Going yellow in Japan for 'Bersih 3.0'...

'Freesia is a genus of about 14 species. All the 14 species of Freesia are African in origin. Of The 14 Freesia species, 12 are native to Cape Province, South Africa, the remaining two to tropical Africa. (source)

Yes, apartheid ended in South Africa in the early 1990s.

While apartheid continues to be one part (albeit a big one) of the many problems in modern day Malaysia, I am using the yellow of the freesia from my garden to make my stand on the impending Bersih 3.0 demonstration today in Malaysia...


I am of the 'vintage 58' era, having been born just one year after Malaysia gained her independence from Britain in 1957...

Today, I take time out to salute the efforts and commitment of Malaysians from all walks of life in this historic endeavor for a just and peaceful Malaysia for all...

I am turning 54 in about two months time and I have been living outside of my beloved Malaysia since 1981...
Which means to say that the years spent outside of Malaysia (over three decades) is longer than the years spent inside of Malaysia...

All these while, I have been following very closely the political and social developments in Malaysia...
And I for one, have been sick for a long time with the selfishness and the dirty antics played out by the ruling party since they came to power in 1957...

Enough is enough...

While Bersih 3.0 is non-political and fights for clean and fair elections, I would go further to say that I want to see the current crop of corrupt and inept politicians get kicked out come the next general election...

Enough is enough...

And I pray that the current government, the useless police and the KL city office people will not do anything stupid...

No one can stop the will of the people in this fight for fair play and justice in Malaysia...

God bless you all...

Sakuras at the hillsides...

Sakuras again??

Thanks to the previous owner for the 'strategic' positioning of our house, we are privileged to view wild sakuras blooming on the hillsides, without having to do much of a walk...

This picture was taken in the morning, when the sun was lighting up the hillsides...

The pond (in the middle) is used for irrigating paddy fields... it is one of about 15,000 such ponds found in Kagawa Prefecture...

A shot of our 'inner' garden... see the goldfish pond (dug by yours truly) in the foreground? 

My sweeto haato was very excited upon seeing this rainbow-like lining...

Throughout the six years we have been here, this was the first time for us to see such a phenomenon...

This is another lovely scene that we enjoy...

The terraced fields provide me with lots of photo opportunities throughout the seasons...

Moved the camera slightly and we get another scene...

This is a rather unusual wild sakura...

The flowers being whitish compared to the somewhat pinkish others...

And when the petals begin to fall... it is time to catch them floating at the pond water surface...

See here for close-up shots of the blooms...

Sakuras in full glory...

The weekend of 14th and 15th April was pure bliss...

Our Somei-yoshino sakura tree, in full bloom... and cloudless blue skies in the backdrop...

This angle probably captivates me the most...   

But this angle too, is equally nice...

Move a few steps, and we see onions and rape flowers in the field...

Still, the water body beckons...

Now, my missus says the top picture is the best...

and I wouldn't argue with that either...

The Somei-yoshino sakura is purportedly the most popular sakura in all Japan...

It is a hybrid between two (wild) species, the Oshima sakura (found around Izu area) and the Ezo-higan sakura (found in Hokkaido)... 

A 'gift' for our 26th wedding anniversary...

Got back from Calgary a week ago...

Calgary was time well spent... the meetings went very well, and our counterparts were such excellent hosts... 

On the drive back home from Takamatsu Airport, the 'Grasshopper' swayed at a corner... 

And woah, discovered the following day that the left rear tire was punctured by a nail...

Which gave me the first opportunity ever, to change a flat tire that afternoon...

But I digress...

The main story of this post revolves around our 26th wedding anniversary on 3rd April...
Years ago, I had totally forgotten to wish 'happy wedding anniversary' to my suweeto haato... wooh, that experience was frightening...
It led me to engage electronic calendars to send me reminders...
And shortly thereafter, I started to draw illustrative cards for my suweeto haato...
What do you folks think of the above illustration? :-)

And yes, the 'gift' from the heavens on our 26th anniversary...
Strong, strong, strong winds came by and swooshed across the Japanese archipelago...
Winds, stronger than that of typhoons... 
The last time this weather phenomenon happened was 58 years ago...

Our poor 'symbol' tree, (Mominoki or Japanese cypress) could not withstand the winds any longer... 
I was at the university, and my missus could only helplessly watch as the tall tree fell over, taking with it our bamboo fence...

Now, just a day before, she was commenting to me on how the tree was slanting...
I could only managed a 'hmmm'...

And for months years, she had reminded me more than once to chop the tree...
It might fall over and hit our house... she said...
(Luckily when it did, it missed our house and our car too.)

But husbands being husbands, the only logical answer from yours truly was: 'hmmm, perhaps later'...
(Lesson learned, again... listen to the wife!)

That tree was ten meters tall...
It took me two hours just to chop off the branches and free the plants (roses, rosemary, jasmine, etc...) that were trapped below...

Well, on a bright side, my missus was telling me that she wanted a Daidai 橙 sour orange (Citrus aurantium) plant in our garden...

I had said ok, and I was looking for a suitable place to plant it... a place with full sun, and a place that is nearby so that we can enjoy smelling the flagrance of the flowers...

Looks like we have found the perfect spot in the space vacated by the fallen tree... 

Thankfully, the 'unfortunate' event is not totally that 'unfortunate' after all...