螞蟻可變色

通常人們頭腦中螞蟻的形象是黑色身體，不過最近一位英國科學家拍出一組彩色螞蟻的照片，其中的秘密源自螞蟻所吃的食物顏色。 這組照片是由53歲的科學家穆罕默德‧巴布博士拍攝的。他的靈感來自妻子哈梅埃姆，她發現螞蟻的肚子在喝了牛奶後變成了白色，並把這一發現告訴了巴布。

巴布博士由此大受啟發。他將糖和紅、綠、藍、黃等顏色的食用色素混合在一起，做成膠狀的彩色糖槳，放在花園裡吸引螞蟻。螞蟻吃了顏色各異的糖後，半透明的胃的顏色就變成了他們所吃的糖的顏色。這正應驗了英語中那句老話 “食如其人You are what you eat.”。正如這些照片顯示，螞蟻腹部的顏色會根據所吃糖水的顏色而變化。有一些螞蟻還能從一個顏色變成另一個顏色。

這組照片看起來新奇有趣，可是拍攝的過程並不容易。巴布說：“儘管在短短幾分鐘就可以吸引到很多螞蟻，但還是需要重拍很多次才能達到我想要的效果。拍一張照片也是很辛苦的，因為在短短幾分鐘之內，前來的螞蟻就已經非常多，這時我就要右手操作我的照相機，左手忙於趕走多餘的螞蟻。

Mc Flurry and Typhoon Vicente

Yesterday inside a Mc Donald’s, Elly and Abby enjoyed eating McFlurry (麥旋風). Elly chose Oreo (曲奇麥旋風) and Abby Smarties McFlurry (聰明豆麥旋風). Grandma suggested them to share the two different ice-cream flavours between them.

The Smartied and Oreo in the Mcflurries had been crushed to small pieces and mixed with soft ice-cream. What clever is to create such “duets” in ice-cream!

Outside the McDonald's, strong winds were blowing. At that moment, typhoon signal number 3 had been hoisted and Typhoon “Vicente” was taking a northward course towards Hong Kong. It was expected that typhoon signal number 8 would be hoisted at around 6 o’ clock in the evening. Soon our two grand-daughters experienced strong winds and rain drops beating on their faces on their way to the nearby MTR Station. Their parents were coming to take them home.

Fortunately they could still walk with ease on their way though their hair had been flying with the winds all the time.

It was dramatic enough to find typhoon signals changing so rapidly through the night, number 8 being hoisted at 5:40 p.m., 9 at 11:20 p.m., 10 at 00:45 a.m. and 8 again at 03:35 a.m. Strong winds were blowing and heavy rain falling continuously, but it was a "fast" show.

歐國盃決賽最溫馨的時刻

歐洲國家盃決賽最溫馨的時刻落在西班牙球隊勝出後, 球員返回場邊從觀眾席把自己的子女抱在懷裡時開始. 這些小孩天真可愛,見到慈祥父親的笑臉,尤其開心.

最特別的地方是那些父親球員為子女穿上和自己用一號數的球衣,也不忘把他們的名字印在其上. 喜見其中有些小朋友還跑出球場,甚至在龍門口玩耍一番.

今次西班牙球員在決賽上除了球技出類拔萃之外,也顯現出濃烈的父愛情懷.

Children watches

This afternoon at a Mc Donald’s, our grandchildren showed us their new watches given by Auntie Pal. To our surprise, they displayed them in ways similar to those of models.

At a close look, each watch has an hour-hand and a minute-hand with numbers round the face. Elly’s watch has a red to purple face while Abby’s a white one. It seemed to me that Abby was able to read the time from her watch, but Elly could not. Anyway, it was a good practice for the children to know about time and be punctual in the future.

Coffee hurts

This is a joke which my student, Edward, sent me. See if you can guess the reason why "coffee hurts".

In the week leading up to Canada Day, I was eating lunch with a friend and her 6-year-old granddaughter. She was pretty animated as she talked about school and friends and teachers.

As I sipped my coffee, I asked her, "What special day is coming soon on July 1st?"

She said "Canada Day". She's a smart kid. So, I asked....

"What does Canada Day mean?"

Waiting for her reply with something about the flag, confederation etc. She Replied......."Canada Day is when the Prime Minister steps out of the Parliament Building , and if he sees his own shadow we'll have one more year of high unemployment."........

You know, - it hurts when hot coffee spurts out your nose.

黃蝶採蜜記

今早熱浪逼人，吃過早餐，去過超級市場，歸家巳是九時左右。路過彎曲的花槽，忽見一隻色彩不甚繽紛的淺黃色蝴蝶在花叢間飛舞。我以最快的速度掏出隨身相機，像影迷追「星」的姿態去追著這隻小小蝴蝶。它忽左忽右飄渺的飛行路線，弄我至汗流浹背。可幸它每每用上幾秒鐘停留在鮮紅的龍船花上，慢條斯理去採花蜜─那麼樣，我才有足夠時間去捕捉這隻忙碌而不怕人的蝴蝶採蜜這組鏡頭呢。

A Bed of beautiful flowers at Hong Kong Park

For a few minutes near the entrance of Hong Kong Park last Saturday, I gazed at these beautiful flowers in a flower bed. The flowers were mixed so well that they were worth looking at for a whole afternoon.

