Barracuda Point @ Sipadan Island

On our holidays long time ago, we used to snorkel at some of the resorts we visited...

While it was very enjoyable, I wanted to go deeper, and swim with the fishes instead of looking at them from the top...

The sunburn from snorkeling was not very nice, anyway...

Plus, I particularly envied the scuba divers at the resorts...

My dive buddy aka suweeto-haato feeling comfortable, suspended in mid-water at Barracuda Point.

So I said to myself... if these people can do it, why not us?

But my missus was not so keen...

'I am wearing contact lenses', she said...

Took me years to persuade her to take a scuba diving course with me...

Barracudas circling above us...

Then, while holidaying at one of our favorite resorts one day, we saw an elderly Japanese couple... scuba diving...

And, I said to my missus...

Hey, let's chat with them...

They had just started diving a year before...

And they regretted not doing it earlier...

A close shot of the barracudas...

Wooh, that was what I needed to persuade my missus....

I imagine it to be quite un-interesting to be diving 'alone'...

The following year, we found ourselves at at Koh Tao in Southern Thailand...

It took us five days to undergo the course and it turned out to be a miserable experience...

Why, it was raining almost every day...

Jacks almost always make an appearance at Barracuda Point...

I shivered and shivered as we did the routines in the water...

Back at the chalet, the towels were perennially wet...

We seriously wondered if it was worth the while...

Come to think of it, that was in March 2001...

My dive partner 'walking' on water, observing the jacks...

Since then, we have been scuba diving for most of our holidays and we must say that it has been a very rewarding experience...

Our last trip to Sipadan last July was equally enjoyable, albeit too short...

Most recreation divers go to Sipadan with one thing in mind...

That is, to dive Barracuda Point...

Bat fish can be seen at the shallows at Barracuda Point...

We were lucky to be able to see the barracudas on the two occasions we were there...

Some divers come away disappointed as sometimes the barracudas could not be seen...

A solemn weekend spent...

Autumn is the season that I love best...

The air is dry and cool... and just so pleasant to be outdoors...

This is also the season when the higan-bana, a favorite flower of mine, comes to full bloom...

Known as Lycoris or Red Spider Lilies in English, this perennial plant is native to East Asia...

The higan-bana is commonly found in footpaths in the countryside and around graveyards... 

In East Asia, this flower is related to sorrowful legends...

Spent this last weekend in our potager in a solemn mood...

Two evenings ago, received news from my nieces about the demise of my eldest sister...

It is always a sad feeling to lose some one you love...

Someone so close... someone who took care of you when you were small...

The higan-bana... 

Beautiful as it is.. yet so sorrowful...

The calm after the fury...

Went for a walk in the neighborhood with my love...
The view up in the hills was spectacularly beautiful...
So blue was the sky...
and so serene and peaceful was the Japan Inland Sea...

Still, Typhoon Number 15 had left its unmistakably destructive marks in the hills...

Landslides big and small, here and there, waiting to be cleared...

Drains choked and clogged... water still spilling...

Had a wonderful opportunity this weekend to meet up with some former and current students...

They were/are members of a university club that I had established...

We met up at a restaurant in Takamatsu city... one that serves delicacies using ingredients predominantly sourced from the local area...

While bicycling back home, took a snapshot of this rice field...

To me, this is so typically Japan...

Rice fields in the foreground, and houses lined up in the background...

Another shutter chance came up as I was crossing a river...

Wooh... what a lovely sight, I thought to myself...

The brackish water in the river is actually quite 'black'...

But the reflection from the early evening sun plays magic on it...

I stood there for many minutes... doing nothing but soaking in the scene...

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...

Annual medical check 2011

Yeap, it is that time of the year again for the annual medical check up...

For the second year in a row, my sweeto haato joined me for the medical check...

Two days before the appointed day, we had to take samples of our stools...

And on the night before the appointed day, we had to stop eating before 9:00 pm...

Not an issue for us as we normally finish our dinner by about 8:00 pm every night...

On the morning of the appointed day, we woke up at about 5:00 am as we usually do...

We were allowed to consume only 200 cc of clear liquid that morning...

Warm water and tea would be ok, but not coffee...

At 7:00 am, my stomach emitted the first growl...

No no, no eating... and off we went to the hospital...

Arriving at 7:45 am, we were number 2 and number 3 on line...

After changing into light green pajamas, we watched television as we waited for the chime to come...

All in all, there were about 20 patients, mostly males...

At 8:00 am, the chime went off and the attendant nurse gave us a briefing...

