Elly poses

Chinese New Year is drawing near. Elly first feels its atmosphere at a shopping plaza close at home.

Recently, the public display of puppets at Sunshine City is closed and replaced by Chinese New Year decorations. Chinese costumes, embroidery crafts, necklaces, huge knitted balls and walled pictures filled the hall of display. Since the coming Chinese New Year will be the Year of the Dragon, a large beautiful dragon, knitted by high skilled craftsmanship, is displayed. The eyes of the dragon are not conspicuous.

Elly is happy to see such decorations at this time of the year and does not miss the chance of posing and have some photos taken. Here she is, holding her "Minnie" handbag, smiling and standing on both legs (she sometimes stands on one leg like a crane for poses). Whenever a photo is taken, she asks to see it.

Cartoons on Bus Advertisements

The cartoons on this bus attracted my attention this morning. The males appear fat to neck-less and the female is slim and beautiful. They are interesting and obviously make the advertisement filled with life. The theme of the advertisement is to promote tourism in Taiwan.

The cartoons here reveal the daily life of the people of Taiwan. As the advertisement says, “Enjoy the music”, “Taste good food” and “Watch fireworks”. The fireworks before the 101 building make the outstanding landmark of Taipei look radiant and show that Taiwan is a city full of attractions.

Wrinkles

Wrinkles in the sky are usually created by the jet engines of planes which leave behind tails of white gas. These tails are usually straight and continuous, sometimes thick and sometimes thin.

At peaceful sea, wrinkles are made when a boat or ship sails and cuts the water surface. The water that wrinkles creates regular parallel lines of waves to the shore.

Two Reunion Dinners with Old students

Some of my colleagues, Miss W. Wong, Miss M. Ng, Mr. Law, Mr. Fung and I attended the reunion dinner organized by Andy Ho at Wanchai on December 30, 2011 because some of our old students in the early 70's would gather to meet their classmates from Australia, Chung Hau Tim (Tim), Cheng Mei Yu (Ivy) and Ng King Por (Paul) [plus children of two families].

The students attended were, Hiu Kong Wai (Jane), Chung Yim Har (Eliza), Kwok Shuk Fan (Silina), Chan Chor Wan, Chung Yik Cheung (Raymond), Chan Chun Chung (William), Ip tak Ming, Kong Hin Kee (Henry), Leung Kwok Yuen (Stephen), Ho Yiu Ming (Andy) and Lau Kam Chuen.

During the dinner, Miss Wong shared the photos taken during her travel to India. The happy voices of Cheng Mei Yu sounded all through the night. She also called everybody for taking group photos.

Yesterday, January 9, 2011, we, past teachers, Mr. Fung, Miss M. Ng, Miss Winnie Wong, Mr. Law and his dear wife were invited to have dinner at Causeway Bay with Yeung Bud Kuen (Max) and Li Yim Wan (Judith) from Toronto and their classmates in the 70's, namely, Chan Chun Chung (William), Chan Ka Sing, Cheng Sau Kuen (Ada), Chung Yim Ha (Eliza), Chung Yik Cheung (Raymond), Ho Yiu Ming (Andy), Ip Tak Ming, Kwan Kit Man (Kitty), Kwok Shuk Fan (Silina), Kwong Po Keung (Patrick), Lau Kam Chuen, Leung Kwok Yuen (Stephen), Leung Wai Ming, Ling Yiu Keung (Richard), Tsang Po Wan (Paula) and Yip Sai Hung.

Sitting next to me were Kwan Kit Man, Kitty and Tsang Po Wan, Paula. I have not seen Paula for a long time and I was happy to see her again. We talked for some time during dinner.

Yeung Bud Kuen made a short speech, mostly in English, before the start of dinner. He looked plumper than before. He was accompanied with his wife, Judith Li.

Doctor Kwong gave each teacher a small calendar of 2012, inside which he placed an album of beautiful professional-class photos he took in China.

Californian oranges return

Starting from today, Californian oranges come back to Hong Kong.

Early in the morning, we had breakfast at Super Super (一粥麵). Before the close-by supermarket began service, I passed by, peeped through the transparent gate and saw some familiar oranges. The labels looked like those of Sunkists, but I was not so sure since I was still ten feet away from where they were displayed.

After breakfast, the supermarket had opened. There laid my favourite Sunkist oranges. I always consider them as sources of “Californian Sunshine”. These “3107” oranges looked new and fresh. They cost $9.9 for three. I chose 30 of them. My head kept saying, " If you don't them now, the better ones will be bought and taken away by other people."

Later in the morning, my wife and I turned to another supermarket and found the same kind of oranges but at a cheaper price, $7.9 for three. My heart sank a little because if I went to this supermarket first instead of the previous one, I would have saved twenty dollars.