How can different flowering plants be “blended” in such a good combination? The gardener must have spent a lot of time in designing in his/her head how to imbed the flowering plants into the soil so that they can grow harmoniously together.

The Statue of Liberty at Mid-levels

Last Saturday, July 14, Elly was given a red flower with a green stalk twisted from narrow balloons at her cousin’s birthday party in a restaurant at Mid-levels, Central. An idea blinked at my head. I made a gesture to her to raise her flower as she was kneeling on a chair close to me.

She followed my instruction and raised her flower high for a photo taken. At that moment, I imagine her to be the "Statue of Liberty" at New York. Her smile, full of sunlight, was completely different from the stern look of the cold Statue in the United States. Elly was holding her “torch of fire” by her left hand, instead of the right hand by the Statue. Another obvious difference is that Elly did not hold a book in her other hand.

At that moment, Elly suddenly reflected the image of the famous Statue in New York to me, which was indeed a very interesting flash across my mind.

Parrot Flowers

It is rare to see this kind of flowers that grows in Thailand. The flowers look like parrots and they belong to a protected species. Is there any relationship between the flowers with real parrots? I don’t know.

Euro2012歐洲國家盃決賽

Euro2012歐洲國家盃決賽終於在昨晚(七月一日)來臨。西班牙國家足球隊擁著2008年歐洲國家盃冠軍及2010年世界盃冠軍榮譽而來跟意大利隊硬拼。

開賽初期雙方互有攻勢，西班牙眾球員的精準短傳真了不起，進攻時有很大作用。西班牙的守門員卡斯拿斯亦很出色，為己方救出兩三個險球。

在14分鐘，21號球員大衛施華走位迅速刁鑽，在中路得到10號球員法比加斯在底線回傳，一腳把足球踢進龍門裏面成一比零。

在41分鐘，18希號球員艾巴接應從後傳球單刀直入把球送入網內。賽果變成二比零。


下半場，意大利3號球員基亞連尼扭傷了腿而退出陣線，意大利隊要十人應戰(因為球員已換盡)，全隊即時雪上加霜。

被換入的9號費蘭度托利斯在84分鐘為西班牙射入第三球。這時意大利隊大勢已去，冠軍希望幻滅了。

西班牙的13號球員馬達得很到費蘭度托利斯傳中擊球入網。賽果頓成四比零。

最後西班牙國家隊以無敵姿態取勝及蟬聯歐洲國家盃冠軍！

Euro2012歐洲國家盃決賽前之列隊儀式

Euro2012歐洲國家盃決賽前，千人操之後， 西班牙和意大利球員牽著一班小朋友的手魚貫進場. 兩隊在國旗旁邊列隊，意大利的國歌隨即奏出。

鏡頭開始捕捉每一位意大利球員唱國歌的表情。這裡唱得最投入的是隊長(即守門員)保方。鏡頭一轉，忽見球隊後方近中場位置有一班歌手正在伴唱意大利國歌，當然他們唱起歌來比球員們的更悅耳更動聽啦。

隨後奏出的是西班牙的國歌。令我覺得奇怪的是所有球員都合攏了嘴巴，好像人人不識唱自己國歌一樣。原來從電視台評述員口中得悉西班牙國歌是沒有歌詞的！

兩隊的守門員保方及卡斯尼拿斯(同是隊長)互相交換錦旗，又和球証一一握手。主球証以擲毫方式由勝方決定選場。

Euro2012歐洲國家盃決賽前奏

Euro2012歐洲國家盃(即歐洲足球錦標賽)決賽於七月一日在基輔可容納60000人的奧林匹克球場舉行。

球賽前奏是千人操。分別穿上奪目的橙和綠色彩衣的表演者砌出穿著足球鞋的「大腳」不斷踢球，也見「人頭」在頂頭鎚。從一鏡頭，我捕捉到巨球入了直正龍門裏面。其間有一位美女歌手在巨型銀色國家盃前面跳舞唱歌。最後表演人員砌出一個人人皆有的一個美麗的心來結束表演。

一個黑暗的日子

二零一二年六月二十八日是德國國家足球隊一個黑暗的日子。這隊雄心勃勃的球隊在上半場開賽20分鐘被意大利9號球員巴洛迪利接應隊友轉中的球在近龍門用頭鎚頂入第一球。

在36分鐘，巴洛迪利又接到隊友一個長傳足球單刀直入，在禁區頂附近勁射足球入網，賽果成二比零。令我最感動的一刻是其中一位女觀眾流下眼淚來。這可見她內心悲痛不已，我當時的心情也很沉重。

可惜的是德國隊在下半場像洩了氣的氣球，始終把握不到機會反平 。雖然在臨完場前獲得一球12碼，但一切都太遲了。完場笛聲一響之下，球隊原本想進入決賽的希望立即幻滅了!

A harvest of plums

These plums are most inviting to look and taste. They grow in the backyard of my dear colleague, Felix.

Felix told me this: “We had planted this tree (the one with white flowers bears fruits) for 2 or 3 years. In the previous year we did have just a few fruits, so strictly speaking this is the first year we have this "harvest". That's why we feel it exciting about this "first time".

The taste is good. The flesh is sweet and soft and very juicy -- it is the kind that once you don't have to bite through the hard flesh (maybe we pick them when they are fully ripened), and instead you can break up the flesh even with your tongue and enjoy the sweet juice in it. The skin is just a little sour and blends well with the sweet flesh inside. We like them very much.

