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...

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...

Chiang Mai and Beijing, back to back...

Had been very busy lately... while traveling quite a bit since August...

Took a handful of students to Chiang Mai as part of a class...

Besides the classrooms, we took time out for a bit of fun, doing things like riding cow carts, taking elephant rides, and experiencing bamboo rafting...  

And when in Thailand, woah, food... 

Thai noodles... oooh... 

Upon returning home, thought I could take a rest... 

But no... had to do a quickie trip to Beijing to attend to an emergency situation...

Was actually my first time to step on the streets of Beijing... 

And my counterparts suggested, yes, what else but the Peking Duck...

The picture shows the supposedly most delicious parts of the duck that the host normally offers to the honored guests...

And the duck liver was real tasty, I'd say...

And after the duck, we did the touristy thingy of visiting the gigantic Forbidden City Museum...

In the evening, yes again... the Peking Opera it was... 

Thought that was fun to watch...

Trip to Pulau Tenggol...

Heard quite a bit about the scuba diving in Pulau (island) Tenggol, off the coast of the state of Trengganu on the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia...

Made a trip there in 2009... and found out that the diving was not much to shout about...

Furthermore, my underwater photos were totally washed out as I was trying out to figure out how to operate the (then) new camera...

So, it was not surprising that the pictures above the water was better...

This peanut-nibbling squirrel came really close to us when we were relaxing in the bungalow... perhaps about a meter away?

Don't really know the name of this flower...

It was quite big, and the tree was thriving at the sandy beach...

After dinner one day, we strolled along the beach...

The scene from this distance was not too bad...

On the return leg, spent a whole day at Kuala Trengganu city...

The interesting parts of the city was within walking distance from our hotel...  

The shot above is the city market... 

I was, as usual, looking for durians...

We had enough time to take a ferry to the other side of the Trengganu River...

The specialty of the folks there were fish cakes and shrimp paste aka 'belacan'... 

My missus suggested that we try the fish cakes...

Tried we did, and almost immediately, I found myself groaning... serious diarrhea attack... ooh... 

Tokyo yesterday, Perth today, Calgary tomorrow...

Sorry, no pictures in this post....

There is a flower called 'Yesterday, today, and tomorrow'...

The rationale for the name purportedly derives from the fact that the flower starts blooming with 'soft purple, changing to a pastel lilac and finally turning to a near-white before fading away'....(Source)

While not exactly yesterday, yours truly had the privilege of visiting Meiji University at Tokyo two Fridays days ago to attend a symposium...

Spent a night at a business hotel near Haneda Airport...

While having breakfast the next morning, sitting by the window watching the Tokyo Monorail zoomed by, snow fell... oooh, mid March is supposed to be spring season if we go by the calendar, but in reality, it is still very much winter...

At 4:00 AM last Wednesday, the alarm beeped as instructed...
My sweeto haato sweetly murumured 'ohayo' and I responded with a sleepy 'o...haaa...yo...'

Had to crawl out of my warm futon at that rather unholy hour...

Yes, I had to hit the road again... this time, it was to Perth to visit the University of Western Australia...

As with habit, did all the t-things like gargling and 'rinsing the eyeballs' (with water soaked in used teabags from the day before)... and of course, 'sitting on the throne' to clear the system for the new day...

Been doing this routine for as long as I can remember...

At 4:40, my sweeto haato got up to bid me a 'Have a safe trip' hug and kiss... the three-quartered moon was hanging on quite beautifully at the southern sky, and I was ready to mount the faithful Grasshopper...

But poor Grasshopper appeared to have 'cataracts'... her windscreen was laced with a thin layer of ice...

I poured water from a bucket but no cigar... the cold water had no effect on the cataracts... I got back to the house and asked my suweeto haato for some warm water...

Now, Kansai International is about four hours from Takamatsu Station... for many an occasion during our overseas trips, we used to park our car in the university, catch a cab to Takamatsu Station to take the limusine bus to Kansai International...

But I have decided to drive to a bus stop on the bus route, which is about 30 kilometers from our house, park the car there and take the same limusine bus to the airport... saves a lot of time and bus fare too...

Driving so early in the morning means absolutely no traffic... almost all the traffic lights blink amber or sometimes red, but it is smooth sailing all the way...
 
Reached the bus stop at 5:25 am... it was still dark... I shivered as my upper oriface emitted 'smoke'...

Perth being in the southern hemisphere, is experiencing some pretty extreme temperatures... just days ago, she had temperatures hovering around 40 degrees... imagine, we are having temperatures around freezing point in the mornings...

After the stint at Perth, I shall return to Takamatsu on 21 March... I get to sleep in my cosy, familiar futon, hug my love-bolster for three nights, and then, I am due to hit the road again, this time to Calgary, Canada, where I hope the temperatures won't be too punishing...