The lesson I learned today is similar to “ Look before we leap”. It is “Compare prices before we buy.”

A Happy Lunch

Grandma announced that she forgot to bring food to cook for lunch at MOS on January 4. Instead we would have a meal at a Mc Donald’s. Our two grand-daughters cheered at the news.

As usual, it took five to ten minutes to reach the nearest Mc Donald's.

We ordered a big Mac with chips and coke, two double cheese burgers and a box of Mc Chicken nuggets (9 pieces).

We supposed Elly liked the nuggets because she loves eating meat especially sausages and ham. To our amazement, she ate only one.

My wife and I fed one grand-daughter each a double cheese burger and let them eat the chips afterwards. The result was that they ate only haif a burger.

Abby and Elly took turns in drinking the cup of coke and they were eager to eat the chips. Abby and Elly dipped the chips into the sweet sauce provided before they ate them. We, grand-parents, ate the unfinished burgers and carried away the big Mac home for afternoon tea. It seemed that we had small appetites, not the girls.

It was a happy lunch for our grand-daughters after all.

M & M Birthday Cakes

Mother Connie baked two birthday cakes for Abby since the latter will be six in a few days’ time. There is news that she will bake the third in the coming days. Three cakes are used in different parties.

The cake is made from powder cookies or biscuits and water. This ingredient is bought and brought from Canada. The hard blue crust at the top should be rich in sugar content. The eyes of the cute M & M face are white marshmallows covered by eyelids. The face is further decorated with eyebrows, pupils for the eyes and a smiling mouth, a number “6” for the age of six and the usual signature of “m” which stands for M & M.

These M & M birthday cakes are filled with love and it must be very sweet to taste.

Cirrocumulus stratiformis

Looking up at the sky is rewarding because clouds appear in various forms. On my birthday, I found these thin clouds in the sky over Ma On Shan. It is not difficult to find their names from the Internet.

Well, this kind of clouds is a type of cirrocumulus cloud, called Cirrocumulus stratiformis. The name cirrocumulus stratiformis is derived from Latin, meaning "stretched out".

Cirrocumulus stratiformus occurs as very small cirrocumulus clouds that cover a large part of the sky. This type of cloud always occurs in thin layers. There can be spaces or rifts between the individual cloudlets in the layer.

It is quite interesting to know that clouds are abbreviated and even have symbols. Let us study the following precious information from Wikipedia:

Abbreviation: Cc str
Symbol:

Genus: Cirro- (curl of hair) -cumulus: (heaped)
Species: Stratiformis (layered) Altitude Above 6,000 m (Above 20,000 ft)
Classification: Family A (High-level) Appearance horizontal layers
No Precipitation cloud

The bottom-right photo shows a plane that flied in to Hong Kong from the east and, I guessed, was heading for inland China.

Children’s camera targets

Abby took my camera while she was waiting for the school bus. I noticed that she pressed the shutter button several times, but I did not know what snapshots she had taken. Later I found that her target was this motor-bike from Towngas.

She did not take only one photo, but a series of five. The Chinese and English characters of “Towngas” were not clear in the photos showing that she could have shaky hands when pressing the shutter button.

In my opinion, it is a good idea to give a light camera to a child like Abby who may find interesting targets for photography in her surroundings. We definitely need to give freedom to a child to explore more things around him/her. We shall marvel at their "masterpieces".

News about the new Cabinet of CCSCOSA 2011 - 12

A new cabinet 聚賢閣 for the year 2011- 12 replaced 誠閣 (2010-11) last September, 2011.
The posts are listed as follows:

Chairman: Tsoi Sze Yeung, Simon (蔡斯洋) 2002 (F.5)
Vice Chairman: Fong Wai Mun, Helen (方惠敏) 1974 (F.5)
Vice Chairman: Ang Wai Ming, Wilson (洪偉鳴) 1993 (F.5)
General Secretary: Kong Tsui Yan, Jenny (江翠欣) 2002 (F.5)
Financial Secretary: Lam Yan Ki, Adrienne (林欣琪) 2009 (F.5)
Publication Secretary: Chan Kin Yu, Erik (陳建裕) 2008 (F.5)
Information Technology Secretary: Mok Chi Hong, John (莫子匡) 1992 (F.5)
Executive Committee Member: Lau Kam Chuen (劉錦泉) 1976 (F.5)
Executive Committee Member: Li Yi Lut, Lawrence (李懿律) 2008 (F.5)
Executive Committee Member: Li Chiu Lok, Clara (李昭樂) 2009 (F.5)

Coming up will be two activities organized by the new CCSCOSA cabinet in 2012:

(1) On 4th Feb 2012 (Saturday), there would be the Chinese New Year Gathering (龍年新年團拜) in the CCSC school hall. This is an event for retired teachers and alumni to gather in this special festival for Chinese.

