HOUSE WITH FULL BLOOM SAKURA

Here is a picture taken from a low perpective, as opposed to this one which was shot from high up the slopes...

That somei-yoshino sakura tree is in our garden...

Lovely...

Some mornings, birds flocked to the tree to sip the 'juice' from the flowers...

Been planting some fruit trees on the slopes around the sakura tree...

Stuff like figs, sakuranbo (cherries), gumi (some kind of berry), apples, blueberries...

Stay tuned for more pics...

AJI HOUSE, FROM THE SOUTH-SIDE LOWS

Shot from a low viewpoint, from the south-side just as in this shot...

Weather condition, cloudy with intermittent blue skies...

Time of the year, mid-April...

Somei-yoshino in full bloom... wooh...

Frontview is Lrong, I mean, Sasao Pond...

GLOOMY SKIES OVER THE WEEKEND

Weather over the past few days was pretty unpredictable...

Strong winds, rains, and most of all, hazy skies...

Which means, not too good for my kind of photography...

Was planning to upload a shot of my 'habitat' with the flowers...

But, with grey skies and all...

Can't believe that they are actually caused by yellow sand particles blown over from as far as the Gobi Desert...

Visibility reduced to about 4 kilometers in parts of the city...

Hmmm, not too pretty... and not too good for the eyes too...

Our cherries are just about 50% to full bloom...

Hope they will last till this weekend for my photo shoot...

Plus of course, blue skies...

Meantime, here is a shot of my 'cave' from high up on the slopes...

HUMBLE, RED TILE ROOFED HOUSE IN AJI-TOWN

Here is the 'cave' that yours truly have been hiding in since September 2005...

Picture taken while strolling in the hills on 2nd April 2006...

The Japan Inland Sea is on the north side of the house...

Weather condition, very windy... seas, almost choppy...

Part of the beach (Sasao Beach) can be seen on right side of photo...

Car park on left side of house...

Right side with the grey roof, partially hidden by the cedar tree, is the Japanese tearoom...

Central area is the lounge... kitchen... etc...

Japanese styled (tatami) bedrooms in second floor...

YAPPEE ANNIVERSARY

Yeeee... how time flies...

Nineteen years ago, on that third day of April, yours truly stepped foot on Japanese soil, and immediately headed towards Hiroshima University...

The stint was supposed to last two years.

It became three after I succeeded to sideslip into the Master's program.

And six, when I managed to sneak into the doctorate course...

Six became seven as I precariously hanged on to the doctorate-program cliff for an extra year, waiting for the Research Associate job opening my supervisor promised...

That position took me to nine years...

On top of this pile, ten years zoomed past me as I continue to sit on my revolving chair in the research room here in this university...

Incidentally, twenty-four years ago, on that very same third day of April, yours truly was accidentally introduced to a young lady in Hong Kong...

Four years after that fateful shoulder-rubbing event, on that very same third day of April, once again, this time by design no doubt, yours truly found himself swearing in front of a county judge in the semi-arid, cowboy town of Lubbock, Texas, that he will cherish, protect, and adore his bride in good times as well as in not-so-good times...

Woooh... what a cruise it is turning out to be...

So, on this unforgettable day when Bolehland continues to struggle and stagger towards her dead-set goal of achieving 'developed nation' status by 2020...

I wish my 'suweeto haato'... yappeee anniversary...