Update: Wrote the piece above while flying in midair but did not get the opportunity to post it. The internet connection in Perth is ridiculously expensive. Luckily, the Perth City Information Center offers free wifi.

Anyway, Perth is a really beautiful city... the majestic Swan River... the breath-taking night scene from South Perth of the northern city sky line... the meticulously maintained beautiful parks...the clean streets, the convenience of the CAT buses, the pretty colonial buildings... the magnificent churches... all in all, a very livable city...

Prices however, are extremely expensive, the food, in particular. I'd even venture to say that from my little experiences, I can eat better just as well for less in Tokyo. Hotel rates are also very expensive. Very, very expensive... While visiting Meiji University, I stayed at a business hotel, new, large room, very comfortable and one minute from the train station, decent breakfast, free wifi.... and the rate? 6500 yen.... Here in Perth, a three star hotel room will set you back by about 150 Aussie dollars... approximately 15,000 yen or 130 US dollars... and that, without free wifi... to me it is unimaginable that hotels these days do not offer free wifi... it is almost a given, I'd say...

Chiang Mai, I was at...

Just came back yesterday after spending a few days at Chiang Mai, northern Thailand...

Purpose was to thrash out the final details of a student program that we are experimenting with...

Thanks to our counterparts, I managed to meet several key persons and I am happy to say that the negotiations turned out very well...

In the off-hours, sneaked out to steal some shots of the happenings in town...

Before long, I could not help but to hear some traditional Thai music...

There was a 'big band' of about 15 musicians... guitars, cymbals, xylophones, keyboards, drums, traditional trumpets, gamelan-like percussions...  

It seemed like a religious event... people were praying and there was a make-shift Thai shrine set up just for this purpose...

And the dancers... so colorfully clothed, and their movements so graceful ... 

In the evening, took a stroll at the night market... 

I have seen quite a few night markets here and there, but this one in Chiang Mai, hmmm, should I say, really 'pulsates'?

There is really so, so much activity there... and the range of stuff sold there is immense... as in bags, clothes, accessories...

Tidbits... as in corn... dried squid...

 Sausages, anyone?

 Goodies on skewers...

 Decorative little bulbs... 

Fried noodles... now if I could only muster enough courage to try out stuff like these...

Takamatsu Station, Gifu Station...

Had some business to do at Takamatsu JR Station the other day...
Why not grab the opportunity to shoot some pics, I said to myself...
The above picture shows the 'Sunport Symbol Tower'...
They used to allow the public to go up to the top floor and the view was really good from there...

This was shot from inside the JR station...
The building on the left is an ANA hotel...

Was at Gifu at the end of October for a seminar...
Slept one night at a business hotel in front of Gifu JR Station...
Didn't have my tripod with me, but managed to shoot a night shot from the window sill...

And the next day, took this limited express train to Nagoya on the way back to Takamatsu...

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...

Scuba diving the seas of Sulawesi...

I have always considered myself to be lucky...

In the sense that, my 'suweeto haato' shares the same passion for scuba diving as I do...

We particularly enjoy diving the seas off the east side of Sabah... 

And what more, we don't have to go far to enjoy the thrills of being underwater...

Here, my suweeto haato was having a good time observing a school of rabbit fishes just below the jetty... 

Can't remember the name, but these little fishes are such a joy to watch...

They normally position themselves in the rock crevices....

which naturally protect them from the currents as well as being preyed upon by their bigger cousins...

At Mabul Island's Paradise One dive site, we were pleasantly surprised to find a moray eel sharing its abode with cleaner shrimps...

Their relationship is somewhat symbiotic in that the shrimps clean the teeth of the moray eel... and I imagine the moray eel 'protects' the shrimps from being eaten by bigger fishes... 

While I was taking pictures, I could sense the shrimps climbing over to my hand...

This cute little puffer fish...again, I have to look up its name in the books...

Was following its movement for several minutes...

Really enjoyed watching it darting here and there...

And can you see the rock 'face' with the left arm up-stretched, index finger pointing upwards, 'kissed' by that little cutie?

These little fishes, chromis I think... their colors... so crisp and brilliant...

Ooh, it feels like heaven down there...

At Paradise Two dive site, there are a couple of these yellow trumpet fishes...

They have this habit of swimming head down... ever ready to snap at an un-suspecting prey...

The giant clams...

They come in several different colors and I think the bluish-purple is the most pretty...

These clams are huge and they are a delicacy in Okinawa and I think, the Philippines...

They are harvested for their shells as well, which I think is rather sad...

At the Sunday Market at Gaya Street in KK, there was a stall that specialized in selling only shells...

And people were buying them in droves...

Did a check on them and was very surprised to learn that they have the ability to cultivate plants in their body tissue...

They apparently feed on the plants themselves...