Goodbye Blogger... thank you for all the good times...

Please click here → Kedahan-Malaysian @ Japan (Ver. 2.0), for my new blog at Wordpress. 
(Update on 19th October 2014)

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Yes, it is time to say goodbye to Blogger...

It has offered me a good platform to broadcast my views, my hobbies, my pictures, etc. to my friends in cyberspace...

If so, why 'goodbye'?

Well, the 'spark' is that silly thing called Google +1...

I had not paid any attention to it initially but it kept 'pestering' me to sign up...

So, one day, I casually signed up without reading what's in store...

After all, it is Blogger that we are dealing with here... they can't be that 'wrong', can they?

Or so I thought...

Yes, they said that with +1, all comments will be taken care of in one location... how nice, I imagined...

Imagine my horror when one blogger-friend told me that to comment on the blog posts, she needs to have an account in Google +1...

Yes, two or three new readers with +1 accounts commented... and I am happy that they did...
(Please accept my apologies as I honestly am quite lost as to how to reply to these comments through this +1 thingy.)

But, Blogger yanked off that comment moderation feature that I was used to... and I was not planning to spend more precious time playing games with Blogger on this...

So, what next?

Yes, get the heck out of this so-difficult-to-understand-and-handle +1 thingy...

Now, in Japan, I might be mistaken, but if a member of the 'yakuza' wanted out, he might have to chop off his little finger to present to the boss as a sign of 'regret'..

And what did +1 say to me if I decided to get out?

'All the comments will be deleted'...

Wonderful, said I... (and, with profound apologies to all who spent time to kindly comment on my posts)... so be it...

My first post with Blogger was in 28th October 2004...

Thank you Blogger, for all those nice things... but it is Sayonara for now...

To all my friends, I am bringing my horses to Wordpress...

The new url is here...

Would be a delight to see you there...

Sakura scenes in the Aji neighborhood 2013...

April in Japan is quite a lovely sight...

This is a scene that we can enjoy from our property...

Each spring, we wait with anticipation, the wild sakuras on the hillsides...

The pond is used to store water for agricultural (mainly paddy planting) purposes...

Taken from our vegetable garden, with the 'somei yoshino' sakura tree and our house in the background....

Our 'somei yoshino' sakura tree in full bloom...

View of our place from a distance...

The wild sakuras on the hill slopes...

And a final shot of the wild sakura that is just adjacent to our property...

(For some close-up shots of the sakuras, please see here.)

Lunch invitation from two senior citizens...

I feel rather weak today... 

Yesterday, we had the pleasure and honor to welcome 50 over new international students... 

As with all previous occasions, we have lined up a series of orientations and guidance sessions, culminating in a 'Welcome Tea Party' where we also invite (non-university related) folks who support our causes, to join...

It is tiring... but I think the real cause of my physical feebleness is, I suspect, bad elements or germs have entered my system... 

My body feels pain... my muscles ache... could this be a mild case of food poisoning, I wonder...

I had my 'suweeto haato' to gently yet forcefully step all over my back and shoulders, believing that this practice would banish away the harmful elements from my body...

Even if it were wishful thinking, it felt really good to be 'stepped on' as such...

I hit the sack last night an hour earlier than usual, and although I had recovered quite a bit, I still need to rest...

The weather since yesterday, had been typhoon-like and is still gusty and windy... 

I tried to force myself to go to the garden but I could not withstand the strong gales that blew in from the Inland Sea...

Approximately at the same time last year, powerful gales came in and uprooted our ten-meter high 'Christmas' tree... (see here)

Now, the real story of this post...

The Japanese folks, especially the older generation, still keep to the 'tradition' of sending new year post cards...

Being a resident in Japan, and picking up friends and acquaintances along the way, I was bound to get 'entrapped' in this practice... 

Before the advent of the email and such, there was not much to do except to return the wishes in kind...

But with so much development in the social network services, it becomes inevitable that we opt for this medium if not only for its convenience... 

However, it is not every day that one can receive a new year post card from a senior citizen...

I had known Mr. T (through the Lions Club that we belong to) for several years now, and he is such a joy to be with... and such a funny, hilarious conversationalist to chat with... 

Mr. T was born in the 12th year of the Taisho era, which is 1923 if we go by the Gregorian calender... which also means that he is about 90 years old...

The Japanese prose... 長楽無極　ご多幸　心よりお祈り申し上げます

My interpretation, 'Continuous enjoyment to no end' or something to that effect... and 'wishing you happiness from my heart'...

