Kedahan-Malaysian @ Japan
This photo-blog documents the ‘experiments in life’ (borrowing from Mahatma K. Gandhi) of a Malaysian national who has been residing in Japan since 1987.
Retiring ‘Kedahan-Malaysian @ Japan’
Thank you so much for following Kedahan-Malaysian @ Japan.
I have decided to concentrate my time and energy to maintaining just one blog (instead of three).
As such, all future updates shall be posted in the blog ‘Setouchi Snorkeler’.
‘Setouchi Snorkeler’ shall be the primary channel to record all my activities related to life, hobbies, play, work, among other things.
Thank you in advance for your continued interest.
Now, come on over to… https://setouchisnorkeler.wordpress.com/
ウクレレ伴奏のデビュー Ukulele debut
(English follows Japanese)
1987年、広島大学で日本語の研修をしていた時、日本語の先生はアコースティックギターを取り出して、我々に初めての日本語の歌を教えてくださいました。
今も、時々尺八で吹いています。その歌は「四季の歌」です。
早30数年が立ちました。先日、私がウクレレを取り出して、留学生たちに日本語の歌を教えました。「ふるさと」です。また、日本の歌ではないですが、「幸せなら手をたたこう」も教えました。
目的は、2022年の新年会でパフォーマンスをするためでした。
私のウクレレのデビューでもありました。しばらくウクレレを自習でやってきていますが、その機会をいただいてうれしかったです。
コロナの関係で「生」で演奏できず、事前に録画して、イベント（2022年、新年会）の当日、録画を流しました。学生たちの出身地はブラジル、ブルンジ、ルワンダ、メキシコ、韓国、バングラデシュでした。日本人学生も参加してくれました。
When I was an international student at Hiroshima University studying Japanese Language in 1987, one of our teachers took out his acoustic guitar and taught us to sing our first Japanese song ‘Shiki no uta’ (literally, ‘Song of the four seasons’).
Fast forward 30 over years… I still remember that song, and in fact, sometimes play it with my Shakuhachi.
This time, I had the pleasure and honor to take out my ukulele, and teach our ‘Sanuki Program’ students their first Japanese song, ‘Furusato’ (My hometown). We also performed a second song, Shiawase nara te wo tatakou (If you are happy, clap your hands).
The purpose was to have them perform in the New Year 2022 event.
I had been learning how to play the ukulele for a while now, and that occasion marked the debut of my ukulele playing for an audience.
However, with COVID-19 still raging, we could not perform it ‘live’ at the event.
So, we pre-recorded the session and played it during the event.
The students were from Brazil, Burundi, Rwanda, Mexico, Korea, and Bangladesh. Japanese students also joined in to sing along.
「美魚」写真展 ‘Beautiful Fish’ Photo Exhibition
皆様、こんにちは！
本日の11月10日（水）から21日（日）まで、初の＜「美魚」写真展＞を開催します。
すべての水中写真は、香川県の海域で撮影したものばかりです。
Am holding my first ever photo exhibition from Nov. 10th (today) to 21st.
All underwater photos are taken from the sea at Kagawa Prefecture.
尺八ソロ演奏付きのトークイベントも実施する予定です。
ご関心の皆様にぜひ、一度、見にきていただきたいと思います～
Talk events accompanied by solo Shakuhachi performances are also planned.
Looking forward to welcoming all of you!
Clean-up & hiking event at Goten-yama
Been spending a considerable amount of time and energy engaging myself in beach cleaning activities since last year.
In July 2020, had the good fortune to meet with some nice folks at a cleaning event at Kamano Beach, about a kilometer from my house.
It was the first such event for me, and I thoroughly enjoyed the experience. The second event two months later at another beach saw myself offering to help in the organizing of future events.
Without much of a realization, I became a member of an extraordinary team comprising of four individuals, all with diverse backgrounds.
The leader is a division chief of a major electronic corporation while the sub-leader is a retired senior public servant affiliated to the city office. The third member has a strong background in NGO affairs, and yours truly, a university man.
The last few months had been an amazing experience coordinating with these three wonderful individuals. Our strengths, coming from different backgrounds, seem to fuse perfectly, as we cover up for each other’s weaker areas. We call ourselves the ‘LOVE’ Team, as some years back, Aji Peninsula (where we base our events on) was the location for a hit movie called ‘Crying out for love from the center of the world’ (my translation).
Our latest (5th) engagement was held on 18th July (Sun), at Gotenyama Beach, site of an abandoned holiday home for one of Takamatsu’s diamyos during the samurai era.
About 36 people joined our event, including three international students from KUFSA (Kagawa University Foreign Student Association) and four Japanese students from ICES (Inter-Cultural Exchange Society). There were families with little kids, senior citizens, couples too.
Being the (abandoned) site of a holiday home, the views are simply marvellous.
As in all our beach cleaning events, we separated the participants into four groups: L, O, V, and E. We spent about half an hour or more cleaning up the beach, and rested for a while. All the participants received a packet of ‘shirasu onigiri’ (rice balls filled with little white fish), compliments from our team leader. This little white fish is a delicacy of Aji.
We were ready for Part Two of the event, that is, a hike up the hills overlooking the beautiful ‘Seto Naikai’ (Seto Inland Sea). Our team had prepared ourselves to be ‘tour guides’, taking turns to explain to the participants the islands, the history, the fishing industry, and the forests. I had the honor of speaking on the ‘Ubamegashi’, a type of extremely hard oak tree that grows well along rocky coastal terrain. When my other team-mates were doing the explanation, I played my Shakuhachi as accompanying BGM (back ground music).