(2) On 23rd Mar 2012 (Friday), OSA Annual Dinner will be held. Details will be announced shortly.

OSA members have been and will continue joining regular lunch gatherings for alumni and retired teachers on the second Saturday of every month in Choi Fook Restaurant in Fortress Hill (炮台山彩福海鮮酒家).

For contact, please visit:

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=7212514292

Suggestions or enquiries may be made at osa@ccsc.edu.hk or simonsytsoi@gmail.com. (please address to Simon Tsoi,Chairman of CCSC OSA, year 2011-2012)

My Collection of Metal bottles

So far this is my collection of Metal bottles. Yesterday evening I got the fifth bottle from Philip and Connie. It was going to be my birthday present today.

I love this new member to my group because its lovely “green” colour sprinkles my heart with delight. The moment I saw the bottle, I blinked my eyes a little and my heart jumped a little too.

To collect these metal bottles is better than postage stamps because they are long lasting unless they are scratched. The painful experience of collecting stamps is that they turn yellow and mould in warm wet weather.

The merits of these bottles go to the mysterious change of colours, the design and the slim shape. The surprising taste of coffee mixed with coke comes from the “Czech” brown-to-black bottle which is full of a language (most probably in Czech) that I never know. The souvenir bottles of the Winter Olympics in 2010 become my favourite twins. Last year I got the red bottle of Coke from Philip and yesterday, the Sprite. I have not decided yet when to taste the so called “Lemon-lime Soda, 100% Natural Flavors”, maybe on a day which I need some sweet taste.

阿比高了

阿比最近給我的印象是高了，牙齒卻少了幾隻，繪的圖畫開始有規律，形象，完全沒有胡亂落筆的感覺。一個好現象是阿比放學回家時都有餓的感覺，嚷著要吃東西﹝其實她在學校已經吃過了茶點﹞，只希望她可以吃多些，令自己沒有這麼瘦就好了。

上星期二在旺角新世紀廣場和孫女們見見面。她們和母親及嫲嫲有下一個約會，但時間尚早，大家往五樓兒童遊樂場一走，打發下時間。兩位孫女見到有得玩，當然不會拒絕啦。走在孫女後面，見到她們的頭髮是給母親結了短短趣緻的馬尾辮子。

艾莉專攻滑梯和吊橋，由母親照顧。而阿比較喜歡盪鞦韆，她選了我幫助她推高。艾莉也有單獨騎搖擺鐵馬。看見她騎著一隻有睡意的馬那種肉緊的表情，尤其覺得她特別可愛。

阿比打了一陣子鞦韆之後，轉到一個小得可憐的兒童氹氹轉，給我機會照了幾張相。她不到三分鐘，就跳到地面。一轉身又跑回去盪鞦韆。

曾有一段時間阿比和艾莉好有默契地擠在一起玩滑梯。那時候，一對好姊妹一齊滑下來，非常溫馨。

Countdown to 2012

On New Year Eve, I waited to see on TV the countdown to 2012 at the waterfront of our Victoria Harbour.

As usual, HKTVB arranged some singing, dancing and other performances to raise the new year atmosphere for viewers at home, on buildings or along the shores of the harbour.

The chief executive of SAR, Donald Tsang and his wife together with some high officials witnessed the arrival of the New Year at Tsimshatsui waterfront.

One special guest from America was invited to join the VIP New Year Witness team was Miss Nancy Ryan, the 40 millionth visitor to Hong Kong.

The large countdown was on the wall of IFC and the numbers were large enough to be seen from greater parts of the harbour.

The countdown then began and it went, “15, 14, 13, 12, 11, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 " and then fire and smoke blast off from IFC and various buildings along the harbour. This signified the beginning of a new year.

Hope that the newly-arrived year will bring prosperity and good health to everyone in Hong Kong and worldwide! Happy New Year to you all!

復古色彩巴士

今午眼前一亮，我幾乎不相信自己的眼睛。從行人天橋上向下望，竟然給我一大驚喜─一部以復古顏色的奶白色頂和紅色車身的九龍巴士在總站停泊著。

最令我懷念是出現在下層車身中央那個古老的九龍巴士(一九三三)標誌。

其實這部巴士不是較新型號，而是稍為舊款的巴士，這正好配合復古的味道。這樣獨特的仿古巴士在我們的街道走，一定帶回大家舊日一絲絲的回憶！

Six Furlong

Brother Anthony and sister-in-law invited my wife and me to have lunch at Six Furlong Restaurant at Happy Valley. They said that it would be a pre-birthday lunch with me because my wife and I would be busy again in January in babysitting businesses.

