Marine Police patrol boats

A small grey motor boat sped in opposite direction close to a large Marine Police patrol boat last Thursday. The latter had slowed down before the former circulated round its stern.

From my observation, the small boat must have an officer who would like to get back onto the patrol boat and I expected the tiny boat will be lifted back to the deck of the mother boat by a crane.

A Portrait artist in Italy

The portraits of famous stars in a square in Italy attract people’s attention. This lady has asked the artist to draw a portrait of her for the price of 10 euros.

The portraits of the stars, for example, has been exaggerated to a certain extent, such as thick lips, swollen chins, twisted faces, small eyes, but the appearance, manner and facial expressions of the stars are retained. All these show that the artist is highly professional in grasping the important features and the outline of the faces. What do you think?

Lokum

Basically, Lokum is a kind of sweets made in rectangular or round strips and they are cut into smaller pieces for sale. There are many variations in flavours such as rose, lemon, mint,…. covered on the outside with coconut powder, chocolate or nuts.

Lokum appeared in 1776, invented by a confectioner at Istanbul called Bekir Effendi. Lokum is the short form of Rahat lokhoum meaning "give the throat comfort ".

Safranbolu (番紅花城), a town in the Black Sea region of Turkey, is famous for gold quality lokum in relatively cheap prices. There are a great many choices of lokum there too.

The lokum sold at the Old Bazaar duty free shop at Istanbul Airport are terribly sweet, expensive and marked in Euros.

It is interesting that lokum appears in the film, Narnia, in which the white witch gave the small child a red piece of lokum to eat.

Pinocchio

In these few days, Elly and Abby watch the cartoon film, Pinocchio (木偶奇遇記) with interest.. This film, made by Disney in 1940, fascinated the two girls a lot.

This afternoon, after Abby had gone to school, we took Elly to Ma On Shan Plaza for a walk. On the way, Elly discovered the banners high above her showing a Display of puppets at the plaza during Christmas.

I noticed this earlier and knew that the display of several big and small puppets had already been set up, but I did not tell Elly about it. The reason was simple enough. I wanted to give my grand-daughter a big surprise.

As we were approaching the site of display of puppets, Elly saw the lovely big puppets. Her smiles came with her great delight. We took a few photos of her and the puppets.

We hope that Elly's parents will take Elly and Abby to look at the puppets again in a few days ahead.

Wearing Sister’s sunglasses

This Friday afternoon, Elly found her sister’s sunglasses at our home. She was free to wear it because Abby had gone to school.

This blue sunglasses fit Elly round face and had dressed her up like the role of the actress “陳寶珠” in the Cantonese film called “女殺手”.

The statue of the Little Mermaid

The statue of the Little Mermaid sits on a rock in the Copenhagen harbour in Langelinie, Demark. This small bronze statue has for long been a Copenhagen icon and a major tourist attraction.

In 1909, Carl Jacobsen, son of the founder of Carlsberg, having been fascinated by a ballet about the fairytale, requested Edward Eriksen, a sculptor, to create the statue, which was unveiled on 23 August 1913. The latter’s wife, Eline Eriksen, acted as the model for making such a statue. Unfortunately it has been severely vandalized several times.

Unbelievably, in May 2010, it was moved for the first time ever from Demark for transport to Expo 2010 for display in Shanghai where it stayed until October 20th 2010.

Elly drawing curves

A delightful scene came to my eyes two days ago. It was Elly who drew curves with her thick crayon pens on a few pages of a book.

With a close look at Elly’s drawings, I found that Elly was able to draw curves which looked like “6”, “9”, “0” and the letter “e”.

Recently, Elly shows a habit of drawing close curves. In addition, she attains the power of shading with colouring pens or crayons.

From now on, I believe her curves are no longer “closed” and “empty”, but filled with colour. What a quick advancement Elly has achieved!

Happy Halloween sweets

With the wise thought of sliding in a 4-walled wrapping card, a packet of 28 “Andes” mint chocolate pieces has been turned into a new present of Happy Halloween sweets.

