A Dish of Sweet and Sour Fish

Recently, the Sweet and Sour Fish (咕嚕魚) I ordered at Ladies’ Purse at JC disappointed me so much. It was the fish wrapped in thick layer of flour that made me feel that “flour is much cheaper than fish”. The bite at each piece of fish was like chunking at a hard rock. The red and green pepper, the sweet and sour sauce and the pineapple were okay. They helped me finish the bowl of rice that was for the main course.

Back to my appetizer, I found three small purple dice of tuna fish, absolutely raw, placed on some salad vegetables. There were two sets of a thin asparagus on top of a slice of tomato in a way as if each were a magnetic pointer on a cork floating on water to show the direction of North in an experiment.

My wife ordered a lamb chop as main course, 30% raw. The lamb came in twin pieces. I did not like to eat mutton, but politely accepted a small piece from her.

The tendon-like beef (牛腱) was her favourite appetizer. It was richly covered with sesame seeds. I liked it except that it was a little dry.

The Fish Ladder at the Chittenden Locks

Pacific salmon are anadromous: They hatch in lakes, rivers, and streams—or, nowadays fish hatcheries—migrate to sea, and only at the end of their life return to fresh water to spawn.
The fish ladder at the Chittenden locks is unusual because it is located where salt and fresh waters meet. In normal cases, fish ladders are located entirely within fresh water.

When the Corps of Engineers first built the Chittenden Locks and dam, they changed the natural drainage route of Lake Washington. The locks and dam blocked all salmon running out of the Cedar River watershed. To overcome this problem, the Corps built a fish ladder as the locks were constructed to allow salmon to pass around the locks and dam.

The ladder was designed to use attraction water: fresh water flowing swiftly out the bottom of the fish ladder, in the direction opposite which anadromous fish migrate at the end of their lives. However, the attraction water from this first ladder was not effective. Instead, most salmon used the locks. This made them an easy target for predators; also, many were injured by hitting the walls and gates of the locks, or by hitting boat propellers.

The Corps rebuilt the fish ladder in 1976 by increasing the flow of attraction water and adding more weirs: most weirs are now one foot higher than the previous one. The old fish ladder had only 10 "steps"; the new one has 21. A diffuser well mixes salt water in gradually through the last 10 weirs. As a part of the rebuilding, the Corps also added an underground chamber with a viewing gallery.

The fish approaching the ladder smell the attraction water, recognizing the scent of Lake Washington and its tributaries. They enter the ladder, and either jump over each of the 21 weirs or swim though tunnel-like openings. They exit the ladder into the fresh water of Salmon Bay. They continue following the waterway to the lake, river, or stream where they were born. Once there, the females lay eggs, which the males fertilize. Most salmon die shortly after spawning.

The offspring remain in the fresh water until they are ready to return to the ocean as smolts. In a few years, the surviving adults return, climb the fish ladder, and reach their spawning ground to continue the life cycle. Of the millions of young fish born, only a relative few survive to adulthood. Causes of death include natural predators, commercial and sport fishing, disease, low stream flows, poor water quality, flooding, and concentrated developments along streams and lakes.

Visitors to the locks can observe how the Salmon from the open sea return to their freshwater birthplace at the head of the river to spawn. In so doing, the salmon have to traverse a long journey going against swift water currents.

Although the viewing area is open year-round, the peak viewing time is during spawning season, from about the beginning of July through mid-August.

One of the photos here shows the specimens of salmon eggs at different stages of development. The main source of materials here is from Wikipedia.

The Hiram M. Chittenden Locks

The Hiram M. Chittenden Locks are located at the west end of Salmon Bay, part of Seattle's Lake Washington Ship Canal. People call them locally as the Ballard Locks.

The locks serve three purposes:
(1) To maintain the water level of the fresh water of Lake Washington and Lake Union at 20–22 feet above sea level.
(2) To prevent the mixing of sea water from Puget Sound with the fresh water of the lakes.
(3) To move boats from the water level of the lakes to the water level of Puget Sound, and vice versa.

The complex includes two locks, a small (30 ft x 150 ft, 8.5 m x 45.7 m) and a large (80 ft x 825 ft, 24.4 m x 251.5 m).The complex also includes a (235-foot, 71.6 metre) spillway with six gates to assist in water-level control. A fish ladder is integrated into the locks for migration of anadromous fish, notably salmon.

There is a visitors’ center as well as the Carl S. English, Jr., Botanical Gardens at the locks.

When boat traffic is low or when the lakes receive less inflow, the small lock is used to conserve fresh water during summer . Whenever one of the locks to be drained for maintenance, the other lock will be used without blocking all boat traffic.

The locks can elevate a 760-foot (230 m) by 80-foot (24 m) wide vessel, 26 feet (7.9 m) deep, from the level of Puget Sound at a very low tide to the level of freshwater Salmon Bay, in 10–15 minutes. The locks can handle both pleasure boats and commercial vessels, ranging from kayaks to fishing boats returning from the Bering Sea to cargo ships. Over 1 million tons of cargo, fuel, building materials, and seafood products pass through the locks each year.

Missed the First Chance

Yesterday morning, we learned from “Roadside” source that the first Night-blooming flower in our public garden had blossomed the night before. From past experience, these flowers opened quite late at night and I did not expect them to open at such an early hour at eight, so I missed my first chance of watching it bloom.

At the corridor, we chanced to meet one of female gardeners who told us that the second flower might bloom later the night.

I promised myself I must witness the second blooming yesterday night. Last time the first blossom appeared at around 8:40. To my amazement, the plant seemed to know how to read the time on this second night. Throughout the next one to two hours after 8:40, the second flower showed their beautiful white petals. Some passing-by residents said that the flower gave out some fragrance, but my poor nose could not sense it at all. I was too happy to say that I could capture the “grand” opening of this nocturnal flower with my small digital camera.

Paper mats from Pizza Hut

These 4 paper mats are found in our post box downstairs. What interests me is the design.
Of course, the main elements of the cartoon mats are advertisements:

They read as follows, ‘Order for the “Hot”’ delivery food; “Say cheese!

The mats provide some fun-games such as 3-6-9 game and Sudoku for the customers. I think customers can play the games while waiting for food inside the restaurant. It is better for Pizza Hut to create some newer games for customers to play.

Night-blooming Cereus

The gardener in our public garden told my wife yesterday that she had intentionally placed a pot of Night-blooming cereus (曇花) at the most noticeable spot along the corridor so that more people could see it. According to her experience, the flowers would bloom in these few days.

