BREEZY HAWAII

Am now in Hawaii… what a lovely place it is… breezy, cool, no rain, and oh so touristy…

Had been here for a couple of days already and shall be leaving for home tomorrow morning…

Conference was so-so… not that good, not that bad… only thing is that, too many presenters fail to turn up during the sessions, which is rather disappointing for people expecting coming to hear them… but then this is Hawaii… people do not come here to ‘work’…

Another downside of the conference is that there is not much opportunity to network with other attendees… more mealtimes and social events should be incorporated into the program so as to offer the chance for delegates to mingle with one another…

Oh well… I am enjoying myself anyway, attending whatever sessions that are available and getting to know whoever is in the room…

I have one more afternoon left and perhaps I shall take a ride to the Ala Moana Shopping Center, just for old times sake…

While working for Singapore Airlines decades ago, the crew used to night stop at a hotel around the Ala Moana Shopping Center, so it may bring tears to my eyes to revive those memories… heheheheee…

A former colleague of mine suggested that I go and eat the ox-tail soup at the shopping center… let’s see if it is still around and if it is, I still have to find it… and being rather hopeless with directions, hmmm… the prospects are dim…

Oh yes, went skoooba-ing the afternoon after my presentation… the dive sites, Turtles and Koko Crater, were just off Hawaii Kai bay…

Didn’t expect to see much and was advised by my missus not to bring the underwater camera…

But to my surprise, at Turtles, the guide found a huge frogfish of about 40 centimeters, greenish yellow in color… man, wished I had my camera with me!

At Koko Crater, someone had put a Buddha statue on the sea floor… we saw a turtle, and the guide pulled out a poor baby octopus, manhandled it, and had the octopus placed on the mask of the novice divers and had their pictures taken…

So much on official lessons about leaving the animals alone…

CLOWN, SWEETLIPS, ANTHIAS, TRIGGER, NUDI

More pics from the dive trip at Roach Reefs...

An old pal asked about the 'equipment' used...

Been using Olympus C5050 for years, with just the internal strobe...

Considered purchasing an external strobe but the thought of the extra baggage continues to put me off...

No doubt, if armed with the external strobe, the shooting range will certainly be enhanced...

But for time being, I shall focus on taking pictures rather than to think of accessories...

The key to taking good pics, I believe, ahem... is to know one's equipment, more precisely, what the equipment is good for and its limitations...


My buddy and I love these guys... the anemone fish a.k.a. nemo...

Who doesn't, anyway...

These two, I believe, are pink anemone fish... correct me if I am mistaken...


This guy was hovering just beside me as I was taking pics of some shrimps on a late afternoon dive...

What a friendly fellow...

I believe this is a blackspotted sweetlip... again, correct me if I am wrong...

Size was about 40 centimeters...


Ah... anthias... one my favorite small fishes to watch...

They are very energetic and a lot of a patience and luck is needed to shoot them...


The currents were coming in strong...

Fishes fleeted about... looking for places to hide...

Was then surprised to see fish tails lying on the sand...

I thought these were blue tangs but after consulting the books, perhaps there were a type of triggerfish (red-tooth maybe?)


Nudibranches remain a favorite photo subject...

A dive site site could be just rubble, but upon closer observation... hoolaaa...

This is supposedly a common specie although I do not get to see them often...

They go by the meaningless name of 'Caloria indica'... and is recognized by the orange head with white and yellow markings, and 'cerata' (those horn-like stuff on the torso?) with blue and red markings...

ORANG UTAN CRAB, TUBE CORAL, BLADEFISH, BLUE-FACED ANGEL

Saw this creature for the first time at Roach Reefs...
Here the crab does look a bit like an orang utan, looking to its right and flexing its arm muscles...
It is resting on a colony of bubble corals...
Size is about one centimeter...


This tube coral looks very bland that it is easy to miss...
Unless it is out feasting, as above...
Its frills, or tentacles (?) are like a work of art so exquisite that I could just gaze and gaze at it without feeling bored...


The blade fish was a diffcult subject to take...
These two guys were always in the same vicinity, that is, just nearby the jetty...
All they seem to do was to just sway with the tide...
With camera in hand, I did the same, swinging along with waves...
After a while, I got a little seasick... and still, no satisfactory photos of these guys...


The Blue-faced angel fish is one of the most colorful creatures...
I was lucky to come across this guy who was rather obliging...
You can imagine how happy I was because until this point of time, I have only managed to take pictures of fish tails...
The little fishes around the angel are anthias...


A accidental closer shot of the same guy...
Perhaps it was curious to find out what I was doing...

A DAY AT THE OSAKA U.S. CONSULATE GENERAL

Am due to present a paper in a conference at Hawaii in late May...

Needed to apply for a visa at the US Consulate General at Osaka...

The last time I applied for a US visa was in 1997...

There was no interview and I only had to post all documents including the passport to the Consulate General...

Was then pleasantly surprised that I was granted a B1/B2 visa for 10 years...

(This visa expires on 14th May, just about a week before I depart for Hawaii).

Compare this to the visa granted by Taiwan when I applied to go there for a conference...

The Taiwan visa took up one full page of the passport, just like the US visa...

And the permitted length of stay was a mere 14 days... arrgghh...

The Canadian visa, just for comparison sake, also takes up one page and is valid for 3 years...

Back to the US visa application...

Expectedly, the preparation for the documents took up a great deal of time...

Along with the 'normal' documents such as CV, letter of invitation by conference organizers, publication list, etc., they also ask for father's name, mother's name, wife's passport, and marriage certificate...

On the appointed time and day, I arrived to see a queue of about 20 people.

Parked by the roadside were three buses with tinted, mesh wire-protected windows...

Standing on guard around the buses and the entrance to the Consulate General were several security men...

I presumed there must be tens upon tens of more security personnel waiting in the buses, ready to pounce on the tiger just in case someone tried to be funny...

Once inside, applicants had to undergo airport-styled security checks...

For those who brought bottled drinks, they had to be declared and left outside the building... plus, for my case, I had to leave the piece of bread I brought just in case I needed something to chew on...

Prior to the interview, dedicated staff checked the documents and only those who had compiled the full list were allowed to proceed for the interview...

Had expected to be seated for the interview but it turned out to be more like talking to someone who is sitting on the other side of the counter, protected by a glass screen...

The lady was very polite and sweet, and super fluent in Japanese...

She asked a couple of questions and when I showed my marriage certificate that was issued in Texas, she exclaimed softly 'I love Texas'...

And then, 'Ok, we shall issue you the visa and it will probably take about a week to reach you... Have a nice trip'...

And yours truly: 'You too, have a good day'...

Was happy that the whole process took only about an hour...

Walking back to the subway station, I could not take my eyes off the unagi kabayaki (grilled eel) shop... the flagrant... ooh...

But no... it was too early for lunch... I thought...

Decided to walk around the area to take some pictures of Yodoyabashi...

And whoaaa... in no time, my stomach began to growl...

Without a second thought, I rocketed back to the unagi shop and rewarded myself with a una-juu lunch...

The Japanese folks sometimes ask me what my favorite Japanese food is...

Ever since I discovered unagi kabayaki many moons ago, it has remained my all time favorite Japanese food...

Wooh... heavenly it is...

The next morning at university, I received a telephone call from my missus...

The package from the Osaka US Consulate General has arrived...

Impossible, I responded immediately...

Perhaps they needed me to send in additional documents...

It turned out that they were super-super efficient in my case...

Never had I expected to receive the visa the following morning after the day of the interview...

Again, the visa is valid for 10 years... nice...

So folks, I am, Hawaii-bound in a few weeks... and I intend to enjoy the trip...