Revision on Three pieces of Old News

To support my article about the flight of “Journey of Harmony” and the “2008 Beijing Olympic Torch Relay in Hong Kong”, I would like to post three pieces of news from newspapers here.

The first piece is about the “Journey of Harmony” and the second piece is about the actual “2008 Beijing Olympic Torch Relay in Hong Kong”. The third one is about our Gold medalist in the Olympic games, Wong Kam Bo.

Mr. Wat’s list

This is not Schindler’s List, 舒特拉的名單. Let me remind you that Oskar Schindler, a Nazi party member, saved 1100 Jews from concentration camps in WWII.

It was a seating plan I made myself by computer some fourteen years ago. I considered it a “masterpiece” because I always consider myself “poor and ignorant” in using a computer. The reason of making such a plan was that I wanted to learn the names of students of my and at the same time I could call their names out when I used it in the classroom. I admitted that this seating plan became useless once my dear students demanded for a “change” in their seats.

Recently this seating plan becomes my “treasure” when I click at “Facebook”. It helps me recognize the students I used to greet, see, meet, and talk with in 2D classroom each day in the academic year 1994-95.

Patrick Lee first brought about the class photo of 2D and soon other students flocked in to chat. Each of the participants wrote something interesting through their hearts and made me feel like going back to the old days with the students of my class.

Patrick is the first one who puzzles why I have such a “good” memory. He does not believe that I possess such power. Well, I can tell you that if you give me the list of names, I believe I am able to map about 50% of the names with my students. However if you don’t give me the list, it will be quite difficult for me to call out the names right away.

Cecilia Tsui (once my colleague at CCSC), Dorothy Kwok (now teaching at CCSC), Kenny Yu (in Singapore), Mabel Siu(in England, I think), Florence Leung, Shirley Wong ( a musician), Lowe Chan (A happy girl), Edward Chow (helped in the preparation work for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Torch Relay in Hong Kong, see my previous article) were the first group of students that invited me to be their friends in Facebook.

The second lot comes recently as Patrick Lee(The first boy who brings his 2D classmates together in Facebook), Geoffrey Yam (He has changed his English name to Josh), Panacea Wan (someone says that she is now so beautiful that he cannot recognize her), Louis So(a handsome boy), Michael Chiu, Simon Chan(he does not invite me as a friend, but in return, I invite him so), Crystal Fan (She said she could still remember the subject matters in Mathematics she learned from me. Amazing, isn’t it), Alan Lee (still very handsome) and Dicky Wah(wearing a helmet).

Recently more students appear. They are Sophia Lui, Emily Leung, Winnie Au and Michelle Tjong. The most recent one is Timothy Chu (he describes himself as a small potoato).

If I miss anyone's name here, please remind me by an e-mail in Facebook or click at “comment” in this article of my blog and write there.

Aerial views of the Apostle Rocks

Let’s go back to the Great Ocean Road in Victoria, Australia. My brother and sister-in-law took a 20-minute ride on a helicopter flying along the beautiful coastline along the Great Ocean Road. Of course they did not miss the sight of the 12 Apostle Rocks.

The aerial views of this part of coastline in Victoria are magnificent and refreshing. The clear blue sea water that beat against the rocks at the shore makes me think of our dirty dark green water in Victoria Harbour.

The uneven but vertical edge of the land looks as if it were a piece of cheese that was bitten and chiseled by human teeth. I wonder if it is safe in driving here at night because nobody knows when the land ends in vertical cliffs like these. For me, I believe that if I follow the main road, I will be perfectly safe!

Journey of Harmony

Journey of Harmony is the name of the plane that carries the Olympic Torch flame from Athens across the world to 21 cities of different countries until it arrived at Hong Kong, the first City(SAR region) of China (see the first and second photos). The slogan on the plane was “Light the Passion, Share the Dream”.