I am happy to see this old friend once more because I witnessed the blooming of such white flowers at home many years ago. This kind of flowers does not give out the kind of sweet fragrance I like. From my observation, the flowers rarely bloom. If they do, they open for just one to two hours after mid-night and soon they drooped.

Let us read what Wikipedia describes about these short-life flowers:

The Night-blooming Cereus is often called Queen of the night and also known as the lunar flower, moon flower and luna flower. This plant is native to the Sonoran Desert in North America. The plant grows as a thin, almost dead looking stick from a single stem in the ground. They bloom just on one or two nights of the year, typically around May 30. Beneath the ground is a large tuber, often the size of a watermelon. It was eaten by Indians and early settlers because of its nutritious content. Pack rats often eat these blossoms before morning, so catching a glimpse of them can be fleeting (曇花一現) . They often stay open until the early morning hours, but then close up for another year.

Fanapi Movements

It is always fascinating to see the movement of a typhoon each time when it comes to Hong Kong. In the past, typhoons were created east of the Philippines and travelled north-westwards. Recently typhoons are created east of Taiwan. Some go northerly towards Shanghai or further to Korea and Japan.

This time Fanapi travels westward, crosses Taiwan proper and go onshore somewhere between Fujian and Guangdong. It goes by the backdoor of Hong Kong and is going to sweep most of Guangdong. Fanapi has flooded Taiwan with much rain water. I wonder if the typhoon brings heavy rain to Hong Kong as well. Let me see!

Funny Soap

This thick piece of soap looks very much like a piece of mixed ham. Its variation in colour is more interesting than those cakes of ordinary soap for cleansing in the bath-room. One of its edges is round and the others are straight. I guess it must have been cut out from a large piece. It is totally wrapped up with opaque waterproof paper with a label telling customers what it is.

Last September when I was in Vancouver, I came before a shop selling soap. I found soap placed in various buckets and they had different colours and shapes, more or less like rock sugar. The immediate thought to me was that the soap here must be sold by weight, not by piece.

In the old days, rice was sold in the same way. One may buy a certain amount of rice. The shop-keeper would weigh the rice according to the demand and shovel it into a bag made of jute, unlike nowadays rice are normally sold in 5, 8 or 10 kg plastic bags.

The colour and shapes of soap nowadays are in revolution. Recently we use several pieces of soap with different smells and colours. I remember that we have used one which has a lemon smell and one with honey (one edge seems to be part of honeycomb). How interesting it will be to me if it has the smell of mango or chocolate!

I can tell you that the piece of soap here does not have the smell of ham.

Fanapi

Fanapi (凡亞比) is a typhoon coming westward at a speed 20 km per hour from Taiwan across the strait and going inland at the shore between Swatow (汕頭) and Fujian (福建). It will pass the backdoor of Hong Kong like the previous typhoon.

For own interest, it is a custom to me to take photos of the sky before a typhoon comes. In these few days, the sky is blurred with grey smog, something like a fog or smoke. The colour of the sky turns a strangely red or purplish red at sunset.

Yesterday the temperature in Shatin reached as high as 35 degrees Celcius (95 degrees Fahrenheit). To me, the hot feeling was no good and unbearable. We do not turn on the air-conditioners at home unless it is really necessary, but yesterday the irritating heat that pierced through the windows into our home made us surrender.

At the moment when I am writing, it begins to rain. I hope the rain will drive away the heat and bring us cooler weather.

The World's Steepest Street

Believe it or not, Baldwin Street, in the suburban part of Dunedin (達尼丁) (a southern city of New Zealand), is claimed as the world’s steepest street.

Baldwin Street is a short straight street, 350 metres long, rising from 30 metres (98 ft) above sea level at its junction with North Road to 100 metres (330 ft) above sea level at the top, an average slope of slightly more than 1 : 5. At its maximum, the slope of Baldwin Street is approximately 1 : 2.86 (19° or 35%).

From my rough measurement at the photos here, the street inclines at about 20 degrees to the horizontal. Heavy vehicles are advised not to climb this road.

In one of the photos, it seems that a house has sunk into the soil.

To experience the steepness of the road, the lady from a Taiwan TV team walked up the street and finally bought a certificate at NZ$2 from a local shop to certify that she had walked up the steepest road in the world.

Lake Titicaca

Lake Titicaca (的的喀喀湖) lies between Peru and Bolivia, so the boundary cuts the lake roughly into two halves. It sits 3,811 m (12,500 ft) above sea level, making it the highest commercially navigable lake in the world. By volume of water, it is also the largest lake in South America.

The western part of the lake lies within the Puno Region of Peru, and the eastern side is located in the Bolivian La Paz Department.

Lake Titicaca is fed by rainfall and melt water from glaciers on the sierras that have a common boundary with the Altiplano. Five major river systems feed into Lake Titicaca.

Titicaca is notable for a population of people who live on the Uros, a group of 42 or so artificial islands made of floating reeds 蘆葦 (totora, a reed that grows in the shallow parts of the lake). These islands have become a major tourist attraction for Peru, drawing excursions from the lakeside city of Puno (普諾). Their original purpose was defensive, and they could be moved if a threat arose. Many of the islands contain watch towers largely constructed of reeds. Large or small boats were made from totora and they are used for navigation on the lake.

Dancing Bees

To end the query raised, I attempt a closer look at the brown insects that crowd round the crack of the same old tree in Shatin today. From the photos I take, I see that they are definitely bees with black and brown stripes.

One interesting thing about these bees is that they shake and dance at the same time. To take a clear picture of them needs steady hands and the right moment when they stop dancing.

I am glad to have a very clear picture of the bees that find a tree hole as their home. Maybe I can say, these bees are Dancing Queens at their stage.

Mag Lam has won!

In the final round of the singing contest, “The Voice 2”, the top three contestants had to sing a song unplugged each. Piano is the only musical instrument used by them. The total marks for the two songs each contestant sang will decide the winner of the contest.

In this order of singing, Sheldon Lo sang the song “Apologize”, Hubert Wu “可惜不是你 and ”Mag Lam “Can You Feel The Love Tonight?”.

Sheldon finally got 170.5 marks, Hubert 171.3 and Mag 171.5. Mag beat Hubert by 0.2 marks.

In my heart, I always look upon Mag to be the winner and Hubert to come next. My expectation has come true. I do hope “The Voice 3” will come soon in the coming months so that I can be the “Invisible” judge again.

Tree-hole = Beehive?

What a strange sight when I saw a tree-hole become a beehive!

