The calm after the fury...

Went for a walk in the neighborhood with my love...
The view up in the hills was spectacularly beautiful...
So blue was the sky...
and so serene and peaceful was the Japan Inland Sea...

Still, Typhoon Number 15 had left its unmistakably destructive marks in the hills...

Landslides big and small, here and there, waiting to be cleared...

Drains choked and clogged... water still spilling...

Had a wonderful opportunity this weekend to meet up with some former and current students...

They were/are members of a university club that I had established...

We met up at a restaurant in Takamatsu city... one that serves delicacies using ingredients predominantly sourced from the local area...

While bicycling back home, took a snapshot of this rice field...

To me, this is so typically Japan...

Rice fields in the foreground, and houses lined up in the background...

Another shutter chance came up as I was crossing a river...

Wooh... what a lovely sight, I thought to myself...

The brackish water in the river is actually quite 'black'...

But the reflection from the early evening sun plays magic on it...

I stood there for many minutes... doing nothing but soaking in the scene...

Splendid moments at Mabul Island

Typhoon Number 12 is slamming her way past Shikoku right at this moment...

This is the second typhoon to hit us this season...

Winds are menacingly fiery... rains, heavy and ballistic...

On a Saturday like today, I should be out in my potager...

But I am stuck indoors...

And, why not take this opportunity to recall our scuba diving vacation at Mabul some time ago... 

This was our third stay at the Sipadan Water Village...

The dozen or so dive boats there characteristically take on names that are 'lady-like'...  

The gods were with us as days were really fine when we were there...
Scenes were thankfully, extra pretty...

From our 'little' experience diving over the years, we would say that this resort has just about the most well designed dive center...

We are fond of diving the house reefs, and entry into the dive sites here is very easy...
Which is one big reason why we are 'repeaters' in this resort...

The all wooden structures are actually very well built...

And well maintained, so far...

This time, we stayed in a chalet facing the village on the island... 

Some Bajau Laut aka Sea Gypsies live on boats anchored off the island...
Each day, in between our dives and mealtimes, I had the pleasure of observing how they went about their lives...

I witnessed the boys brushing their teeth in the mornings... 

the womenfolk cooking their breakfast at the kitchen...
And their hanging of the laundry by the side of the boat...

Still, the majority of the folks live on the island...

Relying mainly on fishing, their lives seemed so carefree...  

Each morning, the little kids would paddle their boats...
Was impressed to see how skilled they were with the boats...