and finally arrived at CWC at 2:30 pm on Friday afternoon.

I keep asking myself if it’s possible that maybe my plane from Manila to Naga crashed and I am now in fact in heaven. But there’s a bunch of English kids sitting on the beach blasting techno music drinking Colt 45 with a Hungarian playmate, which doesn’t really fit my image of life after death. So instead I’ve come to the conclusion that CWC is as close to heaven on earth as one can get. Besides being scenic beyond belief (Tiki huts, rainforest, mountains, etc…) and providing the service and atmosphere of an exotic country club, the cable is a wakeskater’s paradise!!!!

You can bet your bottom dollar that as soon as I arrived I threw on a bathing suit, ripped my board out and was in line for the cable before you could say “Ho Yau Gon Lo Won Ton” three times fast. I spent the evening yesterday hitting all of the rails I knew I could: a c-rail, an incline rail, several different boxes, and a kicker on my heelside. I was delighted to see that there is a box here very similar to the one at O-dub both of which are set up on my toeside. At first I thought “great, I’ll work on hitting that so I can stick the tricks I do at Odub here for the contest.” But then I remembered the Hong Kong airport and my “Ho Yau Gon Lo Won Ton” soup. There must be at least 4 rails here that are unlike any I’ve ever had the chance to hit. So why not take advantage of the new opportunities presented to me? That’s my goal for today, to try anything and everything new that I can. Let’s face it, in wakeskating and in life, we shouldn’t let preference for the comfortable and familiar stand in the way of the opportunity to experience something totally new and exotic.  Well I’m off to shred, but you don’t have to cross the world to join me on my quest for new experiences. Go ahead, try a new gap, a new rail, or a new trick today. I dare ya!