Today my wife and I took the same route home after breakfast. Some fifty to hundred brown bees crawled in or out of a narrow opening of an old tree. Parts of the bark of this tree had long fallen off, leaving cracks behind.

The bees, I believe, might find this tree to be their home. I wondered how deep and how far the bees had gone inside. Perhaps the bees had already found much room to hold their family.

Sooner or later, this tree may become hollow and fall down if the bees over-expand their territories.

Dog Assembly

It is so nice to see these American dog-owners bring their dogs together at a park. Most of them are furry pet dogs, small in size and different in colours – white, grey, black, brown and golden yellow. There is one big dog here, but it seems quite tame. Even a girl dares to touch and speak to it.

These dogs are happier because they have a holiday and make friends at the park. They become sociable and are never bound to their own backyards.

The dog-owners can easily exchange conversations and share their experience on how to keep their dogs and some even show their dogs’ skill at one time.

Encouraging Prizes in “The Voice 2”

Prizes were given to the contestants in “The Voice 2” who gets the top votes through Internet.

I totally agree with the results through votes from the public.

These are the prizes presented:
[A] 網上人氣巨聲獎 – 林欣彤
[B] 飛躍進步巨聲獎 – 胡鴻鈞
[C] 金曲獎項 – 我最喜愛金曲巨聲獎(最高票數之三首)
(1) 歲月的童話 – 陳慧敏
(2) 夢一場 – 吳業坤
(3) 愛請問怎麼走 – 林欣彤 (最高票數)

To hear how the contestants interpret the songs, it would be better to visit HKTVB website on “The Voice 2”.

20100912 The Voice 2 (Final)

Yesterday night, I enjoyed watching and listening to TVB’s Singing Contest, “The Voice 2”, among the 6 finalists.

The 6 contestants, in order of singing in the first round , were as follows:
[1] Penny Chan (陳國峄) singing 洋蔥 (original singer: 楊宗緯)
[2] Hubert Wu (胡鴻鈞) singing 原諒我 (original singer: 蕭敬騰)
[3] Sheldon Lo (羅孝勇) singing Speechless (self-written by Sheldon)
[4] Mag Lam (林欣彤) singing A Moment Like This (original singer: Kelly Clarkson)
[5] James Ng (吳業坤) singing 夢醒了 (original singer: 那英)
[6] Brian Tse (謝東閔) singing Piano (original singer: 范逸臣)

Their marks in the first round were
[1] Penny Chan 82.8
[2] Hubert Wu 87.0
[3] Sheldon Lo 84.5
[4] Mag Lam 87.8
[5] James Ng 83.3
[6] Brian Tse 84.1

The top three contestants could enter the final round and each of them were to sing an unplugged song.

In my opinion, in the first round, Hubert could keep his standard. Sheldon had great improvement and Mag could not sing as well as last week (last time she got 92).

A Birthday Dinner

Recently, Mrs. Ko requested some of CCSC colleagues to her birthday dinner. Not to mention, it was a delicious dinner to everyone.

Here I am to write something about each participant at the dinner.

1. Mrs. Ko received her birthday card from all of us.
2. Mrs. D. Chan, requested by Mrs. Ko to be a coordinator, wrote e-mails to us about the details of the dinner.
3. Mrs. Hui has an eye operation recently and her eye-sight has been improved.
4. Mrs. J. Wong has another grandson and she was so kind to give us some sweet vinegar with ginger and pig’s legs to eat before dinner.
5. Julienne Ip flied back to Hong Kong from Vancouver to stay with her daughter’s family in Hong Kong.
6. Edith Mak has a better knowledge of the capability of cameras in terms of pixels than I do.
7. Helen Lo‘s daughter did not show up this time at the dinner.
8. Yvette Poon showed her beautiful ear-rings to us during the dinner.
9. Mr. Fung and Mrs. Fung took a tram home that night.
10. Nancy Hui told us that there were only secondary one classes this year.
11. Rosa Wong said that she was going to be a form-mistress this year.
12. I was one of the photographers at the dinner.

Miss M. Ng, Miss Su and Mrs. Ma were unable to join us that evening.

Glory's Prey

Cats catch mice, but Glory catches possum.

Glory is Felix’s faithful dog at home. I remember her when she sniffed me for the first time at her master's house in April, 2006. I stood stiff, never to move an inch, when she examined me for a few seconds because it was then really a big dog. Perhaps she was learning and recording my odour in her memory when doing so.

Felix told me what happened one recent night at his house.

“The possum is such an ugly animal that everybody was kind of scared when we saw it for the first time. They belong to a group of animals called the marsupials, which rear their young in a pouch for the early part of their lives, like the Kangaroos. Basically they are quite harmless, but to us, they have a very vicious look. I think someone said they have sharp claws.

My dog Glory, of course, does care whether they are good looking or not, but she will fight anyone who invades into her territory, and thus kills the possums. That night, I was already sleeping but Glory climbed to our bed and woke me up by pushing me many times with her front claw. I thought she needs to pee and open the door for her to go out into the yard. She dashed out to the yard, but after quite a while I didn't see her appear at her usual pee location, so I went out and found Glory biting something. She did not bark but was just "doing her work". The possum was lying on the ground. I didn't let Glory eat her catch. I picked up the body and threw it away in a garbage bag.

I am not afraid that Glory will get Rabies because she is already vaccinated against rabies and certified.”

I can see a shovel on the ground, which I think Felix would use it to put the possum into a garbage bag and throw it away.

Skydive in New Zealand

Nzone in Queenstown, New Zealand, provides skydive to visitors. A video-shooting team from a Taiwanese TV programme about tours experienced skydive over this southern city in South Island.

The sweet lady in black dress and the cameraman first signed papers and changed into proper uniforms, each accompanied by an experienced parachutist. They were to jump from a Cresco Turbine aircraft at a height of 15000 feet above the ground.

The jumps were successful ones. The two colourful parachutes, one pink and one purple, were in rectangular shapes. Two by two, they glided down and landed safely on the ground.

If I name my 16 photos here in order from left to right and top to bottom with numbers 1 to 16. What do you think is the order of the photos?

Earthquake near Christchurch Today

An earthquake with magnitude 7.1 occurred in the South Island, New Zealand at 04:35:44 AM local time (16:35:44 UTC), Saturday, September 4, 2010. The earthquake occurred at a depth of 16.1 kilometers (10.0 miles).

The epicenter was located 30 kilometers (20 miles) northwest of Christchurch. The earthquake was reported to have caused widespread damage and power outages. Several aftershocks were also reported. Christchurch residents were awaken by the heavy shakes of the earthquake and reported chimneys have fallen in through roofs, cracked ceilings and collapsed brick walls. Some of the cars were damaged by fallen bricks and debris.

