CHILLI PADI PROBOSCIS MONKEYS & FIREFLIES TOUR

"Chili Padi" is a hot favourate in Malaysia because of the fruity taste and extreme spiciness.

The red hot chili padi.

An inbound ground operator named his company as Chili Padi Tour SDN BHD and operates the Proboscis monkeys & fireflies tour in Kampong Tamau near Kota Belud, about an hour and 25 minutes drive from Kota Kinabalu. We did an inspection tour to sample their products.

The restaurant at the river bank.  

Tea or coffee with some local snacks served before river cruise.

Rain clouds hovered over the river when we started the cruise.

This long-legged, s-necked egret.

There were only a few proboscis monkeys, but we were lucky to get a glimpse of this dominant male.

We had to cut short our cruise because of the rain.

Buffet dinner before proceeding to watch fireflies.

Fireflies watching was about 15 minutes drive to another river from the restaurant. From the boat, we could see thousands of fireflies synchronizing their flashes. There was nothing like cruising along the river in the night to capture the beauty of this natural wonder.  

 Picture was at the courtesy of Chili Padi tour SDN BHD website.

CHERRY BLOSSOMS - OSAKA CASTLE

We spent the afternoon in Osaka Castle on 09April before leaving for Tokyo. Surprisingly, there were still "Cherry blossoms".

The castle has a wide variety of cherry blossoms (sakura).  

As the "Hanami" season was almost over, there were only a couple of stalls left. 

 Close-up on the flowers.

The castle in the distance.

 

Children picnicking under the sukura trees. 

It was a very good afternoon walk, another memorable "Hanami" experience.


  

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY TO ALL THE MOTHERS IN THE WORLD

Happy mother's day to all the mothers in the world! It's a great day to celebrate!

Love from Cherry blossoms!  

DOMESTIC AIRLINES IN JAPAN

There are more than 20 Japanese airlines operating in Japan. Many of them are budget or low-fare carriers painted with colourful livery. While waiting for our flight to Osaka at Fukuoka airport, I took some pictures of the planes coming in to land and some lining up for take-off.    

The Star Flyer, a Japanese "hybrid airline" operating 4 cities in Japan with their fleet of black and white A320s. 

Jet Star Japan, serving 9 Japanese cities with A320s. 

 Fuji Dream Airline operates a fleet of Embraer 170-175 aircrafts.

 Another FDA plane in yellow coming to land.

A Japan Air Self-Defense Force (航空自衛隊)Kawasaki T-4 Training aircraft caught my eyes.

The Peach Aviation's A320 in pink and white.

 A Bombardier Dash 8 of ANA WINGS

  Another Bombardier Dash 8 of JAL.

Japan Transocean Air's B737-400

 ANA on final approach

Skymark Airlines is the first low-cost airline established in 1998. It has a large fleet of   B737-800.

I noticed another Fuji Dream aircraft in purple as our aircraft was pushed back for departure,

Flew over mountainous areas covered with snow.

 Landed at Osaka International airport (ITAMI).