The Lion Rock and Amah Rock

The Lion Rock (獅子山) is a hill running from east to west in Kowloon. It is a range bordering Kowloon Tong from Shatin. The Rock looks like a lion kneeling down. It keeps watching the Victoria Harbour for many many years. Why doesn’t the government develop it into a sight-seeing spot? At least a lookout should be built at its mid-level, not necessary at the top, so that tourists can see the Victoria harbour as well as Hong Kong Island from a different angle.

The Amah Rock (望夫石) is a special rock which looks like a mother with a baby at her back waiting for her husband to come home. It is seldom mentioned by the public. I believe it can be made into another sightseeing spot so that people can go to look at it and the beautiful sceneries of Shatin.

Now these two rocks still stand in solitude. Very little people care about them. Why?

What does this big tile mean to you?

On 20^th February, 2007, I was in Central. Walking along one of its streets, I noticed a big tile like the one in the photo on the pavement. I could not think out a perfect answer why it was there and what it represented.

Will you suggest the answers to the following questions?

1. What does this tile want to show?

2. What is the purpose of putting it on the pavement?

3. What is the use of that curved line to do with the other two “symbols”?

Mr. Bean

Yesterday, March 22^nd, 2007, when my 85A bus reached Kowloon City Ferry Pier, I saw the funny face of Mr. Bean posted on the side wall of a bus. Looking closely, I learned that it was an advertisement of the film “Mr. Bean’s holiday”

I love to watch the series of “Mr. Bean” on TV because it often makes me laugh. Rowan Atkinson was an outstanding comedian who brings those silly, selfish, cunning, ill-mannered and disgusting people before us. I believe these kinds of people are among us. As to how many such people we shall come across depends on our life circle.

The film will be on the screen starting from 5^th April, 2007 (Not an advertisement here). I shall certainly go to see this film with my wife to spend a heartily glad afternoon.

What do you know of this Mr. Bean?

Building in Building

Many years ago, there were “Picture in Picture” in some television sets. Anyone could watch a program and at the same time, he/she could see a smaller screen at a corner from another channel.

Now I can easily see “Building in Building” when I go to Central. In the photo, owing to reflection, there are buildings inside a building. Such reflection is able to bring buildings together!

What is the name of the real building in the centre of the photo?

There are three options:

A. Chater House B. The Landmark C. Alexandra House

Post Boxes

In the past, there were red round pillar boxes for mailing letters in Hong Kong. They possessed very strong British “feel”.

After 1997, the shape of the post boxes (letter boxes) changes to an “ice-bar”. The colour changes to green. There are no more “crowns” and the letters “ER”. The symbol of the Hong Kong Post also changes to a “bird”. In Central, these post boxes stand in pairs, one for normal letter posting and another for large-sized mails. They come from a newer design. The old ones are just rectangular green boxes supported by purple stands.

In Australia, the post boxes are in striking colours, red for “ordinary” post and yellow for “express” post. They look like those “water” road blocks in streets. People easily spot them out from a long distance!

The Toaster

The Opera House at Sydney Harbour is outstanding in architecture. It looks like several slices of an orange placed at different angles. This symbolic building structure for Sydney often appears in television broadcast and newspaper. Once you see the Opera House, you know that there is something to do with Australia or more exactly Sydney!

Unfortunately, a new building not far from the Opera House spoil the view of the harbour. People of Australia call it the “Toaster” meaning that it really looks like a toaster placed next to this big piece of art. This rectangular building does not match with the wavy shape of the Opera House at all. There is not a single bit of harmony between the two structures (格格不入)!

Words, Stars and Colour variations

In my previous blog, you may notice the colour changes on the big screen of a building.

This time, you can see variations of designs. They can be “flowing” words that carry messages to the passersby or tourists to Hong Kong when they walk near the Centre. It can be the design of a “Star” or a new colourful pattern.

I was able to take the photo of the word “ NEW” which flew out from the right of the screen. The word “NEW” was part of the message the Centre would like to convey. Can you guess the entire message?

There are three answers here! Choose one.