Some of the water pipes were broken and thus flooded some of the streets. Articles of shops fell onto the floors when the earthquake struck. Some residents stayed outside the streets and some even drove to high grounds for fear of Tsunami.

Christchurch

Back to August 30, 2007, Ho Keung and Yin Ping reached Christchurch (基督城), the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand.The photos they took before the interesting houses looked as if they were in the city of Lilliput (小人國) in Gulliver travels. The houses were really beautiful. They also took a photo of Christ’s College (the one with a red tram) and at the Botanic Garden inside Hagley Park.

At the centre of Christ Church is Cathedral Square, surrounding the Anglican cathedral. There are chesses almost the sizes of people for play at the square. The area around this square and within the "four avenues" of Christchurch (Bealey Avenue, Fitzgerald Avenue, Moorhouse Avenue and Deans Avenue) is considered the central business district of the city. The central city also has a number of residential areas, including Inner City East, Inner City West, Avon Loop, Moa Neighbourhood & Victoria. Tourists could ride trams to tour round the city.

The Voice 2

I love watching “The Voice” ever since last year. At this moment, the “The Voice 2” has become red-hot because eight contestants will become six in the coming programme. Two will be disqualified. The last six contestants will compete and soon the winner will appear.

Last Sunday, an outstanding singer, Jeanie Lee(李幸倪), from Malaysia challenged one of the contestants in Hong Kong. I think her singing is up to perfection.

To me, I predict Mag Lam (林欣彤)will be the winner of this contest in the final. The runners-up will be among James Ng(吳業坤), Hubert Wu (胡鴻鈞) and Penny Chan(陳國峄). Let me see if I am right.

I enjoy watching and listen to the songs the contestants sing. Each time, I myself pretend to be one of judges. I am quite happy to find that the marks I give to each contestant are very close to those given by the judges.

In the photo, the top left is Mag Lam; on her right is Hubert Wu; the lady in red dress is Jeanie Lee, the Malaysian singer; the centre right is Penny Chan; the bottom right is James Ng.

Head-shaking Dolls

Without looking at TV advertisements, I would not have bought Happy Meals from McDonald to earn the head-shaking (up and Down movements) dolls for my grand-daughters.

Recently when buying a happy meal, one can get a doll for free. Yesterday, I bought one meal which included a Filet-O-Fish, small fries and a cup of Coke. It cost HK$23.7. I aimed at getting the Birdie (小飛飛) and I succeeded.

Today, we obtain the Ronald McDonald (麥當奴叔叔) when buying a morning Happy Meal which consists of hot-cakes, corn and a chocolate drink (HK$18 something).

Each of these dolls is made of plastic. The heads jump up and down when pressed. Through Skype, Abby chooses Ronald. There is no question that she will leave Birdie for her little sister, Elly.

We have not yet decided whether or not to buy the remaining two dolls, the Hamburglar (漢堡神偷) and Grimace (滑嘟嘟).

Mourning all over Hong Kong

Last Sunday, different political parties in Hong Kong raised a March to male condolences to our Hong Kong victims in Manila from Victoria Park to Chater Garden in Central. People, mostly in black or white clothes gathered at Victoria Park. Some children joined too because they understood what happened and would like to share the sorrow of the survivors who lost their loved ones in the incident. Some smaller children wondered if it was filming when they saw the horrible scene in TV. They asked their parents for the truth.

It was a march of silence. Everybody carried a heavy heart when he/she walked. Many cried because they could perceive the fear to be killed of the hostages , hated the ex-cop of the Philippine police who slaughtered our citizens and became angry at the slow and stupid rescue operation of the local police.

When the participants of the march reached Chater Garden, they tied the yellow ribbons provided onto the railings to express their sympathy towards the dead and the survivors. Some even brought along their flowers and placed them in the garden.

From recent news, the two wounded survivors at Prince of Wales Hospital are in good conditions after operations and speedy recovery is expected. Jason Leung, the young man who received a heavy injury at the head, had been taken back to Hong Kong by a medical plane and had part of his skull taken off to reduce the pressure to the brain in Tuen Mun Hospital. His fever disappears after medication and was put under an anaesthetic at the moment so that his brain can rest. We all hope that Jason can get out of the state of coma and recover as soon as possible.

Home again

It was August 25. After a short ceremony at the airport, Manila, a Cathay plane took the survivors, those corpses of victims, relatives of the victims, government officials, supporters such as psychiatrists, social workers, medical officers, even a few reporters back to Hong Kong. From TV, I saw a lady limp down the stairs and another man whose hands were seriously wounded by bullets walk to an ambulance which immediately took him to Hospital for further treatment.

After an almost two-hour flight, at around 8 p.m., the plane landed on our airport in Hong Kong. Our Chief Secretary, Henry Tang and Chinese Officials boarded the plane to meet and comfort the survivors.

Meanwhile, the coffins of the dead were lowered and drawn group by group, according to different families before the line of Government and Chinese officials and relatives of the dead in the tragic incident.

“The Amazing Grace” was played by two police bag-pipers. Wreaths were placed by Henry Tang and the relatives of the dead victims onto the top of each coffin. The most touching moments came when the mother of the responsible tourist guide from Hong Tai Travel Agency and Mrs. Fu, whose husband was killed, wept.

Mrs. Fu held her 4 to 5 year-old daughter and asked the latter to place a piece of paper on the coffin of her father. It seemed that there was something the daughter wanted to tell her father.

A seriously wounded lady tourist was taken home later of the night by a special plane which provides medical support. She was taken to QWH by mid-night.

Some residents in Manila, who came from Hong Kong, cried at the scene of tragedy. They did not believe that the Philippine police was so poor in the rescue operation and they shed their tears for the victims.

A Paper Dress

Graduated at University of Middlesex, London, Zoe Bradley becomes famous for her design in paper dress. She was inspired by the Fashion Designer called Alexander McQueen. Her talented creative craftsmanship has been praised and looked up to by different media.

Recently, Zoe makes a dress made of red paper roses and brings it to Hong Kong and has it displayed at New Town Plaza, Shatin. Through the display of this beautiful dress, she would like to pay tribute to the memory of Princess Diana and Alexander McQueen.

It was a large beautiful, but delicate dress. I believe that it is not suitable to be worn in the streets.

