An Interesting Dish

Yesterday at JC, my wife and I ordered an appetizer, soup, two main courses and two slices of cakes. It is always our tactics to share different kinds of food between us. “More taste, more enjoyment”.

The appetizer, Mango and Scallop Salad, came before us in a strange white dish which made me chuckle. The salad was buried in a circular hole at the centre. I wondered why the dish should be so big and thick, but contained a small hole to hold the food. With respect to area, the hole is one ninth of that of the whole dish. Such a dish made me feel that the salad is relatively small in amount. I could only say it was “a big dish of tiny salad”.

The chicken soup with sea coconut was tasty, but it seemed to me that the coconut had slipped out of the soup or perhaps the cook had forgotten to put it inside.

The Smoked Pork Loin and Roasted New potatoes suited me because the taste of pork was quite close to ham and the small lovely potatoes are tasty under Port Wine sauce.

My favourite Fish cutlets came fresh and hot. The steakhouse fries, as they were called here, were tasty, a thousand times better than those match-stick like fries at a McDonald.

The two dessert cakes we shared were completely different in styles. One was home-made. I believed it meant that the cake could be easily made at any home. The other was a thick cheese cake which I guessed it could only be prepared at a kitchen like that at JC. We all agreed that the latter, was the “king” among the cakes displayed behind the show-windows.

Baggy Soap bubbles

It was July 17th, 2010. Little Hayley, a few days before two years old, was filled with curiosity when she first saw her grand uncle illustrate how soap bubbles were created by a circular plastic loop. She observed and learned fast.

Next she picked the loop up, dipped it in soapy water, waved it and soon mastered the skill of creating soap bubbles. No doubt she enjoyed those minutes of creating large baggy bubbles by herself and watching them disappear instantly.

Please double-click to get larger pictures.

My Collection of Coca-cola bottles

Among the five Coca-cola bottles I collected, one glows and changes colours.

As described by the manufacturer, it is a plastic plant-bottle, up to 30% plant-based and 100% recycled. In the limited edition (50,000 in all), this bottle ranks 34,103th. Great fun comes when it is turned on at the base. Its colour changes from red to purple to orange and to green. It is so produced as to arouse the interests of the people at Vancouver and elsewhere in Canada about the Winter Olympics in February. It is naturally enough that no coke is stored inside, but merely a light-changing toy-coke instead.

The other four 250 ml bottles are stylish, made of light, but hard metal, two of which were sold during Winter Olympics, one was made in Slovakia and one in Toronto. They all arrived at my home several months ago or earlier and together they give me a strong spirit of Coke.

Leaves stitched with laces

The photos above show leaves in two different parts of the world stitched with laces:

[A] The leaves on the left-hand side grow in summer Hong Kong at a temperature of around an average of 30 degrees Celcius. The colours are mainly purplish red, but yellowish green near the stalk and fringing the tooth-like edges.

[B] The leaves on the right-hand side grew in winter Vancouver at a temperature around 0 degree Celcius. The colour of the leaves are green, but stitched with a lace of an overnight frost.

Eco Terrace

Eco Terrace (都市梯田) is located at podium at Lok Fu Plaza(樂富中心). Some 10000 plants of seven organic vegetables are planted in boxes placed on the floor of the podium and on the steps leading to the road below. It is a project-based activity which will end in July, 2010. Obviously it is rare to see terraces in the midst of our concrete city.

The seven vegetables that are planted here are:
[1] Red Amaranth (莧菜)
[2] Eggplant (茄子)
[3] Mini tomato (蕃茄仔)
[4] Chinese Cabbage (上海青白菜)
[5] Wheat grass (小麥草)
[6] Water Spinach(通菜)
[7] Malabar Spinach (潺菜)

Have you eaten all of them before?
See if you can find them from the photos here.

Pineapple-bun breakfast

A pineapple-bun is shaped like pineapple, but does not contain any pineapple at all. It recently becomes the "star" of breakfasts of Café de Coral. Customer can’t resist its attraction.

To our disappointment, the bun is small, cold, hard like a shell and stale like yesterday's made. I think the pineapple buns sold in some of our local small restaurants are much bigger, better in taste and served fresh from their ovens. I don’t believe these buns are made by the fast food restaurants themselves, but simply they are ordered from a certain bakery.

Sooner or later, these buns will fade out and never appear in the breakfasts because they are not up to standard.

Scenery around the Lookout of The Arch

The Lookout (瞭望層) of The Arch (凱旋門) is located on its 62nd floor. It provides a 270-degree view of the northern shore of Hong Kong Island and most of Kowloon, except West Kowloon which has been blocked by neighbouring tall buildings.

It is so interesting to be there to observe and take photos of the panorama view of the busiest parts of Hong Kong and Kowloon.

