Playing Soap Bubbles

From my observation yesterday, Jasmine and Hayley, love playing soap bubbles. Jasmine held her soap bubble gun, pressed the trigger and soap bubbles oozed out continuously. It was funny to hear the gun make interesting sounds when it was “fired”.

Grandma Sung said that the soap-bubble gun was very cheap, some ten to twenty dollars. To reload the “gun”, it should be dipped into the bottle of soapy water. For many times, Hayley wanted to catch the soap bubbles with her hands, but failed. The bubbles disappeared shortly before her.

Seeing bigger soap bubbles created from bigger nets of a “star” and a circular "loop", Hayley began to learn how to create such bubbles by herself. Her father, Dik, was able to catch a photo or two of Hayley’s success in creating a big wavy bag-like bubble. Surely enough Hayley must have enjoyed herself in the soap-bubble play, same to Jasmine.

Mocha Choco Pies

We chance to see Mocha Choco Pies (巧克力Q餅) from EDO recently. We wonder if they are new products, but we are eager to try.

They come in two flavours, peanut and sesame. Out of their packets, they look flat and small pies. I better say they are like glutinous rice (nuomi) dumplings (糯米湯丸) beaten flat. In the past, we often boil dumplings in these two flavours in sugar solution. Now we can eat these dumplings chewy-dry instead.

Two Cousins met yesterday

Hayley and Jasmine met yesterday at the Arch (凱旋門), not in Paris, but near Kowloon Station. Hayley is a little bit taller than Jasmine. It maybe that Hayley is three weeks older than Jasmine which makes that difference in height.

Last winter the two cousins met once and yesterday it should be the second time. Since they live in different parts of the world, seldom meet and are too young, at the beginning, they did not get together to converse or to find out who the other is.

After lunch, the two cousins left the dining table and involved in their exploration of different parts of the restaurant. They walked separately and were chased by their parents and photographers (I was one). We, photographers, would like to catch the moments when they came together or perhaps hand in hand (but, to our disappointment, they did not hold each other’s hands). We well understood they had not yet learned to make friends in any social circle like school.

A Glimpse at Tsimshatsui

Yesterday I had a bus ride to Tsimshatsui. Since it was quite difficult to take photos from a moving bus, I grasped the time when the bus stopped at traffic lights or bus-stops.

The new bus-stop poles on Nathan Road in Tsimshatsui look different nowadays in three folds:

On each of these poles,

[1] the bus routes are coated inside a square transparent acrylic sheet unlike those old round metal plates.

[2] advertisements are posted below the bus-routes.

[3] details of the bus routes and fares are listed on a rotatable rectangular column.

The scene on Salisbury Road near New World Renaissance Hotel looks more or less the same for years.

The dome of Hong Kong Space Museum (香港太空館) has a better look after renovation with a smooth lustrous coating material.

The Hong Kong Cultural Centre (香港文化中心) looks as it was.

The China Hong Kong City (中港城) stood like a few pieces of Gold in Tsimshatsui. It is famous because from there we can take hovercrafts to Macau or to different ports of the Zhujiang Delta (珠江三角洲).

The new Austin MTR Station stood lonely at the moment. I think it is the quietest station at the moment. With the completion of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen - Hong Kong Express Rail Link (廣深港高速鐵路， 又稱廣深港客運專線) in the future, trains from Guangzhou and Shezhen will stop here. There will be a big change in terms of flow and visits of passengers to Hong Kong and the development around Kowloon Station, Austin Station as well as Express Rail Terminal.

Flowers on Lamp-posts

Yesterday a visit at Shun Lee gave us a new impression of this estate. We discovered that twin-potted flowers were hanging on every lamp post along Lee On Road.

These flowers were in light orange and pinkish red. Leaves of a few long creepers were hanging down from the pots making the whole display look beautiful and elegant. I loved the colours and lay-out of the flowers and leaves whether the plants were real or not. The swaying of the creepers under light winds looked cute and lively as if young girls were swinging their pigtails.

The potted flowers have added life to this old residential area though they may be made of silk. We wonder how they are watered for their being hung so high up on the lamp-post if they were real. I suppose these flowers cannot last long because some or all of them may soon become grey or black when flying dust and dirt cover them.