This Ruthless Cop kills

Not only this ruthless cop had killed some of the hostages, but the Philippines police was also responsible for killing other hostages during their invasion. Aimless bullets that flew from both sides during shooting could kill. The helpless hostages were nowhere to hide nor they could protect themselves at all.

The hijacker, or better say, the killer has made a bad mistake. If he finds no justice in the government, he should find other ways to appeal. He should not hurt or kill foreigners. He had already broken several Hong Kong families. Some lads had become orphans and a lady a widow having a wounded son and lost her daughters. This slaughter has broken the hearts of the victims and their families and most importantly to the people of Hong Kong. Never will our citizens of Hong Kong set foot on the Philippines because it is so unsafe to be in the country with kidnappers and dangerous and merciless men like the cop here.

The Police in the Philippines are to blame too. Their equipment is backward, just hammers and ropes. They do not have ladders. They are not well-trained and slow in rescue. They took more than an hour in the so called rescue operation. They did not have any tactics or rescue plans at all. Tear gas should be applied at the very beginning, but the police did not. The wrong information given by the escaped driver that all the hostages were killed made the police dare to shoot blindly at the bus. They longed to have missed several golden chances in shooting at the hijacker in the afternoon when the latter appeared at the door.

It was a nightmare to the victims and to us in Hong Kong.

A Tragedy

Yesterday morning a former cop of the Philippines, armed with an M16, hijacked a tourist bus operated by Hong Tai Travel Agency at Manila. In the afternoon he released a lady with her two sons, a young boy and an old couple. He kept the remaining tourists and a male guide, 6 males and 9 females, and a driver as hostages. He demanded to get back his job because he was accused of involvement in a certain criminal case ( he said he did not) and had been fired by the Police force. Negotiations were made all the afternoon and his younger brother (also a cop) joined in.

The hijacker became mad when he learned that police was closed in to take action. His brother was arrested for provoking his brother to start killing some of the sixteen hostages he held.

The police special force took a long time hammering at the windows, striking at the door as well as the windscreen at the front of the bus. The progress was very slow. It was quiet inside. At one time, the police wanted to break in through the emergency door at the back, but a few shots from inside held them back. Ten to fifteen shots was made by the hijackers to warn the Police. The driver was able to run away from the bus in the confusion. Tear gas bomb was thrown in and later it worked. The hijacker was shot dead when he went near the door. Soon the police broke in the bus to save those alive and carry the wounded and dead to hospitals.

In this hijack incident, 8 hostages were killed and the rest 7, some wounded, were still alive.

The lady guide who was earlier released told the press that she explained to the hijacker that her two sons had lost their father already and the hijacker agreed to let her, her two children and another young boy go.

Mrs. Leung was heart-breaking because she lost her brave husband and two daughters while her son was wounded.

A young girl was lucky to survive, but her parents and auntie were all killed in the incident.

Our Chief Executive, Donald Tsang, announced that the HKSAR flag would be lowered on August 24th to condole on the deaths of the victims in this tragedy.

One of young men in Hong Kong said to a TVB reporter that he could not sleep all through the night after seeing the direct broadcast of the horrible slaugter event.

This morning police investigation was made to determine what guns made the bullet holes on the windows of the bus. People wondered how many bullets came from the police side which killed the victims. The bullet heads in the corpses would tell the story.

Two bridges over the Willamette River

Today let us look at two interesting bridges that cross the Willamette River.

Marquam Bridge,1043 feet (318.2 metres) long, is a double deck cantilever bridge that carries Interstate 5 traffic across the Willamette River south of downtown Portland, Oregon. It is the busiest bridge in Oregon, carrying 135,900 vehicles a day as of 2008. The upper deck carries northbound traffic; the lower deck carries southbound traffic. (Look at the photos at Top Left and Bottom Left)

Hawthorn Bridge is the second-oldest bridge that crosses the Willamette River in Portland. Built in 1910, it is also the oldest vertical lift bridge in the entire country, allowing river vessels access up and down the waters . The colour of Hawthorne Bridge is forest green, with red railings and counterweights. Before it was repainted recently, it was beige. The original color of the bridge was black. (Look at the photos at Top Right and Bottom Right)

Hawthorne Bridge normally carries approximately 30,000 motorists across it daily. The bridge, due to its low clearance, must raise the drawbridge quite often, though lifts are not allowed during rush hour.

A Study of the Willamette River

To know more about the Geographical features of Oregon State, we must first learn about the Willamette River.

Wikipedia says:

"The Willamette River is a major tributary of the Columbia River. The river is 187 miles (301 km) long, lying entirely in northwestern Oregon in the United States. In 1997, the river was named as one of ten national American Heritage Rivers.

Flowing northward between the Oregon Coast Range and Cascade Range, the river and its tributaries form a basin called the Willamette Valley, in which live two-thirds of Oregon's population. Portland, Oregon’s largest city, sits along both sides of the Willamette near its mouth on the Columbia. The valley, fed by prolific rainfall on the western side of the Cascades, is one of the most fertile agriculture regions of North America.

It was the destination of many 19th-century immigrants along the Oregon Trail. The river was an important transportation route during the early history of the state. Part of the Willamette Floodplain was established as a National Natural Landmark in 1987.

The Willamette rises in three separate forks in the mountains south and southeast of Eugene, at the southern end of the Willamette Valley. Formed by the confluence of its Middle and Coast forks near Springfield, the main stem meanders generally north for 187 miles (301 km) to the Columbia. The river's two most significant course deviations occur at Newberg, where it turns sharply east, and about 18 miles (29 km) downriver from Newberg, where it turns north again. Near its mouth north of downtown Portland the river splits into two channels that flow around Sauvie Island. The main channel enters the Columbia about 101 miles (163 km) from the larger stream's mouth on the Pacific Ocean, and the smaller Multnomah Channel, a distributary, enters the Columbia about 14.5 miles (23.3 km) further downstream near St. Helens in Columbia County."

Loch Ness

On June 23, 2009, the documentary TV programme, “Britain From Above” briefly mentioned Loch Ness. Double-click to see better photos.

Wikipedia supplies us the following information about the lake:

The Loch Ness (尼斯湖) is a large, deep, freshwater loch in the Scottish Highlands ( 57°18′N 4°27′W / 57.3°N 4.45°W) extending for approximately 37 km (23 mi) southwest of Inverness. Its surface is 15.8 m (52 ft) above sea level. Loch Ness is best known for the alleged sightings of the legendary Loch Ness Monster, also known as "Nessie". Loch Ness is over twenty miles long and hundreds of feet deep in places. The loch is notorious for its murkiness, as the water is filled with slime, peat, and mud. Some people think caverns under the loch connect to the ocean, but such connections have not been proven.