The bats and a witch flying about, the pumpkin lanterns as well as the black ribbon totally dress up the packet of sweets into a welcoming gift to children and adults alike.

I think the idea of this kind wrapping comes from a traditional match box.
I agree with “Old ideas can be applied to new products” .

Some lovely potted tomatoes

I can’t believe that tomatoes can grow so well in a small pot. Here is one good example.

These tomatoes are relatively small, but they swell round like balloons. Lustre has added beauty to its smooth skin. The colours of red, orange and green are so inviting that anyone would like to bite them.

Mini-pepper

These lovely mini pepper pods grow well in a small pot in our public garden below. Their colours vary from deep purple to light purple ad pink, to orange and red. They shape like light bulbs, but they cannot shine. Under sunlight, they look as if they were waxed. Their lustre makes them even close to the look of gems.

Another look at Toyko Tower

Just as the Eiffel Tower is often used in popular culture to immediately locate a scene in Paris, France, Tokyo Tower is often used in the same way for Tokyo. It has been established as an important tourist attraction and symbol of Tokyo.

Tokyo Tower functions as a radio and television broadcasting antenna support structure and a tourist destination. The first area tourists must visit upon reaching the tower is FootTown, a 4-storey building stationed directly under the tower. Here, visitors can eat, shop and visit several museums and galleries. Elevators that depart from the first floor of FootTown can be used to reach the first of two observation decks, the 2-storey Main Observatory. For the price of another ticket, visitors can board another set of elevators that from the second floor of the Main Observatory to reach the final observation deck—the Special Observatory.

From dusk to midnight, the floodlights illuminate the entire tower. Sodium vapor lamps are used from October 2 to July 6 to cover the tower in an orange color. From July 7 to October 1, the lights are changed to metal halide lamps to illuminate the tower with a white color. The reason behind the change is a seasonal one. Orange is a warmer color and helps to offset the cold winter months. Conversely, white is thought a cool color that helps during the hot summer months.

Sky paintings

Very often I look for sky paintings at sunsets and sunrises from home.

(1) A clear sky is best for these paintings.

(2) No paint or brushes are necessary.

(3) The picture composition depends on the sizes and distribution of clouds, the rays of sunlight that are shining.


(4) Every second the look of the sky varies with direction of winds to the clouds, light intensity and the angle of sunlight that are shining towards the clouds.

(5) The view of the sky varies with the location of the photographer.

The Trevi Fountain

The Trevi Fountain (羅馬許願池) is a fountain in the Trevi rione in Rome, Italy. It is the largest Baroque fountain standing 26 metres (85.3 feet) high and 20 metres (65.6 feet) wide in the city and one of the most famous fountains in the world.

By legend, if visitors throw a coin into the fountain, they are ensured a return to Rome. Among those who are unaware that the "three coins" of the film, Three Coins in the Fountain, were thrown by three different individuals, a reported current interpretation is that two coins will lead to a new romance and three will ensure either a marriage or divorce. From another legend, it is lucky to throw three coins with one's right hand over one's left shoulder into the Trevi Fountain.

It is estimated that 3,000 euros are thrown into the fountain each day. The money has been used to subsidize a supermarket for Rome's needy.

US Red Pears

Those fat red Anjou pears have long won my affection. They do not appear in our supermarkets for some time. Recently these long-necked U.S.A. red pears replace them. Without hesitation, I buy some to find out their texture, taste and sweetness. With a knife in hand, I peel off the skin of one after it is washed. The flesh, nice for a salad, is tender, moist, a little sweet and sour to taste.

From one web-page, I found these lines about pears. They run like this:
“A ripe pear is a sweet pear.

If a pear is left at room temperature, it slowly reaches its peak maturity. A sweet and succulent flavour appears as it ripens from the inside out.

The best way to judge ripeness is by applying gentle pressure to the neck of the pear with a thumb. If it yields to pressure, it is ripe.