Immediately, I stood at attention... and responded... writing not with my hand but with the keyboard, and had the prose printed out...

He was so delighted to read about my many failures and sparse successes with my vegetable gardening... 

So much so that he invited my missus and for lunch or dinner at any time that is convenient to us...

Arrangements was made through Mr. O, another long time, 'fun to be with' member of the club...

Now, Mr. O is about 5 years younger at 85, being born in the 3rd year of the Showa era (which corresponds to 1928 of the Gregorian calender)...

Both of them are still driving despite their advanced age...

And I must say, they look very healthy and strong...

The invitation was to have 'bento' (lunch box) together with their spouses while viewing the blooms of plum blossoms in the garden of Mr. T's house....

Had a really fun time chatting with the two senior folks while chewing on tasty bento...

He is into calligraphy and I must admit that I am clueless in this area...

The stuff he showed us... wooh, was surprised at how much they costs... the brushes... the ink-stones... his works... the monetary value of these objects made my camera equipment look like child's play...

And finally as we were preparing to leave, my missus casually commented on a flower bush...

As if on cue, he took out a spade and dug a few plants for us...

I protested weakly... to that, he said, 'you better accept it before I change my mind...'

A very nice sayonara gift, I must say...

Back home, we searched the net and found out that this flower is called marsh marigold...

Tokyo Skytree, Chanko-nabe, and Fuji-san...

Did a trip to Tokyo some time ago...

Decided to stay at a hotel near the Tokyo Skytree...

Just as I entered the hotel room, I was greeted by this scene...

Hmmm, nice...

Standing at 634 meters, it is the tallest structure in Japan at the moment...

For dinner that day, chose to have the 'chanko-nabe' which is a staple for sumo wrestlers...

The structure shot the next morning before sunrise...

And on the other side of the hotel is the green-roofed 'Ryogoku Kokugikan' (National Sumo Stadium)... 

In the far background on the right, beyond the high rise buildings, stands the snow-capped Mt. Fuji...

Japanese Four-lined Snake, or Japanese Striped Snake

Was inspecting my garden one day when I saw this snake creeping out...
It moved very slowly...
So slow that I had more than enough time to go inside the house to get my camera...

The Japanese Four-lined Ratsnake, or Japanese Striped Snake (shimahebi) is native to Japan and is non-poisonous. 
It supposedly feeds on frogs, lizards, insects, rodents, and even small birds and their eggs.
This one was a little over one meter...
Looking at its slightly bulging stomach area, I imagined it must have swallowed a mole as we do have moles frequently digging in our garden...

That afternoon, my missus saw a Japanese black kite perched on one of our wood shacks, clearly eating a snake, she said...
And I stumbled upon this half-eaten specimen near that same spot the next morning...

First time for me to see a happening in our garden....

Chicken coop to cold frame using recycled wood...

Have been dreaming about keeping chickens... 

For the last few weeks, was busy trying to hammer out a mini-mini chicken coop...

The re-cycled wood is sourced from the stone masons in the neighborhood...

This picture is a projection of the finished product...

There are two main, detachable components to it...

The bottom part is for the chickens to roam about in the day time...

The top component is for them to sleep at night...

I have yet to decide where to put the egg nest...

This was photographed mid-way through the construction...

My missus came by and commented, 'Ooh, those large gaps, the snakes will come in for the eggs'...

And being the 'clumsy carpenter' that I am... I scratched my head followed by two slaps on my forehead... thinking about how to close those gaps...

Took me a few more weeks to build, un-build, and re-build again...

This is supposed to be the end product... and I am quite sure that no wild animals (ferret, raccoon), bird of prey (Japanese kite) or snake can penetrate this cage... 

In the meantime, through my contacts with the Lions Club, the boss of a large chicken egg farm has agreed to offer us some chickens...

We ask for only two... yes, only two, for a start...

And I could not believe that he would take the trouble to come all the way to check out our environment... 

Apparently, Japan is serious on the prevention of the bird flu... and the boss of the chicken egg company wanted to make sure that there is no risk on my part with regards to the possibility of 'starting' or helping to spread the bird flu...

In other words, no free range chicken farming... too risky as the chickens will come into contact with the wild birds large and small...

He came one weekend, and was satisfied with the chicken coop or cage that I made...

'Your chickens will lay eggs everyday, because the environment is very good'...

I cheered silently... heeeyyyaaaahhh...

He suggested that we should get the 'Momiji' breed, which is developed by the Japanese farmers...

'Momiji' simply means 'maple', and is named so to reflect the reddish-orange feathers of the chicken...  