Through two tunnels, facing a little congestion at Cross Harbour Tunnel at Hung Hum and up a narrow uphill road, we reached Shan Kwong Road JC Clubhouse.

This Six Furlong Restaurant has high ceiling, but not as comfortable as that of Ladies’ Purse at Shatin. [Note : 6 furlongs (an old British unit for distance) = 1320 yards]

The prices of food in the red menu had risen. I did not know if the prices are special for Christmas, but anyway eating out should be more expensive than at home.

There was cream soup or Chinese soup or duck’s meat as appetizer. The main course were beef steak or lamb chop or others. For desserts, we ordered Black forest cake, Chocolate Musse cake, cream on jelly and orange-flavoured cake.

Wow! Such set lunch priced at one hundred and forty-five dollars each. Probably it is the most expensive lunch I have ever had. Thanks to my brother’s hospitality.

A Spinning chair

Elly, Abby, Hayley found a shell-like plastic chair which can be spun round and round. Uncle HL Wat worked as the spinner. Every time when one of the girls sat inside, the orange curtain/blind was lowered and Uncle spun them as if they were on a Merry-go-round.

Hayley was the first to spin. We laughed several times when she walked out from the capsule chair on the lawn with unsteady steps. Probably she was a little dizzy after such spinning motions.

Doctor Sung suggested a method to reduce or minimize the dizzy effect. When one spins the chair in one direction, say clockwise, he should spin it in the the opposite direction, that is anti-clockwise, before he stops.

Abby was the next to try, then followed by Elly. At one time when Abby was sitting inside, Hayley and Elly attempted to spin the chair, but it was really difficult for them to do so.

Once Elly sat inside the chair and I acted as the spinner. What did she say to me inside when I was spinning the chair? Guess what she shouted to me. Below are the options.

A. Slower, slower!
B. Be Gentle!
C. Raise me up!
D. Faster, faster!
E. Stop, stop!

Christmas Eve 2011

Four cousins (in rosy pink, white, light pink overcoats and a red jumper) sat together at the dining table to witness the cutting of a birthday cake by their granduncle/grandfather.

Blowing of candles and singing birthday songs went over and over again because all the six girls at the party liked this game. Abby was the chief blower of the candles.

Finally the birthday cake was cut and shared among the diners. Elly and Abby eyed on the chocolate chips at the top of the cake and no doubt, they were given what they wanted. They ate them with fingers instead of spoons. As if a make-up, the chocolate melted at their fingers and round their mouths casting up two funny, but dirty faces.

The Green Lantern

Fresh News from Australia about a new roller-coaster

The Gold Coast theme park hopes that the Green Lantern, regarded as “the steepest inverted drop on a rollercoaster in Australia", will appeal to those visitors who enjoy gut wrenching, heart pounding, blood curdling action. Plummeting face-first down an “120-degree inverted drop" while travelling up to 66km/h is enough to turn some white with fear.

The ride on a 488-metre electric green track pulled “3.5Gs on hairpin bends". Oh, I am sure it is not a game for me, but to astronauts or pilots.

A Touch of Christmas

Here are some photos of Christmas Decorations on the window curtains of a few tall buildings in Wanchai and Christmas trees at different plazas.

May I wish, on this day of December 24, 2011, my readers especially, Felix, David, Sc, Ho Keung, Yin Ping, Connie, my students, classmates, relatives and colleagues a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year and thank you all for your endless support to my small corner of writings. Hopefully I can write further on.

Elly turned into a baby Reindeer

Mother Connie put these pink antlers (hair clips) to Elly’s hair before dinner on the night of December 5, 2011. In a matter of a few seconds, Elly was turned into a baby Reindeer. Elly did not pull them off, but accepted them as funny ornaments on her hair for a while.

A Golden-coloured Christmas tree

A huge golden-coloured commercial Christmas tree is erected and placed in front of i-SQUARE, Tsimshatsui. It is not a real tree, but looks like a cone built up by golden balls of a famous brand of chocolate.

I believe there is no chocolate content inside these round balls because the heat of the sun would have melted the chocolate and turned it into a mess if there were really any.

This Ferrero Rocher chocolate (金莎朱古力) has deep-rooted in the hearts of my family because we eat quite a lot of them at Chinese New Year.

Volkswagens as taxis

It is amazing to find Volkswagen beetles as taxis in Mexico. The models of these beetles are not the latest versions like those I saw in Vancouver, but the versions much much earlier with flat windscreens. The reason for so many such green beetles running in the city was that they were very cheap at time of sale.

Deep Bay at night

Yesterday I was invited by Mrs. D. Chan, my good friend and old colleague, to attend her daughter’s wedding banquet at Deep Bay Yacht Club (深灣遊艇會) .