I opted to have my blood samples taken first...

Any allergies? The nurse asked?

Unlike last year, the nurse was pretty skilled... or so I thought...

I felt no pain as she inserted a needle into the protruding vein in my left arm...

She took 4 tubes of blood and slowly withdrew the needle...

Eiiiich, I felt a little pain...

We weighed ourselves, took our heights, checked our eyesight and blood pressure...

At 8:25, a male attendant familiar to me, measured my waist...

72 centimeters it was...

'Lrong-san ha sumaato desu ne...' mumbled Tsutsui-san... (literally, 'Mr. Lrong, you have a smart physique'...)

He is a ten-year veteran at this hospital and he likes to chat with me whenever we see each at the hospital...

'Now let's see, you had a little polyp in your gall bladder...' he said as he instructed me to lie flat on the bed while getting ready to operate the machine...

'Oh, no problem... the size is very small... no change from last year...'

I felt relieved and thanked him...

At 8:40 am, I felt really sleepy and energy-less...

A nurse called out my name and I entered a room to have my eyes checked for 'hardness'...

'Now, look at that green light on the left'... flash! 

Bright stars seemed to come into view...

Next was the urine samples...

I always felt amused upon seeing the illustration posted in the toilet...

The man had two drops of sweat flying off from his face as he smiled...

'Let the first 30 cc of urine pass, then take the 'middle' portion of the urine and fill up one third of the cup'...

8:59 am... yawned... watched TV...

9:01 am... more yawns... watched more TV... waited... waited...

9:14 am... a nurse called out my name...

Inside the room, the doctor in a brown-colored uniform asked, 'any health issue bothering you?'...

He placed his stethoscope on my exposed chest...  

Silently, he repeated the procedure on my back and I was out of the room in seconds...

9:16 am... back to the main lounge, waiting...

9:26 am... time for the ECG...

The nurse clipped my four limbs with some kind of clamps and stuck some rubber suction cups on my body... 

9:40 am... underwent the lung capacity test which was introduced just about two years ago...

I asked what is the purpose of this test...

It was to check the 'smoothness' of the breathing...

She clipped my nose with a large peg, forcing me to breath through the mouth from a pipe...

I was to take a deep breath, and once I reached the maximum capacity of the inhalation, I was to suddenly exhale until I ran out of air...

I did it twice...

9:50 am... backed to the waiting room... I dreamed of spaghetti... tomato based with seafood...

My  stomach growled again...

The next procedure was the x-ray, which went by in a wink...

9:52 am... now, the most 'interesting' part of the check....

The staff was again, very professional... the explanation clear and concise...

The nurse handed over a small paper cup filled with just one third of liquid... which I quickly gulped down...

She had me lie down on a bed as she injected some liquid into my nostrils...

This was to prevent injury to the walls of my nose, she said...

Rested, relaxed... felt sleepy...

Then she asked, which nose breaths better?

I think I did it through the right nose last year, so this year, without really answering her question, I opted for the left nose...

She carefully injected morphine into my left nostril...

The numbness although slight, came almost instantly... 

You can swallow it, she said...

The taste was not bad, but not good either...

Minutes later, she returned to give a second shot...

A few more minutes passed and into the camera room they led me...

Now, lie down on your left, the doctor gestured...

He was the same guy from last year...

The attendant-nurse offered, 'let your saliva drip down on the paper towel... don't force yourself to wipe it...'

I closed my eyes as they switched off the lights...

Slowly, I sensed the optic camera piercing through my left nostril, wriggling its way down my throat...

'Swallow', the doctor suggested just as he did last year at exactly the same stage...

I swallowed, feeling the tube crawling through my esophagus...

Now, the hardest part is over... just relax... said the doctor as he maneuvered the camera into my stomach...

In about 15 minutes, it was over... 

My missus was waiting for me...

I quickly changed into my clothes, looking forward to the lunch box provided...

This is the 'reward' for the 'troubles' we go through in this exercise...

I am not sure if other hospitals offer this lunch box service but the one I went to in Nagoya did not...

The hospital said it is complimentary...

We slowly ate and chewed on the goodies... 

The 'bento' lunch box was delightfully laid out, and I counted over 20 different types of food...

There was fish, meat, egg, tofu, beans, carrot, yam, plum, grape, orange, fishcake, burdock,  seaweed, miso soup, among others...

Hmmm... delicious... 

Next, stay tuned for the endoscope test on the colon which had to be conducted on a different day...