檸檬與海

檸檬這種獨特的生果, 把我們的飲品, 食物加添了一些酸酸的味道, 令到它們更好飲和更好味.

我們常飲的檸檬水, 檸檬茶真今人精神一振.

大家在酒樓食的西檸軟鴨, 檸檬班塊其中的檸檬是重要配搭, 的確開胃生津!

涼果中的檸檬薑辛辣之餘帶有一點酸的味道. 當然, 當中的甘草甜味把酸味程度減低了.

我特別支持把檸檬加入我們的食譜裏面!

今次廣告的主題是檸檬與海, 標榜用新奇士檸檬煮海鮮, fresh晒, 其實我應該把標題寫成檸檬與海鮮才貼切.

升級板 Abby (3)

最近, Connie告訴我說Abby認得自己在太陽下的影子, 也能分辨到那個是公公的, 那個是婆婆的, 當然唔少得Connie的!

Abby對她周邊的事物發生興趣是一件非常好的事, 遲早她會每事問, 那怕我們將來有機會被問到口啞都未定呢!

A Gesture from Abby

What does Abby want to tell you by this gesture?
(A) Hands up!
(B) Sorry!
(C) Ten.
(D) I am full. I don't eat any more.
(E) Bye-bye!

Building of New Prince of Wales Hospital (5) The Hole widens

The top photo was taken on March 5^th.

The area dug down becomes wider and wider on these few days. The square basements become rectangular. Further away from the first set of basements, more soil has been removed and new basements are going to be built, but they are not so deep as those built earlier.

I wonder if these new basements are entirely for car-parks. I shall wait and see!

How can we eat such a big fish?

I found this enormous fish in a restaurant in Ma On Shan.
When I compare the smaller fish below with it, I will certainly say, "小巫見大巫".
These are the questions I have in mind:
(1) How can we cook it without chopping it into pieces? It is too big to be put inside a wok. It is too thick to be cooked.
(2) How much does it cost? Two thousand or three thousand dollars?
(3) How many people can this fish serve?
(4) How much time should be used to cook it?
(5) Where comes the fish? From the South China Sea or further away from Hong Kong?
(6) What does it feed on before it becomes food on the table?

Answer to Recent Puzzle

Look at this advertisement "Easy take". The ballet dancers tiptoe themselves with a cake and a box of ice-cream. Well, it is an advertisement of a refrigerator/refrigerators!. The answer is "5" .

Art Gallery at Ma Wan Park (6)

These were the last twin wall-pictures I found at Ma Wan Park.

The top photo shows a number of people stand on top of the others in layers. They seem to perform acrobatics. I guess the picture wants to show that people are trying to climb to the top of the society.

The bottom photo shows my favourite picture. Here the different faces represent those lovely and friendly ones I came across in the past, see at present and will see in the future. Most of them are my friends (including my students) and relatives forever. There is one thing in common - they are good to me.

升級板 Abby (2)

印象中, 以前當Abby上了健身石仔路時, 坐在地上動也不動像石像一樣. 但二月十五日那天重臨舊地, 忽然間她站了起來(當時, 她是穿著鞋子的), 在石仔路上大膽地走著, 如履平地. 倘若她是赤腳的話, 那些突出的石仔一定會弄到Abby的腳板好痛, 相信這會是另一景象.

Ballet-dancers!

It is the first time I see ballet-dancers in an advertisement.

What advertisement is it?

It is about:

(1) a cake shop

(2) a 7-Eleven shop

(3) an ice-cream product

(4) a ballet class

(5) a refrigerator

Driving from East coast to West coast

On September 5^th, 2007, Yin Ping and Ho Keung drove from Blenheim (east coast) to Westport (west coast) on South Island of New Zealand. On the way they saw blue snow-capped mountains, cattle and sheep.

They said that the sceneries were breathtaking and that driving in the middle of nowhere for lengthy periods needed a reliable car. The car they were driving was a “Corolla” which deserved merits in oil-saving.

These country roads seem to be in good quality, wide and leveled, so driving on them must be very comfortable

The top photo reminds me of driving on the narrower roads through Lam Tsuen and Kam Tin in the past. Of course in Hong Kong we are unable to see snow at the top of our hills.

