Two mundane views of the Japan Inland Sea...

Am now actually in Gifu city, Central Japan...

Spent a night here after attending a seminar...

Would have loved to rent a bicycle to cycle around Nagara River, famed for its cormorant fishing for 鮎 ayu, a sweet river fish... 

But... there is always a 'but'...

Anyway, just a short post on two views that I enjoy whenever I cycle to work from home...

 

This was shot from 屋島大橋 Yashima O-hashi (Yashima 'Big' Bridge) during one of the low tides...

That table top hill is Yashima... the surrounding area is known for being the venue of a historical battle fought between the 平家 Heike and the 源 Minamoto, two warring factions in the early 12th century...

This is 詰田川 Tsumeta River, which is situated in an industrial part of Takamatsu city...
'Industrial'... yet, 'leisure' boats are often parked by the riverside...
It is but an ordinary scene... I said to myself...
Still, for fun's sake, I had to capture it...

Potluck party with neighbors on a windy autumn's day

We had the honor of hosting the 3rd potluck party for our neighbors last Sunday...

Seven families got together for a day of yakking and for delicious, homemade food...

The wind was pretty strong and the temperatures, somewhat chilly...
But that didn't stop us from having a ball of a time...

First, home-made buckwheat noodles aka soba made from scratch...

According to our friend, the combination was 90% buckwheat flour and 10% wheat flour...
Excellent, excellent taste...

Some salad, oriental style with cucumber, tomatoes, egg, ham...

 Fried dumplings... crunchy on the outside and juicy on the inside...

Ginko nuts... peeled and lightly fried in oil, and served with a pince of salt...

O-yaki... in other words, Japanese yam, lotus root, glutinous rice flour, and seaweed fried in light oil over a flat pan...

This dish was new to us and while the dish did not look that 'photogenic', the taste was good... my missus ended up asking for the recipe...

Update for Alice:
(Managed to ask our neighbor about the recipe... )

Grate Japanese yam（山芋）, lotus root and keep aside...
Mix with 上新粉（top-grade rice flouｒ）
Add seaweed (after softening in water)
Blend all ingredients in bowl and make into patties...
Fry over flat pan over some sesame oil until slightly brown...

Serve with some soy sauce...

Braised(?) pork with fresh veggies done up by one of the husbands...

Our contribution... horse mackeral, deep fried outdoors in our garden...

Fire and utensils were prepared by yours truly while the lady of the house took charge of the cooking...

The fish was immediately dipped into a concoction of vinegar, Japanese rice wine, and lots of fresh vegetables...

And left to season for one night for better taste...
I ate the fish whole... bones, fish head, fins, meat and all...

Plus, vinegrette Spanish Mackeral... also prepared by my suweeto haato on the previous day so as to 'enhance' the flavor...

This dish proved to be very popular among the attendees...

The sweets, various types, were brought all the way from Kobe...

Besides these goodies, there were drinks soft and hard, chocolates, persimmons, grapes, and freshly brewed black mint tea...  

We were very happy that our neighbors enjoy the party as much as we did...

And we are looking forward to hosting the fourth gathering for sure...

Barracuda Point @ Sipadan Island

On our holidays long time ago, we used to snorkel at some of the resorts we visited...

While it was very enjoyable, I wanted to go deeper, and swim with the fishes instead of looking at them from the top...

The sunburn from snorkeling was not very nice, anyway...

Plus, I particularly envied the scuba divers at the resorts...

My dive buddy aka suweeto-haato feeling comfortable, suspended in mid-water at Barracuda Point.

So I said to myself... if these people can do it, why not us?

But my missus was not so keen...

'I am wearing contact lenses', she said...

Took me years to persuade her to take a scuba diving course with me...

Barracudas circling above us...

Then, while holidaying at one of our favorite resorts one day, we saw an elderly Japanese couple... scuba diving...

And, I said to my missus...

Hey, let's chat with them...

They had just started diving a year before...

And they regretted not doing it earlier...

A close shot of the barracudas...

Wooh, that was what I needed to persuade my missus....

I imagine it to be quite un-interesting to be diving 'alone'...

The following year, we found ourselves at at Koh Tao in Southern Thailand...

It took us five days to undergo the course and it turned out to be a miserable experience...

Why, it was raining almost every day...

Jacks almost always make an appearance at Barracuda Point...

I shivered and shivered as we did the routines in the water...

Back at the chalet, the towels were perennially wet...

We seriously wondered if it was worth the while...

Come to think of it, that was in March 2001...

My dive partner 'walking' on water, observing the jacks...

Since then, we have been scuba diving for most of our holidays and we must say that it has been a very rewarding experience...

Our last trip to Sipadan last July was equally enjoyable, albeit too short...

Most recreation divers go to Sipadan with one thing in mind...

That is, to dive Barracuda Point...

Bat fish can be seen at the shallows at Barracuda Point...

We were lucky to be able to see the barracudas on the two occasions we were there...

Some divers come away disappointed as sometimes the barracudas could not be seen...

A solemn weekend spent...

Autumn is the season that I love best...

The air is dry and cool... and just so pleasant to be outdoors...

This is also the season when the higan-bana, a favorite flower of mine, comes to full bloom...

Known as Lycoris or Red Spider Lilies in English, this perennial plant is native to East Asia...

The higan-bana is commonly found in footpaths in the countryside and around graveyards... 

In East Asia, this flower is related to sorrowful legends...

Spent this last weekend in our potager in a solemn mood...

Two evenings ago, received news from my nieces about the demise of my eldest sister...

It is always a sad feeling to lose some one you love...

Someone so close... someone who took care of you when you were small...

The higan-bana... 

Beautiful as it is.. yet so sorrowful...