Christopher Biala

This post is dedicated to my boy Chris, if it wasn't for him I would have never made it out of VA> and heres how it went down (in short form). Chris and I lived together in Linkhorn Bay over the summer. We had a blast living so close to our friends and the oceanfront, but it eventually came to an end. It was our last week living at the condo and I was helping Chris pack with a little help from the grey goose and redbulls he bought. Were were sitting outside smoking a cigg when he told me that he was getting out of the NAVY soon and was planning on moving back to Hawaii. Chris knew that I didnt have any serrious ties in VA so he invited me in on the trip. Lucky for me I had just recently came across some money and was able to buy the plane ticket. Long story short, I flew to Hawaii, and had the time of my life. Now I got my feet wet with the whole traveling thing and i feel like I could go anywhere I want.

party

Recap- cookout last night behind bike factory, lots of people showed up to say bye, ima miss those guys so much. I drank and drank untill I wasn't sad about leaving hawaii anymore. Woke up late, threw all my shit in a bag and drove to the airport with tarrin. My debit card didn't work when I was trying to pay for my bags so I just wrote a bad check. Wondered in a drunken stuper around the airport, causally strolling with the confidence that my plane would not leave without me. Made it to gate 26 with just secconds to spair. Talked to an attractive younger flight att. Now im on the plane listening to wutang wondering how im going to pay for this vodka sprite with no money. Hawaii, amazing, im going to miss it.

amazing

I don't want this day to end. I woke up with a smile and it hasent gone away. This place has changed me so much. I was once a stressed out pesamistic jerk and I look back and I can't believe I actually allowed myself to live like that. Anyways, im chillin at t-bags waiting for his sis to drop me downtown so I can skate around the beach and soak in that last bit of hawaiian sun. People are going to think im mexican, im tan as shit now and its just going to be funny to see everyones reaction when I get back to VA. So ima spend my day just relaxing and all that good stuff then when the bike shop closes they are having a cookout for me. Its going to be a bummer to say bye to all my new friends. in some other new, I got my jobs back (badass coffee and blue horshoe). I loved working at badass, I got paid to cook food and watch tv. And I met leanna there and she's one of the coolest chicks ever. Blue horshoe is sick too cause I pretty much hang out and bullshit all day. And my uncle is the manager so I get away with a lot. And both of the jobs are at the beach so if im luck ill never have to leave the oceanfront. Summer is just around the corner and if you have ever spent the summer at the oceanfront, you know that its a good ass time. Word up, im bout to head out now, be easy!

bye friends

In the last month there were a few people that I got pretty close with, and in the last week all of them moved back to the mainland. Now im pretty much back to where I was when I first got here, jobless and spending my days wandering the city endlessly waiting for the locals to get off work so I can have some people to ride bikes with. Im only here for four more days, but time is at a dead hault right now. Monday im flying out to LA to hang out with suzie lawless and bagle, and thursday night im digging out to virginia beach. It still hasent hit me that in a week ill be home again with all my friends, I can't wait.

Coco Head

Wednesday- got off work, met up Chicago and started drinking way to early. Went and had a funny ass photo shoot at the tree ride with kyle. I rode up a nine stair. Met up with Dwane other bike factory affiliated old guys at hooters. Spent to much money.
Thursday-Woke up and rode Some skatepark. Played Kyle in bmx and landed a febal to kickflip. Then I lost on a febal to x-up ride. Took a shot of whisky with some homless 16 yearold. Drove to diamond head, rode some weak ass trails. Then climbed the stairs to the top of diamond head, got my ass kicked. Climbed down. Drove around the island. Hawaii is beautiful. And now im bout to go to work, enjoy the pics!

Dimonds in the rough

Across the street from the bike factory, a shop I visit on a daily basis, it this old abandoned silo divers used to pratice in. Ive been here for months and never even knew it existed, even though it is basically across the street. It was dirtier then hell from all the dust and asbestos, but I was having to much fun pumping the bowl to care. The transition was about 8ft before it got to vert and the bowl itself was friggin huge, probably 50feet across.

update via sidekick

Im heading to town and I have some time to kill so I thought I could do a quick update. I hardly ever do these anymore mostly because im never home to use my computer. I go home a couple times a week to charge my phone and ipod, do some laundry, eat some food and im out. Right now im heading to work, and when I get off im going parting in waikiki with this girl from work, and dave and jason. Dave is from jersey and h does the funniest boston accent you will ever here, he's going to school at UH. Jason is from chicago and got here just a few days ago. He's actually been in austrailia for that last 3 months. He pretty much did the same thing I did, got rid of all his stuff and bought a plane ticket as far away from the winter as possible. Now he's in hawaii for the next few weeks before heading back to the fridgid cold of chicago. Its cool meeting someone who has that same itch to travel and really expirence the rest of the world. We also agreed on the fact that there is just no place like home, and its something we didn't appreciate untill we left. I don't know where im going with all of this, im just bored on the bus and trying to type this shit on my cellphone so please excuse the gramor and misspelled words. Fuck it, im done with this. Love you guys!!