After chatting with Mrs. D. Chan, eating snacks, drinking cocktail and some photo-taking, my other colleagues and I walked out to a third-floor verandah where we marvelled at the beautiful night view of the club and Aberdeen Harbour.

Below were swimming pools decorated with light bulbs over trees and pavilions. Further out in the harbour were two floating restaurants, Jumbo (珍寶海鮮舫) and Tai Pai (太白海鮮舫). Both restaurants sparkled with bright light. On the shore, on my right, were two piers where shuttle boats were carrying tourists to and from the restaurants.

Without such a chance of visiting the Yacht Club, I would not have taken such night-view photos.

Mrs. Garfield (Flower)

我發夢都估不到原來花也有嘉菲太太之稱。

這裏照片中高貴優雅帶有粉紅色花朵的朱頂蘭正是嘉菲太太。四朵同高度的花長得很奧妙，剛剛向著東南西北四個方向, 擁有指南針般的功能。

朱頂蘭的花莖通芯，花朵較大（13-20厘米）； 荷蘭培育品種先出花後出葉；南非培育品種先出葉後出花，其他品種多數花葉並出。 不同品種在不同季節開花，春夏秋冬都有，通常一年一次，少數一年兩次，有常綠及休眠兩種。

朱頂蘭較早在南美洲被發現並帶返歐洲培育；十八世紀開始，由荷蘭人大量地培育用作商業買賣，所以一路以來園藝培育的品種愈來愈多。

不同的朱頂蘭原生環境差別可以很大。Hippeastrum elegans 來自溫暖濕潤，陽光充沛的草原，Hippeastrum aulicum 卻附生在樹枒之上，樹蔭之中；有些品種的朱頂蘭長在懸崖峭壁，另外一些又會長在沼澤或河邊。

東南亞地區例如廣東，福建，台灣，馬來西亞等，水土和氣候都很適合朱頂蘭生長，並且能夠露地越冬。很多品種的朱頂蘭在這些地區都只會半休眠，甚至不用休眠。

3-D spectacles

Little sister Elly wore a pair of 3-D spectacles after taking her nap in the afternoon of November 29. I did not know how and where it came from. The paper spectacles were of the very primitive kind with one lens red and the other blue. Elly asked me to help her put them on because the thin blades did not fit well on her ears. The spectacles were supposed to be tightened by a rubber band round the head at the back.

Elly considered it big fun to add something new to her eyes. Since Elly did not watch any book, film or TV which is designed for three dimensions, I guessed she would soon become dizzy with things that were mixed with red and blue colours at her eyes. Luckily she did not wear the spectacles for long, otherwise the latter would make her eyes confused for a short time.

After school, big Abby picked up the same spectacles and put them on at her forehead for different poses. She just spent little time in wearing it too.

I remember that when I was watching 4-D “Shrek” inside a theatre at Universal Studios, LA, the spectacles were made of plastics and they were definitely more comfortable and enjoyable than those paper ones Elly and Abby wore.

Latest news: The ends of the blades of the paper spectacles attaching to the rubber band were gone because either Elly or Abby had torn them with force.

The Lacerda Elevator

The Lacerda Elevator is one of the most interesting spots in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil. Since Salvador was so populous a city for most of its history, city planners tried to figure out ways to help transport people to and from work over the rough landscape. The Lacerda Elevator was devised as a solution for moving workers from the harbour to the city proper. It is situated in the Cayru Plaza in the neighborhood of Comércio next to the Modelo Market, and connects the Cidade Baixa (Lower City) with the Cidade Alta (Upper City).

It first appeared in 1873 and became electric in 1907. By 1930, the elevator was renovated and expanded. Still working and transporting people over 130 years, the Lacerda Elevator is a must on any trip to Salvador. Built by Augusto Frederico de Lacerda with steel imported from Europe, the elevator was actually the most important method of transport in those times. Today it is estimated to carry approximately 30,000 passengers per day. It costs 5 centavos to ride the elevator and the entire trip lasts about 30 seconds.

At the top of the elevator, tourists can see a beautiful view of the harbour with luxurious yachts and boats anchored inside a shallow-watered typhoon shelter. The sea water beyond is in darker blue.

Elly’s first interest on birds

It was the first time, on November 18, that Elly saw a sparrow walking on the floor of a wide footbridge at an estate. Never had she seen such a small creature so closely with her eyes. She was holding her grandma’s right hand, so she was never afraid. She watched every move of the sparrow with interest. Her smile showed that she would like to accompany the bird and be her friend.

I was busy taking photos of her at that moment, not knowing if she spoke to the bird or not. The little fat sparrow, on the other hand, was not scared by the approaching couple. It did not fly away immediately, but remained calm as if it knew that there was no threat. It hopped a little towards the open and at last jumped to the railings and flew away to join its family.