A. HAPPY NEW YEAR

B. NEW WORLD CENTRE

C. NEWCASTLE WINS CHELSEA 2 – 0

Standing before a beautiful screen

I seldom go out at night. I never know that the night view of Hong Kong can be so fascinating!

The night view of our Victoria Harbour wins the hearts of many including me! I newly discover that strips of white light go up the Bank of China like snakes along tracks of the notable vertical lines and crosses on the building. Interesting!

On the shore of Tsimshatsui, there is a big screen on the walls of the building of a shopping centre and its hotel! Likewise, it attracts my attention. The screen changes colour or design every few seconds. Look at the changes of colour here!

River scene at Ching Ming (清明上河圖)

It was at eight-thirty on March 13^th, 2007. On the return journey from Lamma Island, we went ashore at Tsimshatsui Public Pier Unexpectedly, we faced a vivid street scene of a Chinese village near a river at Ching Ming before the Cultural Centre. The people, cows, carts, houses and boats were lighted up.

My wife told me that she learned such a display in the newspaper before. Several visitors were taking photos there.

Before I took my first photo, someone invited me to take a group photo of him and his friends. Of course I was delighted to. Next I took a few shots. Here are three of them!

Darling Harbour

Darling Harbour in Sydney is more or less like a show-window of a great variety of ships. Visitors can easily see from a very ancient yacht to modern ones, boats, cruisers, warships, ocean-going passenger ships, cargo ships and container ships. Some of them are for display, some for sailing for leisure, some for uploading or unloading cargoes, some for carrying passengers and some for entertainment. Most of them rest at the piers.

Visitors can cross by the Pyrmont Bridge from Market Street to the Harbourside, a shopping centre with shops and several restaurants. North of this shopping centre is the Australian National Maritime Museum where an ancient yacht, a destroyer and a submarine are at anchor. Walking to the south, visitors can go inside Sydney Convention Centre, Exhibition Centre and Entertainment Centre. Fringing the north-east coast of this harbour are King Street Wharf, Sydney Wildlife World, Sydney Aquarium, Cockle Bay Wharf, then IMAX Theatre. Further south-east are the Outback Centre, Tumbalong Park and Chinese Garden of Friendship. Visitors may tour round the harbour front for a day or two without feeling bored!

We marvelled at Koalas!

It was wonderful to be able to visit Koala Park in Sydney on December 29th, 2006. It was unexpected that Loretta, Kenny and Alison dropped by at this park in their car to greet us before we went in.

We were glad to meet lovely koalas at about four o’clock in the afternoon during their feeding time. They looked like rolls of grey fur studded at the V-shaped junctions of branches. They fed themselves on leaves, so we did not worry that they would bite our fingers.

All of them were sleeping except one. The zoo attendant told the visitors about the life of these animals and fed this wake-up koala with leaves. She let visitors touch it with hands, so many visitors really stretched out their hands to touch it gently and took photos with it at favourable positions.

It looked cute, but I did not touch it. It was because I was not used to touch a furry animal. Anyway, I could tell my friends and students that I had seen koalas during my visit in Australia!

The sleeping beauties

Koalas are very lovely tame animals which often climb, sit and sleep on trees in Australia.
They are very skillful acrobats in climbing because they have claws with curved nails. Their motions are slow, but accurate.
When they sit or sleep, they rest themselves on the V-shaped junctions of branches. In this way, they can stay comfortably and securely there for along period of time.

The Peninsula Hotel

The Peninsula Hotel is a grand hotel in Hong Kong as well as in the World. As tall buildings began to surround it, its building gradually shrunk to a dwarf on Salisbury Road.

Some years ago, it was reconstructed, having a tall building emerged from the old one. This combination of the old and the new buildings looks like an armchair overlooking the Victoria Harbour.

At night its look is beautiful like the glamour of jewels embedded in a giant armchair. However in the morning, it has a different look because the heights of the old and the new buildings do not match at all!

Boats at Leisure

It was a Tuesday afternoon, 13th March, 2007, at the ferry pier of Lamma Island. Facing the seafood restaurants on the other side of the pier were some small boats at leisure. This family of colourful boats lay peacefully and quietly, unattended. Around them the water was clear, but there were small ripples on its surface. This together formed a lovely picture, very comfortable to the eyes!

