Koi

March 13th, 2008 at 21:50 · Filed Under Animals, Gardening, Holidays, Malaysia, Penang, Photography · Comment 

The koi pool at Kek Lok Si. These koi fishes may worth hundreds of thousands or a million ringgit if they are of pure Japanese breed. Looks like they are not the pure Japanese breed. The kids enjoyed feeding the fishes very much.

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Snake!

December 29th, 2007 at 23:04 · Filed Under Animals, At Home, Days in My Life, Family, Gardening · 2 Comments 

I like snake but I never touch one before. Today, I came to a close encounter with a snake. My telephone and DSL fritz again. I could not make a call from my house telephone so I went to mom’s house to report a faulty line to Telekom. When I arrived there slightly before noon, I saw a snake sliding on the electrical cable on the wall of the neighbor’s house. I saw its tail moving and sliding into the crevice between the wall and electric cable. At first glance, the color of the snake was black. It could be the venomous cobra. I could estimate it was about 3 to 4 feet long!

Without further delay, I called the Bomba (Fire Department) to help capture the snake. I waited at the front of mom’s house to keep an eye on the snake while waiting for the Bomba to arrive. After some minutes, they came in a fire engine.

They checked the crevice but could not find any sign of a snake. I told them that I really saw its tail about 2 feet long and that could not be a lizard’s tail. One of the guy inspected further under the crevice and he saw something and confirmed a snake was hiding in the crevice. He used a thick cable to reach into the crevice and the snake fell out.

I was right! It was about 4 feet long. Black but with some green and black cross hatching. They said it was “ular daun” (literally translated leaf snake).

The photo (click for larger view) is not so clear to confirm the species of the snake. But it could be Chrysopelea ornata or Chrysopelea paradisi (paradise tree snake). This tree snake could fly and often called flying snake or flying tree snake. Watch the movies how the snake “fly” here. This is a website of Jake Socha, a hepatologist from The University of Chicago. Very interesting.

Back to the snake. We thought it was dead or passed out because it was not moving. That’s why I went closer (but not too close) to take the photo. After a while, it became lively again and moved swiftly under my car. The Bomba men were trying to surround it but it moved too quickly and finally it found an exit and disappeared into the bushes in front of mom’s house. I saw it moving swiftly into the bush and I was closest to it. I could have picked up its tail but I did not have the gut to do it. Not like my karate grand master who is so quick that he can catch an Okinawan Habu snake with his bare hand. The Okinawan Habu snake is a very venomous snake on Okinawa.

The incident also brought two schoolmates to meet again. One of the Bomba guy, asked me if I was from St David just before they left. We exchanged some information and he appeared to be Khalid from 5A2, same year as me. What a happy ending. The snake did not die, two ex-schoolmate met again. Really happy ending.

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The growth of a seed - My greatest challenge

December 18th, 2007 at 10:57 · Filed Under Blogging, Days in My Life, Gardening, Karate, Philosophy, Training Journal · 2 Comments 

Some upheaval stirred up. Not in my domain but rather from another domain. The upheaval has taught me more valuable lesson from Sensei. He told me a story about a seed. How it breaks through its nut shell, makes its way through boulders and dry hard soil, and finally the surface, growing up into sunny new world. But the challenge does not stop there…

Here’s his gardening wisdom:

When the Gardener plants a seed in good soil and waters it, it begins to grow. First it must soak up the needed water, expand, and push through the hard seed shell. This is painful, difficult, and exhausting work. Did you know of the plant’s nervous system? This is the most painful stage of a young plant’s life! Many seeds just give up and die before sprouting.

This was when you decided to leave the old association, based only on words made many miles away by me, a stranger. You could have just quit karate (“died”) or “stayed in the shell”, but you didn’t. You “soaked up” my words and essays, and decided to break through the shell.

Then the seedling must push up blindly toward the surface of the soil, not knowing what lies ahead, or how far it might be to the surface. Hopefully the soil has been softened and moistened by the Gardener, and hopefully there are no rocks and stones in the way. But despite the greatest efforts of the Gardener to prepare the way, sometimes there are, and the new seedling has to wind around them or push them out of the way. To a tiny new sprout, sometimes even a grain of sand is like a huge boulder! But it must push on, or die.

This was your final decision and preparation, your commitment to making the trip to Okinawa, your arrival, and the anxious hours before actually beginning your work.

It was like holding your breath as you swim through an underwater tunnel, with no way back – how much further, how much further, when will you reach the end and break the surface, how much further…?

Now the tender new sprout reaches the soil’s surface and breathes in the fresh air and begins to absorb sunlight! What a joy! The gentle breeze, the warm sunlight, the uncountable stars at night as the tiny new shoot sleeps and grows using the day’s stored energy. But it is still tender, and easy to injure. It must be protected and nourished through this critical stage of development.