We stationed ourselves at a rest area with spectacular views and chewed on our onigiris. We slowly started to descend, and wow, even I was surprised that watermelons were waiting for us at the final assembly area.
Upon reflection, I must say that this had turned out to be a most exhilirating experience that was full of joy, laughter, musings, and oh, so much fun making new friends and chatting with old ones. Many participants almost instantly reported in their SNS pages, and from the look of it, I believe they had enjoyed the event as much as I did.
We are now on track to plan the 6th event…
Photo credits: Tadasuke Yoshioka, Mao Takahashi, Lrong Lim
Hiking the ‘sakura’ hills at Aji Peninsula 【庵治の里山歩き隊（お花見編）】
For the second time, participated in the ‘hike around the hills at Aji Peninsula’. Thank the lucky heavens for the superb weather. Warm sunshine, little wind, on top of a comfortable temperature in the high teens. The hills were dotted with blooming sakuras, mainly those of the ‘wild’ type, plus the usual Somei Yoshinos. We had lovely views at several lookout spots. Really, what more can one ask for… blue skies, the calm Seto Inland Sea, ferries quietly plying the routes… For lunch, we had ‘shishi nabe’, specially prepared for the occasion, plus ‘bei ika’, local squid with miso… urmmm… Many thanks to the organizers and volunteer guides for another memorable hike.
早春賦 Longing for Spring
早春賦 尺八：ロン Longing for Spring Shakuhachi: Lrong
A lovely song from the Taisho era, expressing the feeling of waiting for the arrival of spring.
鎌野漁港 2021年２月21日（日）午前６時53分
Kamano Fishing Port 21st Feb 2021 6:53 AM
冬景色 Winter Scenery
今日は雨。気分は落ち着いているだろう。パートナーはお出かけ中、ヨーガをやっている。外での作業はできないが、楽しくウクレレや尺八と遊んでいる。また、そうだな、パン作りも。とにかく、冬景色を尺八で録音してみた。ショウゴナカニシさんの塩江での写真を使わている。感謝～
It is raining today, and the feeling is sort of like, melancholic? Sweeto haato is out, doing her thing with the Yoga class, I believe. Can’t do anything outside in this wet condition. But am having a lot of fun fooling around with the ukulele and shakuhachi. And yes, baking a loaf of bread as well. Anyway, here is an upload of my Shakuhachi rendition of the song ‘Winter Scenery’. Thanks to Syogo Nakanishi for letting me use his photos taken at Shionoe, a hot spring district in Kagawa.
https://youtu.be/SDH2nQ2_HA8
さらば (Farewell) 2020…
2020年は、コロナ禍にもかかわらず、特別な年となりました。たくさんの新しい方々と知り合いになったことです。それは、一言で言うと、「海」のおかげです。発端は、同僚たちと担当している授業でした。留学生と日本人学生対象の授業で、思い切って「海⇒SDG#14」に決めて実施した流れで、「ビーチクリーン活動」との出会いになりました。そのルートで、たくさんのすばらしい方々と「出会い」ができて、生き甲斐は一気に楽しくなってきました。（※以前からも、楽しく生きて来ていますが～）。来年に向けて、この線で、知り合えた皆様とさらに活動をしてまいりたいと思います。よいお年を、皆様！
The year 2020 has been quite a year for me. In that, I have had the opportunity to make friends with a lot of new people, thanks to the ‘sea’. It started off with a class that my colleagues and I are in charge of. After some thoughts, we decided to focus on the ‘sea’, which led to SDG#14, and subsequently, beach cleaning activities. Through this route, I realized a new feeling of satisfaction, of accomplishment, and of joy. Come 2021, I plan to ride on this route and expand my horizons while getting to know these folks better. Happy 2021!
シルキースウィート・サツマイモ・マフィン Sweet potato (Silky sweet) Muffins
畑から収穫したシルキースウィート・サツマイモを使って、マフィンを作って見ました。目的は、先週11月23日（月）の第3回庵治なビーチクリーンイベントの際、大変お世話になった歯ART美術館の館長さんとスタッフも皆さんにお礼をするためです。初めてサツマイモを使って作ったが、うん、味は悪くない。館長さんとスタッフの皆さんには、お口に合ったのかな？
Used the sweet potato (Silky sweet) harvested from my garden to make muffins. Purpose was to thank the Heart Musuem staff members for their kind cooperation and support rendered to us during our 3rd Aji Beach Clean event on 23rd November. First time to use sweet potato on the muffin. Taste was not bad. Wondered if the taste was ok for the folks at the musuem. Decorated with Raja Ulam flowers, also harvested from my garden. Years ago, the seeds were brought to Japan from my kampong in Kedah, and the Raja Ulam self-seeds annually. It is thriving in my garden, and it is winter right now.
ナベカ（那辺加） Elegant blenny Omobranchus
ナベカ（那辺加）とう、全長７cmぐらい)（？）の小さな魚。スズキ目、ギンポ亜目、イソギンポ科に属している。よく遊んでくれて、ポースをしてくれた。
Elegant blenny Omobranchus. A species of combtooth blenny. Length of about 7 centimetres? Played hide and seek with me, and in fact, posed for my camera too.
Setouchi Snorkeler
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Kedahan-Malaysian @ Japan 