The pariah Malaysian state of affairs...

Reading the daily news on Malaysia is a perennially tetchy affair for a Malaysian like me...

For one, what pariah state has this oppressive law that illogically limits an assembly of people to just five? Myanmar?

Above that number, you need a police permit.

And the good news is, the police-thugs will decide whether to give you that sickening piece of paper depending on their dim-witted fancies...

Goddamn Malaysian pariah state of affairs, I say...

And in which country can you find police officers linked to the deputy prime minister, no less, blowing up foreign ladies to bits with exclusive explosives under their ambit?

And then, to think about the pariah state of affairs in the Malaysian judiciary...

How low can these scoundrels go?

If the chief justice is not involved in the tapes, why the fish did he not sue the blinkers out of the accuser?

Does he not know the law... this 'honorable' chief justice we are talking about?

And these very scoundrels are telling us that Malaysia will magically become a 'developed nation' come 2020...


Man, what the fish...

Scuba-ing at 1.5 meters of water

Yeap, you heard me right... the following five shots were taken while yours truly was scuba-ing solo in 1.5 meters of water...


This is probably some kind of scorpionfish... size, maybe 15 cm... it was just sitting still, waiting for a prey to come along, I suppose...


I would like to call this specimen 'Lemon damselfish'... there are loads of them hovering in shallow waters... movements are very jerky, as if in excitement... size, 10 cm?


Enjoyed watching these gobies come in and out of their burrows with their companion shrimps...
Here, I visualized this guy basking in the shallows with its very own 'Mt. Fuji' in the backyard...


In 1.5 meters of water, you use almost no air... so there was plenty of time to observe these goatfishes feeding at the bottom... they use their barbels to stir up the goodies... this specimen is called 'Dash and dot' goatfish... hmmm, pretty self explanatory... size about 20 cm...


This cute little fellow was swimming all the time... it is a juvenile fish which will grow up to be what is called the Harlequin sweetlips... its swimming action is very pronouced and rather sluggish... I followed this guy around the reef and each time, it will return to a fixed spot which is probably its 'home'... size was about 10 cm...

Feather-stars, damsels, spider-crab, batfish and puffer

Befriended a family from Italy on our last dive trip...
(Leonardo, here are some pictures for your viewing pleasure... and there are more to come...)
The above is one of my favorite shots of late... a leather coral being sandwiched by two feather stars of yellow and black... this is a rather common scene in tropical waters...


Damselfish (Indian Dascyllus) hovering over a colony of finger corals... about 10 centimeters they were? Was diving solo at the house reef... enjoyed remaining as motionless as possible (except for the breathing of course) while watching these cute little guys...


Spider crab sitting comfortably on a deflated bubble coral... it was not bothered at all with my photographing... size is minute, let's say, about 2 centimeters across?


Circular batfish with scuba tank... we were levelling off at 5 meters, waiting for the boat to arrive when a school of these graceful guys came by... and they were not afraid to come close... size was about 40 centimeters... and they looked pretty meaty... slurp...


White-spotted puffer amongst finger corals... was diving solo again in about 1.5 meters of water at the house reef when I caught this fellow cruising by... about 20 centimeters...

Sunrise, sand, ships...

Waking up early offers a refreshing opportunity to observe the seasonal movements of the rising sun...
Here, we could see the sun rising off Shodoshima, literally translated to mean the Island of the Red Beans...


Along my way cycling to and from work, I get to enjoy these kind of scenes...
This stretch of the beach is quite rubbish-filled... arrrggghhh...
Yet, this is not stopping those folks from having a good time...


A few meters from that beach is this one...
Hmmm... would have loved to jump in for a dip myself...


I enjoy shooting pictures of ships during misty days...
This ferry boat is heading for the Osaka area...


This is another of a large number of ferry boats that ply the sea-lanes in my neighborhood...
Those pandas... nope, the ship is not going to China...


PS: Just got back from two weeks of vacation in Malaysia...
Weather there was much cooler than the hellish Japanese summer temperatures...