Episode 60 - Flower for the New Year

One of my Cattleyas is blooming again.

As you can see from the photo (click on the picture to see larger photo), the shoot in the middle is bearing a new flower bud!

In the previous occasions, each flower shoot would have a flower sheath. The flower buds were invisiable until they grew out of their sheaths. It is strange that the shoot does not have a flower sheath this time.

This is the mother part of the old plant. I separated the plant into 2 pots earlier this year. The other pot is growing well too.

The White Cattleya appears to be bearing a new flower bud as well. I will let you know if my observation is correct.

Episode 59 - Danger, Not Danger (II)

Look at Cable Car 15. Can you see that its door is opened?

This is the cable car system at the Sunlight Rock Park at Gulangyu. Gogo and I were surprised to find that the cars did not stop and wait for the passengers for boarding. Instead, we had to rush into one of the cars before it took off from the platform. Although the ticket collector closed the door for us manually before we were sent out, we were worried that the door would open unexpectedly like Car 15.

Again, we came back safely.


[ Link to Part I]

Episode 58 - Where the deities live

This is Shinsennuma.

The Japanese word "shinsen" means deity; and "numa" means bog or marsh.
















According to the notice board set up by the local authorities at Shinsennuma (see photo), this place was discovered in 1928 by Toyomatsu Shimoda and his assistants during a search for training grounds for the youth in the Niseko mountains. Shimoda and his assistants were deeply impressed by the beauty of the numa and considered it to be a place where the deities live. They therefore named it the Shinsennuma.














Shinsennuma is situated near to Hirafu (in where I stayed during the journey). Around the area is the big beautiful mountain Youteizan and a lake named Hangetsuko. The distance between Hirafu and Shinsennuma is around 10 km. It takes about 20 to 30 minutes' drive from Hirafu to here, using the Panorama line (this is where I met the sun-bathing fox). The nearest railway station is the Niseko Station (see photo. A beautiful station, isn't it?). As Shinsennuma is up in the mountains, it is not easily accessible for travellers without a car.

Shinsennuma is always foggy. Visitors walk carefully on the boardwalk, greeting each other with "Konichiwa".

Episode 57 - Tang Garden

Lotus in Town (II)

This photo was taken at the Nan Lian Garden in front of the Chi Lin Nunnery. This Garden is owned by the government but managed and maintained by the Nunnery.

The design of the garden follows the Tang Dynasty styles and is in harmony with the principal buildings of the Nunnery. The garden adopts a one-way visiting route. Visitors should follow the road signs in the garden to complete their journeys. There is a foot bridge leading from the garden to the Nunnery.

Whilst its Tang Dynasty building structure is unique in Hong Kong, people who have been to Japan (where the Tang styles are popular in traditional buildings and gardens) should feel that the garden and the buildings here look familar.

In the middle of the garden is a tea house which overlooks a pond of 400 colourful carps.

The tea serving at the tea house is expensive - it is not my cup of tea.

Apart from the tea house, there is a vegetarian restaurant in the garden. The price for a set lunch / dinner in the restaurant seems reasonable.

Episode 56 - Danger, Not Danger

This photo was taken at the seaside near the Xiamen Hulishan Fortress.

The wording on the notice board means: "Dangerous bridge. People who have nothing to do with it keep away."

As you can see from the photo, a sampan is mooring at the floating board connected to the bridge. It is obvious that the bridge is being used for some purpose.

If it is dangerous, it is not fit for use. How come a related person can use it? Does the sampan belong to a related person? If the sampan owner did use the bridge, anything unusual happened?

Is this a hoax or a real danger?

I could not resist the temptation to step on the bridge.

I came home safely.

Episode 55 - Red Cap

Another goldfish from my fish tank.

The Red Cap belongs to the "Gentle" variety and is one kind of High Heads (also known as the Orandas). Unlike the Tiger Head, the rasberry-like head growth of the fish covers only the top of the head. As you can see from the photo, the fish looks like wearing a red cap. The Red Cap is also known as the "Red Spot on the Head of a Crane". Other than the red spot on the top of its head, the fish is silver-white in colour. Any colour on the body will "disqualify" it. This fish is up to standard.

It is not difficult to take care of a goldfish. Just stick to the following guildlines, assuming that you keep your goldfish in an indoor water tank of reasonable size and feed it with pellets purchased from the pet shop:

1. Never overfeed your fish: Goldfish loves eating. It eats a lot without knowing when to stop. Overfeeding will kill the fish - because of bad digestion or intoxication (water fouled by the food or the excretion of the goldfish). Feed the fish only once or twice a day and not exceeding the amount that it will consume within 3-5 minutes. Goldfish will stop eating (or eat very little) if the temperature is very low in winter. Do not feed your goldfish at night.

For newly purchased goldfish, in particular if you need to travel a long way home from the pet shop, do not feed it in the first 2 days. Let it settle down first before giving it any food.

Feed your goldfish occasionally with live food (worms or meat cut into small pieces) / egg yolk (cooked and cut into small pieces) / vegetables (clean thoroughly and cut into small pieces. My fish loves broccoli).

