Episode 68 - Shao Hsing Chew

The bottle on the left is the wine bottle of a 10 year old reserved Shao Hsing Chew.

This Chinese rice wine has a tradition of over 2,400 years. It is a kind of "yellow wines" (in contrast to the "white wines" like Mou Tai) with ≧15% alcohol content.

I recall that some 30 years ago in Hong Kong, the traditional Chinese wines (perhaps with the exception of Mou Tai) were mostly consumed by people from the low-income group or used as cooking wines only. Foreign wines, like cognac, whisky and red wines, were (and still are) much more popular.

I first tried the Shao Hsing Chew, about 20 years ago, on the recommendation of my brother (he discovered that the wine, after warmed, was a good companian to hotpot food in winter). At that time, the Chia Fan was the best available Shao Hsing Chew in the market. The wine was then sold in a large traditional wine bottle - like the one used by Jacky Chan in the kungfu film Boxing of the Drunken Immortals. It took me more than one week's time to finish a whole bottle.

Although the Chia Fan was good, my attention was soon diverted to the French red wines which were then becoming popular in Hong Kong.

I do not know when the reserved wine was introduced to Hong Kong, but it must have been in the market for quite some time. I spotted it in a supermarket a few years ago and I purchased one recently. The porcelain wine bottle was packed inside a nice wooden box - much more attractive than the Jacky Chan bottle.

While the wine can also be consumed with ice or in room temperature, I like to drink it hot. I poured half bottle of the wine into the wine bottle (on the right side of the photo) and steamed it until the wine was hot. I then consumed the delicious wine with red meat.

It was an excellent wine, good smell, supple and juicy. I definitely have had my money's worth out of this wine.

Episode 67 - In Bud

The flowers are now in bud!

I believe that the orchid will blossom within one to two weeks.

As there are still 25 days before the Chinese New Year, and the flowers for this variety can last for around 2 weeks only, I am not sure if the flowers can last until the New Year. Let's see my luck this time.

The position of the White Cattleya is a little bit uncertain. The 2nd flower bud of the orchid is coming out from the shoot but the first flower bud has stopped growing. I am afraid that the 2nd bud will take away all the food and the first bud will dry up soon. As mentioned previously, it is not easy, if not impossible, to have 2 blossoming flowers in one pot for this variety.

There is no sign of a flower bud yet for the Clivia.

Episode 66 - Spinning Top

It appears that we are more stable if we stand with both legs rather than with one leg.

Taiji lays importance on balancing oneself in action but it would appear that its Theorem Against Double Bases ("TADB") is at odd with what we normally think about balancing. According to TADB, a double based position is a bad position.

Why single based?

Look at the top in the picture above.

The foot of a top is small. It will fall down easily when it is static. However, a top will not fall down whilst spinning.

To name one obvious advantage: A spinning object generates centripetal force or centrifugal force.

A double based object cannot spin around easily. Likewise, a doubled based person will not be able to spin his body easily in action - he can only do so by putting all his weight on one leg.

In order to overcome the Strong Man Principle, a weaker party has to move around quickly and deal with the stronger opponent with suitable techniques.

Not knowing the secret of the TADB, a double based party will ironically, and inevitably, end up locking horns with his opponent!

Episode 65 - Spherical Power

Imagine you are a ball filling with air inside.

Although your mind determines which part of the ball is to hit, the "air" fills the internal sphere of the the ball in an even manner. When you push forward, your back goes backward; your head pushes upward; your leg goes downward; your right side maintains the force to the right; your left side maintains the force to the left, etc. That's the idea behind the eight directions diagram.

The force is exercised as a coherent whole: You are in a balanced position.

If the force is directed to one side only, it will piece through the wall of the ball. The "air" is released, and you lose the power: You are in an unbalanced position.

[See also the Note on Occupying the Centre]

Episode 64 - Ginger Milk Pudding (II)

I visited my parents yesterday and treated them with the ginger milk puddings (see a picture of the pudding here).

My father said he tried to taste this pudding when he visited Fatshan previously but he could not find the shop. He was surprised that I could make the pudding.

My parents enjoyed the puddings very much and said that's the best ginger milk puddings they have ever tasted!

I have taught my parent's Indonesian maid the method to make the pudding. Hopefully she can make the puddings for everyone's enjoyment in the next family gathering.

