Kaminarimon (雷門寺)

今天破天荒由我介紹日本淺草(Asakura)雷門寺(Kaminarimon)。

我幸運地從兄長手中取得幾張該寺的照片給大家看看:
(下面是摘錄於「日本漫遊」網頁)

雷門是淺草寺入口的大門，幾經火災焚毀，後於1960年重建。雷門正門入口處左右威風凜凜的風神和雷神二將，鎮守著淺草寺。雷門最著名的要數門前懸掛的那盞巨大的燈籠，遠遠可見黑地白邊的“雷門”二字，赫然醒目，著實為淺草寺增添不少氣派。作為了解日本民族文化的旅遊名勝，來自世界各國的遊客，絡繹不絕。

淺草寺創建於公元628年，是東京都內最古老的寺廟。江戶時代德川家康將淺草寺指定為德川幕府的朝拜場所，淺草寺一帶因此逐漸繁榮。除淺草寺內堂外，淺草寺院內的五重塔等著名建築物和史蹟、觀賞景點數不勝數。每年元旦前後，前來朝拜的香客，人山人海。










淺草仲見世街是由雷門通向寶藏門及正殿的一條300餘米長的參道。道路兩側是一排排自江戶時代延續下來的大小店鋪，出售日本最具特色的各式各樣的旅遊紀念品、民間工藝品、和服以及日本人喜食的小吃等。在這裏選購送禮給親戚朋友的日本禮物或紀念品是最好不過的。

New look at Bottles of Vitasoy

This is a short story between a Snowman and a Bottle of Vitasoy.

A snowman with gloves of blue met a bottle of Vitasoy on its way to town. The snowman was angry because the bottle blocked his way. Not saying a word of warning, the snowman struck at the bottle like a boxer. The bottle received a hard blow from the snowman. Its head burst with hot gas of vapour. The snowman soon shrunk with the heat because his body began to melt. The hot Vitasoy beat the snowman without a fight!















Last time when I bought a hot bottle of special Vitasoy, it had the taste of Ginger. It was sold at HK$5. The taste seemed “Hot” + “Hot”, but I felt that the taste of ginger just managed to cover the taste of usual Vitasoy. It did not give me a "big" surprise at all.

How about this time? Look at the Special version of three colourful bottles of Vitasoy.

Would they represent three different tastes?
(1) The usual taste of Vitasoy
(2) The taste of Malt Vitasoy
(3) The Ginger one

Can you answer the following open question?
What does the snowman mean by saying, “K.O.”?

Statues of Liberty

Without seeing the replica of Statue of Liberty at Odaiba, Japan, I will not explore more about this famous statue.

The following are extracts from references in Wikipedia:

Standing on the Liberty Island, in New York harbour, the Statue of Liberty (French: Statue de la Liberté), or, more formally called, Liberty Enlightening the World (French: La liberté éclairant le monde), was presented to the United States by the people of France in 1886.

The copper-clad statue, dedicated on October 28, 1886, commemorates the centennial of the signing of the United States Declaration of Independence and was given to the United States to represent the friendship established during the American Revolution.

The statue is of a robed woman with one arm upraised holding a torch, while the other holds an inscribed tablet, and having upon the head a diadem. It was made of a sheeting of pure copper, hung on a framework of steel (originally puddled iron) with the exception of the flame of the torch, which is coated in gold leaf (originally made of copper and later altered to hold glass panes.) It stands atop a rectangular stonework pedestal with a foundation in the shape of an irregular eleven-pointed star. The statue is 151 ft (46 m) tall, but with the pedestal and foundation, it is 305 ft (93 m) tall.

The statue, also known affectionately as "Lady Liberty", has become a symbol of freedom and democracy. She welcomed arriving immigrants, who could see the statue as they arrived in the United States.

There is a version of the statue in France given by the United States in return.

