Lionfish, sponge, moorish idol..

Shall be flying off to Sabah tomorrow morning...
And heading to one of the islands for some, oooh... diving...
Can't wait...

Meanwhile, have to be contented with looking at these pics... found this lionfish specimen at the housereef near a resort I went some time ago...

The vicinity was just all sandy... quite a bit like a dessert... sloping gently to the depths... and this guy was just there, relaxing... looking at me at the corner of its eye...

This cute little fellow is a different specimen... a so-called Spotfin Lionfish... it has two 'spears' rolling right out from its eye area... watch it now...

And they are telling me this is an animal? Actually, a sponge, so to say... humans used to harvest such sponges for the domestic and the beauty industry... they are supposed to have pretty immense water suction capability...

Ah... anthias... can never get tired of gazing at these little fellows darting here and there... they are such a pretty sight for the eyes...


And the speedy, speedy Moorish idol... wanted to shoot its characteristically long dorsal fin (?) as well but... forgive me...

Catch the Rainbow

Used to listen to Deep Purple quite a bit while growing up...
Their guitarist left and formed his own group, Rainbow... thus the above title song...

Days in Japan lately are hot as hell...
While gardening on weekends, my sweat literally 'rains' from within...
The real rains, meanwhile, are few and far in between...



So, was quite lucky to get caught in a drizzle while cycling home one evening...
And woah... stopped right on my tracks upon catching this big R... two, actually, if you care to observe...
Rainbows are rarely seen at where I live...



This particular rainbow seemed to be just about two kilometers or so from where I stood...
See how it shone 'in front' of those table-top hills?



The setting sun cast a golden glow on the metalics of the bridge...
At the bat of the eye, I caught this cyclist breezing by...



Closer to home, was beckoned by this pretty sight...
The island you see was previously used as a rehabilitation center for lepers until recently...


Meanwhile, yours truly shall be heading back to Malaysia for a short holiday...
Shall be cruising the oceans in East Malaysia before zooming back to my village...
Shall also drop by KL briefly before 'hitching' a ride back to Japan in early September...

Capturing spirit of racial harmony?

This kind of mongering almost always gives me the creeps...

Spirit of racial harmony, you say? In the midst of the silly hullabaloo surrounding the now-famous Hokkien rapper rapping over the national anthem?

Oh yes, before I forget... one piece of related information made me kind of like, ahem... yearn quite a bit for the writings of MGG Pillai... (May his soul rest in peace...)

Reports the Sun in 'Who's sorry now?'... The 'indescribable' Nazri purportedly said 'I am not telling the A-G what to do as the A-G is independent to initiate proceedings against anybody, but if the AG decides to prosecute him, then when he lands his foot in this country, he will have to answer.'

As MGG Pillai would have eloquently poked... Why the need to remind citizens of the independence of the A-G when we all know that it is so? Or is it?

Ok, now back to the main topic...

That... the well-known two faced minister of 'Culture, Arts and Heritage' was reported to have said:


'I am truly happy because in the book, you will find that a Muslim photographer has captured a photograph of a Chinese cultural event while a Chinese photographer had snapped the image of a Muslim reciting Yasin beside a grave.'

I say: Oh god...

Why in the world must these people always compartmentalize citizens of Malaysia into this box and that box?

Can't we just have citizens as, merely Malaysians without all those flowery classifications decorated with racial and religious undertones?

Anyway, this is a 'noble' project to produce a coffee table book entitled 'Malaysia@50' to mark the so-called 50th year of the nation...

Which, I suspect our brethrens from Sabah and Sarawak are not as excited as they should be...

In conjunction with this hooha, a photo competition was held to 'encourage an artistic sense of patriotism and love for a shared independent nation'.

Wow... big time patriotism and love for the nation...

Can you guess who the winners are?

In all three categories reported, (schoolchildren and youths (below 18) category, Open Category (above 18), and Photo Essay category), the winners all come from just one 'box'...

Now, can you guess which 'box'?

