Watching Sunset from a plane

The sun was setting towards six o'clock when our plane was flying over the South China Sea towards Hong Kong. It took less than an hour to land. The sky was in deep blue, but the orange sunlight began to fade and the skyline was clearly in curvature. The clouds below did not look white any more. Instead they appeared dark brown.

It seemed very quiet outside, but actually there were a lot of activities below the clouds. Ships of all kinds – warships, cruisers, cargo ships, fishing boats and yachts were sailing on the South China Sea. Birds were flying. If they were clever enough, they could land on the desks of ships for free rides, but the problem was that the birds did not know where the ships went. Fishes, big or small, sea turtles, octopuses, jelly-fish were swimming or floating in the sea water to find for food as their meals.

Inside the plane, the passengers had had their meals either in Chinese style or the Western Style. The best items of our meals were the delicious desserts - the bricks of chocolate ice-cream from Haagen–Dazs. Next time, when we fly Singapore Airlines, we expect to eat another flavour of such good ice-cream.

The Theme Song from the Cartoon series “Doraemon”

This KFC toy can play the Music of the theme song. Wonderful!

The following are the words of the song. Try to sing if you know the tunes!

多啦A夢主題曲 (叮噹主題曲) – the recent version from TV

人人期望可達到
我的快樂比天高
人人如意開心歡笑
跳進美夢尋獲美好

爬進奇妙口袋裏
你的希望必得到
離奇神化不可思議
心中一想就得到

想小鳥伴你飛舞
雲外看琴譜
咦, 喺竹蜻蜓呀!

多喜愛, 誰都知我真喜愛
Do ra e mon 唔

多喜愛, 誰都知我真喜愛
Do ra e mon 唔

Bird Study (8) – The Last Episode

It was June 25^th, 2007.

As I expected, the birds were ready to begin their journey of life.... As usual, when I come back home after work this afternoon, the first thing to do is to take a look at the nest and I found the nest empty. They were gone, and left nothing but their empty home... no goodbye message, nothing. I didn't expect them to leave anything for me, of course, except this nicely constructed nest. I wish them the best of luck for their future.

Here is the photo of the empty nest.

As a Biologist's point of view, Felix predicted that the robins would leave soon. There was no doubt that the birds did not read our calendar nor they could read Felix’s mind. They picked a week day to leave without saying “Goodbye” to their hosts. Would they come again next time? Felix and I never know!

Two Poor Designs

First, the design of the 10^th Anniversary of the Establishment of the HKSAR MTR souvenir tickets is poor in “Spacing” The 16 photos are very small and too closely packed together. The hole and the arrow with “IN” on each ticket spoil the photos behind them. The problem can be solved by interchanging the lower half (the purple belt of Bauhinias) with the upper half (the photos). Next, the photos can be enlarged and take a better arrangement. The purple belt should be made thinner at the same time.

Second, the design of the First Day Cover issued by MTR for the 10^th Anniversary is also not good at all. The famous buildings are arranged in a long line, but they are out of proportion. There is no linkage among these famous landmarks of Hong Kong.The worse part is that the cable car is grounded on the floor which happened lately in Hong Kong.

The Bauhinias again occupy again a large area of the First Day Cover.

Only the Chop mark and the $1.4 stamp are outstanding. The stamp shows a number of children running hand-in-hand along the shore of Kowloon and the background of the stamp is North Point, Hong Kong Island. The beautiful orange colour of the stamp comes from the early morning sun.

HKSAR 10th Anniversary MTR Souvenir Tickets

They are “Special” tickets that can be used for Unlimited Free Rides on July 1^st, 2007 only. I did not use them on that day for fear of too many people in the streets, attending celebrations or watching fireworks.

On the twin tickets, there are 16 small photos which shows the infrastructures of Hong Kong, scenic points, lives of people and the MTR trains.