The classical appearance (Roman stola, sandals, facial expression) derives from Libertas, ancient Rome's goddess of freedom from slavery, oppression, and tyranny. Her raised right foot is on the move. This symbol of Liberty and Freedom is not standing still or at attention in the harbor, it is moving forward, as her left foot tramples broken shackles at her feet, in symbolism of the United States' wish to be free from oppression and tyranny. The seven spikes on the crown epitomize the Seven Seas and seven continents. Her torch signifies enlightenment. The tablet in her hand represents knowledge and shows the date of the United States Declaration of Independence, in roman numerals, July IV, MDCCLXXVI.

Hundreds of other Statues of Liberty have been erected worldwide.

The French Statue of Liberty was erected on the river Seine in Paris, France. Given to the city in 1889, it faces southwest, downstream along the Seine.

Here comes the photo of the Statue of Liberty replica at Odaiba, overlooking the Rainbow Bridge in Tokyo Bay. I was startled when I received such an interesting photo from my brother.

Can you find all the features of the Statue of Liberty in New York from this replica in Tokyo?

A Welcome Visitor

When you look at the top photo, it is really difficult to detect this usual visitor on the sunflower. Only the small dark shadow marks the existence of a bee. The colours of the bee mingle with those on the sunflower, being black and brown.

Taking a closer look at the bee, one may find its pair of compound eyes, a dark hard thorax, transparent wings and zebra-like, black-and-brown stripes on abdomen. Its claws are black, hard and armoured.

It never stops a minute sucking up fluids from the yellow florets. That is the nectar it gets and takes home. How thankful to these small insects which prepare us a natural drink, NECTAR.

Abby尋寶記

去年十月十四日，Abby跑進睡房，以敏捷的方法，抓緊牀笠向高高的大牀爬了上去。Abby最愛窗台上的三個膠箱，因為她可以玩尋寶遊戲。今次她又重施故技，把最下面那個抽屜拉出，伸手入去把黑色皮袋拿出來。以往的做法，她會把袋裏面的電鬚刨拉出來，把它遞給我，看著我把鬚刨在瞼上跑了幾個圈，認為滿意之後，由她把鬚刨放回皮袋裏，再放回抽屜內。

今次Abby短暫回港，有所不同，沒有堅持我去剃鬍鬚，只是看看那「老朋友」，把它找出來，掉在牀上，又拿出另外一位「老朋友」。

究竟Abby右手握著的「老朋友」是什麼東西呢？
A. 鉸剪 B. 郵鉗 C. 眉鉗 D. 手工剪 E. 食物鉗

Lion Rock and a UFO?

When you see this title, I am sure you will say that I am crazy.

The sky was clear when I went to Lok Fu on December 31st, 2008. I aimed at taking photos of the Lion Rock from a double-decker bus.

I took altogether 5 photos. I noticed that there was a white object flying in the sky towards the “Lion’s head”. I expected it to be a plane, but when I enlarged it with a button of my camera, I could not figure it out to be a plane because it seemed that it did not have wings.

Now it would be best for you to see my photos closely.

Could it be a “UFO? I wonder.










The time recorded by my camera for these five photos were as follows:
[1] 9:25:42 a.m.
[2] 9:25:49 a.m.
[3] 9:25:56 a.m.
[4] 9:26:03 a.m.
[5] 9:28:11 a.m. By this time, the flying object was gone.

What a strange thing to see? Click the photo to enlarge it!

Museums at Gore, New Zealand

Back to September 11th, 2007, Ho Keung and Yin Ping reached Gore. They visited several museums.

Inside one, they saw a Cheese Press. Image you bought a cake of cheese made in New Zealand in the past. It might have been made here by this machine. The wheel near the bottom of the machine had handles which when turned would screw down and exert pressure on a piece of cheese. Thus the excessive water content could be squeezed out of the cheese.

