Sights of 3 Mountains at Queen Elizabeth Park

At a northern lookout of Queen Elizabeth Park, Vancouver, there were three metal plates with names of three mountains. At time of taking the photos of these mountains, I knew nothing of their names and shapes. To record each of these mountains, I first took a photo of the plate and then, following the direction of the arrow, raised my camera to take a photo of the mountain. I believed it was the cleverest way to do so. Today, with the help of my 3-D map at home. I was able to distinguish the three mountains.










Firstly, The Lions is noticeable by their twin summits in the middle left of the top photo. The summits look like the humps of a camel. The heights of the two summits are 5401 and 5245 feet.









Secondly, Grouse Mountain reaches a height of 3974 feet. It is easily recognizable by its lodge (station structure at top; white dot in right photo) on its ridge.

Lastly, Mount Seymour, 4766 feet high, has a wavy-look top.

A Stroke in the sky

Daisy Mak who lives in Texas sent me this photo (taken on February 23rd, 2009) . Against the beautiful sky at sunset, there was a straight mysterious white stroke. The vegetation (trees and shrubs) and the lamp-posts outlined the landscape of the land Daisy was standing.

What do you think about this white stroke in the sky?
A. A painter drew it with a big paintbrush.
B. A ray sent out from the ground that made the stroke.
C. A mark left by a plane.
D. The boundary line of Texas with its neighbouring state.

A Twisted Spring on Earth

Today I read from “The Standard” about a new apartment building to be built called Baltimore Wharf in London. It will soon add a vibrant look to the skyline of London’s Docklands after its completion.

To me, this building looks like a twisted spring placed on the ground.

Let us see the particulars and photos of this building from skyscrapernews.com:

The latest step in the evolution of Ballymore's Cross-harbour development in London's docklands has come to light. Designed by Skidmore Owings and Merrill, who worked on the previous three submitted planning applications for the same scheme, the latest proposals tear up some of the established design principles they went for before. The new planning application refers to buildings 1, 8 and 9 in the phase two of the masterplan. In doing so, they are firmly rejecting the strong angular modernist approach that SOM had previously taken, opting instead for something more organic whilst remodeling the base areas around the buildings to improve pedestrian access, and expanding public space all around the tower by rejecting the former fortress-like blocks. Building 1, the tower known as Baltimore Wharf, has been increased in height from about 131 metres to 149.9 metres making it Ballymore's tallest residential project yet. The height is limited by the London City Airport safe limits which are set at 154.8 metres AOD which the tip of the tower precisely reaches. It has 45 storeys and will contain 330 apartments. Ground floor retail is included whilst the top two floors will have noticeably extending roof terraces overlapping the levels below giving dinners sheer views all the way down. The shape of the tower takes on that of an ellipse that curves as it rises as if distorted by the motion from a propeller although it is essentially orientated on an east-west axis giving it a slim-line profile from the opposite side of the dock. It's a clever illusion as the tower itself doesn't actually twist. Instead protruding balconies are employed by the architect that expand and contract around the regularly shaped structure. By rotating the orientation of these as they move up the building the impression is given of the tower torquing. These balustrades will be all glass, partly to maximize for occupants from the view inside, and also to allow the optimum level of passive solar gain. Set behind cladding the structure of the tower proper will be glass and stainless steel giving it a pristine look.

Outer Walls of PWH

From my close observation, the inner structure of PWH is made of concrete and steel, but the outer walls look as if they were assembled in a way like jigsaw puzzles or tiles.

Up to the present, the fitting of these boards are done disorderly. As a result, the look of this new hospital building before me is temporarily like that after the hit from a severe typhoon or an explosion.





The half-hanging and loosen look of some of the boards make me feel that they are most likely fastened to the hooks at the concrete walls by screws only and hung there. Will these boards fall off during a real typhoon?

Horse-drawn tours at Stanley Park

At Stanley Park there are horse-drawn tours which are operated from March to October (except winter months). Two horses are to draw an old-fashioned vehicle which can accommodate a maximum of 20 passengers round the park. The fare for an adult per tour is 26.99 Canadian dollars.

During the ride, a professional guide narrates the tour as the vehicle reaches the Deadman’s Island, Vancouver Harbour, Lion’s Gate Bridge, a coastal red cedar forest, Totem Poles, the girl in wet-suit statue, the S.S. Empress of Japan Figurehead and the Rose Garden.

Clouds change colours

White clouds gathered over the sky on August 18th, 2009. The lower ones turned purplish grey because sunlight could not reach them. Those clouds higher up the sky reflected sunlight which turned them a beautiful light orange.

Shatin below lost colour and became dim. I loved this kind of scene because the contrast of colours of clouds had created another beautiful view for Shatin.