To ripen pears, leave firm, unripe pears at room temperature so that they can ripen. Once the pear is ripe, it can be refrigerated to slow the ripening process and saved for use up to five days later.

Like many fruits, the flesh of cut or peeled pears will eventually become brown owing to natural oxidation. To keep your pears looking appetizing and to prevent browning, dip them in a mild solution of 50% water and 50% lemon juice.

Ripened pears can be used at once or put under refrigeration (35º to 45º F) until you want to use them. Refrigeration will delay further ripening.

For speedy ripening, place under-ripe pears in a fruit bowl at room temperature near other ripening fruit like bananas, which naturally give off ethylene and will help speed up the ripening process.

Thoroughly wash pears immediately prior to eating or preparation. Under cold, drinkable water, scrub the entire exterior of the pear, taking extra care to cleanse the indentations near the stem (at the top) and calyx (at the bottom) of the pear. Washing the entire exterior of the pear will help to eliminate dirt and/or commonly occurring bacteria that may be found on the fruit’s surface. Wash fruit even if you plan on peeling it."

Elevador de Santa Justa

The Santa Justa Lift (Elevador de Santa Justa) also called Carmo Lift (Elevador do Carmo) is a elevator/lift in civil parish of Santa Justa, in the historical city of Lisbon, situated at the end of Rua de Santa Justa. It connects the lower streets of the Baixa with the higher Largo do Carmo (Carmo Square). Since its construction, the Lift has become a tourist attraction for Lisbon as, among the urban lifts in the city, Santa Justa is the only remaining vertical one.

The panormaic views at the top of the tower allow glimpses of the Castle of São Jorge, the Tagus River, the lower part of the Pombaline Baixa, the National Theatre D. Maria II, while the upper entrance permits a view of the ruins of the Monastery of Nossa Senhora do Vencimento do Monte do Carmo.

The Elevator is a vertical structure consisting of a metallic tower, observation platform, walkway and base. Its base includes four vertical columns, each composed of two pillars.The largest part of the structure runs parallel to the Rua de Santa Justa. With a height of 45 metres, covering seven storeys, the tower includes two elevator cabins, decorated in wood, mirrors and windows, and an initial capacity for 24 passengers in each, but now to 29. The structure includes a dozen transverse beams, forming a double lattice, supported at the top by foundations at the Escadinhas de Santa Justa. On the sides of the elevator, the walkway is articulated by means of bearings, as well as on the pillars, which is articulated at the base.

On the top floor is a kiosk and lookout, with panoramic views of the city, while connections to the floors below are made by two spiral staircases, with different patterns on each storey. The main machinery was installed at the base of the Elevator, while at the exit to the Largo do Carmo there is a veranda to allow circulation. The corridor that passes above the structure, was transformed into a terrace, and exits to Largo do Carmo through an iron gate. The space destined the electrical equipment was located under the Escadinhas, in a space set aside for this purpose, under a vaulted ceiling.

The Lift is decorated in a Neo-Gothic style in iron. Since this was a new material at the time of its construction, it is symbolic of the technical and memorial construction from this period, representing the culture of the 1900s, when the structure and elevators were considered a magical innovation and portent of a modern age.

Ships in Trios

It is rare to see ships in trios that sail along Tolo Harbour, but today I saw them.

A marine-police patrol ship took the lead. From the white foam at its rear, I noticed that it travelled fast. The slow-going yellow tug boat went next. It was pulling a long heavy barge of sand or mud, 20 feet away from it.

This photo is rich in colour because of a clear blue sky and adequate sunlight. I love it.

A Two-year-old Headstand

Two-year-old Elly performed her “headstand” at the sofa at home yesterday.

Elly put herself upside down with her hands and head supporting her body weight. She closed her eyes perhaps she felt the blood pressure at her head. On the right photo, she even smiled a little showing her great success. I think her theory of gymnastics is “Enjoyment comes first and Skill next”.