The plum tree flowers somewhere in Feb/March, and it takes 2-3 months for the fruits (at first green and small) to mature to this size.  We picked the fruits on 2012/6/28.”

Which soccer team will win in Euro 2012?

Maybe the clues come from this advertisement which appears occasionally throughout this month in TV. By looking at the make-ups of national flags on the faces of the two gentlemen, either Germany or Spain will become the champion. Do you believe this?

In my opinion, the German team will win in the Final match this time because it is strong, all-round and swift in its attacks. Germany’s opponent, Spain is still strong this year because it is full of football “stars”. The Final on Sunday, June 30th, must be a tough match!

Germany vs Greece Euro 2012

It was a quarter-final match between Germany and Greece on Friday, June 22, 2012.

At 39 minutes, Philipp LAHN (16) of Germany team struck a long distance ball at the goal of Greece. The ball went straight into the net. This brought the first goal to Germany (1:0).

Not long, at 55 minutes, a swift attack by two fast-running Greek footballers had brought back hope to the Greece’s side. Long-haired number 7, Giorgos SAMARAS dashed forward and stretched his legs to hit the ball into the net. It was the work of his team-mate by a short, but effective pass. That goal had raised the atmosphere of the stadium to a climax. Nobody knew what would happen next. The score was an equalizer 1:1.

At 61 minutes, the midfield footballer, Sami KHEDIRA, near the penalty-goal mark struck his ball into the net. Germany regained their confidence and the team was once more on the upper-hand (2:1).

Seven minutes later, at 68 minutes, striker Miroslav KLOSE hit the ball which flew in from the right corner into the net with his forehead. He kissed his right fist to celebrate for his effort. The score became 3:1.

A fourth goal was scored by forward 21 Marco REUS, at 71 minutes. It seemed that Germany had overwhelmed Greece with 4:1.

Miraculously, Greece got a penalty goal at 89 minutes. It was because Greece 15 accidentally struck the ball at Germany 20’s right hand. Greece 14, Dimitris SALPINGIDIS, scored the goal easily since the Germany goalkeeper hopped in the opposite direction. It was just a consolation score because it was too late for Greece’s rebound for a victory over Germany. It was 4:2.

Greece finally lost the game when the whistle was blown by the chief referee. Germany could go into the semi-final. It is going to play the match against Portugal in a semi-final.

The Deck of cards

A Deck of cards can be cartoonized like the one in the photo above, but it could be meaningful to a soldier who had a very different point of view on cards.

Tex Ritter made the story of "The Deck Of Cards" popular in the 1940's.This may be a newer video added to version, but still worthy of viewing (Click the words in blue).

捱眼瞓的日子

這兩星期都過著捱眼瞓的日子，原因歐洲國家盃足球賽(波蘭及烏克蘭合辦)正一浪接一浪的在香港深夜時分舉行，可是免費台總共只播放四場比賽，如果又想免費看其餘的實事，就要自己想辦法了。

   
這裡介紹的是烏克蘭當地六月十五日(星期五) 晚上九時正英格蘭對瑞典的比賽.

英格蘭國家隊由謝拉特(Stephen Gerrard)率領，對方瑞典隊由伊巴謙摩域(Zlatan Ibrahimovic)帶軍。開賽前，場中央有大約一百人砌出麥穗和維京人在航行中船隻上的圖案 。眾球員列隊牽著可愛的小童入場，站在國旗旁邊。兩國的國歌隨即奏起，然後球員互相握手。雙方隊長互換錦旗和握手，面上都是木無表情，神色俱見凝重，繼而與執法的五位球証一一握手；循例由兩隊長抽籤，主球証以擲毫方式決定,而勝方可選擇場地。

最初兩隊成拉鋸戰。在上半場二十三分鐘，英格蘭9號球員卡路爾(Carroll)得到隊長長傳足球,第一時間跳高用頭鎚將足球頂入對方龍門成一比零.

下半場開賽四分鐘瑞典隊3號美爾保(Mellberg)得到隊友在禁區外傳球輕易送球入網，賽果成一比一。

十分鐘後(即第五十九鐘), 瑞典3號美爾保又接到長傳足球,今次他用頭鎚攻入今仗個人第二球。當時全球英格蘭球迷好像跌入了深淵一樣。

到六十四分鐘時，幸福之神再次降臨在英格蘭球隊身上。入替的7號球員禾確特(阿仙奴的Walcott)短時間內在禁區外不遠的正中位置大力勁射足球入網。對方的球員眼白白的目送足球入自己的龍門，入球紀錄被改寫成二比二。

七十八分鐘，效力曼聯的英格蘭22號球員韋碧克(Welbeck)在瑞典龍門面前背向用後腳巧妙地鈎入致勝的一球.

這場三比二的球賽高潮迭起， 讓球迷看得如癡如醉，大家心情像坐過山車一樣，又起又跌，結果是英格蘭球隊大有機會入準決賽。 看這場免費球賽真是賞心樂事，大清早才上牀是值得的。

Photos of recent Solar Eclipse by specialists

In this particular year 2012, many people are deeply interested in viewing the eclipses of the sun whether it is annular or partial or not. Here are some photos taken by specialists in photography or astronomy on May 20. I just marvel at these photos, but not knowing how they can be taken by cameras of the specialists.