The Arch itself is easily recognizable by its door-like shape from Central and Tsimshatsui. It really looks like L’ Arc de Triomphe (巴黎凱旋門) in Paris, France. Few people know that the clubhouse (with a restaurant and a swimming pool) is launched in mid-air, right at the top of the arch.

Please double-click to get a larger picture.

Chanthu

Chanthu (燦都) is the name given to the recent typhoon that affects the coast of Guangdong. This typhoon does not hit Hong Kong, but brings much rain to us. Yesterday it was fine without rain and strong winds. The typhoon signal Number 3 was put up for quite a number of hours.

Today, the Observatory changes the typhoon signal from 3 to 1 because the typhoon no longer threats Hong Kong.

To our surprise, in an hour’s time in the afternoon between four thirty and five thirty, the sky turns dark. Heavy rain pours down and thunder roars with lightning. The amber, red and black rain warning signals are issued one after another. The northern district suffers flooding because most rain falls there. Under the black rain signal, office workers can go home, so the streets and traffic become busy towards evening.

Singapore Flyer

Recently I was fascinated by the TV programme called “Planet Food”, not only by the food it introduces, but also by the beautiful scenery.

This time, the programme was about Singapore and its local food. It seems as if I were back to this small island at the tip of the Malaysian peninsula. I first visited it in January, 2007.

At the start of the programme, the scene of a team of men rowing a dragon boat showed up. I just wondered where the dragon boat was heading. The camera man then zoomed out and I saw the new landmark of Singapore, the Singapore Flyer, in a distance.

The Singapore Flyer is considered the tallest observation wheel on Earth, rising 165 metres into the sky. It can carry 1,260 passengers around hourly to see a stunning 45-kilometre panorama view of Indonesian Island of Batan and Bintan as well as Johore, Malaysia. The wheel stands twice the height of the Statue of Liberty. The observation whee,l which looks like a bicycle whee, rotates 28 large capsules through the sky, each carrying 28 passengers. By construction, the wheel stands firmly against monsoon rains, thunderstorms and dangerous Sumatra winds.

Happy Birthday, Hayley!

Today is Hayley’s Birthday.

How old is Hayley? Two years old or three years old? In one of the photos, Hayley raised three figures while her parents did two each.

It was so nice to pre-celebrate Hayley and Jasmine’s birthday last Saturday at “the Arch” clubhouse restaurant.

We supposed that the two cousins would celebrate their birthdays together. The birthday cake was first placed on a square table. Hayley was brought up onto the sofa and she sat there. It was natural that Jasmine was the next girl to join in. To our amazement, Jasmine did not want to come close to the birthday cake, but turned away from it. Later we learned that she was afraid of the flames of the two little candles on the cake. Several photos were taken with Hayley alone with the cake. She showed her smiling face in some of the photos.

Soon Hayley was to blow the candles with the help of her mother, Daisy. The candles were next re-lit because group photos had to be taken . Hayley’s family members flocked together at the table. They included Hayley’s parents, grandparents and Uncle Lit. Then grand-uncles and grand aunts joined in for photo-taking with Hayley.

Next the birthday fruit-cake was cut and shared around us at the long table.

Two cousins playing Hula Hoop

Last Saturday, Hayley eyed on one of the plastic hula hoops at Grand uncle and aunt’s home and soon she picked it up from the heap of toys with the help of Grandma Au Yeung.

Normally, Hula hoops for children generally measure approximately 28 inches in diameter, and those for adults around 40 inches. Hayley picked the right one.

Hayley must have seen hula hoops before, otherwise she would not choose it to play. She knew very well that she had to put the hoop over her head and held it at the waist. We saw that her pose of holding the hoop was correct. She began to twirl the hoop around her waist, but the hoop fell down. She might be too young to master the skill of swinging the hoop round the waist and twisting the latter at all times. Anyway, she had a nice try.

A moment later, Jasmine came out after taking her bath. She did not miss her chance of playing the hoop. As expected, she was willing to try, like Hayley she failed to turn the hoop at her waist. Perhaps, these two little cousins could play well in a few years’ time.

An Extraordinary Benz

At Elements, an extraordinary Benz is displayed. This Benz sparkles when light shines on it. From a distance away, it looks as if it were coated with beads of jewels. The badge of Benz can easily be seen at its front. Lower down, the registration plate bears the name of the shopping centre, “ELEMENTS”. Its headlights and wheels are stylish. Following the recent trend, the side-mirrors also serve as blinker-lights to show to other cars the intention of the drivers to turn left or right.

The twin seaters do not look as high-class and comfortable as I expect because they are thin and the red colour does not match with the white colour of the car.

Since it is so different from other Benzes, it will certainly attract people’s attention in the streets. I don’t know how much it costs. Maybe it is a “Concept” car (概念車) which is priceless and will not be sold to the public.

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.

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