I believed that these little boats would be active again on Saturdays and Sundays when people from the city rushed to this within 35-minute reach island.

Canvases against the sky

I never knew that canvases put against the sky could be so beautiful until I reached the outlets at Las Vegas. Triangular pieces of thin cloths tied at different positions could have knitted a nice pattern against the sky.

To some extent, they gave shade to the people sitting under them. I was one of those people who benefited. I took this photo while I was sitting at a bench at the roadside waiting for other members of our tour to return.

A week ago, while I was sitting at a bench in a shopping centre, waiting for my wife, I found triangular canvases at its ceiling. These long white canvases added some variations to the sky windows. Without them, the windows did not look interesting at all.

There may be some other canvases against the sky in other parts of the world. I hope I can see more!

The Grand Canyon Skywalk

The Skywalk (凌霄步道) at the Grand Canyon, a horseshoe-like glass bridge hanging in the air over the Canyon, is going to open to the public in March. 2007.

Last time when I reached the Grand Canyon in April, 2006, I could see the building site of this masterpiece of construction. There were brief descriptions and two pictures on a large board about the magnificence of this Skywalk, so tourists from different parts of the world could preview the skywalk in a couple of minutes.

I was amazed by the fact that this skywalk could withstand the weight of 71 fully-loaded Boeing 747 planes and that it would be 4000 feet above the Colorado River. There would be a café for tourists to enjoy food and drinks!

Recently I heard from TV that the admission fee for each person to this walk would be twenty-five US dollars. It was one-sixth of the cost of a local tour to the Grand Canyon from Las Vegas (including the breakfast of a hamburger from McDonald, a simple buffet lunch and a double-journey coach service).

Transamerica Building

I chanced to see this building from a photo dated back to the year 1997. It was the shape of this extraordinary tall pyramid in United States that attracted me. Immediately I wrote an e-mail to Felix to find out its name. I did not take long to get the answer, “Transamerica!”

Felix once invited me to go to San Francisco to celebrate the wedding anniversary of my couple (Silver Jubilee) on Golden Gate Bridge. The idea was good, but I did not have that desire to do so.

It was not until 2006 that my wife and I could step on US soil to take a look at the Golden Gate Bridge from both ends and car-riding on it as well as looking at this mysterious Transamerica Building from Telegraph Hill and from a street called Greenwich. Although I never came close to this building, I was quite satisfied for being near to it. At least it was my landmark in San Francisco long before I went there!

"Where have all the grapes gone? Long time passing......."

When Felix drove us to a winery called V. Sattui Winery (ever since 1885) at St. Helena on Napa Valley, I expected to see green, red and purple grapes growing everywhere.

To my disappointment, I could not see the scene of fully-riped grapes growing. Instead I could only find columns of branches of grape plants from which small leaves were beginning to grow. How amazing that fresh leaves and juicy grapes could later grow out of these brown dry-like branches! That is nature.

I like eating grapes, whether dry or fresh, but not drinking wine. This winery showed many different kinds of wine, but I had no interest at any of its bottles, so it was purely a visit to me.

"Where have all the grapes gone? Long time passing......." The answer is: “Gone to the wine refinery!” I hope I can see lovely bunches of grapes growing when I visit this winery next time!

Petrol and Petrol Station

I seldom go to Petrol Station these days after my retirement. For three and a half years, I had to cross two tunnels and travel 42 km a day (for double journeys). The tank of my car was to be refilled twice a month. In all my years at CCSC, a large sum of money went into the pockets of the oil and tunnel companies. You may say I have been working for these profit-making companies.

It was the first time I saw Felix insert his 50 US dollars into the slot of a oil pumping machine in a petrol station nearby his home. It was interesting indeed to see that the machine could recognize that dollar-note and Felix began to fill his oil tank with the oil “gun”. Everything here was self-served!