The top left photo shows the Eclipse over the Golden Gate Bridge:

Although San Francisco was just below the path of the eclipse to see a proper ring of fire, it has been quite amazing to see the tiny crescent of the sun right above the South tower of the GGB. Great day over the Bay!

This photo was taken in Marina District, San Francisco, CA, US, using a Canon EOS 5D.
Image Credit : Marco Pelo

Both the top-right and bottom-right photos are montages.

The bottom left photo shows The Lord Of The Ring (Annular Solar Eclipse) on.May 20, 2012
Sundown, TX.by Chris Lynch.using a Nikon D7000.

The bottom centre photo was photographed by Randall Benton, Sacramento Bee/AP. 

蝴蝶蘭與日本葵共舞

最近我發現屋苑的園藝師巧妙地把泥土像牛油塗上麵包似的填在這棵日本葵嶙峋的樹幹上，再植上黃色小花的蝴蝶蘭。在微風下，小花像蝴蝶們在日本葵樹下徘徊飛舞，猶有動人及有趣的詩意！

Very Interesting Photos

 
 
Usually we freeze movements of moving objects in a photo, but a lady photographer in New York City. Jamie Beck, on the other hand, makes something move inside her photos. I like these photos.

The 2012 transit of Venus

The 2012 transit of Venus (金星凌日) occurred on 5 June when the planet Venus appeared as a small, dark disk moving across the face of the Sun. It began at 22:09 UTC, and finished at 04:49 UTC on 6 June. Depending on the position of the observer, the exact times varied by up to ±7 minutes. Here it is a photo Peter Ng gave me yesterday. To me, Venus in the photo looks like a dirty particle on the lens of a telescopic camera.

Transits of Venus are among the rarest of predictable celestial phenomena and occur in pairs eight years apart which are themselves separated by more than a century: the previous transit was in June 2004, and the next pair of transits will occur in December, 2117 and December, 2125 which means they are none of our business.

The entire transit was visible from the western Pacific Ocean, north-westernmost North America (Peter Ng and Felix Ching can see it), northeastern Asia, Japan, the Philippines, eastern Australia (Ho Keung’s family can observe it), New Zealand, and high Arctic locations including northernmost Scandinavia, and Greenland. In North America, the Caribbean, and northwestern South America, the beginning of the transit was visible on 5 June until sunset. From sunrise on 6 June, the end of the transit was visible from South Asia (people of Hong Kong can see it), the Middle East, east Africa, and most of Europe. The phenomenon was not visible from most of South America nor from western Africa.

Three wheels vs Four wheels

It was a happy day yesterday to both of my grand-daughters because Philip and Connie bought Abby a bicycle with two auxiliary wheels at the rear and Elly a small tricycle.

I heard that they rode from the toy-shop at New Town Plaza to Shatin MTR (Railway) Station. Most probably they used lifts instead of escalators. How interesting it was to see two little girls riding a long way through the thick crowds of people at the Plaza!

Abby’s bicycle is dearer than her little sister’s tricycle. It has a bell and a braking system which seems quite high-graded. Elly has a doll of “Doraemon” at the control handle and a small rack at the rear wheels for carrying her private luggage.

The colours of the toy bicycle and tricycle surprise my wife and me at the first sight. The reason is : Abby loves blue colour, but she preferred this pink bicycle. On the other hand, Elly loves pink, but she leans on to this blue tricycle. Maybe there was no choice of colours of toys that favoured the two children.

The grand-children had a cycling practice today at the public park below. There was no problem for Abby because she is already six and can master the skills easily. She rode swiftly and much much faster than Elly. Deep in my heart, I hope that Abby can strengthen her thin legs through cycling. To my surprise, Elly was able to steer her tricycle well and alone at the circular track of the park although she needed more strength at each start of drive. For some time, she kept calling us when we were out of her sight.

Dubrovnik

Dubrovnik (杜布羅夫尼克) is an old city on the Adriatic Sea coast in the extreme south of Croatia(克羅地亞). It is one of the most outstanding tourist resorts of the Mediterranean, a seaport and the centre of the Dubrovnik-Neretva County. Its population is about 43,000 in 2011. Dubrovnik is nicknamed "Pearl of the Adriatic" and is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1979.

The city of Dubrovnik was built on maritime trade. In the Middle Ages it became the only city-state in the Adriatic to rival Venice. The city achieved a remarkable level of development during the 15th and 16th centuries. Furthermore, Dubrovnik was one of the centres of the development of the Croatian language and literature, home to many notable poets, playwrights, painters, mathematicians, physicists and other scholars.

Today Dubrovnik is an elite destination and one of the most beautiful towns in the Mediterranean. Dubrovnik used to be an independent republic, surviving mostly on trade. It managed to survive many centuries, with constant threats to its territory, particularly from the mighty Ottoman Empire and Venice.

Dubrovnik is attractive in stunning architecture and sculptural details, and boasts of its spectacular churches, monasteries, museums, and fountains (Onofrio is an example). Note that Rector’s Palace is an important museum to study the development of the city.

Some sleeping poses of cats

Cats like sleeping. Here you can see some of them sleep comfortably in different poses – some hanging, curling or straightening-out like human, piling up and drooping because of tiredness. They all sleep well and enjoy every moment of their relaxation. Of course some possess skills of their own.

