Outstation at Gotanda

Am now in Tokyo, putting up the night at a business hotel at Gotanda.
The room is naturally, extremely small.
There is a bed, semi-double no doubt, a desk, chair, a unit-bath, and some other accessories.

Been on out-station trips for the last four weekends; three to Tokyo and one to Kumamoto.
Attending seminars upon seminars, that is.
Can be quite tiring, but work is work.

Felt a bit sad that Michael Jackson passed away at such a early age.
I think he was also born in 1958.
Such a waste of talent to leave so soon.

Shall fly back home tomorrow, back to my vegetable garden.
The corn is growing big and the birds are eyeing them.
Harvested some kang kong the other day... really tasty.
The basil plants are super healthy, so are the chillies.
Can't wait to dig my fingers into the soil.

Spring gardening...

Once again this year, the Somei-Yoshino sakura tree in our garden did not disappoint.
I have to thank again the previous house owner for planting this ornament almost three decades ago for our enjoyment.

Been spending almost all my 'free' time on gardening... as usual...
Am growing quite a range of vegetables in my patch... sweet potatoes, corn, carrot, onions, okra, buckwheat, various types of leafy greens, potatoes, peanuts (all but one seed was eaten by birds), pumpkin, cucumber, eggplant, bitter gourd, peppers, many strains of chilies (jalapeno, habanero, etc...), tomatoes, various types of beans...

Am immersing myself deeper into 'companion' planting... hence, calendula, dill, coriander, marigold, sunflower, nasturtium, lemon balm, different types of mint, borage, several types of basil, bachelor button, rue, sage, thyme, and some others that are skipping my mind at the moment...

Also in the process of making an 'inventory' of the plants and trees in our garden...
The list is still unfinished but wooh, think it is going to be quite a long list...

Meantime, am enjoying the lavender flowers in the herb patch manned by my missus... the bees seem to love the flowers too...

Goodies from the local fish market

Had the honor and pleasure of hosting lunch for three of my former mentors and their wives at our home the other day. They are either in their late sixties or early seventies and are still very healthy-looking. The event gave rise to an opporturnity for us to zoom to the Sunday fish market hosted by local fishermen. Here are some of our 'catches' for the day.

We bought two packets of these super fresh mini squids. They are just about the size of a thumb and it was our first time to see such tiny squids. Locally, they are called 'dango ika', or 'ball' squid if I may say. The fishermen advised us to cook them in sweet soy sauce, with ginger and garlic. But after slurping down one of them while my missus was washing them, I said we have to serve them as they are... fresh and raw. Yummy, I must say. Think I must have gulped down about ten of them that day.

We also grabbed a sizable flounder straight from the tank. Had one of the fishermen cut it up into sashimi. Not very professional in presentation if compared to a real chef's but the taste was marvellous. Also picked up an interesting item called 'pen shells' or 'fan shells' (according to internet sources). It tasted quite like scallops, only crunchier. And extremely tasty.

After bidding goodbye to our guests in the late afternoon, I gazed up the sky and good heavens, what a sight to end the day.

Harvesting sweet potatoes

I know, this photo is a bit off-season...
Tried my hand at growing sweet potatoes last summer.
'Naruto Kintoki' is what they call this specie.
Harvested them in early November last year.
Wooh, the joy of pulling those giant potatoes out from the soil...
They needed to be put in a dry place, away from the direct sun, for at least a week so as to allow them to 'sweeten' up.
Gave away some to neighbors and friends.
Still, took us months to slowly enjoy nibbling on them.
On hindsight, we should have harvested them earlier, as in mid October.
As such, we will not be overwhelmed too much by their size.
Will certainly continue to plant these goodies this season.
They really taste good, and they are easy to grow.

Dumpling making... Round one

Strange things can happen when a man ties the knot.
He becomes lazy...
Too tired to do the chores after a hard day's work, he claims.
The missus takes over the kitchen and the man enjoys the meals.
For many years, used to do the dishes after meals.
Even that, these days, the lady of the house says, 'it is ok, I'll do it'.
So, the man not only 'forgets' how to cook, he forgets how to wash the dishes, he forgets how to iron the shirts or he becomes clueless on how to turn on the washing machine.
Suddenly, after over two decades of pampering, yours truly one day said to himself... I would like to try my hand in making dumplings.
From scratch, that is...

He takes out the flour, throws in a dash of baking powder, a spoonful of brown sugar... and added water...
He kneads the concoction...
He pops in the meat and greens, and steams the 12 dumplings for 15 minutes under strong heat...

And woah.... here it is...

The taste?
Low on salt but quite yummy, I must say, if taken with vinegar and yellow mustard...
Am looking forward to trying a second time... soon...

Motor-assisted commuting

Weight 61.8 kilos...
Body fat 13%...
Height 175.5 cm...
Hmmm, am I too thin or what...
Was told by my doctor that I was on the borderline of hitting the 'metabolic syndrome' some months ago...
Put me under some stringent tests on diabetes...
Luckily, no problems...

Still, went on to control my intake of goodies...
And now, this... did I over-control the food intake or what...

Meanwhile, yours truly continues to commute with his mountain bike...
On fine winter days when there is no rain or wind, he'd be crawling through the 20 kilometers or so to the university, and 20 kilometers back home again in the evening... tail wagging and tongue dangling for that hot supper meal...
But ooh, the finger tips, the toes... go numb in the cold... this, despite, double gloves and double socks...
Other than that, it remains a joy to cruise the backlanes...

Still, there is no way to stop the old dog from aging...
So, had been eyeing the motor-assisted bicycle...
When the current bike goes kaput, shall certainly be shopping for one of those motorized bikes...
Truth is, while shopping for this current mountain bike, a friend suggested that I get the motorized bicycle. I shooed him off, saying that I am no wimp to rely on the motor to propel the bike.

Now, imagine yours truly gleefully cycling up the slopes, motor-assisted of course...hehheeheeee...

Finding solace in Kedah

Recently made an escape back to my village in Kedah, Malaysia.
The vast expanses of green padi fields offered much needed solace.
In the next few weeks, they will be turning golden yellow, ready to be harvested.
But too bad I had to hit the road before that.

Captured this on a cool cloudy day.
That farmer is in his 80s and he cycles about 3 kilometers or so daily to come tend his fields.
He has been doing this ever since I was a kid and he is still going strong.
The partially hidden mountain in the backdrop is of course, Gunung Jerai (Kedah Peak).


The year 2008 was supposed to be Visit Kedah Year.
But the place is unfortunately, as usual, untidy.
Perhaps that feature itself is an attraction?
Anyway, took this shot of the Balai Nobat, the Clock Tower and Masjid Zahir on a really nice-blue-sky day.
There used to be many raintrees in this vicinity, huge ones.
But the municipality people, who knows what they are thinking.
In this aspect, I think they have a lot to learn from Penang.
They chopped off all of them (leaving perhaps one or two?) and planted those skinny palm trees and the ill-looking, under-nourished royal palms.
Won't be surprised if they are dead the next time I come around.

A closer view of the real pretty Masjid Zahir.
If not for the overhanging wires, I bet she would look even prettier.