It is connected at the southern end by the River Oich and a section of the Caledonian Canal to Loch Oich. At the northern end there is the Bona Narrows which opens out into Loch Dochfour, which feeds the River Ness and a further section of canal to Inverness. It is one of a series of interconnected, murky bodies of water in Scotland; its water visibility is exceptionally low due to a high peat content in the surrounding soil.

Loch Ness is the second largest Scottish loch by surface area at 56.4 km2 (21.8 sq mi) after Loch Lomond, but due to its great depth it is the largest by volume. Its deepest point is 230 m (755 ft), deeper than the height of London's BT Tower at 189 m (620 ft) and deeper than any other loch with the exception of Loch Morar. It contains more fresh water than all lakes in England and Wales combined, and is the largest body of water on the Great Glen Fault (大格倫斷層) which runs from Inverness in the north to Fort William in the south.

The Loch Ness Monster (Cartoon Version)

The cartoon-like figure in the photo is supposed to be the monster at Loch Ness, a famous lake in Scotland. It looks very much like a dragon or prehistoric dinosaur that lives in that lake. It was my daughter who bought it to me when she was travelling in Britain. I remember there was a comprehension passage about Loch Ness monster in Form One English text books which our CCSC students were using.

The following materials come from Wikipedia and I have modified them a bit:

The Loch Ness Monster (尼斯水怪) is believed to inhabit in Loch Ness 尼斯湖 (“Loch” means "Lake") in the Scottish Highlands. The creature is most frequently described as“ a line of long-surviving plesiosaurs”. It is similar to other supposed lake monsters in Scotland and elsewhere.

It was first brought to the world's attention in 1933. Evidence of its existence came from much-disputed photographic material and sonar readings. The scientific community regards the Loch Ness Monster as a modern-day myth. People called this legendary monster by the nickname Nessie since the 1950s.

On 2 May 1933, Alex Campbell, the water bailiff for Loch Ness and a part-time journalist, reported seeing the "monster" in the Inverness Courier. On 4 August in the same year, the Courier published as a full news item the claim of a London man, George Spicer, that a few weeks earlier while motoring around the Loch, he and his wife had seen "the nearest approach to a dragon or pre-historic animal that I have ever seen in my life", moving awkwardly across the road toward the Loch carrying "an animal" in its mouth. There were other claims of land or water sightings. These stories soon reached the national press, which talked of a "monster fish", "sea serpent", or "dragon", eventually giving it the name, "Loch Ness Monster". On 6 December 1933 the first photograph of the monster, taken by Hugh Gray, was published. Shortly afterwards, the Secretary of State for Scotland ordered the police to prevent any attacks on it. In 1934, interest was aroused by The Surgeon's Photograph. In the same year R. T. Gould published a book of personal investigation and collected record of additional reports pre-dating the summer of 1933. Other authors have claimed that sightings of the monster go as far back as the 6th century.

Flowers that cluster like Tails

Recently my classmate, Daisy Mak, told me that she has grown plants called Love-Lies-Bleeding Amaranth in her garden in Texas. What a strange name it is to me! I found interests in the way these deep-red flowers cluster like tails of animals.

The seeds of the plants are sown directly in the ground when it is thoroughly warm in spring. They take 10 to 15 days to germinate. The plants, which must be spaced out 1 to 2 feet apart, will grow up to 4 to 5 feet. The Amaranth plants are easy to grow, need full sunshine and usually take 60 to 70 days to maturity.

For many centuries, the leaves and seeds of Amaranthus species have been sources of food for native people from North and South America to Asia, India, Africa, the Pacific Islands, the Caribbean region, and Eurasia.

The seeds of Amaranth are one of the most nutritious foods grown. Not only they are richer in protein than the major cereals, but the amino acid balance of their protein comes closer to nutritional perfection for the human diet than that in normal cereal grains. Amaranth may be very useful as a food source for the world’s future.

A Cross

Yesterday I was a little unhappy when I saw the “cross” given to me by the chef of my salmon fillet. The skin of my part of salmon had been peeled off and was put on top of the meat. The feeling was no good. I don’t like “crosses” because they often mean negatively as, “wrong”, “poor’, “bad” or “fail”.

I can’t remember or have never counted the number of “crosses” I have given to my students on their homework books, test papers and examination papers. To me, “Ticks” are only given to those perfect answers. “Crosses” are given to “Definitely wrong” answers. What about those wrong-to-a-certain-extent answers? I usually give a “tick” with a “stroke” across to make it look like a “partly right and partly wrong” signal.

At one time, in some questionnaires, people are asked to draw a “cross” to those boxes where you think it is “right”. How absurd it is to do this kind of thing. I think the designers of the questionnaires have something wrong in their minds.

Back to the dishes of food my wife and I ate yesterday, my wife ordered a meat soup and for myself, a shrimp salad as appetizers. The former was delicious because it tasted like “Lo For Tong” (老火湯).

The shrimps in the latter appetizer reached the “tasteless” level. The salad below was composed of vegetable leaves (western style), rich in olive oil. I felt the vegetables a bit bitter to taste. The piece of salmon, with an extra ten-dollar charge, was not bad to taste. The spaghetti beside the fish are slender, Without the white cheese sauce, they would be too “plain” to taste.

Portland Saturday Market

Portland Saturday Market does not only open on Saturday, but also on Sundays. It is located at SW Ankeny Street and Naito Parkway.
The Market provides opportunities for customers to meet the artist and their art pieces at the artist’s booth. Over 250 small businesses and individual artists from across the NW region gather each week for the Saturday/Sunday event with live music and a wide variety of foods that will satisfy the visitors.
There are beautiful glass hanging-decorations, beautiful pictures of Art, African crafts and drums, interesting human figure-heads made of ceramic and artistic lanterns made of fine pottery and many others.

One of the food stalls in the market sells Chowmein and fried rice at around US$5 to 6, a variety of chicken and spring rolls or salad rolls. Another sells drinks of strawberry, honey dew, peach, mango, red beans, coconut and taro. The third, Mandarin House, sells Chinese food advertised as healthy at around 5 to 6 U.S. dollars. The fourth sells sandwiches of vegetables, tomato, onion and meat-like bean-curd product, all wrapped up like Mexican “tarcos”.

Happy to see a flower of Strelitzia

Strelitzia (天堂鳥), as far as I know, is a perennial plant, native to South Africa. Some thirty or so such plants have been growing healthily in an oval-shaped flower bed in our public garden below. Each of its flowers resemble the look of a bird of paradise. In South Africa, it is commonly known as a crane flower. Today I spotted one fully-grown flower standing rigidly out of the big leaves.