The work-shop of a blacksmith was revealed to New Zealanders and tourists that in the past tools made of iron came from these small-scaled furnace which heated the iron pieces. The leather-made air–bags when pressed continuously could blow in air into the furnace to make the coal burn fiercely. The anvil on the right will be for the blacksmith to hammer the red-hot iron piece into the desired shape.

In another room, some phased out household appliances were displayed. In the past they were great inventions. On the very left was a washing machine for clothes. The clothes were placed inside the round metal drum which was turned round and round, driven by the motor below. There was a hand-driven dryer at the top for drying clothes.

Next to the classic washing machine was a mop for cleaning floors. In the centre was a machine for washing banners. On the floor to the right were two heaters. Above them were a vacuum cleaner, a dust whip and something that I cannot recognize.

At Gore, besides the museums, there were places such as Arts & Heritage Precinct and New Zealand’s Capital of Country Music.

M & M loves sports

M & M loves different kinds of sports. He appears at sea, streets, golf fields, football fields and basketball grounds.

He loves

[1] diving

[2] skate-boarding

[3] canoeing














[4] playing golf














[5] playing football
[6] playing basketball

Danced, Danced as the Fire-and-Smoke went

Every time when a glowing particle was fired out from IFC, it carried a long bright tail of light path in a designated colour. Patterns were built up when these light particles flied at different levels and in different directions at different periods of time.

Clever were the designs, the colour-mixing and variations in patterns which made this Fire-and-Smoke in Hong Kong this year a very successful one. Let us salute to all those who participated in preparation and execution work of this display.

Fire-and-Smoke Dance on IFC

When we admire the Fire-and-Smoke displayed by IFC, we are actually appreciate the patterns of fire and smoke created by a number of great technicians and experts.

Here let us start to study the change of colours and the paths that the fire-and-smoke went.

To make the display successful, much preparation had to be done. The colours and patterns that formed and the timing of sending out fire must be designed accurately.

Countdown to 2009 in Hong Kong

The Greatest Possible Countdown activity in Hong Kong was held in our famous Victoria Harbour on New Year Eve, 2008. Numerous eyes watched the shoreline of Hong Kong Island right from Wanchai to Central. Ten buildings joined the show of the countdown. The centre of attraction came to the tallest building in Central, the IFC.

The wall of the IFC served as a “screen” where countdown was witted from “59” down to “1” and at the moment reaching 20090101 00:00:00, small-scaled colourful "fire and smoke"(煙火) started to fly off from the buildings. The IFC suddenly turned from a “cone of maize” into a “milk bottle brush”. The numerals “2009” revealed themselves vertically on its wall, not in single colour alone.

Sydney celebrating New Year 2009

It was great delight to watch Sydney celebrating New Year 2009, 3 hours earlier than we did in Hong Kong.

Nowhere else is a better place than Sydney Harbour with fireworks blasting off over its sky. People all over the world often eye on this harbour with its famous Harbour Bridge and Opera House.

Let us look at the aerial view of this beautiful harbour on New Year Eve. The top photo could explain its beauty.

1. The Sydney Harbour Bridge is obviously the centre of the interest (in the middle of the photo). It sent out fireworks from its arch and let go a waterfall of golden sparkling fireworks into the sea.

2. The left hand side is the Rocks, the peninsula with its piers on two of its sides.

3. Lower down, we can see the Opera House with its outstanding shape of slices of an orange.

4. On the southern end of the Sydney Bridge is lit with a golden strip. I guess it is the “Golden Road” to the Airport.

5. The purple balls of fireworks in the lower right corner are round and rugged like those pufferfishes (雞泡魚) which has swollen up their bodies with water. It is a fantastic view.


6. On the bridge was a new sign, but I don’t know what it is this time. Last time when I was having luxurious lunch on board the cruiser, Sydney 2000, I saw a “hanger” there on the bridge.
I have captured some other photos of the fireworks display at Sydney from TV. They are relatively small because they all came from a small window at a corner of the TV screen.