The chicks are still small now and he welcome us to visit his chicken egg farm around May...

May is still quite a long time from now..

So, why not convert the top part of the chicken coop into a cold frame to start some vegetable seeds for spring planting?

I did just that and immediately sowed over thirty types of vegetable seeds...

Now, I am thinking to make a larger 'hotel room' (the top component) for the birds to sleep...

And I have a few weeks to do that...

Japanese White-eye or mejiro

My missus recently started to put out cut Mandarin oranges in the garden...

In no time, came a couple of Japanese white eyes...

Native to the Japanese islands... and the local name is mejiro (メジロ, 目白), literally, 'white eye'...

We normally put out the orange early...

And before 7 am, the birds will come...

They appear to be the same couple...

While one feeds on the orange, the other bird waits nearby...

Initially, the birds were cautious... the distance between us and them is about 2 meters...

I had to hide behind the curtains to photograph them...

After a few days, they got used to us watching...

This one has became brave enough to show me her tongue...

Dinner for two on Lunar New Year's day...

Spent all morning this day chopping firewood... 

Had to stop after my muscles began to ache... 

Did something less strenuous thereafter... that is, to construct a chicken coop...  

When the day was done, was treated to a sumptuous dinner...

All done up by my suweeto haato... 

First, the toast with red wine...

Today's soup was winter melon with some pork lean meat...

The salad course was avocado with broccoli, celery, chopped onions, spread over some lettuce... 

 

We don't normally take beef, but today's an exception, I suppose...

Aussie beef it was... and the taste was good...

The 'main' course was tomato-based spaghetti with oysters and broccoli... 

Ooh, delicious... 

And to end the meal, home-made apple pie... 

No sugar added, as my missus said... 

Only three apples and one lemon...

Happy CNY to all who celebrate the event...

Recycling wood to make sheds...

For the past few weeks, had been spending time to construct 'sheds' to store firewood for our wood stove...
I use recycled wood sourced from wholesalers who import huge stones from abroad...

Am not too much of a 'skilled' person when it comes to these things...
Anyway, the above picture shows one of my newest 'masterpieces'...
Notice the 'shelves'?...

The 'shelves' facilitate more air flow, thus allowing the wood to dry better...
They also allow easier access to the wood especially those that are piled at the lower levels...

Prior to this, I had just piled up the wood, without the 'shelves', as shown above...
'Not very good', said my missus...
I certainly need to re-do this one later on...

Nudibranches, Lankayan Island Resort, Happy 2013...

Returned to Japan from Malaysia on the last day of 2012...

Back to freezing temperatures, compared to those of Malaysia's... 

Spent some time diving the seas of Sulu... 

Nudibranches are one of my favorite photo subjects...

From the guide books, the above specie is classified under 'Chromodoris sp.'... 

But frankly, these scientific names are quite difficult to comprehend for a layman like me... 

Why? For there are apparently many, many different types of nudibranches that look so different and are yet classified under the same names... .
My dive buddy (aka my missus) found this one for me to photograph...

This one appears to fall under the 'Chromodoris bullocki' classification...
Again, my dive buddy found this one for me to shoot...

We thought they were mating... 

Apparently, 'each nudibranch has both male and female producing sperm and eggs. To mate, two nudibranchs come together side by side and pass sperm sacs through a tube in their 'neck' to each other. Both then go their own way and lay egg masses that may contain millions of eggs.' (Source)

Could not believe this was a nudibranch at first... 

Its scientific name? Yes, try 'Phyllodesmium briareus'...

All nudibranches are carnivorous, meaning that they prey on other marine animals like corals and sponges.  

This guy seemed to be feeding on the mat-forming soft corals...

Have seen this nudibranch somewhere before... 

'Chromodoris willani' is the name... weee...

Would have loved to have an external flash on my camera for this shot....

Lankayan Island is a good 90-minute speed boat ride from Sandakan... 

Despite the fair weather, the ride there was bumpy...

It is quite a nice island on the seas of Sulu... 

It takes about 10 to 15 minutes to walk around the island...

All the bungalows were single standing... 

Very well built with good materials and nicely furnished...

The main building of the resort... 

Imagine this, right in the middle of nowhere, in the Sulu Sea...

This building houses the restaurant, and offers plenty of spaces to relax in between dives...

Of course, today is the second day of the year 2013...

We took our first walk in the nearby hills...

And stopped by the neighborhood shrine to offer our thanks to the heavens for the past year... plus, our wishes and hopes for the new year...

Happy new year to all who comes by this post...