Mosaic Wall Pictures at Ngau Tau Kok

When I got off from an 89X bus at Ngau Tau Kok this Monday, I turned my way towards Ngau Tau Kok MTR Station. Looking up, I was astonished to see two large mosaic pictures on two walls of a pillar supporting a pedestrian footbridge near the station.

I marvelled at the pictures because it is difficult to make them so detailed. The artist(s) who make(s) them must have drawn the pictures beforehand. The finished pictures should have been divided into smaller squares by grid lines so that the correct coloured tiles are carefully selected. The tiles will be numbered according to the grid and stuck to the walls, square by square. It is painful and careful work to put the designated tiles at their right places.

Both pictures show the real street scenes at Ngau Tau Kok. The bottom left one shows the passers-by in heavy clothes. Some of them are talking. One man was kneeling down to tighten his shoes. Some are walking up a pedestrian footbridge. We can see some buildings in this area. The bottom right shows people visiting the old stalls here. The woman on the left is a typical housewife buying things home. The man in blue shirt and trousers is looking at the things in one of the stalls. Most probably the stalls are selling roasted meat, small electric appliances and so on. Someone is selling preserved plums or similar fruit. The tall buildings behind are those of a public housing estate in the area.

The pictures can definitely show the life-styles of the residents in Ngau Tau Kok. They record a glimpse of harmony and comfort of living here.

The two top-left small photos show the two faces of the pillar.

Always with us

On July 11, 2010, during the 2010 FIFA World Cup Final, Andrés Iniesta (恩尼斯達) celebrated his 116th minute world cup winning goal (the only goal of the game) by removing his jersey to reveal an undershirt with the sentence "DANI JARQUE : SIEMPRE CON NOSOTROS" which means "Dani Jarque, always with us".

Andrés Iniesta never forgets his close friend, Daniel Jarque González ,a Spanish footballer. Jarque played his entire career with RCD Espanyol (愛斯賓奴球隊), as a central defender. He was named team captain one month before his death from a heart attack, at the age of 26.

Born in Barcelona, Spain, , Jarque made his way up through through local RCD Espanyol's youth system starting from October 20, 2002, and after 15 appearances in two seasons, went on to become a defensive mainstay for a side that won the 2006 Spanish Cup.

In 2006–07, after renewing his contract until 2009, Jarque appeared in 14 UEFA Cup contests, as Espanyol reached the final, lost on penalties to Sevilla FC. In the previous league season, he contributed with four league goals, as Espanyol finished 15th.

At the start of 2009–10, Jarque relieved Raúl Tamudo of his captain duties.

According to several online Spanish newspapers, Jarque was found dead during Espanyol's pre-season, done in Coverciano, Florence, Italy. He was on the phone with his girlfriend in the team hotel when he suffered a heart attack.

Incidentally after that final match of World Cup, two other Spanish players, Sergio Ramos [15] and Jesús Navas [22], wore T- shirts with a similar tribute to another deceased Spanish player, Antonio Puerta, who passed away at the age of 23, due to a cardiac arrest he suffered during a match in August, 2007. Indeed it was the same message as the one of Iniesta: Always with us.

If Iniesta had not scored the goal by himself, he would not have shown this message to the World. I admire Iniesta because he is passionate and treasures his friendship with Jarque in Spain U17, U19, U20 and U21 National team.

Those 120 minutes

The World Cup Final 2010 was held on July 11th at Soccer City Stadium at Johannesburg. It was a tough match between Netherlands and Spain.

Netherlands missed several chances to score because the Goal-keeper also Captain of the Spanish team, Casillas (卡斯拿斯) [1] saved the ball several times from its getting into the net. Robben (洛賓) [11] of the Netherlands, a fast runne,r pushed much pressure on the defenders on the Spanish side. On the Spanish side, Villa (韋拿)[7], Xavi (沙維) [8] and Iniesta (恩尼斯達) [6] were active players.

Both sides played very cautiously because they did not want to lose the game. There were 5 yellow cards and 1 red card given to the Netherlands, 2 to 3 yellow cards to Spain, which meant that the players tended to use these tactics to stop immediate threats of invasions from their opponents.