The 75th Anniversary of the Golden Gate Bridge

The Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, California celebrates its 75th anniversary with fireworks on May 27, 2012. This 1.7 mile steel suspension bridge, one of the modern Wonders of the World, first opened to pedestrians on May 27, 1937 and to traffic the next day. At the time, the Golden Gate was the world’s longest suspension bridge.

Engineer Joseph Strauss designed the bridge which distinguishes itself by its unique color, chosen by architect Irving Morrow and dubbed International Orange.The paint originally ensured visibility for passing ships and served as a sealant to protect the bridge from the salty mist from the Golden Gate Strait after which it was named, the entrance to the bay from the Pacific Ocean. 

Construction of the bridge took four years. Some 1.7 miles (2.7 kilometers) long, it is 90 feet (27 meters) wide and its two towers reach 746 feet above sea level. Traffic is suspended 220 feet above the water.

Pedestrians and cyclists can access the bridge along with motorists. But the span also has a grim history as a popular place to commit suicide.

Tens of thousand of people came to San Francisco’s waterfront last Sunday to mark the anniversary of the Golden Gate Bridge, the distinctive orange vermilion structure that attracts some 10 million visitors each year.

The city hosted a massive celebration complete with music, dance vintage cars and motorcycles, as well as a fireworks display showcasing the iconic bridge at the entrance to the San Francisco Bay.

Events marking the bridge’s anniversary are also taking place all year long, and a new visitor center was opened in early May at the southern entrance.

A Severe Eruption on Montserrat 1997

Severe volcanic eruptions did come to Montserrat on June 25, 1997. The needle of the seismograph began to move actively at the observation station at 03:00 hours. Smog began to form around the hills. Only observation of the eruption could be done from the air by helicopters. The local radio station warned the residents in the affected areas of the coming dangers and asked them to leave as early as possible. At 12:45, the needle  of the seismograph vibrated vigorously. At 12:55, the Soufriere Hills erupted. Super-heated rocks and steam burst and the rocks rolled down the valleys.

There were two more eruptions. The third one was most severe. The ash rose to a height of 13500 metres. The red-hot debris flowed 7 km down at a speed of 128 km per hour, along the valleys, over the spurs, spread over the plain, melted everything and buried the houses along their paths. Around 6.4 million cubic metres of melted rocks had burst out from the crater.

Four days after the eruption, the volcanic activities subsided. The northern part of the crater had cracked open and fallen. The temperature of the red-hot rocks had once reached 600 degrees Celcius. On the day of eruption, 19 people died. Many people left the island after the eruptions and less than 4500 stayed behind.

First Eruption on Montserrat 1995

Eighty percent of the public facilities were built in the shadow of the Soufriere Hills, the tallest of all on the island of Montserrat. Plymouth is the capital in which most of the people work and live. Farms are found on the fertile slopes here.

The dense vegetation on the fertile soil in this tropical paradise cover up some hidden dangers.As a matter of fact, Montserrat lies on the most active parts of the Caribbean Sea plates. As the North Atlantic Ocean plates moved west, it sank and melted into lava. After thousands of years, the lava moved up to form the Leeward Islands of which Montserrat was one.

On July 18, 1995, the sounds of jet engines were heard. Eruption of Soufriere Hills began. Volcano Specialists came flying in to set up observation points and a centre to monitor the eruptions. They considered the sounds were made by steam expulsion The length and intensity of the eruptions were recorded 24 hours a day and closely observed by the scientists.

Another “steam expulsion” burst out volcano ashes, mud and steam to a height of 2 kilometres. The whole of Montserrat was shaken up. The south-western part of the island was covered by a thick blanket of volcano ashes. Half an hour later, the ash was dispersed. Once more, sunlight came through the dust and the entire area was covered with ash. The local people called that day as “Grey Monday”. With the assistance of British army, 6000 citizens were evacuated to the temporary homes north of the island.

Black Labels

For the first time, I see a black label (a blue one for ordinary and a pink one for Cara Cara) on an orange today. What does it mean? It means it is an orange of “Late season”. I guess it is a signal to the world that the harvest season of this kind of oranges will going to end.

Our family has been eating these first class oranges for months. What do we expect to see in the new “orange world” in Hong Kong? Most probably the forth-coming oranges are from South Africa instead of California, U.S.A. Other sources may be from Australia. Am I right? Let me see.

如此這般不規則的條紋圖案

看上這樣植物的葉子時，不僅帶給我一個變幻莫測的感覺，也送給我一個驚嘆！這全因為它們上面的條紋圖案塊塊不同，產生像畫家隨意在葉上畫上花紋的效果，一絕也!

Trawlers at work

In the old days when I was at school, I learned methods of fishing from a Geography text-book. The methods are illustrated by drawings instead of photos.

Trawling is one method of fishing. A large wide-mouthed net is dragged along the sea bottom to catch fish. Usually trawlers go in pairs.

With my digital camera on May 4, 2012, I could take some clear photos of two trawlers at work in Tolo Harbour  because the sky was blue and that the trawlers came closer to the shore where I was standing.

To my delight, I learned a “better” lesson that day than that from an old text book many years ago

Solar Eclipse 2012

There were so many people on earth, expecting to watch the Annular Eclipse of the Sun yesterday.