Route of flights of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Torch Relay plane:

[1] Athens, Greece [2] Beijing, China [3] Almaty, Kazakhstan [4] Istanbul, Turkey [5] St. Petersburg, Russia [6] London, England [7] Paris, France [8] San Francisco, U.S.A. [9] Buenos Aires, Argentina [10] Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania [11] Muscat, Oman [12] Islamabad, Pakistan [13] New Delhi, India [14] Bangkok, Thailand [15] Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia [16] Jakarta, Indonesia [17] Canberra, Australia [18] Nagano, Japan [19] Seoul, South Korea [20] Pyongyang, North Korea [21] Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam [22] Hong Kong, China

The Relay in Hong Kong started at Tsimshatsui, then along Nathan Road to Jordon. Next the fire was delivered by vehicle to Lantau Island and back along the Tsing Ma Bridge by running, then to Shatin by vehicle and running, along Shing Mun River by dragon-boats, to Jockey Club, on horseback round the racecourse and back to Tsimshatsui by vehicle, across the harbour by boat to Central, Wanchai and lastly to the Gold Bauhinia Square. The entire relay was broadcasted by TV.

My student, Edward Chow (see the third photo), is in the team working for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Torch Relay in Hong Kong. He is so kind to allow me to post up some of his snapshots:

The fourth photo shows the setting up of the cauldron.

The fifth photo shows the testing of the cauldron.

The sixth photo shows our last Olympic Torch bearer, Wong Kam Po, running towards the cauldron.

The seventh photo shows the closing ceremony of the Olympic Torch Relay in Hong Kong.

34567

What did this number mean to Yin Ping and Ho Keung? Well, it was the mileage (34567 km) they had driven over the past 11 days on North and South Island of New Zealand.

The vertical stone wall (on the left hand side of the second photo) along the road from Queenstown to Te Anau stopped the idea of any tourist from climbing over it because it was inaccessible. The road sign at the roadside indicated that it was still 171 km to go to Te Anau, a town at the edge of the Fiordland National Park of NZ. If the happy couple travelled at 70 km/h, they would reach there in 2.5 hours.

This road may also lead to the southern-most city called Invercargill (181 km away).

To the west, Milford Sound is not too far away from Queenstown. Since there is no direct road linking the two places, one has to take a U-shaped route by road to reach there so as to avoid travelling on rugged mountains.

The third photo gives me the feeling of travelling in Europe. The snow-clad mountains, the layout of the low houses on the slopes, the quietness of the surroundings and the countryside “feeling” altogether make me “drunk” to some extent. What a good scenic photo Ho Keung and Yin Ping had taken!

雲霧不散

昨天清早下完一輪雨之後, 沙田的山頭出現了少見的雲霧不散景象. 我相信成因是濕度高, 這幾團水氣一時間不能揮發出去, 形成了山也穿起白色裙子一樣, 也像在騰雲駕霧似的!

最後的一幅照片中的屋邨像在冒煙, 或有煙霧彈在發放中.

以上的照片一一都是我眼中的奇景.

Riding on Father’s shoulder

This was a photo showing Abby riding on Philip’s shoulder. Abby was so “high” at that time that she was not a bit afraid.

That was a comfortable ride to both because Philip held Abby’s hands to stabilize her (giving her the sense of security) and Abby was so light that Philip just considered her as a “feather” on his shoulder.

I never carried my children like this kind in their childhood, not because I was not that strong like Philip, but I just let them ride in my car instead. I drove them here and there such as to schools, parks, their friends’ houses and to the countryside.

Today is Father’s Day. It is good time for Abby to spend the day with Philip! For me, I got a an interesting “coupon book” ,originated in Smile-box (Hallmark), from Connie and Philip. I was deeply moved by this kind of heart-to-heart messages and photo album.

Meeting the Bride

We were happy to see the Bride, our colleague, J. Chan at lunch yesterday. We knew her some nine years ago. At first she sat in Staff Room 1, but later turned to sit in Staff Room 2. She has been working happily with us (all those who attended the lunch yesterday and some others) in all these years.

J. Chan ordered lots of dim-sums and the latter filled the table several times. We ate, chatted, took photos together and listened to the changes in CCSC told by the teachers who are still teaching.

We gave a card to J. Chan to express our blessings and love to her and congratulate her on her happy marriage.