It was still a tie when the whistle blown at the official finishing time (90 minutes from the start). Additional time of thirty minutes were given to the two teams to compete. As the spectators and TV watchers all over the world expected to see the Penalty Goals, the climax came when Fabbegas (法比加斯) [10] of Spain, being substituted in at 86 minutes, passed the ball to Iniesta (恩尼斯達) [6] who stood at a very good position to strike. With his right leg, Iniesta struck the ball to the far corner of the goal. There he scored the goal for the team. The match was soon over and Spain won the Championship of this year’s World Cup Final. Those 120 minutes of watch in front of television was worthy to me and to millions of people all over the World.

Please Double-click the photo to see bigger pictures.

FIFA World Cup

On Sunday, July 11th, 2010, before the 2010 FIFA World Cup final soccer match started at Soccer City Stadium in Johannesburg, South Africa, the captain of the Champion Soccer team (Italy) in 2006 World Cup, Fabio Cannavaro (簡拿華路) took out the FIFA World Cup from a box and showed it to the spectators at the stadium.

The FIFA World Cup Cannavaro was holding was founded in 1971. It was designed by Silvio Gazzanigi of Italy. Made of 18-carat gold and malachite, the cup is 36 cm tall and weighs 5 kg. The sculpture depicts two triumphant football players holding a globe in their raised hands. The trophy is passed on to each winning team that gets to keep an identical (but gold-plated) replica. The making of the statue cost about $50,000, today its value is estimated to over $10,000,000.

With great sadness, Fabio Cannavaro kissed the World Cup trophy.

“I’m very proud and I’d like to thank Louis Vuitton and FIFA for organising this event. It’s something new and so it’s an honour to be the first person to take part. The Final will be really emotional because we’re going to hand over the Trophy that we’ve cherished for the last four years.” said Cannavaro.

The previous World Cup (The Golden Nike), Jules Rimet Cup, was founded in 1930 by Frenchman Jules Rimet, the creator of the world championship games. The cup was designed and made by a French sculptor, Abel Lafleur. It was made of pure gold, 35 centimetres (14 in) high and weighed 3.8 kilograms (8.4 lb). The sculpture depicted Nike of Samothrace (Winged Victory). In 1950 the statuette was named the Jules Rimet Cup after its founder. It was a trophy passed on to each winner and the team to win the tournament three times got to keep it (Brasil achieved this in 1970). Unfortunately, in 1983 the Cup was stolen and it has never been found.

What was inside this box?

At Soccer City Stadium, Johannesburg yesterday night, this famous soccer star of Italy stood in the centre of the field with a dark-skinned lady in a beautiful yellow dress. They were going to show to the world something in the box. What was it?

A Victory to Germany

Germany was placed third in World Cup Soccer 2010 in South Africa yesterday night. It played a tough match with Uruguay.

I considered the game exciting because the two teams scored alternately (Germany : Uruguay) as 1 : 0, 1 : 1, 1 : 2, 2 : 2 and finally 3 : 2 .

The first goal was scored by Thomas Mueller(湯馬士梅拿) [13] in the 18th minute. He kicked the ball into the net when the ball rebound parried by the goalkeeper after a long range shot from Schweinsteiger (舒韋恩史迪加)[7]. Thus the Germans took the lead.

The second goal was scored by Uruguay. On the counter attack, Perez picked up the ball and fed in Suarez who was bearing down on goal. Showing the awareness to pick out a pass, the striker played the ball through to Cavani [7] who was able to stretch for the ball and knock it past Butt.

The third goal went to Uruguay. In the 50th minute Uruguay took the lead when a good run and cross down the right from Arevalo found Forlan just outside the area. Adjusting his body superbly, the striker Forlan (科蘭) [10] struck the ball past Butt with an excellent volley and put his side in control of the game.

Determined to get themselves back into the game, Germany pushed forward for an equalizer 2 : 2 and were rewarded when a cross from Boateng(保定) [20] was headed in by Jansen (贊臣) [2].

As time wore in, Uruguay began to look tired, and from another corner from Oezil (奧斯爾) [8], Germany took the final lead of 3 : 2 at 82 minutes after the ball rebounded around in the penalty area and was headed in by Khedira (基迪拉) [6] at the back post.

It is consolation prize to Germany. Though Germany cannot become the Champion this time in the World Cup Soccer, no doubt it is really a strong football team after all.