Cloud Nine

Today was great, even though I had to work, and the weather sucked. I woke up in a great mood. Then I jumped on the bus and the lady driving had one of the top ten mullets ive ever seen in my twenty-one years of mullet watching, (see right) that thing is a beauty. I worked and didnt make much money because it was really slow, thanks to: 1. the weather 2. lack of promotion because of an incompetent mamagment team. When I got off I went to hang out with Dusti and had a freakin blast (always with her). Now Im back in Ewa and am still in the best mood, nothing could bring me down right now.

Steelers Sunday!

Superbowl sunday! BJ Penn let me down last night, but Pitsburg made up for it today. Today I woke up early and went surfing at this spot by my house, it was actually decent for once. After splashing around in the water for a bit, I grabed the bike and headed to Manana (sp?) to meet up with peeps. We rode and I did my first tailwhip in like 2 years so I was really stoked on that. Hopefully soon I can bring them back to the streets too. After the park, Kyle and I headed to Nich's house and ended up staying to drink and watch the steelers kick Arizona's monkey ass. On the way home I saw fullpipes from the side of the rode so I got dude to pull over so we can checkum. They were a little wet but it still made good for a good time. I was drunk but I still managed hold it down. (check my myspace for the offical pics).

Quicky

Aroha! Just woke up from a much needed full night of sleep. It's been really nice out the last few days, deffenitly doesnt feel like winter.Ive been working/ridingbikes/partying non-stop so I think today Im going to take it easy. Im heading out in a sec to go surf for a bit (if the waves dont suck) then Ima head into town to find somewhere to watch the game (go steelers)! Tomorrow is my first offical day of work, Im finially going to have money again, I cant wait.


Beer here is stupid expensive, even my bottom of the barrell beverages of choice.

da grind

Today was a long ass day. I had to wake up at 5:30 to catch a ride with Anne into town. I was like two hours early so I hung out at the park and drank coffee and smoked cigarettes until my vision went blurry. My work day today was filled with lots of standing in lines and eating food. I guess some people have it worse. For some reason the bus back home took longer then usual so i sketched pictures of people to kill time, and when a lady next to me realized what I was doing, she got up and moved to the complete opposite side of the bus. I thought it was kinda funny but at the same time she made me feel like a creep. haha

Hahahahahhaha, you know your jealous.

Back in business

First off I would like to thank blogspot for being idots. Someone changed my username and password and blogspot told me that there was nothing they could do about it. A few weeks later I heard back from them saying that the same person was doing this to multiple acounts, and a few questiong later I had my blog back.

Too much has happened in the last few weeks so Im not even going to bother talking about everything that has happened. I think later tonight Im going to do a post so come check that out.

It's been a couple days

Hang loose!

Cylur-Hang-five to whiplash, crazy

Nich, on the way to HU

Look closely at the seat, the thing is welded to the frame! Kyle has one of the most unique bikes I've ever seen and he's got the riding style and personality to match it.

Let's see, there was a cook out yesterday at the park and a lot of the guys were there. Good food and good times overall. We left there and rode street at UH. I was kind of tired so I sat back and watched everyone else. After all that business, I was about to head back to Ewa Beach but I decided to stop by the Bike Factory to drink ONE beer. About six beers later, Dwayne (manager at the shop) took me to the Outback Steakhouse that his wife works at. We drank way to much and even got to see a fight break out, I've never seen people get so crazy at a family resturant before. After last call we headed back to my house and Chris's parents were having people over so Dwayne came and hung out for a few beers. By the end of the night I was exhausted and really drunk and just wanted to crawl into a hole and pass out. I still drink but last night was only the second time I got drunk sense I been here, I'm back to my high school tolerance!

Today I just took it easy. I met up with Oscar downtown to film but we just bullshitted the whole time, I got like two clips. After that I had to go to Abercrappy and Fitch to get my paycheck for the day and a half of work they got out of me. Retail sucks and I made a promis to myself to never work in clothing again. The only cool thing about working there is the hott girls, but I guess you would have to actually have to work during the day to actually take advantage of that. Now I'm at the house and I think it's time to play some Wii, so, till next time..... shoots!

