新見的巴士廣告

有時候，巴士車身上的廣告會帶給我一些驚喜。

像今次的例子：

一個小女孩的笑容首先吸引我的注意力，走近看，給我發現，原來這幅照片或圖畫大致上是由手指模造成的。

照這張相是我要與時間競賽──從褲袋找出相機，打開保護袋，按下開關制，調校畫面大小，按半下測距,最後按下快門制。幸運得很，攝影時這輛巴士還未開走，否則照回來的相可能是對面馬路的景象。



其實打手指模這樣東西，在早期申請及更換身份證時巳經發生了。 幾年前在申請美國旅遊証件時，也需要；入美國境時當然要；將來入日本境時相信也要。

喇叭型花

近幾日香港天氣回暖，又潮濕，一般植物都活躍起來， 葉子不斷地長花不斷地開。

這般喇叭型的黃花從欄內伸出欄外，希望吸引蜜蜂或其他昆蟲前往採蜜，兼且替其傳播花粉，得到傳宗接代的機會。

鮮艷的黃色花瓣， 花內裛橙色的間綫(給蜜蜂看的引綫)及像古典留聲機上的喇叭身段通通都帶給我很舒服的感覺，賞花也是人生一樂事！

Roadside Art Display

On our very first day at Victoria, British Columbia, after check-in at Fisher’s House, we went out for a walk in the neighbouring streets. Along the street where Fisher’s House lay were all residential houses. Turning into another street, we found shops like our Watson’s or Mannings' or supermarkets which sold all kinds of household goods, medicine, seasonings, stationery, food and fruit. The prices of things sold here were comparatively dearer than those in Vancouver.

On our way to the Parliament Buildings, we passed a café which provided free wireless internet service. Two men were sitting at a small table chatting outside the café. They each had a drinking cup on the table. One of them was dressed in black with a pair of stylish long boots and a green cap.

At the kerb of the pavement were fixed two artistic sculptures. They must have been welded together by different pieces of metals. The one on the right showed a long-haired lady riding a bicycle. This lady wore a beautiful hat and her long hair flew as the bicycle was running. Her stretching legs in her bell-bottomed trousers added much fun to the whole sculpture. It was more interesting to find that the lady was carrying some live flowers in a basket at the front of her bicycle. For the second sculpture, I was totally confused by the wires wrapped up by scrapes of metal. It looked as if it would form an electric lamp.

Looking around at Grouse Mountain

The light-brown Skyride Station at the mountain edge was quite tall. It was nothing grand because it was made of wood. There was a corridor linking the station to the dark-brown Lodge where we had dinner in its restaurant.

There was also a souvenir shop, a bar, a cinema in which films (documentary only) are shown at different times of the day.











Out of the Lodge, we saw the open ground covered by snow. Not far away, in front of us, was a square piece of open ground for activities or assembly. On the far side was Santa’s Workshop.

I spotted a red truck moving by belts like those of tanks. I guessed it was for carrying heavy things from one spot to another.










There were racks for storing snow boards in front of the Lodge. Quite a number of young people, carrying snow boards, were ready for skiing on the tracks at the upper part of this mountain.

煎太陽蛋

阿蘇節目當中，第三組烹飪賽賽員是兩女一男，是以煎太陽蛋作比賽。








在首輪煎蛋中，三位賽員煎下來的蛋不合格，不符合阿蘇的要求，皆因火不夠猛，蛋邊不燶及不脆。於是阿蘇親自示範之後，三位賽員再煎多一次分高下。最後由8號Shirley勝出，因她煎出來的蛋比較美觀。