The orange and purple “feathers” spread spirally over the “bird’s" head. The green head is recognizable, but not conspicuous. To me, I welcome such plants so close at hand. They look very much like birds resting on some shrubs.

Wikipedia describes the leaves and flowers in detail as follows:

“The leaves of Strelitzia are large, 30–200 cm long and 10–80 cm broad, similar to a banana leaf in appearance but with a longer petiole, and arranged strictly in two ranks to form a fan-like crown of evergreen foliage. The flowers are produced in a horizontal inflorescence emerging from a stout spathe. They are pollinated by sunbirds, which use the spathe as a perch when visiting the flowers; the weight of the bird on the spathe opens it to release the pollen onto the bird's feet, which is then deposited on the next flower it visits.“

Portland International Rose Test Garden

Inside Washington Park in Portland, Oregon, United States, there is a rose garden called The International Rose Test Garden. There are over 7,000 rose plants of around 550 varieties. The roses bloom from April through October at their peak in June, depending on the weather. From many parts of the world, new rose cultivars are continually sent to the garden and are tested for color, fragrance, disease resistance and other attributes. It is the oldest existing public rose test garden in the United States. Portland thus wins the nickname of the City of Roses.

The International Rose Test Garden covers 4.5 acres (18,000 m2) in several tiers facing downtown Portland, the Willamette River and East Portland. On clear days there are views ofthe Cascade Mountains, with prominently Mount Hood.

There is an amphitheater which hosts many events throughout the year, for example, classical music concerts. During good weather the amphitheater is popular with picnickers and people throwing the disc around. It is interesting to find is a brick walkway at the side of the garden called The Queens Walk with a bronze star honoring each Rose Festival queen since 1907.

To mention here, in particular, the Royal Rosarian Garden has paid tribute since 1924 to the goodwill ambassadors and official greeters who serve in the many Rose Festival events. As each rosarian is knighted, they adopt a rose variety as their namesake. A rose is planted in this garden for each of the highest ranking Rosarian Prime Ministers. This garden-within-a-garden contains many roses which are no longer available in the market.

The central photo shows a small brick house with rest-rooms surrounded by fragrance of roses. Do you like it?

Father-in-law’s Birthday Dinner

One, two, three, four, five, six dishes of food were served on the table on Father-in-law’s birthday this year.

The dishes are as follows:
[1] 苦瓜菜脯蛋角
[2] 青瓜炒牛仔粒
[3] 酸甜咕嚕肉
[4] 雜菇炒白菜仔
[5] 欖角肉鬆炒肉豆
[6] 西芹腰果肉丁

In addition, we ordered a dish of noodles. The dishes of food fed seven of us full to the neck. At last, we were given red bean congee as dessert, free of charge.

Lok Fu Plaza

The old Lok Fu Shopping Centre has been renovated phase by phase into a new one called Lok Fu Plaza (樂富廣場). Please double-click to see better pictures.

Shops, no matter big or small, banks and eateries are shuffled during these few years. It is a big surprise to find that the Park-in and Wellcome supermarkets disappear; the long-life "Jusco" vanishes and is replaced by a new UNY; banks such as Chartered Bank and Bank of China, Heng Sang Bank accumulate round the shuttle-bus (to and from Kowloon Tong and Broadcast Drive), taxi and minibus terminus. The branches of Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank and Bank of East Asia are located in better sites in the shopping centre.

After renovation, the shopping centre, in my opinion, looks newer, cleaner, better organized, fresher and modernized. This will mean that rents will go up and customers have to pay more when they buy and eat here.

Let us look at the nine photos here:
[1] Top left – the red plate showing “Lok Fu Plaza” on one of its walls is relatively too small. It is partly hidden by the tall trees in front of it.
[2] Top centre – UNY occupies the second floor and third floor while new restaurants and fast food shops line on the ground floor facing the large courtyard.
[3] Top right – the hanging coloured plates seem to hide the monotonous look of the walls
[4] Middle left – A few decorative squares of lights have been added to the large roof cover of the courtyard.
[5] Middle centre – The fruit store has been replaced by a fast food shop and its top formerly the Bank of East Asia (Lok Fu Branch) now becomes "Fortress".
[6] Middle right – The tiles of the courtyard have been replaced. The courtyard will still be used for activities and exhibitions.
[7] Bottom left – The McDonald is still there, but has been modernized and provides twenty-four hour service.
[8] Bottom centre – A corner of the former “Dry” market is now “Tai Hing” (太興) Restaurant.
[9] Bottom right – Here we can glimpse of the floors of UNY Department Store and eateries with all-weathered escalators wrapped up by glass towers.

Elly making a Phone call

To make a phone call, Elly picks up the TV remote control and speaks into it. Who is on the other line, we never know. Perhaps she uses the phone to talk with the one she is looking at. In one of the photos, she looks into her mother’s face. I believe she has a lot to tell her mother from the bottom of her heart.

With one eye hidden by her long hair at her forehead, she plays games of her age. Besides making phone calls, Elly is able to turn round and descend safely by herself down the sofa, pushes and walks with the “Baby-walker” training unit with a handle, toys and wheels. Crawling is another choice. Well, she wriggles fast like a worm room to room. Eyes should be on her closely, otherwise she may bump into her obstacles on her track.

What a Good Beginning of Today!

I was not aware of the streets below which had been wetted until my wife called out to me. There was no trace of rain on the windows. I guessed it was drizzle that made the streets wet for a few minutes.

Looking up, I spotted in the distance the first rainbow I saw this year. It is rare to see a rainbow because a thin film of rain, sunshine at the right angle and the right time to build are necessary.

The rainbow was not conspicuous nor complete this time, but I could figure it out. How light-hearted I was to see a “welcoming” morning rainbow at seven twenty-one!

Lovely Flowers at Sai Kung

It was May when I set my feet on the roof-top garden of a café at Sai Kung near its bus terminus.

Lovely flowering plants were grown along the edges of this narrow U-shaped garden. I was stunned to see the peach-coloured hibiscus for the first time in my life. The yellow flowers were equally attractive. Their centres were dotted as if they were sprayed with red paint.

Full of life, the flowers stood high above the leaves. Some lined up along the straight edges of a quadrant of a circular grass lawn.

Working under the same roof in the 70’s

Here are some of my old colleagues of CCSC who worked together in teaching some of our younger generation of Hong Kong. Most of our students have grown older, married, have children and have become people of importance working successfully in different parts of the world, serving the communities they are in. Please Double click to see larger pictures.