Ayers Rock

Ayers Rock 艾爾斯岩 (Uluru 烏魯魯) is a large sandstone rock in the southern part of the Northern Territory, central Australia. It lies 335 km south west of Alice Springs; 450 km by road. Uluru and Kata Tjuta (卡達族達) are the two major features of the Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park (烏魯魯卡達族達國家公園). Uluru is sacred to the Anangu (阿倫特人), the Aboriginal people of the area, and listed as a World Heritage Site (世界自然遺產).

Uluru is one of Australia's natural landmarks, 3 km long and 2 km wide. The sandstone rock stands 348 m high with most of its bulk lying underground, and has a total circumference of 9.4 km. Uluru is an "island mountain" left after the slow erosion of an original mountain range.[Uluru appears to change colour at different times of the day and year, most notably glowing red at dawn and sunset.

To look at the rock, instead of walking, riding a camel and a helicopter are more comfortable choices. Ayers Rock Resort and Ayers Rock Airport provide respectively nice lodging and fast access for tourists around the world.

棘海棠

最近在屋苑公眾花園的「展覽舞台」喜見兒時日日見的棘海棠(鐵海棠)。那一刻的它立即勾起我往日觀花的閒情逸緻，原來小小別緻的紅花及佈滿尖刺的莖，巳經足足陪伴了我十幾個年頭。

根據資料，這樣的常綠灌木，全株可達2公尺；莖幹粗肥有溝，密生黑色棘刺長2至2.5厘米。當年，我每每步步為營地將長出的新莖穿插在舊有的之間。一不小心的話，那些刺的確可刺破手指.

葉子少數生於嫩枝頂端，倒卵形至長橢圓形，長2.5至4.5厘米，兩面光滑，革質，葉柄短。花序有長花軸，長在枝梢葉腋，總苞2片對生卵形鮮紅、粉紅或黃色，花期5至9月。花苞顏色有紅、黃、橘、粉紅、白色等，而我見到的始終都是紅色的。 我希望日後可以見到其他顏色就好了。

有時，花中心湧出蜜汁；雄蕊有花粉，雌蕊有花柱。總苞片與花序之間有黃色蜜杯4至5個，吸引昆蟲來吸食花蜜及傳播花粉。果實又綠又圓，但我還未親眼見過。若果莖有任何破損或折斷的話，立即流出白膠槳似的汁，像受了傷流血一樣。不過我估計這些汁液十居其九是有毒的。

Marine Police patrol boats

A small grey motor boat sped in opposite direction close to a large Marine Police patrol boat last Thursday. The latter had slowed down before the former circulated round its stern.

From my observation, the small boat must have an officer who would like to get back onto the patrol boat and I expected the tiny boat will be lifted back to the deck of the mother boat by a crane.

A Portrait artist in Italy

The portraits of famous stars in a square in Italy attract people’s attention. This lady has asked the artist to draw a portrait of her for the price of 10 euros.

The portraits of the stars, for example, has been exaggerated to a certain extent, such as thick lips, swollen chins, twisted faces, small eyes, but the appearance, manner and facial expressions of the stars are retained. All these show that the artist is highly professional in grasping the important features and the outline of the faces. What do you think?

Lokum

Basically, Lokum is a kind of sweets made in rectangular or round strips and they are cut into smaller pieces for sale. There are many variations in flavours such as rose, lemon, mint,…. covered on the outside with coconut powder, chocolate or nuts.

Lokum appeared in 1776, invented by a confectioner at Istanbul called Bekir Effendi. Lokum is the short form of Rahat lokhoum meaning "give the throat comfort ".

Safranbolu (番紅花城), a town in the Black Sea region of Turkey, is famous for gold quality lokum in relatively cheap prices. There are a great many choices of lokum there too.

The lokum sold at the Old Bazaar duty free shop at Istanbul Airport are terribly sweet, expensive and marked in Euros.

It is interesting that lokum appears in the film, Narnia, in which the white witch gave the small child a red piece of lokum to eat.

Pinocchio

In these few days, Elly and Abby watch the cartoon film, Pinocchio (木偶奇遇記) with interest.. This film, made by Disney in 1940, fascinated the two girls a lot.

This afternoon, after Abby had gone to school, we took Elly to Ma On Shan Plaza for a walk. On the way, Elly discovered the banners high above her showing a Display of puppets at the plaza during Christmas.

I noticed this earlier and knew that the display of several big and small puppets had already been set up, but I did not tell Elly about it. The reason was simple enough. I wanted to give my grand-daughter a big surprise.

As we were approaching the site of display of puppets, Elly saw the lovely big puppets. Her smiles came with her great delight. We took a few photos of her and the puppets.

We hope that Elly's parents will take Elly and Abby to look at the puppets again in a few days ahead.