This was your training here on Okinawa, and your realization that all I said to you was true. This was your beginnings of study with me and your fellow students on the Nagahama Dojo, and the encouragement you got whenever you made progress and growth in the system. This is the excitement you felt when you first met Toyama Sensei and finally had an opportunity to perform for him, and met his approval for your performance. This is the culmination of your studies in one short month that cemented your resolve to “plant your roots” in UechiRyu. You have seen the sunlight and now you strive upward toward the source of your energy and growth. And this is my commitment to take care of your development, and see that you have all possible opportunity to reach your potential.

The promise and commitment of the Gardener to the plants in his care. So it was from Toyama Sensei to me.

Now the plant is growing with strong stem and branches, new leaves and increased absorption of sunlight and water. It’s well-formed root system digs deep and cannot be pulled up easily. The bark on its stem grows tougher every day, and stronger each week. Small bugs can no longer assail it. Birds are no longer interested in pulling it from the ground for use in building their own nests – the “sprout” has become too tough. However, not having seen even one season of growth yet, it is still in its youthful stages of development and needs the attention and ministering of the Gardener. There are still some plant-eating animals that can cause mischief – but the Gardener gives what protection he can until the plant is a full-grown tree, which will take some time yet.

The plant is far from mature enough to produce fruit for creating more like itself. That will naturally take several seasons. But it has the start that few of its kind have in the wild, unattended and surrounded by weeds and rocks that stunt its growth and rob it of vital nourishment. It can look down now at its beginnings in the soil, and laugh at what once seemed to be huge boulders and heavy barriers in the way of its growth; they now seem like tiny grains and pebbles, and small light twigs. They no longer bar the way; they add to the nutrition of the soil and the protection of the roots. And so those things that once caused pain and fear are to be appreciated.

My greatest challenge came two days ago when I received a feedback from Sensei about our video performance. Suddenly, I realized the greatest challenge is lying within the concept of the system. It is the hardest to teach to a student. Although I realize most of the concept taught by Sensei on Okinawa, I find myself have not completely absorbed. Even if I have absorbed, I am not able to apply the concept through kata.

The concept in Uechi-Ryu Zankai is simple but rather complicated to understand and to apply. For instance, applying “yawarakasa” and “binkansa” at the same time. Not to mention applying both together with “chikarazuyosa”. For all these three elements, they need a mind with opened senses, to be able to feel and to control every muscles and bones. A better understanding and the capability of manipulating body central of gravity are vital in the process of learning, understanding and applying.

This may not sound too difficult for me due to my prior understanding of bio-mechanics and kinesiology from the cross training of karate which I received many years ago. I also would like to thank those teachers who cross trained me and helped me to understand the concepts (of other styles). Without them, I would have been struggling harder by now.

I have taught my students how to move and how to do kata, alright. Yet, I have not been able to realize the conceptual model in their understanding and application. This is the greatest challenge in my entire karate coaching career.

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How to kill pests without killing?

December 8th, 2007 at 22:53 · Filed Under Blogging, Days in My Life, Gardening, General, Karate, Training Journal · 1 Comment 

While I was learning from my Sensei on Okinawa, I observed a good nature of him. He values life. Any harmless animals or insects that got in his way or attention, will be rescued and saved. Around his dojo, I could find beetles, snails, spiders, lizards and a dozen or two of harmless insects or animals. No pests are ever allowed in his dojo though. Even if he needs to kill a mosquito, his killing is gentle and snappy, reducing suffering of the mosquito. Perhaps, I am over exaggerating.

I can never forget how he turned around his car and sped to rescue a spider he noticed on a road which he had passed. When we reached there, some boys were trying to kick the spider and they were preparing to capture it and played with it like a toy until its death. Sensei picked up the spider. He showed it to me. It was a black spider with some yellow stripes on its legs and body. It was harmless. He took the spider across the road to a bush and gently put the spider down on one of the bushes. Then we went to the town happily.

Speaking about mosquitoes, I hate mosquitoes. When I need quietness and a good and restful sleep, somehow, it will find a way into the bedroom and humming away near my ears as though it sings, “Blood, blood, I am going to suck your blood. Yummy!” If I ignore it, I will feel itchiness on my skin after a while.

My favorite weapon to fight mosquitoes is an electric bat. It operates on rechargeable batteries. It looks like a badminton racket but very much smaller. The netting is made of some metal wires and is electrified when you hold down the button on the handle. To catch/kill a mosquito, sometimes mosquitoes, just hold the button down and wave the racket against any flying mosquitoes. When the mosquito(es) come(s) in contact with the electrified wire, it will be trapped and electrocuted. When the batteries are strong, it will give up very loud electric snapping sound. “ta ta ta ta ta ta …..” and I can see electric sparks sparkling on the mosquito’s body and its abdomen will glow red hot. If I hold down the button longer, I can smell the barbecue mosquito. Love it! Sometimes, the electric snaps much stronger and tears the mosquito apart. I can see the mosquito without its abdomen but still alive beating its wing, making the humming sound, circling and dancing on the floor, as though it sings, “Ne, ne, ne, ne, ne…. I am still alive!”