Yesterday WE met in a restaurant in North Point. Sitting face to face, chatting, we found ourselves still energetic, somehow humorous and still remembered the old days that we were in CCSC.

In those days of the old, besides teaching our students during week days, we took part in many outdoor activities such as picnicking, barbecues, swimming, playing ball games of football or basketball. Afternoon tea was one of our after-school activities During summer time, we sometimes took coffee or tea after lunch at those Tai Pei Dong (大牌檔) at Tai Hang.

Since I was sitting at the back of the Male Staff Room, I could see all the backs of my colleagues and their activities. Although I was always correcting Mathematics exercise books, my eyes could spot out every moment of my colleagues. Some of them read newspapers. Some were sipping coca-cola. A few took a nap on the table when they were really tired. Sometimes jokes and laughter broke the silence of the room. We never found ourselves like teachers in our room because we have no boundaries among us. Games were played secretly inside the staff room, but obviously I shall not talk about them here.

Days passed so quickly that all of us at lunch yesterday have left CCSC. Some of us have retired. Some are still working because they are still young. What we are proud of was our little contribution in educating some of the youngsters of Hong Kong in the years of 70’s, 80’s, and for me 90’s and into the Millennium until September 2005.

ICC

Nowadays, 112 buildings in Hong Kong stand taller than 180 metres (591 ft).

The tallest is the 108-storey International Commerce Centre (ICC 環球貿易廣場), which was completed in 2010. It stands as the 4th-tallest building in the world having 118 storeys, being 484 m (1,588 ft) tall and 2nd-tallest building in the People's Republic of China. The tallest building in the world at the moment is Burj Khalifa at Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE).


The second-tallest building in the city is the International Finance Centre (IFC 國際金融中心) at 88 storeys. It is the fourth-tallest building in the Greater China region and the eighth-tallest office building in the world, based on structural heights.

The 78-storey Central Plaza (中環廣場), which is in Wanchai, instead of in Central, contains the Hong Kong City Church, the highest church in the world located inside a skyscraper.

The fourth-tallest building in the city is the 70-storey Bank of China Tower(中銀大廈), which is 367 m (1,204 ft) high and was designed by famous architect I. M. Pei. The skyscraper has the distinction of being the first skyscraper outside the United States to exceed 305 m (1,000 ft) in height.

Harbour Views

Through the lens of Tony’s camera, the harbour views of Central and Wanchai from the Arch are superb. Please click the photo to get a larger view of the shore of Central.

First, looking at Central, the two “sharp-looking” buildings are IFC (International Financial Centre 國際金融中心) and The Center (中環中心).

IFC stands like a “cob” of maize with visible “grains”. Its top looks like the head of an electric razor.

The Center looks like a colourful pencil especially when its colour-changing lights are on at night. Its top is more or less like a pyramid.

The bank buildings are attractive to our eyes in Central. First the chisel-like Bank of China Tower (中銀大廈) is always the centre of interest in Central because of its “sharp” faces.

The “robot-like” Headquarter-building of the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation wins a lot of admiration and fame in all these years.

Jardine House(怡和大廈), formerly called Connaught Centre (康樂大廈), was completed in 1973. It has 52 storeys (178,5 metres tall). At that time, it was the first skyscraper in Hong Kong and the tallest in South-east Asia. Its outlook is nothing special except the big round windows. Its height was quickly beaten by other tall modern buildings.

It is interesting to see eight piers lined evenly at the coastline of Central. Looking at them from left to right (east to west) from Kowloon are:

Pier 8: for Star ferries to Hung Hum
Pier 7: for Star ferries to Tsimshatsui
Pier 6: for ferries to Silver Mine Bay and Peng Chau
Pier 5: for ferries to Cheung Chau
Pier 4: for ferries to Lamma Island
Pier 3: for ferries to Discovery Bay
Pier 2: for ferries to Park Island
Pier 1: for government use

Looking up at Victoria Peak, The Peak Tower (凌霄閣), the cresent-like building is the terminus of Peak Tram at 396 metres. Tourists can overlook at the roof of the tower (at 428 metres) the scenery of the two shores of Victoria Harbour.

The Campus at University of Oregon

This is University of Oregon.It is a coeducational research university (founded in 1876) in Eugene, Oregon, United States. UO is the second oldest public university in the state.

The campus is spread over 295 acres (1.19 square km) and holds sixty major buildings, as well as providing a home for more than 500 varieties of trees. Eugene is located near many outstanding geographic features such as the Willamette River, Cascade Mountains and the Pacific Ocean. Portland is within a two-hour drive. Many of the University's buildings are built around several major quadrangles, many of which interact with the famous pedestrian 13th Street.

Gifts of Craftsmanship

My wife received two wedding banquet gifts from a friend. They were supposed to be the gifts or souvenirs to the guests at the banquet.

Two pieces of small Chinese cakes were wrapped and put inside a cubical red paper box. It was so designed that the letters of double delights (雙喜) appeared on its four lateral faces, while the base closed like the shutter leaves in a single-lens reflex camera. The top of the box closed in, crossed and knotted together perfectly. The most interesting part was that one could see butterflies at its very top.

What a wonderful design and craftsmanship the designer has created!

Oregon

It is interesting to see colourful hot-air balloons flying at low altitude when driving along a road through Oregon, a state between California and Washington. The snow-capped mountains in a distance give a visual cooling effect to the driver and passengers on board a car on a highway.

Driving long distances needs stop and rest after two to three hours or so, especially when one feels hungry. Finding suitable restaurants with cheap and tasty food to fill the stomach is a piece of art. It always takes some time in a car circulating round the streets, which are supposed, filled with restaurantsor simply walking about the streets, door by door, looking at the menus or photos on the windows and most important of all the prices and kinds of food, if none, one has to estimate the prices by the look of the restaurants they stand at.

McDonalds are attractions everywhere, but their burgers are not cheap at all in the States. We experienced the cheapest hamburgers at midway to La Vegas. We bought them at one U.S. dollar each. In Canada and Australia, if there is no promotion, the prices of similar burgers are twice or thrice those in Hong Kong.

One particular thing about the trolley-buses in Oregon, they are modern and beautiful, unlike those old ones that run in the old town of San Francisco. The bus-stops are specially designed here with large wing-like shades for passengers to hide from the hot sun.

Some modern buildings made of glass and metal appear in Oregon. They are "assembled" like "Legos", which takes much shorter time.

Double-click if you want larger photos.