We gained a lot yesterday, not only in weight from the delicious food, but also a closer friendship among us.

A Joke from Daisy

On February 20, I received an e-mail from my old classmate, Daisy Mak. A photo was attached which made me startled with surprise. How could my classmate enter the U.S. President’s Office and sat in his chair taking a photo inside? I wondered for some time and decided to ask Daisy for the truth through e-mail. Below was the reply:

I took this photo when I visited George W. Bush (41st President of US) Library and Museum on the second day of CNY. When I put the title " How do you like a female president in US? ", I was making a joke!

You paid US$10 and you could have a photo taken sitting in Mr. George W Bush (the Senior)'s Chair in the White House, a replica of his Office during the time when he was in office. That was the only place in the Museum that photography was not allowed. A very good business sense!

How interesting and exciting to be inside a president’s office! This reminds me of the film I saw in the cinema on December 31^st last year. The film was called “National Treasure 2, Book of Secrets” in which the actor and actress went into the President’s Office to get the other half piece of wood from one of the drawers.

The reason why I keep this photo unreleased because I wait to see if Hillary Clinton is able to change the history of United States of America to become a Lady President. Now Hillary’s dream was over. It is the right time for me to post this interesting photo!

白兔印 + 彩兔摺紙

我印象是白兔印經常會在幼稚園時代習作簿上出現, 相信它是表示清潔. 反之, 黑豬則表示骯髒. 通常老師都是檢查學生的手指甲是否過長或”捆”著黑邊, 而決定印上白兔或黑豬的. 幼稚園生多數不會對這些兔仔, 豬仔感到興奮或難堪的. 因為年紀實在太細了.

有些小學老師因為要鼓勵學生, 於是貼上星星, 貼紙或蓋印以獎勵好表現的學生.其實大部分學生們都很渴望得到獎賞, 努力以赴, 務求得到更多獎勵的.

今次的廣告是一些彩兔摺紙有秩序, 有禮貌地排著隊似的.

究竟這個廣告是以下那一間公司或機構發出的?

1. NCR收銀機製造商 2. HKT (香港電車公司) 3. MTR {港鐵} 4. DHL速遞 5. GPO (香港郵政總局)

Recent Tai O

On March 18^th, I joined the family function of Philip’s colleagues, a trip to Tai O. We went by coach to this village by way of Tung Chung along Tung Chung Road to South Lantau Road and up Keung Shan Road and down Tai O Road.

I had not been there for over thirty years and I expected a big change. There were new buildings, the tallest one of which rose to 14 to 16 storeys. The well-preserved old wooden houses supported by beams of strong wood (棚屋) still stood over sea water along part of the coastline.

Tai O has developed from a small fishing village to a larger one with a combination of new and old buildings.

Owing to the heavy rain that fell in the past week, Tai O was cut off from the outside world. Firstly, the communication by phones was down. Secondly, the access by road was cut off because part of Keung Shan Road was damaged by a mass landslide. Thirdly, there was no water supply in these days because the main water-pipe to the village was damaged. Residents of Tai O now rely on the ferry services to and from Tung Chung and shipment of water and food. One of the newspapers exaggerates the situation here at Tai O as that at汶川, the origin of the recent destructive earthquake in China.

You may ask, “Why doesn’t the government build a direct road from Tung Chung to Tai O. Well, the following may be the answer: To protect the monopoly and interest of the Skyrail 360, no road should be made along the northern-west shore between Tung Chung and Tai O.

A beautiful cup from McDonald

I seldom go to McDonald myself, but today it is an exception because my wife has been out. The drive of my going to a McDonald today comes from the $5 coupon (see the secomd photo) in one of the free newspapers.

After eating the scrambled egg, sausage, muffins and hash browns, I picked up the cup of milk tea. I noticed that it was a beautiful white cup, engraved with a design of two hands holding a cup. Words such as “我就喜歡”, “I’m lovin’ it”, “love ko ‘to”, “ich llebe es” were coming out of the cup like smoke.

There were words and pictures of warning to the user that the content in the cup was hot.

