Raya is coming to town with Ila

All of them went home, only a handful left behind because this time it was a summer holiday for the undergraduate students. So, I can only expect a small number of guest for Hari Raya gathering. Luckily, Ila agreed to come down tomorrow morning from Tokyo and spend the Raya celebration with me. Nothing much that I can plan for us to do, but to have a family, even only one of them in here, is joyous to the max.

Well, since I don't have anything to do in the lab (not a lab's rat anymore!!!), I can see myself suddenly missing from the lab and turn into a full time baker/ chef. Two cakes are now in my mind waiting to be bake into reality. And many, many other Malaysia delicacies, which I will try to get the recipes right, which also means the googling will start tonight. Just wish that it all will turn out alright.

Tomorrow, the day will start early since I will be going to pick Ila up at the bus station. Voila!

End of life...

Life flies as fast as time and it will never return to the same start anymore, never. The end of life means death and it wait for no body, that’s what I learned yesterday.

Many times my posts touched about the death of the close ones in my big fat family but, so far, death only took away the elders. However, yesterday, I was snap back to the reality which reminds me one thing that I should always remember, death was never afar.

Around 6.30 pm yesterday, the cousin, single man, in his early 40’s, succumbed to stroke.

He was not always around for his work took him away but once awhile he made his way to heart of the family. His mother, the fragile Mak Lang, just lost her husband last year and now it was her son.

I can’t imagine the pain any parents would adhere to lay their child to the grave.

From Allah we come, to Him we’ll return.

Orchid X

This summer proved to be too hot to think of anything to write or in other words it was simply the excuse of being lethargic and a cipher who live just to enjoy the life. It probably the unsavoury way celebrating the end of my journey here in Japan, but I would like to think it as a way to rehabilitate my little grey cells, as Mr Poirot, the famous Belgian detective of Agatha Christie creation would say. This week was really the end since I had sent the copies of dissertation (a thinner version of a thesis) for binding and the galley proof for the article that will be published soon in a scientific journal based in USA were received. For the article, it was nothing of grand, but for me as a small fish in a sea of scientists, it was a big success. God had granted my wish.

Enough about me; we do miss the orchid, didn't we?

The orchid was not making their entry to the lab as many as they did during the previous season. Probably summer was just too hot to handle. Anyway, he did brought in a small lovely orchid known as benishusuran (japanese) or Goodyera macrantha, maxim. At the first sight, it looked like a wild plant that we can find anywhere near the bushes. However, if we look closer, the flower did resembled the famous 'slipper'.

In this post there were two pots of flower. The wild type was the one with white colour and the other, the pinkish flower, was the mutated orchid.

The real deal....

There he was, wading through the crowd while taking a peek at the seat number on the tickets at hand. Alone, by the way. I was curious, thinking about his wife. Standing at the upper end of the stairs in front of the city hall, I waved at him. Ten second later, his eyes catched me and saw the sheepish smiled. I brushed it off, the fasting me said that it was too much to indulge at that moment. I simply signaled him the right entrance out of the four in front of us before walking down the stairs to join him. Curiosity took the better of me and I asked about his wife, who he said when to pick the dinner boxes. Later, Nagata sensei joined us, coming along with J's family; daughter, father and mother. He then insisted that the rest of us to go in first and he would waited for the wife. At the end, it was a real deal. The much waited Awa odori started.

A little too early.....(Awa Odori festival 2010)

I should have spanked myself hard just now and then laughed out loud to cover the silliness. The fact is, I don't know what have gotten into me, perhaps a little too much rest a.k.a sleep?

This afternoon, after preparing chicken tika masala using sauce which was brought by Ina last time she visited me, off I cycled to the Tokushima Station. Besides making a stop at the Jupiter shop to get some international food items; i.e., my favourite tortilla crackers, the main reason was to join datuk, his better half, and their entourages watching Awa dancing - a special dance during Awa odori festival – which was a famous summer dancing festival of Tokushima. Well, I made my way to the entrance as we had agreed previously and after waited for a while, I called his mobile phone. Can you guess the embarrassment I caused myself when he said the date would be tomorrow afternoon, not today?

Oh! This event had brushed my egoistic self and blew away any subsistence of the proud me. *At this point, I started rolling my eyes.*

Not to waste the day, I walked around strolling the bicycle, taking pictures here and there before came home for iftar.

Salam Ramadhan

Personally, as a Muslim, I feel that Ramadhan is the best month of the year. Can't wait!

I wish everybody, Salam Ramadhan....\(^_^)/

The Lalaland....

Since I'll say bye-bye to the Land of arising Sun soon, I took some time off to visit Ila in the most expensive city in the world. Or is it still is? Anyway, that was also an excuse for us to go to the Lalaland.....