Grow, Grow, Grow…

A few weeks before, Abby and Elly each brought home from school a small seedling of 萬壽菊。These seedlings came back in very tiny plastic cups with very little soil. The class teachers told the girls to nurture the plants until flowers grew out.

Grandma picked up the responsibility of caring these plants. First she bought two bigger pots, one green and one orange and a medium-sized bag of dark soil. She suggested to bring the seedlings home because our home is rich in sunshine than the girls’ home. The seedlings stand with tiny leaves at first. Slowly they develop into stronger branches and bigger leaves as water is poured in and sunshine help photosynthesis.

Happy moments come when small flowers buds appear at the tip of some shoots. “What colours are the flowers?” is our question. As Abby’s plant was the bigger and stronger one. It grew faster than Elly’s. The first flower was orange in colour. It was the right time to bring it back to school for her class-teacher to look at. That was a few days before Chinese New Year. After the weekend Abby handed the pot back home. We found that the only opening flower was bent at the stalk near the receptacle and the plant began to dry up. Grandma gave the plant water and supported the drooping flower. As magic, the plant was saved after water was added and became lively again.

The first flower that grew out from Elly’s plant was yellow. We decided to have Elly take the potted plant back to school after the Chinese New Year. What will Abby, Grandma and Elly say to these plants?
Well, Abby will say, “Grow, grow, grow…”
Grandma will say, “Magic…..”
Elly will say, “Sunshine, water and soil.” Do you know why? Well, Elly has learned the three important factors for a seed/seedling to grow already from a book.

Volvo Olympian 11m

Kevin Tsang recently sent me two precious photos of Volvo Olympian 11m (shown at the top). Kevin made his photos of this type of buses an old look. My collection of the same model bus can be seen at the bottom.

Kevin said, "Volvo Olympian 11m are the very first batch of Volvo buses purchased by KMB and are characterized by their powerful Cummins engine with 3+2 seating arrangement. 22 Jan 2013 was their last day and it was unexpected that one of them (GG9879) operated on route 101 instead of short distance routes. A lot of bus enthusiasts including I went to witness its last moments. FYI, there are still a few buses having the same appearance as these buses that have not retired yet, but retiring soon. Some of them belong to the Shatin Depot with their reg number GL2220, GL7586, GL8078, GL8202. They frequently appear on route 85B."

Kevin owns quite a number of bus models at home, but I have just a few, simply because they are too expensive to me.

Daffodils 2013

Daffodils used to be my favourite flowers in the past. Back to Kowloon Tong’s Era, a week or two before each Chinese New Year, my father often bought home one or two “primary” bulbs, cut them at the right places and let the shoots grow out. To support the bulb(s), I put some pebbles on top of the roots in a water trough.

For me, I like the fragrance of the flowers. In the old days, Mr. Leung, the former Principal of the school I was teaching, gave me a bulb of daffodils as a Chinese New Year present. That saved me a little money and plenty of time in developing the flowers.

Downstairs yesterday, I saw some healthy daffodils which I thought I could turn them electronic so that they could stay in my computer as treasure.

Ladies’ Purse

Ladies’ Purse is a very nice name for a restaurant. We often go there to have lunches or dinners. Yesterday was not an exception.

As usual, every first day of Lunar New Year, we meet our dear relatives and chat for long there. Food is always promising here.

Yesterday, my wife chose fish as her main dish; me, a beef steak; my son, Malaysian curry chicken. Our first courses were respectively soup, dumplings and food-bar salad. Last of all, we did not miss the desserts which were lovely cakes of various kinds - cheese, chocolate, chestnut, etc. etc.

“ladies’ purse” is not only for ladies to keep money and cosmetics. To us, “Ladies’ Purse” is for enjoying good food and meeting our dear relatives.

再度有緣

今年農曆初一(星期日)往順利拜年，喜見上次匆匆離開的「蛇巴」泊在總站旁邊。這次心情大好，因為蛇巴路線版面顯示「暫停載客」，相信我有足夠時間把它照個飽。

蛇巴右側車身有捲曲了的蛇餅，以梅花襯托。這條蛇昂首吐舌，精神十足，絕對不是在冬眠。左側車身的蛇明顯是細了很多，蛇頭亦是向著車頭方向。黃色的鱗片細緻地圍繞著巴士的裙邊走，蛇紋的精粹就在這裡被發現。

上到行人天橋時，我才發現巴士頂另有一條蛇捲伏著，正是蛇四面埋伏(左、右、前及頂)，唯獨是我忽略了蛇尾部分，沒有把它攝入鏡頭裏!