In Australia, the prices of petrol are different at different petrol stations. The prices are like those of seafood. Moreover, the prices may fluctuate on different days of the week. The cheapest price may appear on a Tuesday or a Wednesday. Drivers in this case will look at the prices on the boards outside the stations when they pass by. The pumping of petrol is self-served, but payment should be made at the counter.

In Hong Kong, drivers can sit back by giving instructions on what kind and amount or value of petrol to be refilled. The purchase can be made in cash, or by credit cards or oil cards. In the past, gifts in the form of tissue paper or bottles of distilled water were given to the customers, but nowadays nothing but the receipts go into their hands. There are two types of unleaded petrol. I was always asked, “Platinum unleaded or “Golden unleaded?”. My answer is always “The cheaper kind”. The reason was very simple. My car was just a 1500 c.c. one. I do not need the more powerful petrol (as advertised). Saving that $1 each litre may save a lot. Yesterday, I filled my oil tank again and noticed that the dearer kind of petrol rose to HK$13.81 per litre while the cheaper kind HK$12.99 per litre. The prices of petrol have gone up to a very high level. Nowadays, driving has become one kind of luxurious sports in Hong Kong.

Up and Down Balloon

I noticed a big yellow balloon high in the air in a distance the other day when we were at the Promenade near Fullerton Hotel, Singapore. I could not locate its exact location because I knew nothing about the area around me.

However on the day I went out alone to take photos, I finally arrived at the spot where I could see it, face to face, on the ground. The balloon was of the usual colours of yellow and red of the “DHL”. I believed “DHL” should be one of the sponsors!

Here, I quoted the advertisement from a tourist guide:

“The DHL Balloon@Bugis

New attraction now opened. Ride the World’s Biggest Helium Balloon. Fly up into the air at 150m with nothing under your feet and only a big balloon above your head to enjoy the best panoramic city view. It is a unique and extraordinary experience which will leave you full of excitement. U can fly!!!”

The admission fee is S$23 (HK$115) per adult and the duration of the flight is about 7 – 10 minutes.

Unlike balloons in other parts of the world, this one can only go up or down. It cannot really fly across Singapore island. I understand quite well that if it flies freely, it will endanger the flights of planes to the airport.

If this balloon only reaches a height of 150m, it is no more than our standing at the top of a 50 - storey building in the city and looking down. Maybe the feeling up there is a different matter. I guess that some lovers may make engagement or even marry right at that carriage below the balloon or parents may give flying experience to their children!

Bauhinia

One morning when we walked in a narrow street of Telok Karau in Singapore, I found a beautiful flower growing out of a hole made by a truncated branch of a Bauhinia tree. It attracted my attention because it suddenly appeared at my eye-level. I could not help holding up my camera and brought its image home.

I always like the colour of the flowers of a Bauhinia, being a colour between red and purple. The petals stretch out widely and elegantly to attract the attention of bees. The insect guides are distinct. Even if I am not a bee, I like their rich red colour. The anthers stand upright so that the bees could get its pollens easily.

Today, I see these flowers again in Hong Kong. I never notice their existence nearby my home for years. Anyway from now on, I will look at them whenever I have time!

Please study the Bauhinia flowers in the photos above closely. You will find them lovely!

Happy Birthday!

Birthday is always a +1 machine to a person. To us, it is just a reminder that we should add one year to our age.

My birthdays often fall on weekdays, so on those days of school the only people who knew my birthday were my family members and close relatives. I do not look upon celebrations from my parents, but in the past, usually they gave me “Lai See”s.

To our daughter and son, it was different. When they were still young as children, we bought them beautiful birthday cakes and birthday cards, with lighted candles at their tops. Photos were taken at the celebration moments with relatives crowded round them. The lights of these candles were blown off with our big mouthfuls. Hands were clapped and the usual birthday song sung. Of course, they would get “Lai See”s from us as well.

As they grow up, celebrations of their birthdays become simple as eating outside and of course they are given “Lai See”s. Birthday cakes become uncommon.

If nowadays we put candles on a birthday cake for our birthdays, there ought to be more than fifty candles on it, like the burning of a small forest on a white snowy ground.

Happy birthday to Yuen Siu!