Top row of photos (from left to right)

1. IFC – International Financial Centre

2. MTR train at Disneyland, Hong Kong

3. The Kap Shui Mun Bridge

4. The Convention Centre

5. The winding roads in a part of Hong Kong

6. The young and the old

7. The Big Buddha

8. Tai O fishing port

Bottom row of photos (from left to right)

9. Bauhinia

10. Hong Kong International Airport

11. AsiaWorld-Expo

12. Airport Express, MTR

13. Ngong Ping 360 cable car

14. Golden Bauhinia Statue

15. Peak Tower

16. Hong Kong Disneyland

Peak Tower

The new Peak Tower (凌霄閣) replaced the old one (老襯亭) in May, 1997. It stood 396 metres above sea level. This architecture is a modern one which resembles the crescent shape of the Moon. There are restaurants, a cinema called “Peak Explorer Motion Simulator” (超動感影院), Hong Kong Historical Adventure (漫遊列車), Ripley’s Believe It or Not Odditorium (奇趣館), shops, display rooms of wax-figures of famous people (蠟像館) and the most important of all, the Peak Tram Station at its base(山頂纜車總站). Tourists love to look at Hong Kong at it Scenic View Platform (觀景台).

This modern building appears on the back side of our new Blue 20-dollar notes issued by two of our banks. Do you know which two?

A. Standard Chartered Bank

B. The Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited

C. Bank of China (Hong Kong)

B.Y.O.B.

In recent years, HKSAR urges people of Hong Kong to bring their bags along when they buy food or things from shops or supermarkets.

B.Y.O.B. means “Bring Your Own Bags”. It is a very good idea to meet the need of “Environmental Protection” and to save the World.

Before HKSAR imposes a law on a tax of 50 cents to be given to the government for each plastic bag issued to the shoppers at any shops in Hong Kong, different companies, shopping centres, petrol companies, organizations, even schools give people EP bags (I called them) 環保袋 as free gifts. The purposes are two, first as advertisement and second as environmental protection.

We welcome such acts and carry some of these bags along whenever we go to supermarkets or ordinary markets.

Our collection of EP bags is:

1. am730 – a newspaper on weekdays, free of charge

2. Family Fun Day 04 – La Salle College

3. 無間道 – one of our Hong Kong films

4. Green EP bag – MTR

5. EP bag – Caltex

6. Giordano Concepts – Giordano

7. Sony Shop – Sony

8. 康鈣C – a brand of Vitamin C

9. Telford Plaza – the shopping centre at Telford Garden, above Kowloon Bay MTR Station

10. RITE – Recycle Ink & Toner for the Earth

11. 天主愛你一百分 – 福傳 evanlife

Recently in Hong Kong, thousands of people are crazy at buying a kind of EP bags which are sold in England and are used by some famous film stars and models. They are sold here at HK$120, but in England, about HK$80.

These bags are nothing unusual, but with the words “I’m NOT A Plastic Bag!” printed on them. I don’t believe these buyers of bags will carry them to markets or supermarkets. They just want to own them, simply because some famous stars own them first.

Circle Game

Before driving into the Eastern Harbour Tunnel on Hong Kong side, every eastbound driver has to turn about 270 degrees before the car or vehicle goes into the tunnel. While turning like swirls of water into a pipe, cars from two lanes have to merge into one. This always creates a circle game as well as danger of car collision if drivers lose patience, courtesy or lack of skill.

It is great fun to someone who loves turning around and around while driving down the circular road at Festival Walk(又一城) in Kowloon Tong. There are three floors down from ground level. The first level down is the pick-up or drop-off area for passengers of taxis, private cars or vans, ….. The next floor is for unloading goods to the shops inside this shopping centre. The lowest floor is a big car-park.

Once a driver is driving his car down the circular road, he has to be sober enough to make sure the right floor to go to! This circular road down the floors is too sharp and it keeps on turning and turning. To reach the car-park below, a driver has to turn at least 1080 degrees. It is an exciting and dizzy driving Circle Game!

Bird Study (7) – Felix remembers a previous bird visit

Felix considers these birds to be his friends, not simply visitors. It was June 24th.

Felix gave his report:

I went out today and manage to come back before sunset, and took a picture of the "3 sisters"-- baby robins. (I just make out the name '3 sisters' as honestly I can't tell a male from a female.) Anyway, as you see they are now very big and alert... just look at their eyes. I envisage some time next week when I come home I may find the nest empty.... the mother may have flown off with her 3 daughters. I really hope I can see them leave myself.

