Kenny Learns How To Surf

It’s a disgrace that I lived 8 years in Australia, and during that time never did I learn from those surf-crazy Aussies how to surf.

I knew when I booked my AirAsia flights to Bali that on the top of my To-Do list is to know how to stand on a surfboard.
After all, every holiday is a chance to try something new. My last holiday in Hanoi, I gobbled down a beating snake heart along with its blood.
This time round, I’m gonna ride the waves.

Call me Kenny Sia, the surfer.
Our first night in Bali, we put up at the delightful Un’s Hotel not far away from Kuta Beach and all the action.
It’s clean, it’s quiet, it’s Balinese and best of all, at just US$18 (RM60) a night per person, it is dirt cheap.

Together with my travel mates Chris, IcyQueenGoddess and Cheesie, the four of us booked our surfing lessons through our cheerful hotel receptionist.
Surfing lessons at Odyssey Surf School cost USD$30 (RM96) per day. They aren’t the cheapest, but they are reputable.

That also was when our silly “surfing” conversation with Cheesie took place.
Kenny: Hey, you guys wanna try surfing?
Chris + IcyQueenGoddess: Ok!
Kenny: Cheesie, you wanna go surfing?
Cheesie: Ya, sure!
Chris: What? You’re gonna do surfing? But I thought you can’t swim!
Cheesie: What? SURFING!? No no no! Don’t want, don’t want! I thought you meant internet surfing!

Next morning, we were picked up from the hotel and whizzed straight to Kuta Beach for our surfing lessons.
Kuta Beach is the most famous but arguably the ugliest tourist beach in Bali.

The beach is not suitable for swimming but is there purely for surfing only.
The reason for that is because Kuta Beach’s waves are strong.

And I do mean…

VERY strong!

Kuta Beach is also extremely crowded with a lot of sunbaking tourists, which could be “a good thing” or “a bad thing” depending on how you look at it.
For instance, this is what we call “a good thing”


This is an example of “a bad thing”

Okayyyy…
Now back to our surfing lesson.
We were given some very basic instructions on dry land.

When our instructor showed us, it appeared pretty easy alright. The basic moves are really simple to do.
There are only 3 steps to remember, which I shall demonstrate to you in this video as follows.

Of course, those moves are a lot easier to do on land than in water.
After 10 minutes of practising, we were asked to jump into the sea and that’s when the fun began!

I want to learn surfing because surfers are often synonymous with the word ‘cool’.
You watch Cameron Diaz surf in Charlie’s Angels. She’s cool.
You watch Kate Bosworth surf in Blue Crush. She’s cool.

Even the penguins surfing in Surf’s Up are cool.
But for some strange reasons, when I surf…

…I didn’t even come anywhere close to cool!
Maybe I’m too fat to surf.
To my credit, at least I did managed to at least stand on the surfboard.
Watch this.

Ready.

Hands off.

Standing up.

Balancing.

Wahey, I got it!

Clap for me! Clap for me!

LOOK AT ME! I’M SURFING! I AM COOL!

Oh shit.


Music of the Week: I don’t listen to Chinese songs much nowadays, but once in a while somebody comes along with a beautiful singing voice that completely blows me away. This time, it’s by a local trio called 2V1G (Sounds disturbingly similar to “2 Girls 1 Cup”, but actually it stands for “2 Voices 1 Guitar”)
If you can appreciate soulful musicians such as Corrinne May, then you’ll definitely fall in love with 2V1G.

126 Replies to “Kenny Learns How To Surf”

  1. Haha!
    I’m an Australian so I know how to swim, but unfortunately not surf. 🙁
    HANG ON A SECOND! You lived in Australia for 8 years? Beaches here, you get bashed and thrashed for taking photos of strangers.
    At least you can now surf…sort of. 😉

  2. Even the way you fall off your surf-board was cool. Reminds me of a the infamous ‘Karate Kid’ move, i.e. the mantis/grasshopper?!
    Great post! ^^

  3. OMG.
    Kenny, I can’t stop laughing at the way you fall. If I were to surf, I guess I would end up like you, probably falling even faster…
    Man, Bali must really fun.
    How long were u there, by the way? A week??
    Is the trip costly? How much? I should plan for that in near future.