Panting like Mimi

Mimi was Ho Keung and Yin Ping’s dog in Australia. On one evening, we took her out for a walk in the neighbourhood, just for about 300 metres. On her return journey she began to pant, breathing heavily, sitting down several times and looking up at us. We understood quite well that she was tired owing to old age and lack of exercises. When she arrived home, she kept on panting. Instead of eating her dinner, she lay down to rest. She took totally an hour to recover.

This reminded me of a similar case with me! It was on a school sports day at Hong Kong Government Stadium some 30 years ago. At that time, some of our teachers were invited to join a relay race between teachers and students. Towards noon, the 4x100 metres relay race began. I was the one to run the last 100 metres. When the baton came into my hands, the teacher’s team was still in the lead. Close to the finishing point I was passed by two students and so our teacher’s team came third. We LOST and felt a little disappointed because we did not get any consolation prize such as a bronze medal for each runner. I was sweating, panting, feeling very exhausted with a rapid-beating heart.

Soon it was time to have lunch. All our staff went to the canteen of the SCAA(South China Athletics Association). At our dining table my heart still beat very hard for I had not recovered my breath. I drank a lot of water and that destroyed my appetite for the lunch. It took me half an hour to calm down and turn better. I thought the teacher’s team had found the wrong person to run the last 100 metres. I could be fast at walking, but not at running!

Sausalito

It is a small fishing port to the north-east of Golden Gate in San Francisco with wooden piers at the edge of its shore and houses compactly built in rows up the hill on the other side. The lampposts, houses and shops bordering the road are old, but those houses higher up the hill are modern.

We arrived there at about half past ten on the morning of April 21, 2006. I was astonished to find several parking meters at the roadside. Luckily, Felix could find a parking space for his Honda. I left Felix to feed the meter because I did not have coins nor any card.

Felix took photos of me and wife in a small park at the roadside. It was strange to find a fountain and a statue of an elephant inside. Felix told me a story about it, but I had forgotten it already.

Soon we stood before some cafés and restaurants. Felix suggested to have a little food inside one of its cafés.

We sat down at a small table and made our choices of cakes and drinks. When the cakes arrived, Audrey was so quick-witted that she found some mould on one of the cakes. She took back the cake to the counter for change. I wondered why the waiter did not examine the cake before he handed it over to us! I believed that the cake should be stale for a day or two. My cup of milk tea was just ordinary to taste. Our milk tea in Hong Kong (大牌檔奶茶) could certainly beat it. During our stay in the café, I went alone into a gift shop to buy some souvenirs.

After such an impressive brunch, we went to the nearby piers to take a few pictures.

Next we left this small village and found our way to our next stop, the Muir Woods.

UA planes

The plane we boarded to San Francisco was a Boeing 747. It was the first time for us to take such a big plane to a foreign country. It must be an old plane because a screen had to be pulled down so that films could be projected onto it. I was only interested in the information where the plane was, its altitude, its flying speed and the wind speed outside. The three films on show were old and dull. I did not even know any actor or actress in the casts. Maybe it was the purpose of the airline company to put everybody to sleep.

Flying in such long hours (11 hours) was like punishment. We were stiff from head to feet. We were told that we could stretch our legs and body by standing up or walk about, but I did not do this because I would block people’s viewing those “rubbish” films. It was nice to go to the toilet because it was an act of "double" relief.

Meals and drinks were served to us at different times of the day. The food was not as good as expected, but enough to fill the stomach of a stiff body. The air-hostesses were matured enough to be mothers. None of them looked like a beauty queen. The flight was not enjoyable to me at all because our seats were not at the windows.

The domestic flight from San Francisco to Los Angeles was better because the plane was a newer “Airbus” and it took only one hour. Of course no meal was served, but drinks. This time, I could sit at a window, but unfortunately what I could see outside were white clouds and rain. Another disappointment sank my heart to the bottom.