Solar Eclipse becomes a hot topic among the citizens of Hong Kong and quite a number of people crowded along the sea-front at Tsimshatsui especially the Avenue of Stars on the early morning of May 21, 2012. They were armed with cameras and telescopic and astronomic devices in watching the phenomenon. Our Space Museum provided filters to the audience so that they would not watch the sun directly and their eyes thus protected.

It was unfortunate indeed that thick white clouds covered up the sky over Tsimshatsui which ruled out the possibility of seeing the “diamond ring” on the sun.

Peter Ng, my student of early years at CCSC, took a series of photos of the eclipse of the Sun at short intervals in recording the whole process of Partial Eclipse since where he lives in California was not on the path of the sun which created Annular Eclipse with the moon, I admire his patience and professionalism. His photos were well taken.

Peter said, “I took pictures of the partial solar eclipse (I am a few hundred miles south of the path limit) in my backyard and combined them together.”

Then Peter added, “Near the end of the eclipse, the sun shone past the leaves of a tree in my yard which acted as pinhole projectors. It created a montage of the crescent sun on the side of my house.”

Old Stamps of Montserrat

These old stamps have been dormant in one of my stamp albums for more than four decades until yesterday when I saw a documentary television program about some intensive eruptions on Montserrat. The program woke me up because it seems that I own some stamps of this British colony.

Montserrat (蒙特塞拉特島), 16.5 km long and 10 km wide (the size of Dublin) is one of the Leeward Islands in the Caribbean Sea. It is interesting that one stamp shows its shape and location (latitude 16.45 degrees North and longitude 62.10 degrees West).

The values of the stamps are respectively one cent and half, which reflect that the stamps must be very old. I guess the stamps might be first issued in the 50’s or 60’s.

Another thing is that my memory is not too bad. To my delight, I do remember the existence of such stamps in my collection, but unfortunately I forget what they look like.

I believe these stamps are rare now because of their old age. Although they are a bit stained, I treasure them as if they were my money.

Drive it

“Drive it” is a TV Car magazine. Recently, two compact cars, one European and the other Asian, are compared.

They are Renault Clio from France and the Korean Kia Rio introduced in 1990.

The Renault Clio was first introduced in 1990 and now it is the third generation and received a facelift in mid 2009 to make it fit the current Renault design line including 3-door and 5-door versions and a selection of 5 gasoline and 3 diesel motors between 55 and 146 kilowatts. The top speed of Clio is 188 km/h. From 0 – 100 km/h, it takes 11.0 seconds. The fuel consumption is 5.4 litres (prem.). The CO2 – emission is 125 g/km. The price is 16,800 Euros.

The Kia Rio has been available in Germany in its third generation since 2000. The new Rio model came onto the market in 2011 and so it looks more dynamic than its French competitor Where the Kia looks aggressive, the Renault looks friendly. The Kia’s appearance is a creation of designer Peter Schreyer, who switched from VW to Kia in 2006. He is a man behind Kia’s new styling.


The tail lights are divided in the Kia Rio. The Clio has a single bank of lights in the rear. The Rio has a sloping hatchback  for better use of space. The Renault’s interior is a plastic landscape. Some better materials are also used, but overall, the quality and design leave something to be desired. The stubby controls seem odd. The GPS system has an SD card memory, but its remote-control operation is unwieldy. The interior of the Kia is typically Asian: lots of buttons, but the design is more attractive and the materials are more crafted and the controls have a sportier and zestier feel than the Clio.

The Rio in the Spirit variant with a 1.4 – litre gasoline engine was tested. Its top speed is 183 km/h. From 0 – 100 km/h, it takes 11.5 seconds. The fuel consumption is 5.5 litres (prem.) The CO2 – emission is 128 g/km. The price is 18,390 Euros.

From the test, the Rio has the advantage in the driving experience. The steering responds well and conveys a pleasant feeling. The Clio’s typically-French loose steering is not as much fun as with the Korean car. Ultimately, the Korean challenger beats the French car in the test!

A Fashion Show at home

Half a month ago, Elly and Abby had a fashion show at home. Elly dressed in a beautiful light red-striped blouse with long sleeves up to her wrists. On her pair of trousers bore the words and the picture of a heart meaning: I “love” mama and papa. Elly was bare-footed at home, simply because she had for long accustomed to the home-style in Canada on carpets and tiles.
   
Abby had just returned from school after five. It was a Friday that no school uniform was necessary. Owing to the teaching “theme” of science at school, she wore a pink short-sleeved blouse with a big light-blue butterfly with words “love bug” at the centre. It was nice to see pink and purple flowers scatter over her white A-shaped skirt. This kind of dress-style could have well hidden her slimness. One particular thing about her blouse was the hood which could be pulled up to cover the head and the ears when it was necessary.

Freitag Bags

Freitag, in German, means “Friday”. It is the brand-name of individual recycled-freeways bags ( or simply called F-bags 星期五包). At Zurich, one out of ten people uses this kind of bags. There are quite a number of selling points around the world. In Asia, only Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore and Turkey sell this product.

The first Freitag bag was hand-made by the two Freitag brothers in 1993. Their concept was good because the bags were made by materials recycled from the large tough waterproof truck tarps (a sort of canvas) and their straps from used safety belts of cars and the rims from used interior tubes of bicycles.