其實根據阿蘇的竅門，煎太陽蛋時要猛火燒滾食油，徒手打蛋，在稍接近油面放蛋，見蛋邊有些少燶便大功告成了。

泰式炒通菜

阿蘇在新一輯烹飪節目第二集一開始就去泰國食品店買餸材料:
主角為泰國蕹菜，配角是泰國鮮蒜頭。








今次阿蘇所煮的是泰式炒通菜
[1]將通菜洗淨，用手將它們弄斷至一段段，放在筲箕裏。








[2]倒一些蝦抽，再加一些指天椒，普寧豆醬及蠔油在菜上面。








[3]用猛火煮滾油後，下鮮蒜頭，爆香，然後將先前混合了調味料的通菜全部掉下鑊裏面炒幾下。








阿蘇今次煮的竅門是: 1. 油要好滾 2. 豆醬和蠔油放在未炒的通菜上 3. 炒兩下便可。

So Good returns

全新一輯的阿蘇的電視烹飪節目終於在昨晚出現在眼前。








我欣賞這一輯的構思及編排：話說今次有小型烹飪比賽供業餘人士參加。

[1]首先，有兩組，每組三人，煮同一款簡單的菜：
第一組是煎午餐肉(12號勝出)，而第二組則韭菜滑蛋(14號勝出)。








[2]阿蘇逐一碟煮好的菜作批評，雖然她說話苛刻了些少，令參賽者有些難堪，但我覺得如果參賽者的廚藝真是那麼差勁，就應該接受批評，從而改進。








[3]阿蘇則在事後示範一次怎樣煮先前比賽的菜色才是最正確呢，我已經學懂了一些秘訣。

[4]在節目的下半部，阿蘇煮了一道酒味甚濃的星加坡生蝦米粉，其實我都想品嘗它的味道！

Abby’s Art Gallery

Abby’s Art Gallery is in the sitting-room at her home in Canada. The recent pictures she has painted are displayed on the walls.

To access these pictures, Abby climbs on the long soft sofa and onto the white mattress which is folded up and stored there.

She is proud enough to sit on the mattress and shows us through Skype her master pieces. I don’t know what tools she used at time of painting. Most probably she used paint-brushes.

Here are my comments on her paintings:
[1] Her lines of drawing are bold and smooth, without any hesitation.
[2] She does not like straight lines. Instead she uses curved or zig-zag lines.
[3] There is always a centre of interest in each picture.
[4] To me, the figures she draws are like crabs, corals, sea plants, with many legs or tentacles or tendrils.
[5] The colours used are mainly purple, blue and black. Maybe Abby’s teachers do not provide their pupils with many colours.

It is really nice to see the mind of a child like Abby’s through her paintings. I am eager to see if Abby changes her style in painting as she grows.

Sawed, Sawed, Sawed........

The sawing of a tree can be a piece of news in Hong Kong. This tree is not a local one. It is a kind of trees called 南洋杉 which was imported and planted many many years ago inside the premises of Maryknoll Convent School in Kowloon.

Many past students of this school witnessed the presence of this tree ever since they were school-children. They saw it every day from primary to secondary. When they left school, the tree still stood there. On the other hand, the tree has witnessed the growth of thousands of students in uniforms of light blue or orange.










The tall tree is beginning to lean at an angle. It is liable to fall if the situation worsens. The damage to its roots during the sewage work done nearby recently has further increased the possibility of falling to the tree. As a result, the tree has to be cut down by the government.







Early on the morning of February 6, the cutting of the tree began. The tip of the tree was tied with wires and sawed first. This part of the trunk was removed by the arm of a crane. Bits by bits the tree was lowered.

On the ground were a number of MCS past and current students watching their friend being chopped down. Reporters also arrived at the scene to give news reports. The students were sad, but they could do nothing about it. Some of them hoped that the wood of this tree could be made into souvenirs for them to keep.

Sky Ride at Grouse Mountain

Edward and Terry were so kind to invite my wife and me to a sky-ride at Grouse Mountain to look at snow on December 1, 2009. It was sunny and warm on that day. After approximately half an hour, we reached the Station at the base of Grouse Mountain. Edward parked his car and got a parking ticket from a machine near by.

Terry bought a yearly pass from the main office of the Sky-ride. With her pass, she was able to bring two guests to the top of the mountain. Terry needed to buy another ticket for Edward.



Off we went to take a Red cable-car. I supposed the car could carry at most 50 passengers each time. Most of the passengers had to stand. Only a few could sit at the long benches at its two ends (front and back). I noticed that I could not take good pictures from the cable-car either because the windows had not been cleaned or that they were too old to be clear.

What a pity that the passengers could not take the beautiful views of Vancouver at a high level! Edward told me that Capilano Lake (the green piece of water at the far side behind the cable-car tower) below served as a reservoir which provided drinking water to the citizens of Vancouver.

The cable car swung as it changed its course to a horizontal position towards the station at the top. The ride took about 5 minutes. Edward suggested us to take lunch first at the lodge by the side of the station.

The lunch included soup, chicken drumsticks, a mini-salad and some vegetables wrapped by white bread. It was much warmer inside the restaurant than outside. The view outside the window was blurred because sunshine was coming towards the lodge, so Vancouver downtown and further south was in shadow. I dropped the idea of taking pictures from the table where we were sitting.