  4. I know that you are neither an economic analyst nor a fortune teller. I just want to know the reaction of our countrymen after the announcement of 40% increase in fuel and approx. 30% in our daily consumable items by the Goverment. I am not in Malaysia. I just want to know more. Thank you.

  5. lol, how did you manage to capture the “good things” ? if you want to surf, learn how to balance in a skateboard first.

  6. Hmm, wondering if u will kena flame again because of the ” good things ” u posted..good luck anyway -.-

  7. omgosh taking those kind of pics… =.= anyway I went to surf in Gold coast and they taught us the same stuffs as they taught you haha. it was fun hey?

  8. 2V1G! one of them is actually Winnie Ho! Her voice blows me away!
    http://www.610t.com/winnie/RUhappyNowtest2.mp3
    this is the first song that i got to know her..
    i thought that was fish leong singing when i first listened..
    she is the winner of Astro Talent Quest 2000 and top 3 at the world chinese singing conmpetition!
    she went to UK for a year to further her vocal study after released her first EP–> WHO?(Which is the short form of Winnie with Ho) Currently she is a vocal coach
    further details: http://www.610t.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=7944

  9. The thing about this was when I was surfing around in California, everyone was surfing and no one took any pics – they didn’t even bring cameras cos everything had to be sand friendly! 🙁
    I had to learn myself as well, but it was fun. 🙂 Got so dark though.

  10. I never did learn how to surf. It’s quite different from snowboarding or skateboarding. It’s heavier for one thing and the balance thing is harder with the waves.
    I was told some of the beaches in Aussie is off limits too e.g. Cronulla beach.

  11. Hahahahaha~
    This is dead funny.
    Hm, the “bad thing” has actually a pretty good body for his age. Maybe you should blur the face of the “good thing” out.. you know..
    ^^

  12. Girl’s voice in video said: “Papannya kali ya kependekan buat dia”
    Translation: “Maybe the board is too short for him”
    Good job Kenny!

  13. I tried surf lessons in Manly, but never got to the part where I could stand up. The 13 year old British kids in the same class did get it, so I’m blaming my age and height for my failure…

  14. hahaha… it was cool seeing you could surf until i scrolled down to see how “long” it was you were on board. no worries, i’m sure you got a hang of it at the end of the day didnt u?

  15. Hv fun.
    Hey, Kenny, what you blur the girl’s face? Is that your gf?
    Ah, the coach must be looking for pretty chick as he didn’t pay to Kenny’s ‘falling’. LOLz.

  16. audrey ooi has the face of an angel but how come she swears like a devil…9/10 sentences ended up with wtf..does the sentences sound better with wtf at the back i dont know..it’s more like a trend that youngsters need to follow so that they dont get left behind. sigh to the youngsters nowadays

  17. Yeeaah Bali! Did you come home with “Bali Belly”? I’m not sure about Bali, but I got Bali Belly in Jakarta a few years ago,, ugh and to make matters worse.. the toilets in Jakarta are somewhat different to Perth toliets. I can tell you.. Perth International Airport Toilets were the best thing I saw when I got back… Heaven

  18. haha. =) love the style of writing, and the way you make your readers feel like their there. found the mudah piece hilarious too. i love mudah! hope you don’t mind if i add you in my list of readables.

  19. Wow, seems like you have a lot of fun. Really admire you for always trying new things and your life seems to be lots of fun.

  20. Hey Kenny,
    How many days were you in Bali?
    Am thinking of going there too… so wanna find out from u wat was ur itinary…
    Thanks…

  21. I love Bali so much. I think that is the only thing that I like from Indonesia. Anyway, here are tips from me:
    * try bungee jumping (the only 1 in the whole Indonesia)
    * go to Tanjong Benoa (you can try loads of water sport such as diving, parasailing, etc)
    * try mount tracking (try mount batur (volcano)- it’s still active)
    and…1 week definitely not enough =p LoL

  22. AhAHAHHA nice pic at the last part.
    BUt kenny, i think u had some unclean content……the woman sunbathing …… you can see her …erm….. assets ….