Husband and wife as marathon runners

When couples of husband and wife both run the Marathon in Hong Kong, they may face the following problems:

1. Most probably they cannot keep each other’s paces.

2. It is difficult for them to communicate when they are a certain distance apart. One may think that they can talk by mobile phones, but they are running on freeways, through tunnels and on bridges. There are no landmarks such as Jardines House (formerly called Connaught Centre) and IFC. What they do is to tell each other which lamppost he or she has reached. For example, the husband will say, ”I am at lamppost 816. Where are you?” The wife will say, ”I have just passed 709.”

3. They cannot run hand in hand because it will certainly hinder other people who are going to pass them.

4. They cannot drink water with the same cup, with one sip from the husband and the other from the wife.

5. In normal cases, man should chase woman, but in marathon run, a woman normally chase after a man.

6. There are thousands of runners on the runway. In the long run, the wife will lose sight of the husband and the best solution is to tell each other beforehand, “Let’s meet at Café de Coral”.

“Are you a Japanese?”

A dark-skinned American cashier asked me this question inside this big glass of Coca Cola when I brought a number of key-chains and ball-pens to the counter.

I answered, “No, I am not! I am a Chinese from Hong Kong!”

Do I look a Japanese?

Even If I were a Japanese, the answer would be the same. If I said yes, I might receive a blow on my face when she thought of Pearl Harbour in Hawaii during WWII.

When I was at Sausalito, a small fishing port to the north-east of the Golden Gate, I went into a gift shop. This time, I met a Chinese cashier. I spoke in English, “How much is this?” She asked me if I came from Hong Kong. “Oh! Yes, I am!” I felt at home at that time because there was someone who could see that I was a Hongkongnese!

“Where is MID?”

This was where I was asked by a young girl the way to MID? I know where AIA is in Hong Kong, but I didn’t know where MID was in Singapore.

I said politely to her,“ Sorry, I don’t know!” I could not ask her back, “What is MID?”

I would be embarrassed if I told her that I was a tourist from Hong Kong and that I, myself, was using a map to find out where I was. At that time, I asked myself, “Do I look like a Malay or Singaporean or a person who knows the way?” I watched her walk away.

I stayed at the crossroads there for some while because I wanted to take a photo of as many taxis that I could. There were many colours for taxis, yellow, red, blue, silvery and multi-colours. The big difference between Hong Kong taxis and Singapore ones is when the latter have passengers on board in the night-time, the light at their tops would be on!

In this photo, there are different modern private cars, a double-deckered bus, cargo vans, lorries and a motor-bike. There were “red light” cameras there similar to those in Hong Kong.

Queen Mary 2

I am extremely happy to learn that this enormous passenger ship arrived at Hong Kong recently. It travelled exactly the same route I took a couple of months ago, from Australia to Hong Kong , then to Singapore.

I heard from Ho Keung and Yin Ping that it visited Sydney, Australia in Mid-February. Yin Ping suggested me to ring the bell when it entered the Victoria Harbour, but I did not because the ringing of such a small bell could not be heard by the passengers on board.

I learned from newspapers that it could not park at Ocean Terminal because of its huge size and its length of 1132 feet. It could only park at Kwai Chung Container Pier. The passengers from Hong Kong and Inland China would have to board the ship at the pier surrounded by containers and cranes.

Obviously Hong Kong needs a better and well-equipped sea-terminal for these luxurious passenger ships to anchor at. It is believed that in 5 years' time, a new passenger pier will be completed at Kai Tak (at the side of the runway of the old airport).

The photo on the right shows the historic moment of the modern Queen Mary 2 saying farewell to the beautiful Victoria harbour on its way to Singapore.

Did I drop a ten-cent coin?

As I was walking on a road with my family in Mid-levels on February 20 (年初三), I found a circular brass plate on the ground. At first sight, it looked like a ten-cent coin! A closer look gave me some Chinese words “荷李活道”. I had never seen a coin as big as that nor our government issued a coin in the name of Hollywood Road. That was interesting – a road sign on the ground. It was a good idea to place such road sign on the ground because every time when we walked along the pavement, we had to watch out for holes, “mines” and up-and-down steps (often appeared in Mid-levels).

I wish the idea of these road signs can be extended to all corners of Hong Kong. In the past, road signs were rare to see and it took quite a long time for people to find out what street they were walking on.