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...

A walk on the hillside

A mega typhoon hit our shores about a week ago...

Shikoku, especially Kagawa Prefecture, where I live, has always been inflicted with a shortage of water supply...

The authorities were furiously trying to urge the inhabitants to conserve water as the reserves dipped dangerously at the 15% level...

We were, in other words, almost gasping for rain to fall...

Then came Typhoon Number Four...

The winds slammed our walls... blew our persimmons off the trees... ripped the leaves off the bitter gourds... and tore off a large branch of our wild sakura tree...

The winds and rains scrapped almost throughout the Japanese archipelago, bringing deaths and destruction...

And it filled our water reserves to a full 100% in just a matter of two days...

The morning after was a Sunday... and my sweetheart invited me for a walk in the hills...

She of course, go for walks almost daily along this path...

And I could not turn down a good offer...


So, with camera in hand, I caught this ivy colony clinging on the rock walls just minutes from our home... the fresh greens looked so crisp...


Further up the hills lay a forest of pine trees... I could just stand there, gazing.. and letting my imagination roam free...


Some steps away from the forest is this view of our humble little house in red...
The Japan Inland Sea was still pretty choppy and ships were not a-plenty...


An Iranian family has a second house up in the hills... I sneaked into his garden to steal this shot of an artichoke (sp?) bloom... this one was a little smaller than my clenched fist... and it looked so pretty...


Was surprised as my sweetheart introduced me to this beauty of a, probably wild black berry...
Took a bite at one of the ripe ones and the taste? Somewhat sweetish and sourish...

Note: Yours truly is slated to shoot to Canada (Prince George, Edmonton, and Calgary) on 23rd July, Monday... woooh, am looking forward to this visit as it will be my first time to step foot on these lands...

Parrot-fish, Dottyback, Blenny, Scorpion-fish, & Leaf-fish

The parrot fish is a perennial favorite among divers, I believe...

They are swift swimmers during the day, so photographing them is quite a task...

However, come nightfall, they settle down for some 'shut-eye' (actually 'open-eyes' as you can see)...

In other words, they become very easy photo targets as they snooze away...

Sometimes we can see a film of mucus surrounding their bodies, which serve to protect them from preys...

Size, about 50 centimers?

This guy is called the 'Pale dottyback'...

Was quite fascinated with the way it rests on the finger coral with its leg-like fins...

Unlike the parrotfish, this guy tends to take periodic breaks once it settles on a coral... we only need patience to sneak closer for the shoot... size was about 15 centimeters...

Am not sure about this little baby...

Looks like some kind of blenny...

It has half its body inserted inside a hole on the rock corals...

Quick movements frighten the fish so we have to move very slowly to get close... Size, maybe less than 10 centimeters...

Is this a scorpion fish or a stone fish?

I would imagine, scorpion... size was about 40 centimeters...

This fellow was motionless throughout the shoot...

The only movement came from just the eyes...

Hmmm, I think this guy would look better on a plate, nicely dressed up and garnished with fresh onions and tomatoes...

This Leaf fish is quite like the scorpion fish above... predatory, that is...

They lay still, waiting for the opportune time to snap at their prey (usually smaller fishes)...

This lovely specimen was about 6 to 7 centimeters... pale-whitish... range of colors include deep green, black, brownish, etc...