  23. audrey ooi has the face of an angel but how come she swears like a devil…9/10 sentences ended up with wtf..does the sentences sound better with wtf at the back i dont know..it’s more like a trend that youngsters need to follow so that they dont get left behind. sigh to the youngsters nowadays
    Posted by: sigh at 11 June 2008 12:35 PM | Link to comment
    STFU

  24. I did a search for 2 girls 1 cup vid as I have no idea what u mean by Sounds disturbingly similar to “2 Girls 1 Cup”.
    The vid is damn gross!!!
    BTW 2V1G song is nice. Thanks for the intro.

  25. i remember how strong the waves were. i ventured out and didn’t realize i reached the red-flagged zone. double waves hit me and pulled me under… i almost drowned… in bali… that’d be a real pain… but i wouldn’t have felt it cos i’d be dead.

  26. You cucking funt, I hate the way your readers think ur funny. You’re most definitely not. Stupid azn trick tryna act cool, you sound like a broken record with your lameass jokes. moron.
    OH EMMMM GEEEE!!! KENNY SIA!!!!! *faints* Put a cork in it bitch

  27. It is a funny post as usual indeed.
    But, well, did you seek for the lady’s permission before taking such a picture of her and put it online? What makes that picture any difference than cecilla chung half naked pictures in Edison’s scandal?
    Well, it is not strict liability crime but I am not too sure if we need to seek for permission to snap strangers’ photo to begin with. Let alone celebrities.It is just whether or not the lady wants to go to the extend of suing you since it is a topless picture. You have to be aware and more sensitive of that.
    kennysia, you are indeed famous. You don’t need such a picture to get you any further. A good thing can be ladies in revealing bikini (your first picture), topless is unnecessary.
    :)I am not trying to be paranoid since topless pictures are everywhere in the internet.
    No offence, just want to point it out.
    Great day.

  28. wtf if you don’t get the meaning of using ‘wtf’ behind a sentence then i suggest you find out before giving your stick-up-the-ass opinion. but clearly you did not bother to find out, and i hate people like you – thinking that they can patronize other people without validated facts. go back to your tree la wtf

  29. LOL 10 June is meh bday!remember me? ‘finger dancer’ from kuching….remember the ifca dinner? and btw, i wanna ask, you travel so much, what about your work? you miss a lot of work right….come visit my blog when you can..Im learning how to blog from you . =]

  30. and this is why we love audrey ooi ^^
    and ‘sigh’, you must be very old since you’re calling aud a ‘youngster’ hahahahahahha.

  31. U might get bashed if she know u took her photo n post it up..Neway, u look like baby learning standing up aye… 😀

  32. LOL 10 June is meh bday!remember me? ‘finger dancer’ from kuching….remember the ifca dinner? and btw, i wanna ask, you travel so much, what about your work? you miss a lot of work right….come visit my blog when you can..Im learning how to blog from you . =]
    ———————-
    HUH??? why my last post’s name is JoJo????that’s not meeee! THIS IS ME!

  33. im a newbie here and guess what?im regular now!!not bcaz of the ‘good thing’ okay,dont get ur hopes up and decide to start a naked blog bcaz of me.hillarious blog u’ve got here.and,im frm msia and living in perth!!

  34. if you have lived i Australia for 8 years, you would know it’s bad manners to take pics of ppl sunbathing.. nude or not! jeez boy, where’s your manners?

  35. KennyAsia dude,
    You should surf in Hawaii! Way bigger waves!
    The chicks here are a MILLION times better than the crap you have in Kuching too. I so don’t want to take a vacation from working in Honolulu. Hotties up the ying yang!

  36. hhahhaha… im keep on laughing start frm the video clip there to the end of your story.
    well, im just starting knowing who you are kenny , but it’s fun reading your blog when im free…
    keep it on, i love thm!

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