At Brockton Point

Philip stopped his car at Brockton point, the north-eastern end of Stanley Park where the road began to turn west. I went down to take a few photos of the North shore of the Burrard Inlet. The white house with a red stripe (the top photo shows part of it) was the Lighthouse guiding ships in and out of the Inlet.

From my photos, I discover that the north shore of the Burrard Inlet is lined with dockyards where ships are built or repaired, parking piers for yachts and launches and storage sites for building materials such as sand and clay. At the foothills of the northern mountains are the residential areas.

The vivid 3-D map shows Stanley Park on the left, Burrard Inlet, Downtown Vancouver and the North shoreline of the Inlet.

Violence in an advertisement

I don’t know why advertisements should involve violence nowadays. It is astonishing to find wording of “Hijack” appear on an advertisement on a wall of a bus (see top photo).

Raising a knife in one hand and riding a bicycle in the wrong direction are threats to the pedestrians as well as dangerous driving.

What is wrong with the head of the person who designs such an advertisement?

PWH emerges

The extension block of PWH (Prince of Wales Hospital) is now like a butterfly emerging from its green cocoon. Outsiders never know what it looks like until it reveals itself recently without its nets and scaffolding.

The foundation work first began in June, 2007. Holes were drilled into the ground and thus quite a number of piles were made for almost half a year. The central ground was dug down to make the basements, which, on the whole, looked like an inverted frustum. Floor by floor, the buildings grew rapidly in 2008 and 2009. Its growth could be easily seen with the elongation of its three tower cranes.

Today it is interesting to see that its outer walls are not painted. Instead they are covered up by pieces of boards. It is like being dressed up by scales of a fish. Perhaps it is the newest way to coat a building nowadays. Now the outlook is half-done and its name has been fixed near the top of the building with two red logos (the left one is for Hospital Authority and the right for the hospital itself). I believe it will begin its earliest operations by the end of year 2010.

Annular Solar Eclipse

Yesterday, January 15, 2010, some people along a belt of our Earth could see an annular solar eclipse (日環蝕). Such an eclipse occurs when the moon and sun align exactly, but the moon does not completely cover the full disk of the sun because its apparent size is not as large as the apparent size of the sun.








This time the eclipse was first seen by people in Kenya(肯尼亞), East Africa, next by those living in India, Burma and some south Asia countries, then by people in Yunnan (雲南), Sichuan (四川), Guizhou (貴州), Hunan (湖南), Anhui (安徽) and Shangdong (山東).

Elly at play

On January 6th, 2010, we brought Elly and Abby to the playroom at our Clubhouse.

We placed a toy in front of her. For the first time we saw Elly at play. Elly was crouching. She eyed on the standing bear, but her left hand was clutching on the purple plate-like cymbals.

Elly was then lifted up and placed upright at a corner with sides supporting her. There she sat for a while playing her first toy. At one time she tried to open the purple plates, but failed. She smiled with satisfaction and we, too.

The Gastown Steam Clock

The most famous landmark at Gastown, near the Waterfront of Vancouver Downtown, is its steam clock, located at the corner of Cambie and Water Street.

The clock was built to harness the steam and to prevent street people from sleeping on the spot in cold weather. Its original design was not good and it had to be powered by electricity after a breakdown. The steam mechanism was completely restored with the financial support of local businesses as it had become a major tourist attraction, and is promoted as a feature of heritage.

The steam used is low pressure downtown-wide steam heating network that powers a miniature steam engine in its base, in turn driving a chain lift. The chain lift moves steel balls upward, where they are unloaded and roll to a descending chain. The weight of the balls on the descending chain drives a conventional pendulum clock escapement, geared to the hands on the four faces. The steam also powers the clock's sound production as whistles are used instead of bells to produce the Westminster "chime" and to signal the time.

This faux-heritage steam clock entertains tourists like me.

Gastown and Gassy Jack Deighton

Gastown was Vancouver's first downtown core and is named after "Gassy" Jack Deighton, a Geordie seaman, steamboat captain and barkeep who arrived in 1867 to open the first saloon in the area. The town soon prospered as the site of a sawmill, seaport, and quickly expanded to a centre of trade and commerce on Burrard Inlet as well as a resort for off-work loggers, fishermen, the crews and captains of the many sailing ships which came to Gastown or Moodyville to load logs and timber.

In 1886, the town was incorporated as the City of Vancouver. It lost all the buildings except two in the "Great Vancouver Fire" in that same year. The area was completely rebuilt and continued to thrive as the centre of the city's wholesale produce distribution until the Great Depression in the 1930s. After the Depression, Gastown was a largely-forgotten neighbourhood of the larger city and fell into decline and disrepair until the 1960s.