The last time the cliff swallow left my place when I was working in the yard one Sunday (or Saturday) morning, the mother bird (and kids) were very noisy (like the mother giving final instructions to them before setting off).... then the mother led the kids off the nest, circle two times over my house/yard, and flew off.... never to be seen again. I did quietly say my good wishes for them.

I don't know how these robins do when they leave. I wish they pick a Saturday or Sunday...;-)

Felix has made his wish and let us see if it comes true!

Bird Study (6) – A Tactful Mother and All-the-time Hungry Siblings

Felix went on with his story of his visitors to his tree hotel on June 22nd afternoon and 23rd morning:

first photo: mother at the nest. It is difficult to take a picture of the mother because I don't have remote control camera -- the kind that I can set at the tree branch and activate the shutter from remote when the bird comes back (with this, I would be able to take pictures of feeding scenes) but unfortunately, now as soon as I get near the mother bird will fly away, or if I am at the nest first and the mother (or father) birds comes back, she will just turn around and go somewhere first, until I disappear.

2nd photo is taken this Sat morning, when all three siblings are awake and sticking their heads out, waiting for mommy to bring back breakfast.

What will happen if they are humans, having parents leaving the small babies behind unattended?

The answer is: The parents will be charged for lack of care to small children. They will be jailed and the children will be sent to a nursery under the Social Welfare Department!

A Shop that Never sleeps

Some of our Mc Donald's Fast Food Shops in Hong Kong are now open for 24 hours. The one shown in the photo is located on King’s Road, North Point.

This kind of fast food shops provides services to those people who are off work at late hours and are hungry to some extent. Some people even sleep a little inside before they take the first buses home. There are also customers like taxi-drivers, people who loses sleep at night and some youngsters who sleep in the daytime but play all through the night. There are young people who would like to play “Play Station” games inside the shops.

Mc Donald’s shops are nice places to go – clean, air-conditioned and fashionable. The toys that go with the children’s meals (開心樂園餐) win the affection of many small children and their fathers and mothers usually surrender their money to the shops..

What kind of food do these shops provide after mid-night? That is still a question to me.

A Push at the Button

With a push at the button at the top of this “Doraemon” toy, Abby can hear a “lovely” song. This little girl likes music very much. She has a happy heart once she hears some music. For those songs she likes, she will shake her body according to the rhythm. It is good that she possesses “well-developed” musical cells. I, myself, don’t have any!

This Doraemon is a One-man band. It can play three musical instruments at the same time, namely, guitar, drum and electronic synthesizer.

There are 3 "keys" to plug in or out. The red one is for the guitar, the green for the drum and the yellow for the synthesizer.

According to the design, there are seven ways of performance:

1. guitar alone

2. drum alone

3. synthesizer alone

4. guitar + drum

5. drum + synthesizer

6. guitar + synthesizer

7. guitar + drum + synthesizer

How amazing is the design, but my ears are so bad that I cannot make out the differences!

What song will Abby hear when she pushes the button at the top of this Doraemon?

Guess the answer! There are 5 options here:

A. “Somewhere over the rainbow”

B. “世界真細小”

C. “430穿梭機”

D. Doraemon 主題曲

E. 日本國歌

Rain + Sunshine + Angle = Rainbow

At seven thirty this morning, a rainbow appeared across the sky overhead the Prince of Wales Hospital.

It is rare to see a rainbow because it appears only at the time when light rain and sunshine come together. The sunlight should be shining at a certain angle so that it disperses into seven colours by refraction.

It is a good sign to the patients in the hospital because the colourful rainbow symbolizes that they will recover soon from their illness. I do hope that the people of Hong Kong can be healthier onwards starting from today!

Bird Study (5) – Close Observation

For two consecutive days, Felix was like working in ICU (Intensive Care Unit) watching not a patient, but 3 baby birds growing:

Today's picture(Left), 6/20/2007. See that the baby has even more feathers... covering the head

Picture (Right)taken this morning 6/21/2007. morning because I am off today.
see the nest is now almost full because they are big babies, and they have developed quite a nice coat of feathers now.... not ready to fly yet. When in the net and when mother is away, they lie down real low and keep in the bottom of the nest so they won't be seen by predators. Mother is away from the nest a lot. Understandably... not only because the nest get quite congested, but she has to work harder looking for food -- with three hungry mouths to feed (feeding many times a day).

What a close look at the birds!