2. Change water regularly: If you do not have a filtering system, change one third of the water everyday. Change the water frequently even if you have a filtering system.

3. So long as it is kept indoor, a goldfish will not die simply because of low winter temperature. There is no need to use a heater in the fish tank. Remember not to do anything to change the water tank temperature drastically.

According to a report, the oldest known captive goldfish died in the age of 43. The normal life-span of a goldfish is around 10 years.

A goldfish can recognise its master. It will ask for food when it sees you (that's why it is easy to overfeed your pet!). It will not swim away even if you put your hand into the water tank.

My personal experience is that it is not difficult to breed goldfish at home. The Chinese book "Chinese Goldfish" by Wu & Fu (1983) has detailed and practicable instructions. The problem is to get time to take care of the large number of baby fish!

Episode 54 - Tiger Head

I purchased this goldfish from a pet shop at Prince Edward yesterday.

There are many pet shops at the Prince Edward District, selling goldfish, tropical fish, coral fish, and aquarium products. It was not easy to make a decision as there were so many choices.

Apart from the shops, fish hawkers gather together in a nearby area in the form of a flea market, with locally bred goldfish and tropical fish offering for sale at a very competitive price. These hawkers arrive at the vicinity in the early morning. They leave early as well.

The goldfish I purchased at the pet shop is a young male Tiger Head of Beijing origin. As you can see from the photo, the Tiger Head is in a very good shape.

Judging from its size, this Tiger Head is about 1 year old. This is the best size to start with. If the fish is too young, it is difficult to judge whether it will develop into a good shape. Mature fish with good shape is good but its colour and brightness will diminish as it grows older.

Some people find it difficult to differentiate between the Tiger Heads and the High Heads (also known as the Orandas). In fact, the difference between the two is that the rasberry-like head growth of a High Head stay on top of its head only, like wearing a cap, whereas the growth of a Tiger Head develops further down to its face. The head growth will cover up most of the eyes and the mouth of a Tiger Head when the fish becomes mature. The Tiger Heads are also sometimes mistaken for the Lion Heads. A Lion Head has head growth just like a Tiger Head but the Lion Head is smaller in size and does not have a dorsal fin on the back.

The head growth of a Tiger Head will develop as the fish grows up. The development of the head growth is not easy without feeding live food. Frozen worms are available at the fish shops but they do not appear to be attractive to the goldfish (at least to those in my fish tank!).

The goldfish is of China origin but was brought to the other parts of the world by the businessmen many years ago. These goldfish has been settled down in foreign land with new varieties developed. It is said that the Tiger Head was exported from China to Japan in 1800s. It is known as the Shishigashira Oranda in Japan. Goldfish developed by the Japanese is famous for its regular shapes and colours.

In China, there are 5 major varieties of goldfish: The "Grass", the "Gentle", the "Dragon Eyes", the "Egg" and the "Dragon Back". The Tiger Head and the High Head belong to the "Gentle" variety. The Lion Head as mentioned above belongs to the "Egg" variety.

Episode 53 - Rock Blog

We write a lot on our blogs to satisfy our desire to be heard and seen.

What did people do in the past?

They blogged on the rocks!

Journey to Xiamen (III) - photos taken at Gulangyu.


[Links to Part 1 and Part 2]

Episode 52 - Rabbit Warren

Journey to Xiamen (II)

The "M" sign of the fast food shop looks like a pair of rabbit ears.

Gogo and I like to call it the "Rabbit Ears Shop".

Whilst I frequently saw these ears in the streets during my journey in Xiamen, the shops did not appear to be very popular as I could see a lot of empty seats inside.

We had a lunch at the Gulangyu shop. The price of the food was 25% cheaper than that in Hong Kong.

Unlike Gogo, I do not have any preference for the fast food. I enjoyed very much the food served in the local restaurants. Two thumbs up to the cooks in Xiamen!

[Links to Part 1 and Part 3]

Episode 51 - New time, old memories

Journey to Xiamen (I)

I have had a short holiday in Xiamen with Gogo.

The photos above were taken at Zhongshan Road. It is the main road leading to the harbour where you can take a ferry to the Gulangyu Island. Part of the road has been designated for pedestrian only, but I like the other part of it where one way traffic is allowed. The buildings erected along this part of the road are more spectacular. As you can see from the photos, the artistic old buildings are well maintained.

I gathered from the old photo albums that we had a lot of artistic buildings in Hong Kong some 40 years ago. Most of these old buildings have been pulled down and replaced by concrete forests. It's very sad that nothing was done to preserve our traditional treasures.

Walking along a road like this really brings back memories.

[Links to Part 2 and Part 3]

Episode 50 - Fei Jia Shui

Gogo mentioned in his blog that he drank a lot of "Fei Jia Shui" at the BBQ gathering.

That's it!

He was very happy when he saw this big bottle in the street of Shanghai.

The photo was taken at Nanjing Road.