Wearing Sister’s sunglasses

This Friday afternoon, Elly found her sister’s sunglasses at our home. She was free to wear it because Abby had gone to school.

This blue sunglasses fit Elly round face and had dressed her up like the role of the actress “陳寶珠” in the Cantonese film called “女殺手”.

The statue of the Little Mermaid

The statue of the Little Mermaid sits on a rock in the Copenhagen harbour in Langelinie, Demark. This small bronze statue has for long been a Copenhagen icon and a major tourist attraction.

In 1909, Carl Jacobsen, son of the founder of Carlsberg, having been fascinated by a ballet about the fairytale, requested Edward Eriksen, a sculptor, to create the statue, which was unveiled on 23 August 1913. The latter’s wife, Eline Eriksen, acted as the model for making such a statue. Unfortunately it has been severely vandalized several times.

Unbelievably, in May 2010, it was moved for the first time ever from Demark for transport to Expo 2010 for display in Shanghai where it stayed until October 20th 2010.

Elly drawing curves

A delightful scene came to my eyes two days ago. It was Elly who drew curves with her thick crayon pens on a few pages of a book.

With a close look at Elly’s drawings, I found that Elly was able to draw curves which looked like “6”, “9”, “0” and the letter “e”.

Recently, Elly shows a habit of drawing close curves. In addition, she attains the power of shading with colouring pens or crayons.

From now on, I believe her curves are no longer “closed” and “empty”, but filled with colour. What a quick advancement Elly has achieved!

Happy Halloween sweets

With the wise thought of sliding in a 4-walled wrapping card, a packet of 28 “Andes” mint chocolate pieces has been turned into a new present of Happy Halloween sweets.

The bats and a witch flying about, the pumpkin lanterns as well as the black ribbon totally dress up the packet of sweets into a welcoming gift to children and adults alike.

I think the idea of this kind wrapping comes from a traditional match box.
I agree with “Old ideas can be applied to new products” .

Some lovely potted tomatoes

I can’t believe that tomatoes can grow so well in a small pot. Here is one good example.

These tomatoes are relatively small, but they swell round like balloons. Lustre has added beauty to its smooth skin. The colours of red, orange and green are so inviting that anyone would like to bite them.

Mini-pepper

These lovely mini pepper pods grow well in a small pot in our public garden below. Their colours vary from deep purple to light purple ad pink, to orange and red. They shape like light bulbs, but they cannot shine. Under sunlight, they look as if they were waxed. Their lustre makes them even close to the look of gems.

Another look at Toyko Tower

Just as the Eiffel Tower is often used in popular culture to immediately locate a scene in Paris, France, Tokyo Tower is often used in the same way for Tokyo. It has been established as an important tourist attraction and symbol of Tokyo.

Tokyo Tower functions as a radio and television broadcasting antenna support structure and a tourist destination. The first area tourists must visit upon reaching the tower is FootTown, a 4-storey building stationed directly under the tower. Here, visitors can eat, shop and visit several museums and galleries. Elevators that depart from the first floor of FootTown can be used to reach the first of two observation decks, the 2-storey Main Observatory. For the price of another ticket, visitors can board another set of elevators that from the second floor of the Main Observatory to reach the final observation deck—the Special Observatory.

From dusk to midnight, the floodlights illuminate the entire tower. Sodium vapor lamps are used from October 2 to July 6 to cover the tower in an orange color. From July 7 to October 1, the lights are changed to metal halide lamps to illuminate the tower with a white color. The reason behind the change is a seasonal one. Orange is a warmer color and helps to offset the cold winter months. Conversely, white is thought a cool color that helps during the hot summer months.

Sky paintings

Very often I look for sky paintings at sunsets and sunrises from home.

(1) A clear sky is best for these paintings.

(2) No paint or brushes are necessary.

(3) The picture composition depends on the sizes and distribution of clouds, the rays of sunlight that are shining.


(4) Every second the look of the sky varies with direction of winds to the clouds, light intensity and the angle of sunlight that are shining towards the clouds.

(5) The view of the sky varies with the location of the photographer.

The Trevi Fountain

The Trevi Fountain (羅馬許願池) is a fountain in the Trevi rione in Rome, Italy. It is the largest Baroque fountain standing 26 metres (85.3 feet) high and 20 metres (65.6 feet) wide in the city and one of the most famous fountains in the world.

By legend, if visitors throw a coin into the fountain, they are ensured a return to Rome. Among those who are unaware that the "three coins" of the film, Three Coins in the Fountain, were thrown by three different individuals, a reported current interpretation is that two coins will lead to a new romance and three will ensure either a marriage or divorce. From another legend, it is lucky to throw three coins with one's right hand over one's left shoulder into the Trevi Fountain.

