CRUISING THE NEIGHBORHOOD

Cycled to work today again...

Oooh my eyes... teary teary... and my nose... running non-stop...

It is the season of hay fever!! Archuuung!!!

Last Sunday was the first time that I managed to take time off to check out the neighborhood.

It was a lovely day... almost no wind, the skies... so blue, the seas, calm, and the waters so clear...

I felt good to be reminded that the sea, the beach, is merely a five-minute walk from my home...

When the temperatures rise, I shall be at the beach, frolicking for sure...

Had a good look at the surrounding (rather grand) houses built mainly for holiday-making...

Big terraces overlooking the sea... wide glass windows...

Neat gardens of vegetables and flowers...

Very pretty indeed...

Nearby was a mansion on top of a hill perched out into the sea... for sale at just about 3 million dollars?

We cycled through the quaint little farm roads, passing by streams trickling with precious little water... birds a-singing...

And gazed at pleasure boats and ferries plying the routes...

Back home, I pruned the two totally leaf-less persimmon trees...

Inadvertently discovered two average-sized sakura trees amidest some other 'less-precious' trees...

Over-pruned one healthy, green tree (called 'nezumi no mochi no ki' or rat's glutinous rice tree) as the night fell...

Next day at work, got a call from my better half...

She had a big shock upon seeing the naked branches of that once healthy and green rat's glutinous rice tree...

She lost her apetite for lunch that day...

Regret, regret...

Pray that the nezumi tree will soon sprout new branches and leaves as I originally expected...

Took some pictures of the blooming red and white plum flowers in the garden...

The vegetables and rape flowers as well...

To think that just about half a year ago, we lived, cramped and cluttered in a pigeonhole...

I intend to cherish life, my dear friends...

SWITCH OFF THE LIGHTS, YOU HEAR?

Picture the head of government having to tell the citizens that they 'should not switch on the lights of the whole floor just to use a room'.

Boyish... I'd say...

Juvenile...

This quality of government we have...

Hmmm... my beloved country... where are you heading?

ELEPHANTS IN LANGKAWI & BICYCLING IN BOLEHLAND

Huh? No more MAS international flights into Langkawi?

Thought it was only yesterday when MAS had that big huha announcing their maiden direct Langkawi-London flight... or, was I just imagining things?

Anyway, has anyone visited Langkawi lately?

Passed by there a few years ago on our way back to Alok Setak from Japan.

As expected, after the initial euphoria of free port status, the white elephants win again…

Book Village, Water Park, Galeri Perdana... they all looked pretty devoid of patrons so expected...

And the rundown Duty Free shop... dilapidated, uncompleted, ugly hotel structures... ferries that are rapidly becoming crappy...

It is still very much a kampong (which I like), left mutilated as it is...

Meanwhile, had quite a roar upon seeing the deputy PeeAm being bashed by citizens for his remarks urging Bolehlanders to change their lifestyle to match the increase in oil prices.

A letter in Malaysiakini, urging Bolehlanders to make more use of bicycles also caught my eye.

And then, we have the Perlis MB telling civil servants to cycle to work.

Hey, isn't he the guy who has a penchant for suggesting oddballs like, asking thugs to assist the government to collect overdue fees or something?

Anyway, my missus had been keeping an eye on the number of days I cycled to work in February...

Bicycle - 6 days, car - 21 days...

Hmmm... a rather pathetic record... especially in the era of skyrocketing petrol prices...

But wait... I have excuses...

The 21 days when I don't cycle, there was either rain or strong winds blowing... or I had to teach evening classes... and they were quite a few in February...

Am sure that nobody wants to see yours truly crashing his bike into a ravine at pitch-dark 10:30 pm, after a blistering session of lecturing…

But still, six measly days of cycling in one month...

Personally I would second the proposition that Bolehlanders cycle more... rising petrol price or not...

When I cycle to work, I do 20 kilometers one-way, 40 both ways...

On the way there, I take about one hour 10 minutes... the return trip takes about one hour...

Besides the benefits I get from the exercise, I just love this almost stress-free mode of commuting...

* Stress free, until you see a herd of teenage school kids monopolizing the whole bicycle path, and you go grrrr... *

A Philippine friend once remarked... you never learn how to swear until you learned how to drive a car... * or sometimes, even a bicycle? *

But cycling to work in Bolehland is a different ball game, I'd think...

Rather than the steamy weather, it is the road condition...

Even here in Japan, the cyclist in me takes quite a beating when riding on roads that have the slightest bumps... my bike just 'jumps' up... my bony bum takes the hit and I lunge forward, blurting out a wooooh!

There are generally good paths for bicycles although cyclists have to be really careful because pedestrians use the same paths...

But Bolehland roads?

When that Semi-Value of a minister built those roads, had he ever thought about 'bicycles'?

I am not even going to mention about those deadly potholes as yet...

Yeap, the government was gung-ho blind in chasing the automobile sector...

So, go curse that dead horse...

Roads in Bolehland are simply not made for cycling. Period.

And that jester of a man who prodded civil servants to cycle should at once mount a bike and cycle to work himself to start the engine rolling...

For if I were the man, I would first refurnish the roads, line them up with trees and make them bicycle friendly... the weather will take care of itself...

I am imagining things... am I not?

Yes?

HINA-NINGYO FESTIVAL

The Chinese are sometimes deep into stuff like 88...

Our Japanese friends have this affinity with 11, 22, 33, etc...

11 is wan-wan... the sound of dog bark... so we have the day of the dogs...

22 is nyan-nyan... the meow of cats... so, the day of cats...

33 is well, the Doll Festival... don't ask me why...

Took the above picture, among those of other 'kawaii' dolls, at Ritsurin Park...

They call it, 'Kitsune no Yome iri'...

Literally, the Coming of the Fox Bride...

The character in the background... yeap, you got it, he's the lucky guy...

I understand that 'Kitsune no Yome iri' is taken to mean some rather weird phenomenon...

As in, rain while the sun is shining... which sometimes does occur...

Come to think of it, hmmm...

The Fox Bride... pretty weird...

No?

SIPPING TEA IN A JAPANESE BATH IN SPRING

Calendar-wise, it is spring...

But the weather, frigid it remains...

Flowering, are the pink and white plums...

The shy nightingales, a-singing...

Been enjoying the Japanese bath since we moved into our place...

The body gets warmed up to the bones and it feels super good...

And what more, the cold rash that inflict me every winter...

Is magically banished...

Last night, we experimented with putting dried lemon grass into the bath...

Wooohh... the fragrance... super nice...

Had thought that lemon grass was only for fish curries and asam laksa...

Until a Japanese friend introduced us to lemon grass tea some time ago...

As with other beverages, we took it plain... without sugar...

Wooohh... nice...

Tried drinking turmeric tea once while on a trip to Okinawa...

Wooooohh... horrid...

Last summer, had a lot of bitter gourd plants...

Not much fruits but plenty of leaves...

So, harvested the leaves, sun-dried them...

And made bitter gourd tea out of them...

Wooohh... terror-bitter... but very pleasant after-taste...