在這裏向大家拜年，恭祝各位日日快樂，事事如意，身體安康!

Elly at play

While Abby was drawing, Elly was free to play the small toys of a funny giraffe and a fat pig on the floor. Her purplish blue antennae at her head resemble those of a butterfly or bee. She long accepts these funny swinging antennae as parts of herself, so whenever she goes out, she wears them.

She enjoys looking at the pictures her sister draws. Maybe Abby is drawing her sister Elly before a TV set.

Please note that this is my 2013th piece of writing.

Abby’s New Drawing

Abby has improved  a lot in painting as well as drawing. Recently, she is able to create her own drawings with delightful colours unlike those she used in Canada, being always dull grey, blue and black.

Her great improvement in Art comes from practices at her lessons at a local Art centre. Thanks much to the teachers at the centre. She has good potentials in Art. Hope that she enjoys drawing and explores more in her own "wonderland" and learns to be more attentive and patient at work.

What do you think Abby is drawing? You may need some imagination!

Chocolate Rain

One day in December, 2013, the display of Chocolate Rain dolls at Telford Garden attracted me to stop and take a few photos of them.

The creator of these dolls is a young girl who creates beautiful and colourful dolls made by cloths. They are special because their eyes close all the time. We never find any trace of “chocolate” or “rain” on these dolls.

In the display, I found a Volkswagon “beetle” made of cloth and beautiful trees without leaves.

Snake Bus

Tomorrow will be the first day of Lunar New Year, the Year of the Snake. I wish my blog readers a Happy Chinese New Year in 2013.

Let me show you a Snake Bus from KMB. There are only two such buses running along the shores of Hong Kong and Kowloon. This one is an KMB bus, route 619, running to and from Central and Shun Lee.

Medical Examinations at PWH

Back to November 26, at around 4 o’clock, I felt cold and exhausted after walking rapidly to City One Station. Twice did I faint and finally I dropped flat on the platform ground. I woke up to find the station master who told me that he had called an ambulance. Immediately I informed my wife by phone about my accident. Soon I was sent to A & E at Prince of Wales Hospital. I was initially examined by a nurse and later a doctor. My wife arrived in a short while after my daughter returned home to take care of her children. A doctor came to tell me that I was admitted to the hospital.

Having taken my first plate of food at the waiting area, at about seven thirty, I was brought to Ward 10B where I was allocated to a bed called 1X at the corridor. There it was a sleepless night to me because of the occasional voices from a patient and the conversations among nurses.

On the next day, November 27, Doctor Wan came to see me with another doctor. He decided to transfer me to Ward 7C. In a single room at 7C, my blood pressure, pulse rate, breathing rate and oxygen content were closely monitored. The “warning” sounds from the machine, the regular measurements of my blood pressure at the arm and the coldness of the room had broken my sleep into pieces. Nurses rushed in at one time when my blood pressure dropped to 74 - 34. Perhaps I was at a dormant state after I was chilled for some time in the room. Well, they left after my blood pressure bounded.

The next morning at ten, November 28, I received a Coronary arteriography to see if there was any blockage in the arteries. The operating doctor told me that my arteries were fine. At 2 o’clock, I was bought to a room in the old medical building to have a 24 hour monitoring device attached to my chest.

Because of haemorrhoids, I consulted a specialist doctor on the morning of November 29 and in the same afternoon, the heart monitoring device was removed.

On November 30, Friday, at about half past eleven, I took a cardiac graph through a walking machine. The results were not bad. Unexpectedly, I was granted a “Home leave” for two days and three nights. Well I could get better sleep at home at the weekend.

I returned to the hospital on the following Monday as early as seven and stayed at PWH for four more days because I was still under observation. I was successfully discharged on Thursday, December 6. What a big relief to me!

On December 10, I went to PWH again and this time I received an ultrasound study (ECHO) of my heart. The result came out to be “Normal”.

Hard time came three days before I took the colonoscopy because only low-fibred food should be taken and on the day prior the examination, I could only drink thin congee and nothing else besides water.

Drinking of 4-litre water with laxative was a must to me at the hospital ward 7C on the morning of January 7, 2013. There was no question that I would be busy at the toilet that very morning. The colon examination started in the afternoon. I was given some medicine to pull me to sleep. Back to Ward 7C, I was told that there was no problem at my colons. Well, my worries had gone.