Episode 63 - Ginger Milk Pudding

No photo this time (see photo in Part III) as the subject matter has been consumed.

I love eating (good food) but I seldom do any cooking myself.

Last Sunday evening, I watched a TV program on cooking at home. It's a one hour show with a lady speaking words of exaggeration and performing seemingly amateur standard cooking demonstrations. I like to watch cooking programs but I did not like this one. I was used to switching the channel as soon as I saw that lady waving a big chopper in the air.

That evening, I turned on the TV and noted that the channel I selected was showing that cooking program. I was annoyed and decided to change the TV channel as usual. Just before I pressed the remote control button, I got a feeling that the lady was very confident at this part of the show. I withheld my desire to switch channel and continued to watch the show. The lady then gave detailed instructions and demonstration on how to make a ginger milk pudding. The instructions as given were clear and up to the point and I felt that I could make a pudding easily, following the procedures as presented.

I decided to give it a try and asked Gogo to purchase the material for me from the supermarket. Gogo was cooperative and bought back all I needed notwithstanding the cold weather.

Applying what I learnt from the TV show, I made some delicious ginger milk puddings for my family. We all enjoyed the puddings.

Thereafter, I reviewed a cook book with coverages on ginger milk puddings. According to the writer of this cook book, it is not a easy task to make a ginger milk pudding. It is said that the successful rate is not high and very much depends on the temperature of the milk and the type of ginger as used. The book then sets out a method developed by the writer. Judging from what I have learned from the TV show, the information as given in the cook book is obviously insufficient. The cooking method as introduced therein is complicated and inconvenient. It can only make one cup of pudding at one time. On the contrary, the procedures as disclosed by the lady in the TV show are straight forward and practicable. I made 4 cups of puddings for the family in one go.

The writer of the cook book is famous. I highly regarded what's said by this writer in the past. The TV lady is not a cook herself and the program is like a talk show of the lady rather than on cooking. Hence I presumed previously that no serious cooking skill would be demonstrated in the show.

I do not mean that this event proves that the lady has acquired the real art in cooking or that she is more skillful than the cook book writer. I am not in a position to comment on her cooking methods other than that on making of the ginger milk puddings.

What I would like to say is that we may easily miss some good thing in life if we let our preconception control our behaviour - if I pressed the remote control button to switch the TV channel in that evening, I would have missed that part of the show on the ginger milk puddings.

In any event, I give one thumb up to that TV lady for the delicious puddings.



[Dear All: Chiu Yin's Gallery has new posting!]

Episode 62 - Taiji Pole

This is a traditional "White-Wax Pole" and is about 10 feet in length.

The long pole is a tool for advanced training in the Taiji Martial Art System.

One most common training method is the shaking of the pole. You can find a lot of published material on this subject and there are many related videos circulating on the internet.

I do not intend to analyse the published training methods here but it seems to me that without knowing how to handle the pole; and without knowing the role of the pole in the Taiji Martial Art System, a practitioner will easily fall into the trap of the "Strong Man Principle".

If you wish to develop strong muscles, shaking the pole with all your strength may produce the desired results. But what additional benefit can you obtain by shaking a pole instead of doing weight lifting in a gym?

The Taiji Pole is a high level training tool. Before you take up the pole, you should already have a clear understanding of the fundamental principles in taiji, knowing which part(s) of your body is the focus of the pole training; and anticipating how the pole training could assist you to improve your "Yin Yang Conversion" skill.

Apart from shaking, what else can you do with the pole?

If you are still in the wilderness, leave the pole alone. You are not yet ready for it.

Episode 61 - Good Progress

The Purple Cattleya is growing well. The shoot has two flower buds (the other one is hidding behind and can not been seen in the photo) and are developing. I think it will flower before the Chinese New Year. Hopefully, the flowers will still be in good form in the New Year days.
The White Cattleya is bearing flowers as well. There are 2 flower shoots at the moment. The spotted stem is an indication that the shoot is bearing flower. You can see flower buds growing out from the shoot on the right side of the photo. Although there are at least 2 buds in the shoot, I believe that the plant will, as it did previously, end up with one flower only. This variety of cattleya will give all the food to one flower bud such that it can develop into a large flower. The remaining flower bud(s) will dry up eventually for lack of food. The other spotted stem may not be able to generate flower bud before the first flower is cut down.