-Joey

Yeah

I had a pretty busy day yesterday. First I had to go downtown to the tuberculosis center to get my card. Then I had to go all the way to Waikiki to give the card to my employer, and I had to fill out a bunch of paperwork, tax forsms and stuff. After that I cruised around Waikiki a bit just checking everything out. If I ever move out of Ewa beach, Im deffinitly trying to move to downtown/Waikiki area, it's amazing down there. After wondering around there for a while I went and rode some street downtown and eventually ended up at Ala Park for a bit. There were too many skaters there so I hopped the 54 bus to pearl ridge. Its not uncommon for me to ride 2-3 skateparks in one day, god I love this island. At the paerl ridge park there was a guy riding a body board that was bolted onto a skateboard, and he was friggin killin it! On the way home on the bus I got shut down by a hot girl, I guess she had some sort of a boyfriend, I thought it was funny,
Some good news for me is that I dont start work for another week. It's been a long vacation for me, I havent really worked sence September (except for the 3 days at Abercrappy). So Im going to spend as much time as I can riding my bike and maybe getting to north shore again to surf a little bit.

The creek

Today Gary took me to this spot in the middle of nowhere. Our destination was a creek in the middle of some mountains. We had to hike through some gnarly stuff just to get there. When we arrived I jumped in the wrong part of the water and got sent about 100 feet down stream. It made for pretty laughs for everyone. We drank beers and cooked out caveman style (salmon and steak! yum). The spot had this really steep hillside that you could jump off of into the water, so of course I charged it right off the back.


This was part of the hike in. We had to climb a rope up this 30 foot wall, and I had 30 beers on my back so that made it extra fun. The drunk climb down was actually easier.

Super strong current

This is one of the best days Ive had so far. Tomorrow I have to wake up early to go into town to get my TB card from the clinic then go to my new job to do paperwork. I'm already thinking about leaving that place and I haven't even started yet. Its not a bad job or anything, its actually a great job. I just heard that bell boys in Waikiki make $300 in tips a day hauling luggage for tourists, and I also might have an opportunity to work on a cruise ship here and that's something I've always wanted to do. I guess we will have to see how all this plays out. If it were up to my greedy ass I would work all 3 jobs.

Here is the video of my jump

Surfs up brah!

Today Gary and I went to north shore to surf. The waves werent too big so I got to paddle out and mess around in the water. The water was crystal clear and the waves broke oh so nicely. I only cought a few waves but I had a blast. Looks like I found me a new hobby

Hau’oli Makahiki Hou! (happy new year)

This guy here is the shit. He cracks jokes non stop, and he does this trick at stoplights. Fucking rad!


These are some of the guys I rode with today. The guy on the far right just so happens to be a cop. Its not everyday that you get to ride bikes with a police officer. He had some cool ass stories about work. I guess last night he saw a guy get stabed, crazy.

New years in Hawaii is fucking nuts! Every house in the neighborhood was having a party and EVERYONE was setting off fireworks. And I'm not talking about rinky-dink fire crackers, the shit was serious. Between our house and the other houses in the court, we set off some many fireworks in the street that you couldn't even see the ground. The whole neighborhood was just going off, some houses were setting off some professional grade stuff. It was definitely an experience I will never forget.


Today was pretty chill. I took the bus into town and met up with peoples and we rode UH and some other stuff. I think we were all hungover because every time we got to a spot we just sat down in a shady spot and cracked jokes and told stories. Oh, last night Uncle Joon said that I can have his Camaro while I'm here if i get it running!(all it need is a battery and headlights) It's an 87 (same year I was born) and it only has like 60k on the engine, over all its in really good shape and I'm stoked. Ive always wanted an 80s Camaro. So this time next month Ill be working my new job, driving a Camaro, and just be ballin out of control!

That's it for today, leave lots of comments!!

-Joey

Pre new years

It's only 11:15 here, but back home I know my friends are already starting to go out. Im expecting a bunch of drunk phone calls around 7:00. And when it hits new years here and it's five in the morning in virginia, im going to return the favor!
I got another job yesterday! Its at a new resturant in the heart of Waikiki at the base of a very popular hotel. In Virgina servers only make 2.13/hour pluss tips, and food is cheep for the most part, I still managed to make a shit tone of money though. Here in Hawaii, servers start at 7.00/hour pluss tips and the food is expensive, so I can olny immagine the money Im going to be making at this place. Training starts mid-january and the resturant opens the firts week of February. Im suppose to work at Abercrombie till the 15th but I really hate it. I was not ment for retail, or working overnight.
I gotta make this short cause Im about to go to town to meet up with cylur to ride some street and drinkk some beers after. Any ways, HAPPY NEW YEASRS!!!!