Since McDonald would be the official sponsor of the Olympic Games 2008, the logo of the “five rings” could be seen here. It was interesting, too, to see a small McDonald叔叔 throwing a cup into a garbage bin.

Protruding lips

Abby had a great fall to the ground when running at the church last Sunday, June 8^th . At that time, she bled at the lips and cried a lot.

Obviously everybody including Abby was not happy about this accident. On Sunday after the accident, eating was a problem to Abby because of her aching and swollen lips.

Yesterday, Monday of the week, Abby came along with Connie to join the birthday dinner of her Great Grandma. Her lips looked less swollen and she was able to talk and eat. Healing might be fast to her, so I guess she will recover in a few days’ time.

If you study the photo here (by double-click the photo with your mouse), you can still see a long wound right below the lower lip and another at the chin.

Having learned the lesson at the church, Abby may not run at the present moment. It may take her some time to heal psychologically, physically and mentally because yesterday I saw her come by her pram, not walking on her own legs, not mentioning running.

Shangrila (世外桃源)

This photo was taken by Ho Keung and Yin Ping at sunrise behind their hotel near Queenstown in New Zealand on September 10^th .

It reminds me of a film called “Shangrila”. The view I saw in the film was like the one here. Climbing over the mountain, one could find a quiet, peaceful and beautiful village. The people there lived on their own. They grew crops and made things by themselves. They did not worry nor they had to rush here and there to complete their jobs. There were no competition, no jealousy, no conflicts and wars.

Life is similar to me. I used to live in Kowloon Tong and had been working some thirty years of so on Hong Kong Island right over this busy side of the Lion Rock and after the year 2001, I moved to Shatin, on the other side of the Lion Rock. I began to count down the working days at school and think of a retired life. It came to the time in the year 2005 that I thought of living a better life, free from heavy work.

Now, I do not have to worry about my children because they have grown up and found jobs they love. I do not have to break the walls of exercise books each day. I do not have to compete with time to finish the syllabus fixed. I do not have to type questions and draw diagrams for test and exam papers. They often occupy much of my time on the computer since I am quite ignorant in using it. It is easy to solve daily life problems such as meals here in Shatin. There are quite a number of restaurants and fast food shops near by. There are supermarkets close to us, so buying and carrying things home are not problems. Shatin can be my Shangrila!

Sparkling Ribena (利賓納汽水)

The new products of Ribena are its carbonated drinks in glass bottles called “Sparkling Ribena”. This kind of products provides another choice for soft drinks. The shape of each bottle is like that of a coke, slimmer at its waist. It is an ideal shape because people can hold it firmly at its mid-section. The big difference here is the cap. The cap can be turned to open the bottle. We do not need a cork opener.

Today it costs HK$5.9 a bottle, but a Coke, also in glass bottle of a bigger capacity, costs HK$5.5. Can this new taste of a Sparkling Ribena beat that of a traditional Coke?

It’s a small world (小小世界)

Recently Hong Kong Disneyland has created an entertainment facility called “It’s a small world”.

I have been to Disneyland in Los Angeles and California Adventure (opposite to Disneyland) and experienced some of the games or entertainment facilities such as,

[1] Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters (巴斯光年) , inside which my wife and I sat on a twin-seated car running on rails and with a gun, each of us shot at targets which when hit we would score some points. See the score I got in the second photo, 15300 points. Ha, Ha, I beat my wife’s record, 4100 points.

[2] Indiana Jones Adventure (奪寳奇兵), inside which again we sat on a car which travelled inside caves, swayed a lot, went up and down steep slopes and turned sharp corners. If we did not hold onto the handle tightly, we might fall off from our car when it jerked. My experience was that the rapid swaying of the car gave me and the other visitors the feeling of thrust forward, sideways and sudden stops inside caves.

[3] Haunted Mansion (鬼屋), inside which we sat in cars that moved about the scenes which was supposed one saw in a haunted house. For myself, I was not afraid because even if there were ghosts, I treated them as “electronic” devices or robots only. I did not know what my wife felt at that time, but I thought she might have accepted the scenes too. Her face did not look pale when she came out of the “mansion”.