Go Green

China Light and Power Company Limited wanted to promote what they called “Go Green” in 2007. It urged its customers to use Green Bill by visiting its website:

www.clpgroup.com. I find this promotion slip recently (2008 now! Maybe it has arrived at my home for a year unnoticed), enter the website and find no explanation to the idea of its “Green Bill”. Perhaps this promotion has been over.

I guess once a customer has applied the so-called “Green Bill”, he or she will not get the normal paper bill. What he or she has to do is to find out the bill by himself or herself using the internet. Payment can be made through ATM machines or by Auto-pay.

One problem of joining the scheme is that one does not know when the company issues the bill in its website. To check the bill, obviously he or she has to visit the website repeatedly and regularly so that the payment of the bill will not be overdue. I will not join the scheme, but just want to know how “Green” the company will bring since the company gives each customer a bill bi-monthly, only 6 sheets of paper for the bills a year.

Inside Applebee

Recently, Felix and Audrey took lunch at Applebee Restaurant. Felix remembered that I wanted to know more about the restaurant, so he picked up his camera and took a few shots inside.

Last time when I went in this restaurant with my wife, Mrs. Sinn, Felix, Audrey and Joanna, I did not take a close look around.

Through the first photo, I remember we sat on stools at a round table, the one on the right-hand side (with two men sitting in the photo). It was a nice thing for us to sit together at the round table chatting. I liked the beautiful lamp-shades here above the tables because each had its own story. The lamps lit our table just right. My wife and I do not like to eat our food under weak light (some say that it is romantic, but we don’t agree). We thought that American beef was famous and delicious, so we ordered a dish of beef steak to share between us. We guessed the portion of food was big enough for us as our appetites were not so big. Talk was better than eat at that time. We enjoyed listening to every word in our conversation because I had not seen Felix for fifteen long years and it was our first time to meet Audrey and Joanna. Mrs. Sinn was also a familiar person I would like to see and talk with. It was interesting that we three colleagues could meet at one time on American soil.

Back to the inside of the restaurant, now I see tables of long sofas at the side of the windows. I believe if we six people sat there that very night, we would sit shoulder to shoulder and could not eat so comfortably.

If people need to sit up straight, there are thick heavy wooden chairs with upright backs. It is not bad to sit on these chairs because they will keep our backs in good positions.

The drinks are most attractive here, one of which is the sweet strawberry lemonade. All sorts of drinks can be served at the central bar. Some people simply drink beer or wine instead of eating.

Thanks for Felix's photos and for his paying the bill that night!

升級板Abby (1)

以前Abby騎的搖搖是可愛的羊仔, 自從舊年十月失足碰在它的身上, 咀唇破了流血, 她已經好久沒有玩這玩意了.

昨日她選擇了駛汽車了. 究竟她是否認為選四個車輪會穩陣過四隻腳嗎?

New Home of Daisy

Daisy has resided in a New Home in Texas recently.

She says, “There is not much scenery in the part of Texas where I live because it is very flat, with farm land and oil wells only. At least that is my first impression.”

Let’s look at the house she lives in her first photo. It is a modern apartment house of three storeys, strongly-built with brick-walls. Its roof appears to be made of wood. I guess it is strong enough to stand against Tornados if they come. Everything is clean and fresh here, the drive, car parks and houses. It is really a nice place to live.

Then we may look at a Chinese Restaurant there. It is called China King Buffet. I wonder if it is the name of the restaurant. The name seems like one for an advertisement more than a proper one for a Chinese restaurant. The restaurant has a welcoming new look and for sure, it sells Chinese food in the form of buffet. That saves waiters or waitresses.

Acrobatic Abby

Today I went to lunch with Abby, Connie and Auntie “G”. At home after lunch, Abby sat on a sofa and Connie placed a small plastic bottle of Mentholatum, earlier taken by Abby as toy, on Abby’s head. This of course was a good time for a photo shot.

I passed my camera to Connie and let her press the shutter. The photo was well-taken. Abby’s pose was first-class (一絕), having one hand with a sign of holding, but empty and the other arm went round “My Melody”. Abby kept a steady head for the bottle to keep it in place. Her face showed a sense of satisfaction because she had never done this before, but she was able to do it perfectly.

