Trippin at The Triple S Invitational 2013.

I cannot believe it's been a year since i was last here in hatteras trying to hit sliders with a kite.
I can't believe it's been a year since i last saw these people who share the same interest in wakestyle kiteboarding. Time has been flying faster than usual.


It's been a great long week and i cannot believe it is over.
so fast.

I'd really wish i can spend more time here or in the hood so i can progress in riding rails.
If there is on thing that i love the most in this world is hitting up a slider park.
A lot of reasons has held me back in spending time in the cable than i usually do.
first of all work, moving out from the cable park area and the amount of injury i get crashing when in the cable.

I will not stop saying this over and over again but wakestyle kiting gave me a new window to explore the accessibility of wakeboarding to me similar to that of a cable but using a kite as my source of pull.
I never thought i can have that "wakeboard" feeling again when i decided to move away from the park and when life threatening injuries occur.

I have tried a few times to get sliders up in my home spot but due to the lack of support and an ideal location for sliders it is quite a big job to do for a 50 kilo asian girl.

That's one of the biggest reasons personally for me, for coming down for the triple S.
The Sliders here are even made better than what we have back home st the cable and it's great.
Aside from that, the Slick is butter flat. just like in a cable park.
plus you also get some surf! i cannot wait to get my hands on my own surfboard to get used to it and eventually get into more kitesurfing as well.
This place is perfect for the kiting style i chose.
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although i did not get into the podium, which is at this point in time very far from me with the lack of experience, it has been really fun. like always!
Am really stoked to see the level of the girls just get up there.
Am really impressed with the improvement and the amount of effort that these girls put into their riding. it's very inspiring.

Especially that of Stance MAgazine's Dominique Granger, now riding for SlingShot, - who submitted a wildcard video, entered the Triple S open and made it to 2nd place in the surf discipline.
Congratulations Dom, well done!

Congratulations to all the winners! very well deserved!

I also didn't party so much this year and concentrated on doing yoga, running with sensi and colleen plus taking photos and making some art.
I am actually surprised with the amount of inspiration that i am getting right now that i cannot even keep track of it.
i've done 2 pieces since i got here which is impressive - with my state and laziness when it comes to drawing.



i also did a little shoot with Sensi and Colleen for Sensi Bikinis and #bikinisinaction. - check out our hashtag
it was sooo fun.

Aside from this, The Headware, which is one of my favorite brands had a great introduction to Cape Hatteras - through the Sunset Swim Charity Fashion Show.

The Headware is a local brand from the Philippines.
check out the radness here www.theheadware.com

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Check out some snaps i took over the week, with my new line mount for the GoPro.
i need to find better ways to shoot with this. can't wait to get kiting with this again.


The people behind the with a kite documentary is back to finish the project. It's nice to know that these people are still here, even with a lack of support from the "outside world" to still do what they do and killing every moment of it.

The Triple S Invitational was Inspirational.


To My Beloved Support Crew,
you are awesome!

BEST Kiteboarding
ROXY
DC Shoes
GoPro

The Headware
Tribu Outdoors
David Salon

Love you all !

Peace,
P

Next stop:

Pitt Stop at Kitty Hawk skate park with the guys behind Tribu Outdoors USA.
and a few days at Richmond to check out the new "house" that tribu built!

God I LOVE MY JOB!

Photos from: REAL Watersports, TONA, and my iPhone.

Last minute Run

So guys am back in Outer Banks for the Triple S Invitational again this year. The travel was tiring coming from Boracay and of course a few days in manila is needed to run some errands. Because i was busy with a lot of things before i left Paradise island i didn't realize that my manila trip was booked on a weekend! If your from the philippines you know that absolutely nothing gets done on weekends! First of all my passport was not even with me yet, then i had to take my luggage out from the roxy shop, go to the dentist, go to the headware office to pick up my stuff and peak into jason's playbox of bad ass product prototypes :) and of course get my hair done by Laura of David's Salon. Yeah whatever! I love going to salons and get pampered especially by David Salon and i am gonna be in the land of expensive salons For a while AKA USA and Europe. Good thing laura got me prepared for the battle with some serum to keep my hair alive for te next couple of months. Also tried to squeeze in a few wacky hours to see my wacky city friends!
So yes its my first day back in the states, still suffering from jetlag, woke up at 5am today! Although i was already sleeping at the plane in accordance to the time here so it aint that hard for now. thank god i flew via delta, and they also have a great selection of movies to keep me busy. being in boracay has its perks and downside including snail pace internet and backlog on movies. i saw 3 1/2 movies on the way here, bummed i didnt get to finish the last one which was Sam Pilgrim VS The World! And hope to get some good sessions in before the triple s! Am soooo excited! Can't waiiiit! Stay tuned!