It is amazing that one can select a section or sections from any of the 12 new regularly posted-up canvases to design his/her own bag through the website of the company before he/she makes orders.

Bags can be bought at the shop at Geroldstrass 17 8005, Zurich, Switzerland.

A Summer Resort

Tolo Harbour recently becomes a summer resort because its quietness makes it an ideal ground for windsurfing.

Yesterday, I spotted three surfers riding their sailboards over the harbour with fair winds which wrinkle the sea and drive the surfers forward with ease. The sails were black, white and black. What I expected to see were bright-coloured sails.

A Super Full Moon photo taken from San Francisco

Recent Super Full Moon interests some of the people on Earth. Here comes another photo of Super Full Moon shot by one of my students, Peter Ng, at San Francisco, North America. He noticed that the look of the Moon is quite different when viewed from Northern Hemisphere where he is living from that in Southern Hemisphere (at Sydney).


Peter Ng said, "I also took a picture of the Super Moon. The time was 9:30 PM California Daylight Saving time (GMT -7). The moon was not very big since it was quite high up by that time. What interesting though is the difference in view angle between Sydney and San Francisco."

This difference, I think, can be judged by the positions of the seas on the Moon (dark patches).

A Super Full Moon photo taken from Sydney

My close relative, Ho Chung, shot these photos after he heard from the TV news saying that the moon would be nearest to the Earth and for Sydney at around 19:00 (local time). People call such phenomenon as "Super Full Moon".

"Both photos were taken using f/8, ISO100 at our backyard around 18:51 Sydney time (about 16:51 Hong Kong time), yesterday (6 May 2012). The direction of the moon was at Eastern side of the sky, possibly ESE. The first one was using speed of 1/400", and the second one 1/500".

I shot them using manual option with my usual small SONY camera."

Let us further look at the description of “Super Full Moon” from Sydney Morning Herald, 7 May 2012:

If you caught a glimpse through the clouds over Melbourne and the moon looked bigger and brighter than normal last night, you weren't imagining it.

According to astronomer Geoff Wyatt, as the moon set behind the westerly horizon on Sunday morning it would have appeared 14 per cent bigger and 30 per cent brighter than the smallest full moon of the year, which will be on November 29.

The reason for the super-sized moon with its apparent extra dash of lunar luminescence is simple: distance. Last night's full moon coincided with a moment in its orbit when it passed closer to Earth.

Mr Wyatt, senior astronomer at Sydney Observatory, said the moon was currently 356,955 kilometres from Earth — a relative hop, skip and a jump.

The average distance between the moon and Earth is 384,403 kilometres, while at its furthest point, it can be more than 400,000 kilometres away.

This is because the path the moon takes to orbit the Earth is an oval shape, meaning distance between the two is constantly changing.

"This weekend the full moon occurs at its best and brightest when it is closest to the Earth," Mr Wyatt said.

The last time the moon was this close to Earth was March last year, when its orbit brought it within 356,575 kilometres.

The closest the moon will come to the Earth between now and 2020 is on November 14, 2016, when it will pass 356,509 kilometres away.

Mr Wyatt said there was no reason to fear the increased proximity of the moon would trigger earthquakes.

"We're talking a couple of hundred kilometres here and there over about 300,000 kilometres, it's insignificant," he said.

Astronomical Society of Victoria spokesman Perry Vlahos agreed the proximity would have little effect on tides or earthquakes.

"I went back and actually looked at the last 400 years and picked out the earthquakes with the largest magnitudes on the Richter scale and not one occurred when the moon was closest to the Earth," he said.

"There won't be any undue effects on the Earth, apart from it being a wonderful sight."

A recent Top Gear Programme

In the Middle East Special 26 December 2010, the presenters are challenged to perform the journey of the Three Wise Men by travelling from northern Iraq to a stable in Bethlehem, using second-hand two-seater convertibles bought for £3,500. As Israel will not allow cars registered in its surrounding neighbours to enter its borders, they must buy cars from Georgia before flying to their destination in an Ilyushin Il-76TD cargo plane. Jeremy buys a Mazda MX-5, Richard a Fiat Barchetta and James a BMW Z3. As in previous challenges, a spare car is provided to any presenter whose car breaks down. For this challenge, that car is an Opel Astra convertible - a car disliked greatly by all three presenters.

After landing at Arbil International Airport in Iraqi Kurdistan, the three decide that it is too dangerous to drive directly to Bethlehem for fear of road bombs or mines in travelling through the stronghold of Mosul. Instead, Jeremy proposes a circuitous route that involves travelling east and crossing into Iran and then doubling back into Turkey and down into Syria to avoid the dangers of Iraq. However, once they reach the Iranian border, they find that for "political reasons", BBC staff are not permitted to cross into Iran. They manage to find a route back across Iraq to the Turkish border that bypasses Mosul.

Once inside Turkey, they discover that they have a bigger problem: a Kurdish insurgency is attempting to claim the southern provinces of Turkey and that the region has been declared a war zone, with the Foreign Ministry issuing a document that states all non-essential travel should be avoided. The presenters are given four hours to travel the 363 kilometres (226 mi) to Şanlıurfa, a safe city, before nightfall, a journey that will force them to travel through the unsafe region of Şırnak. Jeremy experiences trouble with his Mazda, but all three are able to make it to the hotel.