There ought to be also a “It’s a small world” in Disneyland in Los Angeles, but we did not have time to go there.

Looking at the advertisement here, I guess it may be a copy of the one in Los Angeles to Hong Kong. The big difference was that the elements inside may be changed.

I have never been to Hong Kong Disneyland before, but here I guess what I shall see inside:

The visitors will sit in boats which bring them along a waterway, on both sides of which are dolls wearing the national costumes of different countries with the famous buildings, sight-seeing spots and landmarks in miniatures of the respective countries behind them. During the journey inside "It's a small world", music will be played.

My elder brother has sent me an e-mail with an attachment which I can visit the web-page promoting "It's a small world". After the seeing the short film provided, my impression is that it should be called "It's a Dolls' World", totally tailor-made for Children.

A Wedding Card

This was the wedding card I gave to my old colleague, Miss J. Chan and her husband this morning, June 7^th, 2008. One interesting thing about it was that it could be turned into a wedding cake (see the second picture).

This morning heavy downpour flooded many places in Hong Kong and the Hong Kong Observatory issued the “Black” Rain warning signal early at six something. I wondered if the Marriage Registry at Shatin would open for couples who intended to marry today.

This question came to me and everybody who was going to attend J. Chan’s wedding. I decided to go to the Registry first to see if it opened. I arrived there at ten past ten. A card “休息” was hanging at the door. Funny, wasn’t it. Who were taking rest? The officers at the office or the people who are attending wedding ceremonies?

I peeped in and saw a couple sitting at the counter, entertained by the people in the office. The door was an automatic one. I guessed I would try to go in and wait. As I was waiting, the families of the couple came in. Later the couple invited me to take a photo for them.

It followed that a tall foreigner and a hump-backed gentleman came in. The tall gentleman went to the counter with a piece of paper. I supposed he was one of the bride-grooms. Some of my colleagues came and I told them that the foreigner might be Brent, the name J. Chan told me before in the phone. Mrs. Tong confirmed that the foreigner was Brent. My guess was right. Mrs. Tong pinned up the flowers to the clothes of the bridegroom and the other gentleman whom I supposed to be one of the witnesses at the wedding.

J. Chan had not yet arrived in her car. At about ten forty-five, she came. Registration was made at the counter and soon we went into Room 1 of the Registry. Some photos were taken first. Later the ceremony of the wedding began. Short oaths were made by the couple. Then the married couple and witnesses signed on the marriage certificate.

Next relatives, friends, classmates, colleagues and students of J. Chan in turn took photos with this happy couple.

Outside the Registry, I talked with J. Chan’s mother who knew me well.

An Instant Swimming Pool

The heavy rain this morning had flooded the Expressway to our International Airport (大嶼山快速公路) into a yellow river. All traffic to the airport could only rely on the Airport Express (機場快綫) or Tung Chung Rail (東涌綫) plus vehicles. All kinds of vehicles such as air-buses, coaches, container trucks, taxis and many more were stopped by the flooding of a new-born river. What a serious traffic jam occurred at the North Lantau! I guess this long line of vehicles has no way to go unless each vehicle reverses, one by one, away from the scene.

Below us is the new building site of a swimming-pool for our nearby secondary school which has opened for three years or so. I can’t understand where this school gets so much money to build a new block of a swimming pool and a multi-purpose gymnasium on top of one of its basketball courts. The heavy rain this morning (from six something to eleven) has filled the whole building site into a temporary swimming pool already (the outline of the extension block had not yet been shown).

How fast had the tropical depression over Hong Kong turned our territories into floods (always in Sheung Wan) and land-slides! I learned from the news that in a landslide in Tuen Mun had buried six people. Only four had been rescued. The firemen saved the remaining two inside the store (士多) covered by a fallen concrete wall, but found them dead already. What a tragedy!

Metro-Goldwin-Mayer Films (美高梅電影)

The look of this famous Hong Kong comedian, Jim Sir, reminds me of the lion that roars each time on the screen in a cinema before a film from Metro-Goldwin-Mayer (美高梅) is on show.