In the 1960s, citizens became concerned with preserving Gastown's distinctive and historic architecture, which like the nearby Chinatown and Strathcona were planned to be demolished to build a major freeway into the city's downtown. A campaign led by businessmen, property owners, the counterculture and associated political protestors, put pressure on the provincial government to declare the area a historical site in 1971, protecting its heritage buildings to this day.

It is great to the people of Vancouver in 2009 that the Gastown has been designated a national historic site of Canada.

A Statue in Stanley Park

On that sunny Saturday afternoon of September 26th, Philip drove us by way of Park Drive into Stanley Park, west side of Vancouver Downtown. Before this, I never knew that the Park was on a peninsula surrounding by sea water on three sides. Later of the day when I looked at a map, I learned that a road went through the park linking Vancouver proper to North Vancouver.

On we went along Park Drive and passed a statue. The statue looked like a male athlete with a running pose. I did not know his name until today I found it by surfing the Internet.

It was the Statue of Harry Winston Jerome who was the British Columbia's athlete of the century 1871 to 1971. He was born in September 30th, 1940 and died on December 7th, 1982. Because of his great successes in sports, he received the 1971 order of Canada. Sir Walter Scott wrote the following line for him, “The will to do, the soul to dare”. This shows to me that the Canadians are proud of this great athlete who brings fame to the country.

In the photo, the background of this statue was Downtown Vancouver. A giant ocean-liner was parking at the pier called Canada Place. This is where Vancouver Convention and Exhibition Centre lies. The Centre is easily spotted out by its white tent-like tops.

The Vancouver Lookout tops Harbour Centre and itself looks like a spinning “top”. It was opened by American astronaut, Neil Armstrong, in 1977. The top is a revolving restaurant. High above the surrounding buildings, the Lookout is a perfect place for visitors or local people to take a bird’s eye view of the city. Glass elevators bring visitors skyward 130 metres to the Observation Deck to take a 360-degree view of downtown, suburbs in the south, the Pacific Ocean and Stanley Park in its west, the Coal Harbour and the North Shore Mountains in its north.

A Tribute to Professor Charles Kao

This year, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences awarded the 2009 Nobel Prize in Physics to Charles Kao (高錕教授) "for groundbreaking achievements concerning the transmission of light in fibres for optical communication" and two other scientists in United States of America.

A tribute in terms of an exhibition at our Hong Kong Science Museum is given to Professor Charles Kao, Father of Fibre Optics, a former principal of the Chinese University of Hong Kong and Nobel Laureate in Physics 2009. The exhibition is organized by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department and the Chinese University of Hong Kong featuring interactive exhibits until March 10th 2010 on fibre optics and the information panels. It introduces Professor Charles’ academic life in the past 40 years as well as his significant achievements enabling visitors to understand the optical fibre communications and its applications.

The opening hours of the exhibition are from 1 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Monday to Friday while 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Saturday, Sunday and Public holidays. It is closed on every Thursday (except it is a public holiday) and will be closed at 5 p.m. on Chinese New Year’s Eve and on the first two days of the Chinese New Year. The admission is free of charge.

Professor Charles Kao has made great contribution to a faster communication of mankind through fibre optics. Without his studies, our communication is still at a very slow pace. Professor Charles is well deserved a Nobel Prize in Physics. We, people of Hong Kong, especially the students of Chinese University of Hong Kong should be proud of HIM.

City Hall, Stockholm

Each year, on December 10th, the anniversary of Alfred Nobel’s Death, Nobel prizes are presented to those outstanding people who contribute and influence much to our world in the fields of Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine and Literature.

At the Prize Award Ceremony in Stockholm Concert Hall, presentation speeches praise highly of the Laureates and their discovery or work, after which His Majesty the King of Sweden hands each Laureate a diploma and a medal.

The Prize Award Ceremony is followed by a banquet at the Stockholm City Hall (Stockholms Stadshus) for about 1,300 people, including 250 students. The reddish bricked building in the top photo is the City Hall at Stockholm, Sweden. With a few exceptions, the Nobel Banquet has taken place at the City Hall since 1930. The Nobel Festivities in Stockholm are arranged by the Nobel Foundation and are primarily academic celebrations focusing on science and literature. In addition to the Nobel Laureates and their families, the King and Queen and other members of the Royal Family of Sweden are guests of honour at both the Prize Award Ceremony and the Banquet. Representatives of the Swedish Government and Parliament also take part.

International guests enjoy priority, especially those who represent the sciences and cultural life. Swedish guests at the banquet are people who participate in Nobel-related functions in one capacity or another, aid the sciences through donations or otherwise support the Foundation and the Prize Awarding Institutions.

The second photo is the plaque at the entrance of the City Hall showing the face of Alfred Nobel and the people below symbolize the Laureates who should be praised.

The third photo shows the marble staircase leading down to the hall which the Banquet is held.