They finally turn south and enter Syria. Once inside, they discover that Top Gear is enormously popular in Syria, which they are less than enthusiastic about because Israel will not allow them into the country if they have been in Syria, and any word of their presence in the country will spread like wildfire and tip the Israelis off before they can get to the border.

Jeremy proposes that they "sneak through" the country by modifying their cars for desert travel. Richard models his Fiat on a Bedouin tent, while James takes inspiration from the Afrika Korps and models his BMW on a desert army unit. Meanwhile, Jeremy paints his car in bright colours to resemble the story of Joseph and his coat of many colours, making it Jeremy and his Car of Many Colours. He also installs the "Axle of Evil" to make his Mazda a six-wheeled vehicle, though this quickly proves to hinder him more than it helps.

While travelling through the desert, Richard's radiator nearly falls out and Jeremy is bitten by an unidentified insect that causes his arm to swell up. Of more concern is an accident whilst attempting to drag a car out of a sand trap; James May is knocked over by the strap used to haul the car out and receives a head wound when he hits his head on a rock. He is taken to a nearby hospital while Jeremy and Richard carry on. They soon find a road near Palmyra and change their tactics: rather than disguising their cars, they disguise themselves, meeting May at the hospital dressed in burqas and attempt to drive to Damascus incognito. Their efforts are in vain, because word has spread that they are in the country and there is a welcoming party at their hotel.

The next day, they cross into Jordan and arrive in Jerash, where they invent the sport of "Old Testament NASCAR", racing their cars around a two thousand year old chariot racing circuit. With that, they cross into Israel and make a slight detour to the Sea of Galilee, where Jeremy tries to convince the others that everyday activities and natural occurrences - James' head wound and his arm healing, Richard not liking fish at lunch, walking on water and inventing the sport of swimming - are all miracles that he had performed. On the Mount of Olives, overlooking Jerusalem, they unanimously declare Richard's Fiat to be the best car, because James hated the transmission of his Z3, which he described as having gear ratios so spread out that he could fit another gearbox between them, and Jeremy did not develop an attachment to the MX-5.

That night they finally make it to Bethlehem, where they arrive at a nativity scene with gifts they have purchased in Syria: a gold-relief medallion, a bottle of hotel shampoo labelled frankincense and a Nintendo DSi because Jeremy could not find any myrrh. They peel back the covers on the manger to discover that the baby Jesus is actually a baby Stig.

Treatments of cocoa beans before shipment

Let us see how cocoa beans are treated before they are ready for shipment to Europe and United States.

The harvested cocoa pods are opened to expose the beans. The pulp and cocoa seeds are removed and the outside skins discarded. The pulp and seeds are then piled in heaps, placed in bins, or laid out on grates for several days. During this time, the seeds and pulp undergo "sweating", where the thick pulp liquefies as it ferments. The fermented pulp trickles away, leaving cocoa seeds behind to be collected. Sweating is important for the quality of the beans, which originally have a strong bitter taste.

A typical pod contains 20 to 50 beans and about 400 dried beans are required to make 454 grams (one pound ) of chocolate. Cocoa pods weigh an average of 400 grams (0.88 lb) and each one yields 35 to 40 grams dried beans.

The wet beans are then transported to a facility so they can be fermented and dried. They are fermented for four to seven days and must be mixed every two days. They are dried for five to fourteen days, depending on the climate conditions. The fermented beans are  spread out over a large surface and constantly raked to dry. In large plantations, this is done on huge trays under the sun or by using artificial heat. Small plantations may dry their harvest on little trays. Finally, the beans are trodden and shuffled about (often using bare human feet) and sometimes, during this process, red clay mixed with water is sprinkled over the beans to obtain a finer color, polish, and protection against molds during shipment to factories in the United States, the Netherlands, United Kingdom, and other countries.

Cocoa

Today, let us look at the cocoa grown in Madagascar (馬達加斯加), Africa. We can see the pods of Cocoa growing on trees and their seeds when the pods are cut open.

What people interested in are the Cocoa beans (also cacao beans ) from which cocoa solids and cocoa butter are extracted. They are the basis of chocolate.

A cocoa pod (fruit) has a rough leathery rind about 3 cm thick (this varies with the origin and variety of pod). It is filled with sweet, mucilaginous pulp enclosing 30 to 50 large seeds that are fairly soft and white to a pale lavender color. While seeds are usually white, they become violet or reddish brown during the drying process.

Cocoa trees mainly grow in hot, rainy tropical areas within 20° of latitude from the Equator. Cocoa harvest is not restricted to one period per year. Usually it occurs over several months and in many countries cocoa can be harvested at any time of the year.

Immature cocoa pods have a variety of colors but most often are green, red, or purple, and as they mature their color tends towards yellow or orange, particularly in their creases. Unlike most fruiting trees, the cacao pod grows directly from the trunk or large branch of a tree rather than from the end of a branch. This makes harvesting by hand easier as most of the pods will not be up in the higher branches. The pods on a tree do not ripen together; harvesting needs to be done periodically through the year. Harvesting occurs between 3–4 times to weekly during the harvest season. The ripe and near-ripe pods, as judged by their color, are harvested from the trunk and branches of the cocoa tree with a curved knife on a long pole. Care must be used when cutting the stem of the pod to avoid injuring the junction of the stem with the tree, as this is where future flowers and pods will emerge. It is estimated one person can harvest 650 pods per day.