In a cinema, I am happy to see this lion because soon after it disappears, the film I am going to see will be shown. By that time, all the advertisements, films coming soon (不日放映) and the next film to be on (下期放映) have gone already. That means I do not have to wait any more.

A New Hair-cut

Recently, Abby’s hair is a bit too long. Connie decides to cut Abby’s hair short. It is the usual job of the grandmother to be the “Barber”.

This time on Monday, June 2^nd , Connie took up the scissors to do the cutting first and later Grandma joined in to give the hair-cut to “perfection”.

It followed that Abby went to a mirror and looked at herself in it. She did not look surprised at her new look or showed any dissatisfaction. However, there was one thing for sure now. She was unable to “swing” her long hair in imitation of the “model” (in an advertisement of a “Shampoo” product in TV) whose hair was blown crazily by strong winds and returned to normal after being swung a few times.

Father’s Day

Father’s Day will be on June 15^th this year. I saw a beautiful and interesting cake made of ice-cream in an advertisement (the biggest one here).

On the cake, the father, having eyes closed, is taking a bath and relaxing at the side of the bath-tub. A dish of fruit is floating on the water of a lovely green colour. There is a purple towel at the far-end of the tub for drying the body after-bath.

The cake is really amusing, bringing much fun to the dads who love bathing in this way.

For me, I don’ like bathing in a bath-tub such as this nor I will use so much water in a bath. I think the children of a father should have a cake somewhat in mind, specially designed for their father if they know him well.

What will my cake be like and what yours be like?

Let’s study the cakes in the advertisement one by one:

The one mentioned above is called Refreshing Dad (超爽爸爸) 味道:甘栗杏仁雪糕

The other six ice-cream or cream cakes are (from top left to right and then bottom left to right):

Very Love (十分愛) 味道: 意大利咖啡拿破崙餅

Full of love (滿載心思) 味道: 香橙軟朱古力餅

You’re my Sunshine (您是陽光) 味道: 菠蘿蜜語雪糕

My Dearest (心愛的您) 味道: 鮮芒果餅

So Sweet (甜絲絲) 味道: 士多啤梨雪糕

Super Smart (文質彬彬) 味道: 特濃軟朱古力餅

The cakes look delicious, but they are too expensive. Each ice-cream cake sells HK$218 and cream cake $168. It is good to look at them, but not worth buying. It is heart-breaking when we cut up any one of these well-designed masterpieces of cakes.

The Big Fire at Universal Studios, Hollywood

A big fire occurred near New York Street at Universal Studios in Los Angeles early at about 4 on Sunday morning, June 1^st, 2008. The fire spread fast to other buildings. The Courthouse Square was also burnt. A total of 50 thousand films and videos were destroyed in the fire.

I took a photo of the Universal Studios high above from the Theme Park when my wife and I had our tour in Los Angeles in April, 2006.

From TV yesterday, I saw the large studio with a white ceiling (in the centre left of my photo) burning fiercely.
Parts of the ceiling collapsed and heavy black smoke rose to a great height. What a sad sight!

The small photos showed the beautiful houses I saw during our tour round the streets at different filming sites. They were all swept out by this big fire. How depressing for wife and me and those who have been there before to see such a beautiful place turned into ashes.

櫃員機廣告

這是獅子銀行今天在免費報紙上刊登的廣告.

該銀行話說在2008年首五個月內於9個服務地點陸續增添全新自動櫃員機. 這消息無疑對住在新櫃員機服務地點的市民帶來極大方便, 因為這些櫃員機可以提供提存服務. 以往客戶去獅子銀行要排上約半個鐘才可以得到服務, 實是考驗客人的忍耐力. 如今我們只需要按幾個鍵就可以把自己想提出的錢在半分鐘內拿到手上, 那幾方便呢!

獅子銀行承諾3年內在所有公共屋邨添置自動櫃員機, 這真要有關人士拭目以待呢!

這個廣告設計得不俗, 以長蛇陣似的自動櫃員機排著隊等待向市民服務!