I plow my own garden now after learning how to grow goodness from my master gardener. I need to keep my garden healthy. To keep my garden healthy, I need to weed it and get rid of the pests. There are two ways to keep the pests at bay. One is to use toxic chemical to kill them. Yucks! The other alternative is to build a barrier to keep the pests away from my garden. This is something called Green House!

Unknowingly, I have somehow built a shield surrounding my garden. I did not realize about the shield, when some pests were trying to destroy my garden and crops and I sprayed some aerosol trying to kill them, until my master gardener showed me his great wisdom.

The green house is a shield built surrounding my garden keeping the pest at bay, away from my crops. By keeping pests outside the garden, makes them envy of the delicious foods inside my garden and soon the pests will die by starving themselves to death. What a great way to kill pests!

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Garden remodeling

November 21st, 2007 at 10:08 · Filed Under At Home, Blogging, Gardening, Marketing · Comment 

LA and I love plants. I have been searching for some appropriate garden decor. Since we remodeled our garden portion in July, we have no soil ground for any plants. The remodeling is necessary for the safety of our children. Before I left for my sabbatical training on Okinawa, I saw a baby snake crushed to death by a car in front of my house. The remodeling would make our garden neater and safer. The soil ground became a cement ground. No more planting on the ground. We managed to keep some potted plants and we decided no more potted plants so to keep the spacious ground for the children to play and I can train in the garden too.

We love plants. Some ideas sparkled in my mind. We can have the plants hang on the garden wall as well as on the roof of the car porch beside the little garden. The hanger must be stainless and weather proof. I came across this site selling wrought iron garden decor. It has variety of wrought iron garden hooks and plant hangers which I am looking for. I prefer classical design.

With the holiday seasons coming, Wrought Iron Heaven offers discount. Perfect to make a great Christmas gift for LA. I found a hidden back door of how to get great discount while surfing their website. Go to the home page, scroll down half way until you read “Our Store now has over 1,300 home & garden items for you to choose from.” Click on the (,) comma to get your discount.

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Floral at Zakimi Castle

August 2nd, 2007 at 17:28 · Filed Under Environment, Flowers and Plants, Gardening, Karate, Okinawa, Philosophy, Photography, Training Journal · 1 Comment 

I took a day off training and decided to have a walk at the ruins of Zakimi Castle. After all, there was no training in the afternoon and I needed some rest and to take my mind off training so that I could recover from my learning curve.

I noticed some beautiful flowers and plants along the way so I took some pictures of them to share here.

Too bad I have no idea the name of the plants. If anyone knows, please share here using the comments. Thanks.

The bud of this Cycad is really huge. Cycad is one of my favorite plant. I used to have a few at home but they did not flourishe. Whenever new bud (small) is growing, it got chewed up by caterpillars. I gave away some and left one in a pot when we remodeled our garden last month.

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African Violet

June 4th, 2007 at 12:25 · Filed Under Flowers and Plants, Gardening, Photography · Comment 

African Violet or Sainpaulia is native to Tanzania and adjacent southeastern Kenya in eastern tropical Africa, with a concentration of species in the Nguru mountains of Tanzania. They range in flower colour from white, pink, violet, yellow, and some even green, and the flowers may be either single (five petals) or double (more than five, with some or all of the stamens converted into extra petals). Flowers are not always a solid colour, but can also be found in the “fantasy” variety where the petals have strips of colours going down them.

Saintpaulias can be propagated by leaf cuttings or seed. I will try to propagate some this weekend if I can find some time for it. Here is the Florist Gloxinia which I propagated from leaf cuttings.

This is one of the plant which I bought for my home office. Violet is my favorite flower color.

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Fittonia Mini

June 4th, 2007 at 12:07 · Filed Under Flowers and Plants, Gardening, Photography · Comment 

Fittonia Mini or Nerve Plant (Latin: Fittonia verschaffeltii spp) is a low growing spreading plant native to Peru. The plant is difficult to grow in dry weather. It needs no sun or only partial filtered sunlight.

I like plants with small leaves and does not grow large. Fittonia Mini is one of the plants that I bought for my home office.

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Successful propagation of florist gloxinia

July 13th, 2006 at 23:31 · Filed Under Flowers and Plants, Gardening, Photography · 1 Comment 

Florist gloxinia or Sinningia speciosa is tough to propagate.

4 months ago, I tried to make 4 propagation by cutting a fresh leave and inserted the leave with its tuber into a pot of moist soil. Watered to keep the soil moist. After 4 to 6 weeks, the leave turned yellow than brown and died.

Do not throw away the dead leave. Roots could have grown at the tuber in the soil. It will take quite some time to grow into a plant. Only 1 out of 4 propagation was successful.

Here is the photo of the newly propagated plant I took today.

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