There would be some follow-up appointments for me to consult specialist doctors in Cardiology and Colorectal Surgery in the coming months.

Newly arrived photos of Sydney New Year Fireworks

What lovely and charming fireworks that blast over Sydney Harbour this New Year 2013! Let us see them here. Some of the photos seemed to show our happy teeth and paint brushes. These photos were really beautiful and skillfully taken. Thanks to the photographer(s).

另類朱古力

今年十一月十七日晚上是在下學生貝琪結婚的好日子。此包朱古力是放在我面前的婚讌桌上，相信是貝琪送給在座的賓客的禮物之一。

從禮物外貌來看，我推斷是朱古力，裏面可能是一包市面可以買得到其中一款現成獨立包裝的朱古力。究竟錫紙背後全塊是朱古力，還是朱古力威化，當時我是無從估計的。

朱古力外面的包裝紙相信是套上的，具有特色的設計主題是顯而易見的。這裏的新郎(約翰)是背起穿著婚紗的新娘(貝琪)而來，充分帶給當地嘉賓一種甜絲絲的感覺！

後來在家中，我打開包裝紙及錫紙，發覺它是名副其實的朱古力，咬下去是Kit-Kat級的朱古力威化，食落還有一對新人的甜蜜蜜的味道呢！

釣魚台列島

在地理角度來看，釣魚台列島包括釣魚島、北小島和南小島。

釣魚島上有兩山峰，名高華峰及神農峰。

釣魚島之東北方有黃尾嶼，上有黃毛峰。

在釣魚島與北小島，南小島之間的水道叫釣魚水道，而北小島與南小島之間則叫橄欖門。


電視台每次播放有關釣魚台的新聞片段時很多時見到南北小島，間中也會見到釣魚主島。

Peppermint Chocolate

The red coloured packet of Andes peppermint chocolate attracts my attention for some time. At the first sight, the word “pepper” makes me think of the hot stuff I often dip and taste. After looking up Wikipedia, it is clear that peppermint is one kind of mint that flavours our food, chocolate, chewing gum, tea and candy.

Here it is an extract from Wikipedia:

Peppermint is a hybrid mint, a cross between watermint and spearmint. It is a herbaceous rhizomatous perennial plant growing to 30–90 cm (12–35 in) tall, with smooth stems, square in cross section. The rhizomes are wide-spreading, fleshy, and bare fibrous roots. The leaves are from 4–9 cm long and 1.5–4 cm broad, dark green with reddish veins, and with an acute apex and coarsely toothed margins. The leaves and stems are usually slightly hairy. The flowers are purple, 6–8 mm (long, with a four-lobed corolla about 5 mm diameter; they are produced in whorls (verticillasters) around the stem, forming thick, blunt spikes. Flowering is from mid to late summer.

The leaves and flowering tops are used; they are collected as soon as the flowers begin to open and can be dried. The wild form of the plant is less suitable for this purpose, with cultivated plants having been selected for more and better oil content. They may be allowed to lie and wilt a little before distillation, or they may be taken directly to the still.
Peppermint has a long tradition of medicinal use as far back as ten thousand years ago. Peppermint has a high menthol content, and is often used in tea and for flavouring ice cream, confectionery, chewing gum, and toothpaste. The oil also contains menthone and menthyl esters, particularly menthyl acetate. Dried peppermint typically has 0.3-0.4% of volatile oil containing menthol (7-48%), menthone (20-46%), menthyl acetate (3-10%), menthofuran (1-17%) and 1,8-cineol (3-6%). Peppermint oil also contains small amounts of many additional compounds including limonene, pulegone, eucalyptol, caryophyllene and pinene. It is the oldest and most popular flavour of mint-flavoured confectionery. Peppermint can also be found in some shampoos, soaps and skin care products. Menthol activates cold-sensitive TRPM8 receptors in the skin and mucosal tissues, and is the primary source of the cooling sensation that follows the topical application of peppermint oil.
Peppermint is commonly used to soothe or treat symptoms. Examples would be nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, indigestion, irritable bowel, and bloating. It is also used in aroma therapy.

One animal study has suggested that Peppermint may have radio-protective effects in patients undergoing cancer treatment.

The aroma of peppermint has been found to enhance memory.

Peppermint flowers are large nectar producers and honey bees as well as other nectar harvesting organisms forage them heavily. A mild, pleasant varietal honey can be produced if there is a sufficient area of plants.