And if you guess right, can we go ahead and assume that these people from that certain 'box' possess the most acute sense, albeit 'artistic', of patriotism and love for a shared independent nation'?

And we have 'distinguished' scoundrels in high places losing sleep over the 'unpatriotic-ness' of a now-famous and upcoming rapper who happens to emanate from that same 'box'... arrgggh...

Meanwhile, the maggots continue to gnaw on at where it hurts the most...

Hawaii... why they keep coming...

Had sometimes wondered why my friend Panda-chan left Hawaii for Japan... I wouldn't mind at all to settle down in Hawaii... not so much in Oahu but the other islands like the Big Island or Maui... As the above pic shows, it is 'paradise' to many...

Was attending a conference last May and could only hang out in the Waikiki area... There is so much space for people to linger about... Compare this to my country Malaysia... you would find the hotels building right up to the sea, shutting out the regular folks who just wanted to have a view of the sea...


And on most of the evenings, I was there... waiting for the sun to fall on me...

Kanazawa... a world of 'wabi' and 'sabi'

Had an opportunity to visit Kanazawa for the first time...
This is a city of samurais where much cultural artifacts from that era has been meticulously maintained...
The above picture shows one of the row of tea houses of old, where such men of power had probably spent many a day (or rather night) of 'pleasure' in...


Kanazawa's claim to fame these days, however, lie in the Kenrokuen... one of the so-called top three Japanese gardens in all Japan...
This above rendition marks the stone lantern that doubles as the unmistakable symbol of the garden...


Before venturing into the garden, I had little expectations of being impressed...
But there I was, snapping and snapping at the fabulous stone lanterns of various shapes and sizes... woooh, impressed I was?
This lovely lantern stood at the foot of a fallen 'aka-matsu' (red pine) tree...
I stood there, almost in awe(?)... admiring its reflection on the water amidst the gentle ripples...


This huge lantern found its place beside a wasabi pond...
I took time off to suck in the air while soaking in the scene...


And finally, a lantern by a restaurant at a large pond side...
I wouldn't mind at all to have one of these features in my home... no?

O Canada

Am now in Calgary, enjoying her sunny cool summer days...

Calgary University is the last leg of my visit to three universities...

Impressive they all are, each with their own strengths...

Prince George the first stop, is a small city of about 80,000 people...

Forestry is the mainstay of the economy and the University of Northern British Columbia is only about a decade old...

Still, it is a very well-run university with a student population of under 5000 students...

Edmonton, the second stop, is much bigger with a population of over 700,000 people...

The University of Alberta is a charming university with some nice old buildings...

Was busying myself with photographing those buildings...

The university is huge and there is a lot of green spaces...

Was impressed with the HUB, a student dormitory with lots of shops and a very bright overhead glass ceiling...

Calgary seems more robust and modern, with a population of about a million people...

The university is comparable to the that of Edmonton's in various aspects, except that it is a little younger...

In all three locations, I stayed on-campus as I wanted to get to know the university as much as I could...

And in all three locations, I have sent students... and it felt so good to chat with them on campus...

On a more personal side, I think I am reaching the limits of my tolerance for 'trans-pac' flights...

Crossing the pacific ocean does take quite a toll on the body, both physically and mentally...

As in my previous trip to Vancouver two years ago, the jet lag got the better of me about two days after arrival...

In Vancouver, I was awakened by a telephone ring... and, in the midst of my grogginess, I jumped out of bed as the hotel receptionist said that I was supposed to check out at 11:00 am...

And it was 1:00 pm already... wooaaahhh...

Anyway, here in Calgary, the folks are really very hospitable...

A lady who works in the department I am dealing with, was so kind to show me her home...

I met her husband, who even though, retired, looked like he is in his late forties when he is coming sixty...

They offered me a glass of good red wine and we chatted about things Canadian while sitting in their backyard deck...

Then, they took me to a sushi restaurant for dinner... how kind of them, I must say...

I have two more days here and I intend to make the best out of it... as I do not think my forty-nine-year body, 'young' as it is, can take anymore of this beating from crossing the mighty pacific...