This is why I love living here

Every bike rider wants to ride two things, empty pools, and full pipes. Bother are usually associated with being in places that you should no go. A pool is nothing more then akward transition and uaually comes at a price if you dare to ride one. Full pipes are nothing more then a halfpipe slamed together with no flatbottom and a roof that prevents you from airing out, and if found, they are uaually located in the middle of nowhere, or at some indutrial business surrounded by barbed wire fences. Then why do we all have the urge to ride these things? Because the chance to do so is rare. I estimate that 1 our of 6 bike riders will ever ride an empty pool, and 1 out of 10 will have the chance to ride a fullpipe.


To give you an idea of how big these guys were, look at the bottom of the middle one, thats my bike!
This is the random ditch that i found and followed about a mile in hopes to find something cool. Most of it was wet but some parts were plenty dry and made for a good time


I came here with little knowledge about the island and what there was to ride. I didnt even know they had skateparks. Little did I know that Hawaii is like BMX mecca. Ive seen a lot already but Ive only seen a small percentage of what this place has to offer. So far every new spot I find is better then the last. I can only immagine what is going to be next.

-JOEY

It's sad to see how people treat eachother

There is an epidemic in all cities world wide, homelessness. Not just drug addicts and the mentally ill are driven to the streets, hard working families make up a large percentage of the homeless. The Hawaiian islands are no exception. Here is an article I came across when I was doing a little research earlier today, http://articles.latimes.com/2006/sep/24/news/adna-oahu24. It's no secret that crystal meth is a big problem here in Honolulu, and that is one of the largest contributors to the homeless epidemic here. But there is one thing that most people in the mainlands don't know, and it's that cities all over the United states are actually buying some of their homeless people one-way tickets to Hawaii. Instead of dealing with it, they ship them off to a place where they can sleep almost anywhere year-round. They literally DUMP these people, citizens of their own cities, here in Hawaii.



I spend most of my time in downtown. I work there, it's where I go to meet up with people to ride bikes, and it's just where all the fun stuff is. So throughout my day I see a lot of street people. They are sleeping in shady patches of grass and on benches, or bumming change from tourists. On occasion, I talk to some of the bums at the bus stops to pass time. I know it probably scares my family to hear that, but I have a sense for danger and I know when it is safe to talk so someone, or when it is time to get the fuck out of there. They are people just like you and I who were just were put in a bad situation either by choices they made or it was something that they could not have controlled. The lady in the picture was at my bus stop today. I was waiting for the Express when she walked up the trash can I was sitting by and started rummaging through it. I'm kind of use to seeing that by now, but she wasn't pulling out old food or cigarette butts, only aluminum cans. She looked at me and smiled, so I asked her what she was doing. She said, "I can cash these in and get a little bit of money to buy some food, I also like to help out because I know most people don't recycle." Amazing! There are so many ways homeless people can make money, but she chose a less lucrative approach, knowing that in doing so, she would be helping out the environment. It gets better........ she sat down and pulled out a small package of Cheetos, and started to feed the birds. For all I know that was the last bit of food she had, but she chose to give the entire bag to the birds.

Homeless people have always caught my attention. When I was around 6 or 7, I went to Philadelphia with my family. One of my only memories of being there was at and ice cream shop. I remember coming out of the place with a milk shake the size of my body. We all had something, my mom probably spent 40 bucks at that place on ice cream for the family. We were sitting out front enjoying our treats when a some guy walked up to a trash can and started going through it. I never saw anything like it, I had no idea why he would be digging through the trash. Did he lose something? Then he pulled out the ass end of an ice cream cone and started eating it. Then did it hit me, "Ooh, hes hungry!". I looked down at my monster of a milk shake and without even a second thought, I walked over to the guy and said this word for word,"Here! You can have this! Its really good!" I handed him the shake and he replied with a quiet "thank you" and walked away. It was the act of a naive child with the basic human instinct to take care of one another. I didn't even do it to be nice or impress anyone, I just did it because i knew it was the right ting to do.

Everyone is born with the instinct to take care of one another, but over time it fades away and it turns into a big self-centered, every man for himself, winner takes all competition. I hope that one day we can live in a world where it's not like that, and everyone is treated fairly regardless of their economic situation or where they stand socially.


And that's how I feel about that-Joey