Hot News (2) July 9th, 2010

The most interesting prediction made by Paul, the Clever Octopus, on World Cup Champion 2010 attracts my attention during TVB news bulletin.

As usual two transparent boxes are lowered, one with the national flag of the Netherlands and the other Spain. Paul made up its mind very quickly. It might be that it was very hungry. It lay its arms on the box containing the Spanish flag and opens it to find its food.

Will Spain win the champion of this year’s World Cup Soccer? I have to get up early on coming Monday morning to watch the match to find out if the prediction works!

Hot News (1) July 9th, 2010

The “Clever” octopus, Paul, in Germany predicts World Cup Soccer results again. Two transparent boxes carry different national flags, one with Uruguay flag and the other German, are lowered into the aquarium.

Paul crawls about the boxes. This time it seems difficult for it to decide which country wins the third position in the World Cup Soccer 2010. Finally it makes up its mind and lay its arms on the cover of the box containing the German flag, opens the box skillfully and snatches its favourite mussel inside as food.

Will Germany get the third position? Let’s see.

A Super-powered Octopus

An octopus called Mr. Paul lives in an aquarium (奧柏侯遜水族館) in Germany. It has the power to predict the winning team in soccer games. It has succeeded in predicting the winning teams, so far, 10 out of 11 matches.

In this year’s World Cup for example, it predicts 5 matches correctly.
[1] Germany beat Australia (4:0) (Group D Division)
[2] Germany lost to Serbia (0:1) (Group D Division)
[3] Germany beat Ghana (1:0) (Group D Division)
[4] Germany beat England (4:1) (Round of 16)
[5] Germany beat Argentina (4:0) (Quarter-finals)

Yesterday it predicted that Spain beat Germany. It comes true. How powerful Mr. Paul is! It can predict the winning team of football matches! Can it live 4 more years so that we can see its power again?

A beautiful Win to Spain

No doubt yesterday’s football match between Germany and Spain was a fierce one. The winner of this semi-final would give its chance to win the championship. I crawled out of bed at 2:15 a.m., just able to see the two teams walking out into the beautiful Durban Stadium.

It was a bit disappointing to see Fernando Torres (費蘭度托利斯) (famous star of the team) sitting aside as a substitute.

The red “bullfighters” were skilful in passing the soccer at short distances to their team-mates. At first, Spain is on the upper-hand. Germany was strong in defence and when they counter-attacked, they went swiftly. The first half of the match ended in a tie (equal score 0 : 0).

In the second half of the game, both teams wanted to score. The goal-keeper of Spain once saved the ball well from going into the net. He should be praised.
The turning point came at 73 minutes, Carles Puyol (佩奧爾) [5] of Spain headed the ball into the German goal, thus Spain took the lead(1 : 0).

At 80 minutes, Fernando Torres was sent out to play the rest of the game. Certainly the coach wanted to him to score more goals so that the team would have a “sure win”. As the game went on, there were good chances for Spain to score, but the team missed them at last. In my opinion, Xavi (沙維)[8], Villa (韋拿)[7] and Sergio Ramos (沙治奧拉莫斯)[15] played very well.

Germany was so unlucky this time. Their swift strike-backs or air-raids were not successful. In spite of losing the game, Germany is still a very strong football team in Europe. It might get the championship in four years’ time.

Footballs, T-shirts, Ceremony at Stadium

It is interesting to learn more about the things running at a stadium in South Africa before and during a soccer match.

The kickoff footballs (they call them - Jabulani 普天同慶) used in each match look much the same except that the countries to play the game (Germany, Spain), the date of match (7, July, 2010), the name of stadium played in (Durban Stadium, Durban) are also printed on them. Not only these footballs become meaningful to the football-players, but they will become souvenirs in football museums in the respective countries if there are any. I wonder if the footballs will be marked with the result of the game afterwards.

I notice that the T-shirts worn by the German football players bore the names of the participating countries of the game (Deutschland – Spanien), the date (7, Juli, 2010) and the site of play (at Durban).

Each time, two FIFA flags and the flags of the two participating countries are displayed in the centre of the field. The football players line up on two sides. The National Athems of the two countries are played and the players of the two sides shake hands with one another and also with the referees. One of the team leaders of the two teams chooses the side of field after a coin is tossed by the Chief referee. The Game starts with the blow of the whistle of the Chief referee.

