Summer Christmas Time in Sydney

Summer time! Christmas time!  Holiday time!

Everyone is cheering up.

Swimming in the ocean is pleasant yahhh of course when the sky is blue.

Balla - Italian Italian restaurant in Sydney

Looking over the Pyrmont Bay,  the restaurant is located in " The Star ".

When we asked Australian local beer,  the waiter told us that the beer they have were all Italian.

Well no problem,  As a main dish I chose " Gnocchi gnudi of ricotta and zucchini flower burnt butter and sage "   $26

Does it look like Takoyaki??   The food is rich but tastes so good and four balls of gnocchi made me full !

Sculpture by the sea 2013

       "  Ice berg " is drifted from Antarctic !!!!

                                                 

Bondi Market

Lots of organic goodies you want to try.
Sophisticated but not yuppie like and also quite laid back atmosphere.

The avocados I bought were fantastic, and I need a few more days to try the best avocado (according to the grower.)

This genuine sweets stall was so stunning,  not just organic...nuts they use are active nuts....
Mylabites is so amazing!!!

Sculpture by the sea 2013

My favourite is

Sculpture by the se 2013

Sculpture by the sea

has started.

This head has many
small balls , it is exactly like a head of
Japanese Buddha.

Made by a Japanese
artist.







                                       Bondi Hercules!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                 Sea anemones and a star fish fashion parade

BUBBLE GUM KID...

MONBETSU, HOKKAIDO SURFING Sep 2013

Ohhhh it was so windy,  so good for wind surfers, yeah!

We didn't miss any riding on a surfboard,  we needed to get wet because we have driven for a few hours.  Actually it was better than a look.

After surfing  of course we went straight to the town for feeding ourselves.
Hokki-gai don ( on the top of the boiled rice Hokki clam cooked with egg) was a very choice, yummm.

YAKUSHI ONSEN (hot springs)

It looks abandoned from outside and it does - It looks deserted inside and it does.

But the the supreme good quality of the springs exists.  this rusty colour water comes from the

bottom of the natural river like pond and see the sparkling  bubbles of the minerals cover around

the body.  Nice , it skin makes turuturu (smooth).

The bathrooms consist of three parts, this is man & woman mixed bath, you share the space with
the naked strangers, can you do it??

 Onsen TARO - Higuma (Hokkaido bear)

After typhoon 18 surfing ( 16 SEP 2013 )

Look at this delicious food!!  Autumn is the season for the salmon , so every coast lines have serious

fisherman watchers or antlers.  But none of us has chosen the salmon somehow.

This set menu is $13 to $15, not a bad deal at all.

We heard that one of the costal road (Oogon Rd) has closed due to the wild weather.

Ummmh, the quickest and the safest way was to take a highway via Obihiro...What a trip...

But we made our day extreme!!

Hokke fish,Hokki shell and Prawn stock miso soup

Tenpura Don

Chirashi (Sashimi)Don

Surf Trip Erimo & Hiroo 2013 by Three Hokkaido Surf Chicks

We, THSC, first met in Australia through the surfing friends living in Hokkaido.

Recently two chicks went back to Hokkaido and I was there for my holiday , so we decided to have
a re-union surf trip to the mid-east coast.  Typhoon 18 was chasing up us but anyway we drove toward the meeting point.

When Miss E & I arrived near Erimo, Miss T already have had one session and by this time the rain and the wind got stronger.   We moved to Funbe , after watching other guys surfing , we decided to
paddle out.  OMG..the  rain got harder and harder.. Raining doesn't mtter as we get wet anyway..

As soon as I got in the water, I felt as if I was thrown down into an ice-full pool.  My brain was frozen
straight away and  stopped its mobility.

We only stayed about 30 min.   Luckily the powerful  rain shower took off all the sands and the salts away,  but we needed something to warm us up.   Of course.. a tucker ...yes a food...mochiron kuimon.

To be continued.

Kyoto - Kurama to Kibune shrine

Kurama temple stands in a part of Mt. Kurama.  Kurama has few mythology.

A spiritual medicine man like monster [ it sounds scary ] called Tengu  lived or could be living

in this mountain.  Also Mikao Usui who became a devout Shingon Buddist and practiced discipline in

Mt. Kurama.  He is the originator of Reiki, the healing techniques and energy disciplines using ki.

I was hoping to see Tengu sama... Or maybe it was good that I didn't encounter with him...

Autumn. I cannot stop eating in Hokkaido

Chestnut cake is called Montblant

Dried salmons is on a wheel

Hot springs and Mt. Yotei

A sunny beautiful autumn day.  Hit a road to Niseko!

One of the oldest hot springs in the area is called Yakushi Onsen, and Koikawa Onsen purified 

our body ,mind and spirit.

Mt Yotei has a similar shape to Mt Fuji so it is called Ezo Fuji.

Good old days... Nostalgic houses in Hokkaido

Looking, cruising around the streets on my red push bike, it is still nice to spot the old traditional        

houses.  Cool*

Tiger Jit Singh ..was once a famous pro wrestler...Hindustan restaurant

The current owner is the son of Tiger Jit Singh. ( I don't know how many sons Tiger had though )

Food is so fresh and so tasty, specially  the stuffed special chilli paste bitter gourd was exceptional.

Tiger Jit Singh's photo was on the wall, but without the infamous sword**

perhentian kecil island, Malaysia

Emerald green on a sunny day, pale jade green on a cloudy day, the ocean here is beautiful.

No surf, but it is great for the divers.  Though the variety of fish is limited but I saw a turtle,

specially the baby turtle was so cute. Small reef sharks, ray, long spiky sea urchins, 

Nimo the crown fish, a huge tropical fish and sward fish, etc...

Surprisingly it gets quite cool in the morning and after sunset, sometimes it is more warmer in the

water.