The Biwako Championship : Dinner and Prize Presentation

After the game, we all went for the Japanese bath which by now most of us were no longer conscious of walking around nude exposing our ' jewels'. Typically one would soap and scrub at the side bath-stall first - pouring hot water over oneself and scrubbing the body with the small face-towel. Once clean, then one goes into the hot water bath for a 5 to 10 minute soak. The bath pool water is at 42 to 43 degrees celcius. One must not soak for too long a time or else one may get giddy from dehydration and low blood pressure. The hot water soak relaxes the muscles. What would be nice is a Balinese or a Thai massage after that.

The group of non-golfing ladies were taken on a tour of the Hikone Castle - courtesy of the Biwako Club. They were brought back to the club after that to join us for the Closing Dinner and Prize Presentation.

Dinner was a luxurious spread of sushis, sashimis, lobsters, black pepper beef and beef curry and and assortment of fresh fruits. Of course, there was the free flow of beers, sakes and wines.

Datuk Khadar and Datuk Azizi Yom Ahmad took some yens

from their Biwako flight-mates.

Rematch in January 2013!

Biwako Captain, Dr Saitosan, showing Steven K B Low

how to get the flesh out of the lobster

pakdokter with Biwako Captain, Dr Saitosan

Dr Saitosan is 87 and is a retired internal medicine physician

but plays golf to a low teen handicap

In his prime, he was a single-handicapper

pakdokter with Okazakisan

Okazakisan, altho in his 70's, is still a keen skiier

he just returned from a skiing holiday in Nagano the day before

he told pakdokter this winter he had skiied for 45 days

he is a businessman and is a regular visitor to the RSGC

pakdokter with flight-mate Kenji Yamashita

pakdokter first met Kenjisan during the first trip here 5 years ago

Kenjisan got his first ever hole-in-one then

and over lunch Osaka was hit by quite a strong earthquake

our lunch table shook and moved sideways

it was pakdokter's first experience of a tremor

Kenjisan was oblivious to it as he was already 'pissed drunk'

then, celebrating his 'hole-in-one' achievement

to commemorate that acheivement, Kenjisan later sent

to all of us a tube of a specially embossed golf balls with

notes to remind us of his achievement.