Kugenuma Kaigan part 2

Kugenuma Kaigan 鵠沼海岸！！！



Weijin and Hansen



Hansen and me


The three of us went Kugenuma Kaigan (Shonan Beach) to try out the surfs. None of us had done surfing before, but it was damn cool! Reached in the late morning, went around to a few surf shops to look - Tstick, blah blah. Surfing classes were kinda full, but there was this shop that still had vacancies. Signing up for it, 5200yen (SGD67), we went to McDonalds for breakfast.

It was a three hour course that started at 1pm. So we watched this video for around 1 hour, learning the different types of the boards, how to lie flat on a board, paddle it into the sea, catch the wave, stand up on the board, do a drop-down turn, ride to the front of the board, and some tricks as well. It kinda sound stupid to watch a video, but it was actually quite helpful and I was kinda grateful for it afterwards. The big boss of the shop came up and offered us drinks during the video, very friendly guy.

So we did a few practise runs on land, then went to change into wetsuits (refer pic). They are f***ing difficult to wear! I swear mine took 15 mins, while the guys took 20+. I had to jump up and down to squeeze up the suit onto my legs and thighs, and then pull up to my waist, then plunge my arms into the sleeves. I was panting after changing, but there was a girl in wetsuit standing outside when I came out, so... w00t!

So headed off with two other foreigners (?) and four instructors to the beach. The three of us took longboards (easier than shortboards), and did some stretching and practise runs on the beach. Next was the paddling into the sea, although the instructors guided us. The sea was freaking cold, I was shivering when I entered, wondering if I would survive 5 minutes of it.

Then we were spurned around and held on like small kids. Well, in the beginning it was good because we can learn the exact moment of paddling forth to catch the wave and stand up on the board, but at around 80% of the course I wanted more freedom to try stuff myself... like the larger and crazier waves... muahwahahaha.

So of course my first wave failed, stood up for 3 seconds, lost my balance and toppled over to the left. F**king c**b* cold water greeted me, but it was f**king shiok la! Grabbed back the board using a cord attached to my ankle, I went back to the nearest available instructor and tried again.

Well, the waves were actually a little crazy that day (according to the instructors), and imo, the amount of fun you get is actually how pia you are, falling off and heading back for more punishment. I believe the girl that was with us didn't do like 60% of my tries.

So I was onto the board and riding a wave like the 4th or 5th try? It was freaking shiok la! I finally conquered the wave and was riding on top of it to the shallow sands, damn stylio! Well, it lasted like 10-15 seconds. I thought it was very well done, considering that the instructors held onto us at the shallower waters, with the sands right up ahead. That was why I was wanting to head off by myself after like 10 tries.

Well, but it can't be done, I'll try that next time. Anyway by the end of the three hours, I had swallowed 4 times huge portions of sea water, thank you it was very salty. And considering that I have till Gold Star, I think it was a crazy day and crazy waves. My shoulder freaking ached from glancing back at the waves, hands sore from riding the board, calves abit over-stretched from being too tensed up.

2 hours (3) was bloody sufficient for me for my virgin surfing, although I could go for more punishment, I didn't want to collapse at the end of the day. So we headed back to change, caught a few more glimpses of the wetsuit girl, and it was to Yokohama to eat.

Hasta la vista la, baby.