Please Double-click to get the largest picture.

The First Semi-final in World Cup Soccer 2010

The Semi-final match between Netherlands and Uruguay yesterday was really exciting.

At 18 minutes, in the first half of the match, [5] Van Bronckhorst (雲邦賀斯) shot the ball from a far distance into the right top corner of the goal and scored the first goal to Netherlands. The Dutch spectators cheered.

At 41 minutes, Forlan (科蘭), a forward [10] of Uruguay struck a long-distant ball into the net of the Netherland’s goal. Thus the heat of the match rose.

The game 1 : 1 did not change until 70 minutes when [10] Wesley Sneijder (史尼達), another forward of Netherland scored the second goal for his country making a result of 2 : 1 . The Uruguay fans lost their smiles at that moment.

Three minutes afterwards, [11] Arjen Robben (洛賓), a famous winger, headed the ball into the net, thus turning the result to 3 : 1. The Uruguay team fought back and near the end of the match at 90’ + 2, [16] Maxi Pereira (麥斯彭利拿) successfully kicked the ball through a narrow opening into Netherlands’ goal. Unfortunately, it was too late for the Uruguay team to equalize the match to additional time or penalty goals. The final result is 3 : 2.

Netherlands is able to enter the Final against the winner of the next Semifinal, Germany or Spain. It is expected that the final match must be one between two European countries. Which team do you think will be the winner of the next Semi-final, Germany or Spain?

Pacific Coast Eco-bananas

Today I received a photo from Ho Keung asking me why the bananas he bought in Australia had red tips. I don't know since I have never seen these bananas before. My guess is: the wax is to prolong the time from rotting.

To find out the truth, I surfed with my computer and found out the reason. Here it is:

These so called Pacific Coast Eco-bananas are grown in North Queensland, Australia.

How special are these bananas? In the growing of these bananas,
[1] the use of fertilizer is reduced.
[2] environmental farming techniques are used.
[3] processing and packing are special and
[4] continual research and development are carried out

It is believed that Pacific Coast Eco Bananas 'Wax Tip' will be more expensive than the other brands in market.

The owners of the plantations, Frank and Diane, want to make their bananas look different from the others, so they decide to dip bunches of bananas in coloured wax so that the lower parts of these bananas are dressed in attractive bright red or green or blue. The quality of the bananas does not differ with colours because the bananas grow within the same plantations.

The wax tips bear the “trademark” and serve as product identification like those stickers on Sunkist oranges and lemons. The owners say that their Pacific Coast Eco Bananas are consistent in taste, flavour and shelf life which are attributed to a precise growing protocol.

Highlights from World Expo Shanghai

This is composite photo about World Expo 2010, composed of 40 smaller photos collected from Sydney Morning Herald on May 3rd, 2010.

The small photos separately show the highlights of the Expo in which city views, pavilions of different countries, visitors, performers and celebrations can be seen all-in-one here. Please enjoy.

Sunny, cloudy, rainy…

It is amazing that Abby can say “sunny”, “cloudy”, “rainy” to us during Skype. I am sure she learns these “adjectives” of weather from her teachers at school. We are happy to know that Abby can pronounce the words perfectly and she knows what weather conditions they are.
She also learns words that rhyme with “sunny”, “cloudy” and “rainy”, so she knows how to say “silly” too. Abby may learn "windy" and "frosty" from the photos here.

Looking back, my wife and I did not know what our children learned in kindergarten. From the test papers and writing exercise they brought home, we just knew what English alphabets and Chinese words they have learned.

In Canada, Abby learns the basic skills of cutting paper, sticking things with glue, drawing with water colour, wearing a coat on the ground, rolling and unrolling paper, etc. etc. I agree that it is good to train the motor skills of small children at this stage.

Abby learns sharing, speaking publicly to her classmates (although her ability is still not high at the moment), listening to instructions, following rules and disciplining herself.

What Abby and I experience in Canada are different weathers. Vancouver is mostly sunny in September till early October. Starting from the middle of October, it often rains. Cold weather gains power in November and December. The outside temperature may drop a little below zero degrees Celcius during the night or in the early morning. There is frost on a day or two and snowing is rare, but possible (on the following day we left Vancouver).