The peppermint chocolate shown here comprises two layers. The top layer is white chocolate inserted with small particles of dried peppermint. The lower contains fully red peppermint paste. To me, the taste and colour of this kind of chocolate are miraculously interesting and far different from traditional dark or milky brown ones. No wonder I like it.

Some15-storey-high fountain through 45 minutes

In Melbourne, residents near Knights Drive scrambled to save their homes from flooding yesterday after a burst water pipe sent water shooting up to 50 metres in the sky.
















Water was flowing into homes, and residents were being urged to move their cars from the Drive, where a metre of water was flowing down the street.

At least one house has been significantly damaged, with water flooding into its lounge room and the garage roof collapsing.

The water was shut off after about 45 minutes. The “fountain” vanished and the "curtain" dropped.

A Sweet Gymnast in London Olympics 2012

In Rhythmic Gymnastics, the women gymnasts always wear very attractive costumes and are highly made up by cosmetics.

Here is a Korean beautiful gymnast called San Yeon Jae competing in the Individual All-round Rhythmic Gymnastics, London Olympics, 2012. She swung the red ribbon round or up and down as she performed gymnastics, following the rhythms of the music she chose.

The performance involved much of the beauty of a girl and her costume, the ever-changing movements of arms, legs and body, the flying of the ribbon with the light music behind.

 Finally this young girl of eighteen ranked fifth in the competition. It was not bad at all.

納斯卡線

今次我利用維基百科全書資料及以下的圖片去研究一下有趣的納斯卡線: (左上角之四幅照片是現場空中拍攝的實景。

納斯卡線（Nazca Lines）是位於納斯卡沙漠上的巨大地面圖形。納斯卡沙漠是一座高度乾燥延伸53英里（多於80公里）的高原，在秘魯的納斯卡鎮與帕爾帕市之間。在1939年由美國考古學家保羅•柯索發現。雖然有些地方的人體石刻是以帕拉卡作為主題，但是學者認為納斯卡線是納斯卡文明於400年至650年所創造。有數以百計的個別圖形，出自簡單的線條，以複雜排列構成魚類、螺旋形、藻類、兀鷲、蜘蛛、花、鬣蜥、鷺、手、樹木、蜂鳥、猴子和蜥蜴。

除了從天空以外，納斯卡線條無法被認定成一致的圖形。自假設納斯卡人未能從這個有利位置看見他們的作品以來，已經有許多關於建造者能力和行動方式的推測，推估這些圖案可能在安地斯山的祈雨儀式中，扮演重要的角色。

納斯卡線的製作方法，依據未完成的遺址推測，首先，圖形是以大石頭來標示，並移除深色石塊的表層來界定邊界；接著，移除圖形內部的石頭，並匯集成堆；最後，這些石頭沿著邊界擺放，使圖形的邊緣較為突出。

至於螺旋形圖案的形成，依照考古學家的推測，首先，在圓心的木桿上，纏繞一根繩子，繩子另一端綁上一個棍子，以此方式設計圓形圖案；接著，繩子逐漸向外伸展，設計出愈來愈大的螺旋形圖案；最後，清除每圈螺旋邊緣的石塊，露出顏色較淺的地面，以使螺旋圖案更明顯。

奇妙的花環

今晨往食早餐途中，驟見花圃上的美艷棘杜鵑花自然地編織成圓形的花環在微風下向外飄搖。它們奇妙的造型特別搶鏡，立即將附近的植物比了下去。

我渴望天天都能夠見到這些的棘杜鵑花在爭奇鬥艷！

黃色小花

這兩朶小花吸引我不是它們的黃色，而是它們的花瓣數目不一。

大家不妨留意一下，其中一朶是四片花瓣，而另一朶則五片。究竟這種花的花瓣應該是四片，還是五片才是正常呢？我是不知道答案的，請諸君們為我解答一下。

再傳捷報

香港單車選手李慧詩(2012奧運銅牌得主)成功在2012年10月13日在場地單車世界盃哥倫比亞站中先後擊敗兩名英國車手、歐洲冠軍華莉舒和占姆絲，贏得爭先賽冠軍。

場地單車爭先賽是以一對一形式進行，李慧詩在資格賽以次名晉級十六強後，先後贏了委內瑞拉、日本和英國選手晉級決賽，對另一位英國奧運代表詹姆絲。決賽同樣是三場兩勝制。李慧詩和詹姆絲各勝一場。決賽一場，李慧詩採取終點前直路超越戰術成功，首次奪得世界杯這個項目的金牌。

我們這位單車選手的拼博精神是值得大家學習的。