It is estimated that 3,000 euros are thrown into the fountain each day. The money has been used to subsidize a supermarket for Rome's needy.

US Red Pears

Those fat red Anjou pears have long won my affection. They do not appear in our supermarkets for some time. Recently these long-necked U.S.A. red pears replace them. Without hesitation, I buy some to find out their texture, taste and sweetness. With a knife in hand, I peel off the skin of one after it is washed. The flesh, nice for a salad, is tender, moist, a little sweet and sour to taste.

From one web-page, I found these lines about pears. They run like this:
“A ripe pear is a sweet pear.

If a pear is left at room temperature, it slowly reaches its peak maturity. A sweet and succulent flavour appears as it ripens from the inside out.

The best way to judge ripeness is by applying gentle pressure to the neck of the pear with a thumb. If it yields to pressure, it is ripe.

To ripen pears, leave firm, unripe pears at room temperature so that they can ripen. Once the pear is ripe, it can be refrigerated to slow the ripening process and saved for use up to five days later.

Like many fruits, the flesh of cut or peeled pears will eventually become brown owing to natural oxidation. To keep your pears looking appetizing and to prevent browning, dip them in a mild solution of 50% water and 50% lemon juice.

Ripened pears can be used at once or put under refrigeration (35º to 45º F) until you want to use them. Refrigeration will delay further ripening.

For speedy ripening, place under-ripe pears in a fruit bowl at room temperature near other ripening fruit like bananas, which naturally give off ethylene and will help speed up the ripening process.

Thoroughly wash pears immediately prior to eating or preparation. Under cold, drinkable water, scrub the entire exterior of the pear, taking extra care to cleanse the indentations near the stem (at the top) and calyx (at the bottom) of the pear. Washing the entire exterior of the pear will help to eliminate dirt and/or commonly occurring bacteria that may be found on the fruit’s surface. Wash fruit even if you plan on peeling it."

Elevador de Santa Justa

The Santa Justa Lift (Elevador de Santa Justa) also called Carmo Lift (Elevador do Carmo) is a elevator/lift in civil parish of Santa Justa, in the historical city of Lisbon, situated at the end of Rua de Santa Justa. It connects the lower streets of the Baixa with the higher Largo do Carmo (Carmo Square). Since its construction, the Lift has become a tourist attraction for Lisbon as, among the urban lifts in the city, Santa Justa is the only remaining vertical one.

The panormaic views at the top of the tower allow glimpses of the Castle of São Jorge, the Tagus River, the lower part of the Pombaline Baixa, the National Theatre D. Maria II, while the upper entrance permits a view of the ruins of the Monastery of Nossa Senhora do Vencimento do Monte do Carmo.

The Elevator is a vertical structure consisting of a metallic tower, observation platform, walkway and base. Its base includes four vertical columns, each composed of two pillars.The largest part of the structure runs parallel to the Rua de Santa Justa. With a height of 45 metres, covering seven storeys, the tower includes two elevator cabins, decorated in wood, mirrors and windows, and an initial capacity for 24 passengers in each, but now to 29. The structure includes a dozen transverse beams, forming a double lattice, supported at the top by foundations at the Escadinhas de Santa Justa. On the sides of the elevator, the walkway is articulated by means of bearings, as well as on the pillars, which is articulated at the base.

On the top floor is a kiosk and lookout, with panoramic views of the city, while connections to the floors below are made by two spiral staircases, with different patterns on each storey. The main machinery was installed at the base of the Elevator, while at the exit to the Largo do Carmo there is a veranda to allow circulation. The corridor that passes above the structure, was transformed into a terrace, and exits to Largo do Carmo through an iron gate. The space destined the electrical equipment was located under the Escadinhas, in a space set aside for this purpose, under a vaulted ceiling.

The Lift is decorated in a Neo-Gothic style in iron. Since this was a new material at the time of its construction, it is symbolic of the technical and memorial construction from this period, representing the culture of the 1900s, when the structure and elevators were considered a magical innovation and portent of a modern age.

Ships in Trios

It is rare to see ships in trios that sail along Tolo Harbour, but today I saw them.

A marine-police patrol ship took the lead. From the white foam at its rear, I noticed that it travelled fast. The slow-going yellow tug boat went next. It was pulling a long heavy barge of sand or mud, 20 feet away from it.

This photo is rich in colour because of a clear blue sky and adequate sunlight. I love it.

A Two-year-old Headstand

Two-year-old Elly performed her “headstand” at the sofa at home yesterday.

Elly put herself upside down with her hands and head supporting her body weight. She closed her eyes perhaps she felt the blood pressure at her head. On the right photo, she even smiled a little showing her great success. I think her theory of gymnastics is “Enjoyment comes first and Skill next”.