In Africa, India and some other countries, ladies usually carry things or water (in pot) on their heads and this time, on her head, Abby carried a “Light-weight” bottle of rubbing cream for colds. Bravo, Abby!

The Township of Blenheim

Blenheim is a town south of Picton. It can be reached by domestic planes, but not overseas. It ranks second biggest town after Nelson in the north-east part of the South Island.

The first photo shows a modern church with a spire one-third the height of the church tower. The main building of the church looks like those school buildings of Maryknoll Convent School in Hong Kong. The cars at the roadside are not old. Some are quite modern. It seems that the traffic here is not busy at all.

The second photo shows a bank and various shops, one of which sells plastic-ware. The pavilion and clock-tower are the most interesting things to look at. The former, being artistic in nature, shelters people from heat or rain. It also provides benches for people to sit and rest. The latter has a big clock which allows people to look at from a long distance. There is a wind-wane in the form of a cock which shows the direction of winds blowing.

The third photo shows a vineyard with lines of wooden bars which support grape plants to grow. However, no grape plants were growing in September last year, so the whole field looked empty.

A Cattle Farm nearby Picton

The cows at this farm were gentle, slow in movement and enjoyable in life, unlike those bulls running at the bullfighters in Spain. Not only they could feed on the soft green grass any time they liked, but also lie down to rest and have sunbathing after a grass meal.

The farm looked crowded with a great number of cattle, whose colours vary from light brown, brown, dark brown to black.

There was a number card stapled on the right ear of each cow. The cards are in different colours, red or blue or yellow. All these cows were healthy. The cow with beautiful patches in the second photo could be the star of any dairy product of New Zealand.

The cows here were disciplined, not so active because they were all on the feeding ground. I remember the scenes of happy students of La Salle Primary School and Maryknoll Convent School running and chasing one another round and round at recess.

What a peaceful scene here and what busy-running scenes at the two primary schools!

Super Star Virgo (處女星號)

This cruiser will arrive at Hong Kong on April 2^nd this year and give cruise services to people of Hong Kong for the following 6 months to Sanya (三亞), Hainan, to Keelung (基隆), Taiwan and Xiamen (廈門).

This advertisement attracts me not because of its trips, but the interesting infra-structures of the cruiser. I always dreamed of making such see-through passenger ship model in my childhood.

I marvel at the design of the cruiser which is so well-designed like a small city. It provides all kinds of facilities for human activities on land such as swimming pool, fitness centre, restaurants, bars, theatre, spa, karaoke and so on.

Let us study where these activities can be found on the cruiser.

By the photos of the advertisement starting from the top left corner going clock-wise are:

1. Waterworld (水上天倫樂)

2. Grand Piazza (七層高中央大堂)

3. Fitness Centre (全天候海景健身)

4. Spa (Spa及按摩桑拿)

5. Balcony Class Cabins (露台海景客房)

6. Karaoke (卡拉OK享樂)

7. Outdoor Pool (室外泳池)

8. Restaurants & Bars (13間主題餐廳及酒吧)

9. Showlounge (800多座位歌劇院)

A Happy Orange

I never dream that an orange can be so cute and happy!

Look at this orange of a famous brand. It looks like a human face with sunglasses on and ear-phones for beautiful music. He is laughing with a big mouth, wide-open. Inside we can see very juicy textures of orange flesh. His nose is small and the brand “Sunkist” is stuck onto the face instead of on the sunglasses. We can even see his entire throat with the opening leading to the esophagus.

Splash of sea water can be seen from behind. Sure enough it is a hot day with the bright sun shining from above. The shadow of the orange can be seen right below the laughing face on the sand.

What a lovely scene and a welcoming look of a sweet orange!

Good! I am going to buy such beautiful oranges if I come across them in supermarkets.

未來單槓選手

Abby這個上單槓的姿勢看來正宗. 雖然現階段她的腳到地, 但不難將來Abby會有興趣學體操, 繼而戀上單槓運動都未定!

她這次肯嘗試走上這些給老人家做運動的器械上面, 實在難得. 她當時的樣子很嚴肅, 很認真, 但她穿的衣服太多太厚, 相信要在單槓上轉動是比較困難的. 我們不如拭目以待, 看看她將來有沒有這種天份吧?