The bottom right photo shows the cutlery at each dining table. Visitors or tourists may taste the same kind of food served at the Banquet at different times of the year.

A Birthday cake for Two

Thanks to my elder brother who was so kind to buy me a birthday cake to celebrate my birthday this Monday. Abby’s birthday also falls onto January, so we together cut this Chocolate cake with a big plastic knife at night time.

One small candle was placed at the centre of the cake, but it had never been lit. That candle was like the variable "x" in Algebra. It could take a single-digit number or a two-digit number. So the candle can be applied to my age and Abby’s.

I remember that last year Connie, Philip and Abby sent me a video clip, saying “Happy Birthday” to me and the “age” was indicated by a number made from colourful “legos”. This year is very different. They are all in Hong Kong celebrating the birthday with me.

Statues at a roadside Park

On our way to Stanley Park, Vancouver, we passed by a mini-roadside park. There we saw a number of metal statues of laughing men with broad faces. They looked Chinese. Their faces come from the same man, but they had different poses.

Cyclists stopped before them for rests. Passers-by stopped, too, to look at the funny faces of these men and some took photos of them. All these people would gaze at these metal men and question themselves why these metal “men” were laughing.

What do you think these statues are laughing at?

Coffee-tasted Coca Cola

My sister-in-law and her husband had a tour in Central Europe. When they were on their way to Prague, the capital of Czechoslovakia, their bus stopped by a small town. Some of the tour members went to buy some drinks from a shop near by. They bought back some light brown bottles of Coca Cola with beautiful shapes. They drank out of them and found that they had the taste of coffee. The news of this coffee-tasted cola spread fast in the bus. Off the rest of the tour members went to buy and swept all these colas from the shop. My sister-in-law and husband bought one for themselves and another for me. So, this bottle flied home with them and I tasted italone some day afterwards because my wife did not like coffee at all.

The 250-ml bottle of “Czech” coffee cola is made of light metal, hard to the touch, but elegant in shape The brown colour changes and shines with luster. The bottle looks like a piece of art and it seems full of mystery. The taste is terrific because I feel like drinking a cup of nice coffee instead of the original sweet flavour. I shall give full mark to this kind of drink if I am asked for opinion of its taste. I wonder why this kind of "coffee cola" cannot be introduced into Hong Kong.

Next to this bottle of “Czech” product, I got a "red" one from my son-in-law in Canada. I do find the "red" ones in Hong Kong supermarkets. I have not opened it yet, so the taste of it is still unknown to me.

Burj Khalifa

At United Arab Emirates, Burj Dubai Skyscraper, ranked yesterday, January 4th , 2010 as the tallest building in the world. It has been renamed as Burj Khalifa. It took a total of six years to complete. Its height is 828 metres (2715 feet) with 162 floors. Surrounding this building is an 11 - hectare park.


There were fireworks, laser, light and fountain shows during its grand opening. Sightseeing platform is located at its 124th floor. There the visibility can be 80 kilometres when the sky is clear. The residential flats inside can house twelve thousand people.

Two Friends meet

"Lam Lam" and Abby made friends in Canada. Now they meet again in Hong Kong. Both of them are able to pull their feet up to their ears and turn them as their “telephones” and speak into them.

On December 30th, they each picked up a book to read. I find this photo very interesting, so I show it to my readers,

It is always a difficult thing to take photos of children because they are always moving. They will not freeze themselves for a photo shot.

Bank of China Tower

Before my wife and I attended a wedding banquet at Marriot Hotel, Central, on December 30th, I was able to catch the night view of our famous Tower of Bank of China.

In the past, photographers never miss this building in taking pictures of Central. Every moment when we look at a bank note from Bank of China, we must see this geometric shaped building stand high above those in its surroundings.

At night time, the outline of the building is always cast out by its spectacular white lights. At eight o’clock every day, the white lights of this building will move up and down to join in the stunning multimedia show, A Symphony of Lights (幻彩詠香江) of more than 40 Hong Kong's skyscrapers along the shoreline of our Victoria Harbour.

Hong Kong’s New Year Countdown

Hong Kong has walked into the year 2010 at midnight yesterday. Although I was quite tired, I insisted to lift my eyelids up to watch our Countdown Celebration to New Year 2010 at Tsimshatsui Waterfront.

The so called celebration was just a mixture of singing and dancing. I was happy to see Theresa singing for us. The centre of interest was the IFC building on the opposite side of the harbour in Central.








I was eager to see what the smoke and fire show on IFC would be like this year. The difference was obvious. In the countdown to 2009, the last 60 seconds were indicated by numbers until it reached the last minute. This year we could not see the countdown. The smoke and fire began to start right at midnight. Thanks to the designer of this year’s show in improving and modifying the pattern of fire and smoke. Other buildings on the harbour also sparked out their fire and smoke, but in a smaller scale.