Bird Study (4) – Mouths and eyes opened

On June 19^th, Felix told me this:

At this time it is not the end of the story yet, maybe half way, maybe the beginning. The little bird(s) are growing, you can see more feathers now. Few days ago, they were almost bare. Bigger too. When the mother sits in the nest, I find that she is higher up than before, because the babies beneath her are bigger. The mother now leaves the nest more often... maybe the kids need more food. The babies can't fly yet, and they still stay motionless when the mother is away.

From the photo, I can see.......

One of the birds opened its mouth wide, waiting to be fed, or learning to sing,t or breathing in more fresh air or shouting to her parents. The other opened its eyes to look at the things around it. This bird wanted to experience the sunshine, the light breezes and hear different kinds made by other animals. The last bird must be sleeping by their sides.

They were ready to eat when their parents brought home some delicious worms.

Zero

“Zero, zero, zero, zero, zero, zero…” “噤似可樂嘅” “無糖喎!”

echo in our ears as an advertisement of Coca-cola appears in TV.

Zero is an interesting number! Let’s study it.

(1) Students never want “Zero mark” in their tests and examinations.

(2) Some people want their food to have “zero” fat content because it will be healthier.

(3) On a passenger plane, when the small TV screen in front of you indicates that the altitude of the plane is “zero”, you will know that the plane has already grounded.

(4) “Zero” is the freezing point of water, but impurities may change it.

(5) “Zero” is always used in count-down of time.

(6) The interest rate offered by banks in Hong Kong at time of Lowest Economy approached to “Zero”. The lowest rate for savings recorded reached 0.001% which meant the interest for every $1,000 yielded in a year at that time would only be 1 cent, which was negligible.

(7) When the visibility in a fog is “zero”, planes and ships that are flying and sailing will be in great danger!

(8) The sugar content in drinks and food for patients who suffered from Diabetes should be better kept to “zero”.

10th Anniversary of Hand-over of Hong Kong to China

The cup in the photo marks the Hand-over of Hong Kong to China in 1997. It is ten years old.

Today is the 10^th Anniversary of the Hand-over. There were many activities in celebrating the Anniversary:

1. The Raising of China National Flag and HKSAR Flag in the early morning.

2. The Declaration Ceremony of the New HKSAR officials and Chief Executive.

3. The performance of parachutists from “八一跳傘隊” in Happy Valley in the morning.

4. A big parade from Happy Valley to Wanchai.

5. The people of Hong Kong can meet the two new pandas 樂樂 and 盈盈 today at Ocean Park.

6. The Opening Ceremony of the 深港西部通道 i.e. Shum Kong Road/ Bridge (深港公路/大橋).

7. Two football matches at Hong Kong Stadium.

8. The show of laser light and flashing of lights on a great number of tall and famous buildings around the harbour at 8 p.m.

9. The Grand Fireworks in the Victoria Harbour

The bottom 4 photos were extracted from THE SUN Newspaper.

Bird Study (3) – Feathers growing

On June 18^th, Felix peeped into the nest and found that the birds were covered with more feathers, the colour of which looked exactly the same as their parents.

At this moment, these little babies did not look like fresh meat, but appeared to be a heap of feathers in a nest. With the feedings from the parent birds, growing activities were rapid underneath the feathers. The birds will soon become bigger ones.

Felix said:

Here a photo of the robin nest TODAY.... I think the baby has grown SOME feathers.

A Comfortable climb up Fortress Hill

In recent months, by the side of the Fortress Hill MTR Station, two new luxurious lifts are in service. Each day, they uplift or lower students, teachers, office-workers, housewives and nearby residents to and from schools or high rises at Mid-levels in North Point. These people save a lot of energy in climbing the first 4-storey height with the help of either lift and they can also finish another 5 to 6 storey height by a long and straight escalator. From now on, they do not need to climb those never-ending winding staircases in the past.

The slopes next to the lifts are now well-decorated in modern art and new staircases are being built with covers at their tops so the pedestrians are away from strong sunshine or rain.

Answer to Guessing Game

Daisy, you have got the right answer. Congratulations!

Vivianne, good try! Maybe you will get the right answer next time!

Abby did put her hand into the glass of water. I did not know why she did this. Well I guessed she wanted to touch the water she had been drinking.