Was sorting out some of the pics in the hard disk...

We did a lot of self-dives that time...

We just enjoyed the freedom to stay as long as we like, underwater...

The clown fish... they were just so, so pretty...

Batfish are common in those waters...

And they were not afraid even when I went close.... slowly, that is...

Think these guys are called Bengal snappers...

They have some blue lines on the upper body and the white belly being quite distinct...

Wondered why would anyone call these pretty things 'pink skunk' clownfish...

They are so pretty to look at, and to photograph...

This cute, little bi-color blenny was sitting on the corals...

and waiting for me to photograph it?

Mantis shrimps are really super colorful creatures...

This one made its home in a sunken coconut root stump...

Patience is needed while waiting for it to come out from its burrow...

Was in Penang, Malaysia, for some business related to research...

Stayed at the Equatorial Hotel at Bukit Jambul...

Nice hotel, pretty views...

Sneaked around a bit during off-hours....

Was happy to see that trishaws are still flourishing in the city...

Took a peek at the house where P. Ramlee lived...

A refreshing, humble, little abode it was...

One of the many bites we had in Penang... 

the peanut-sauced rojak from the mamak stall...

The fried tofu, cucumber, and bengkuang (or jícama) were my favorites...

Was pleasantly surprised to see my favorite fruit, the durian, on display...
Had thought that the season was sometime in August...

Urmm... this was the D24 specie...
Tried the Musang (猫山王) as well, but think the D24 fits my taste buds better...

And as the cliche goes, smells like hell but tastes like heaven...

Ahh, lovely, lovely... 

Am now in Kuala Lumpur International Airport, ready to fly back to Japan in two hours time...

Shall touchdown at Kansai International in the early hours of Christmas day...
after that, it will be four more hours by limousine bus before we touch base sometime around 1:00 in the afternoon... 

So, for you wonderful folks who are celebrating or not celebrating...

Merrrry Christmas!!  

Throughout my 20 over years of residing in Japan, I have never been really fond of the winters...

Too cold for me... and I get cold rashes sometimes... 

For some 'wintry' folks, the winters here may be considered 'mild', with the temperatures just hitting zero in the coldest times...

Still, as in the last winter, it could go down to minus four or five...

Till we installed the wood stove, that is...

Thanks to this stove, winters are more 'fun' now...

We started putting on our woodstove a few days ago...

My suweeto haato is becoming quite an expert in handling the stove...

The flame was burning really well as can be seen in the picture above...

While my missus specializes in handling (starting the flame, maintaining it, cleaning the glass, the ash, etc) the stove, the responsibility of yours truly is in securing the firewood...

Sometimes I fell trees, other times, I get the cut logs from someone who just wanted to get rid of them...  

These were cut and piled up to dry from last February...

It takes about a year to have the logs dried up...

And for wood that are not split, the time needed to dry them is even longer because moisture in the wood finds it harder to escape through the bark...

Wood that are split, dries faster...

And we can literally hear the 'pichi-pichi' sound that the wood constantly emits as it dries...