What i was thinking during the trip:
Airplane food sucks
Sunsets are great from airplanes
I dont like window seats
Blue moon
And i shed some tears of happiness just because! - if you trackback my blog from 2 1/2 years ago you'll know what i mean



PS: sorry for the blurry iphone pics!

Love, P

KTA Finals in China

this is it guys, the final stop for the Kiteboard Tour Asia 2013.
wow that was a long journey, but very well worth it.



i was soooo excited to come here to China, and yes it's my first time.
I've heard so much about the food in china that got me to panic buy oatmeal and protein shake before i headed out here. and you don't wanna be around me when am hungry. my luggage was packed with these and my new freedom dolly cruiser arrived on time for my flight!


Also facebook is not available in China which was a good thing for me for a week, but i didn't like the fact that youtube, vimeo and other cool websites like pinterest is also not available here. i was looking forward to catching up on watching kite and wake movies on the net and download some fun stuff. but o well everything turned out for the best. i spent the afternoons skating around with some of the riders at the boardwalk while we waited for our heat.


unfortunately on this tour stop my long wetsuit didn't arrive on time so i didn't do the twintip race because the water was freeeeezing.
i was ok with my shorty during the freestyle heat because it was only 7 mins.
but not with racing so i decided to drop out from that before i freeze to death.

again had the same problem from thailand and boracay of not having a sail big enough to race with, compared to all the rest in their 11s/13s and even 15s.
so next year i would really have to get a bigger kite than a 9m

The trip coming here to Pintan was long, but since i was traveling with the whole Philippine Kite Team it made it seem like its only 3hours long, hey it was almost 24hours.

I love that our team had matching shirts and we are all helping each other with our luggage, visas, etc.

i love my teammates. we have a good mix of every discipline and we did quite well on this tour stop as you can see in the podium.

this stop, we stayed in a really nice hotel and i was also sharing a room again with rebecka, our norweigan speed queen who flew in all the way to compete and defend her ranking.



I also got to hang out with the Pingtan kiters on their very cool shop just right on the boardwalk.

The Chinese Government and the Pingtan Sports Committee was very well organized especially with the meals. the dinners were held in nice big halls for banquets and there are people reminding us to go to dinner. haha that was great. reminds me of helpers from the philippines



i was a bit picky on the food, although it seem yummy i was extra careful with my consumption to avoid any allergic reaction especially with shellfish




Plus, China is known for big extravagant things.
The opening ceremonies resembles a celebration of a national holiday which i think the government did declare it as such. Complete with daytime fireworks, military representatives, high school girls holding flags of each nation ( where the participants are from) and paragliders







The wind was a bit light on this tour stop so we did a LOT of racing. i probably spent more time skating than kiting in this tour stop, which was of course also good. i havent skated in awhile.

plus
I was able to squeeze in a run through the beach with rebecka my running buddy and am so glad i did. the view was amazing. and since it was cold, i had a nice time running.


PS: DC sent me this really nice running shoes, yes DC now has running shoes with ultralite for that really lite feel on each stride. and it comes in funky colors too



the whole tour was a great experience for me, i learned a lot of things kiteboarding wise and on myself. i realized that i do not like to be in the middle of race protests and would only be racing on twintip and for fun. i also realized that i really am not comfortable riding straps, and will stick to my boots which is what ive been used with from wakeboaording ,and when practicing or going on heats ill be sporting a cute white helmet to protect my head. i do not care of people think i look like a korean tourist trying to kiteboard. lol


i would also like to give props to all the people that believed in me and helped me get here.
without you guys this will not be possible.

thank you to my support crew, loveyah guys!

Roxy and DC Shoes
Tribu Outdoors and Headware
GoPro
David Salon
Mango Riders
and
Kasbah

So now it's time to party again, for the last time for the season, KTA style.

i hope you guys enjoyed following us on one great season! til next year.

love Paula

Tea Anyone?