Episode 117 - Another Spectacular Sunset

The sky remains clear in the past few days. I took advantage of this and took some more pictures. Here is one of them.

Episode 116 - Looking Out of the Window

photo taken by Gogo Tsang

Hong Kong is always clouded by polluted air emitted by the factories in the Pearl River Delta.

The rain in the past few days cleaned up the dust in the air. Looking out of the window, we can see the beautiful sunset again.

This picture was taken by Gogo using a digital camera.

Episode 115 - Books on Taiji

I have a good collection of martial art books on Taiji.

These books were purchased by me in the past 30 years or so. The best book appears to be "On the Art of Taiji", a Qing classic, a photo copy of which was reproduced in a book published in early 80's. "On the Art of Taiji" discusses in depth on the importance of getting back to the "original body condition" through martial art trainings. It also talks about the stage of "Know your own self" and the stage of "Know others". It is a directional book and not an instructional manual. You need to learn the details (on basic trainings and application skills) from a teacher who knows the art.

Another book I like most is "A Collection of Taiji Classics" published in the mainland in early 90s. It includes the texts of most well known Taiji classics. It is a documentary textbook and does not include commentaries of contemporary writers (that's why it is good).

The classics provides:

1. The definitive principles on the art - what the art is about, what to learn and what the goal is.
2. Guidelines for the students to follow so that they will not depart from the basic principles in their trainings.

No matter how good a book is, it cannot replace a teacher - the classics do not teach you "how" to do it. A good teacher should be able to demonstrate to his students in action the taiji principles and provide the right training methods to the students so that they can do the same thing within a reasonable period of time. It is foolish to believe in the saying that "it takes at least 10 years to become a good taiji practitioner."

I also have a lot of books published by contemporary Taiji practitioners. I regret to say that many of these books are not up to standard. It may be that some of these writers are skillful (giving them the benefit of doubt), they did not disclose any valuable information to the public in their books.

Some of these books usually include a set of photos (covering more than 2/3 of the book) with the writers practising the form, plus a reproduction of a few pieces of Taiji classics (covering 10 more pages), plus some simple (or intentionally complicated) explanations from which you cannot improve your skill.

I wish I could find out some positive methods to get rid of these books on my bookshelf. I of course wish to have all my money back - together with interest!

Episode 114 - Cattleya : Some Observations

1. Planting Materials: Local flower farmers like to use charcoal, wood and rocks as planting materials for the Orchids. Orchids do not like normal soil and need to be planted in materials which are moisture but non-sticky, leaving rooms for the roots to breath. Charcoal, wood and rocks give the roots enough fresh air. However, these material easily turn dry. The flower farmers therefore water their orchids quite often, using automatic sprayer. As an amateur, I find these planting materials not satisfactory, as I can only water my plants in the morning and in the evening. I replaced all these materials with moss only. My orchids are obviously happy with the moss.

2. Water: The gardening knowledge of the local orchid sellers are not always reliable. Many sellers advised me not to water the orchids at home - "Leave the orchids dry. Water them thoroughly once a week is enough," said the orchid sellers. I once followed this method and became the killer of many poor orchids. I eventually discover that cattleyas are happy with water so long as you are using the correct planting materials. I spray the orchids in the morning and in the evening until the moss is wet. In addition, I put the whole pot into water occasionally for full absortion of water.

3. Sunshine: Cattleyas do not like direct sunshine, I only expose them to sunlight for about an hour occasionally .

4. Air-conditioning: Cattleyas do not like the cool air transmitted from air-conditioners. The orchids are happy with fresh air, however.

5. Fertilizer: I use solid orchid fertilizer. I once used diluted liquid fertilizer but found that some of the orchids do not like it . It is easy to burn the leaves of the orchids if liquid fertilizer is not used appropriately.

6. Flowers: Cut out the flowers as soon as their petals become thin. The flowers take away most of the reserve of the orchid. If you do not cut out the flowers and let it dry up normally in the plant, the orchid will need a longer period of time to recover - it may not be able to bear flowers in the next year.

Episode 113 - Full Flowering Position

Episode 112 - Purple Cattleya: First Flower

The orchid starts flowering this morning.

Like the mother plant, the flower of this pot of orchid is also 3 petalled. The size of the flower is smaller, however. There are altogether 4 flower buds. The other 3 flowers will blossom in the next few days - photos of the full blossoming orchid will follow.

I am thinking of further divide this pot of cattleya into two. I will have 3 pots then!

I also plan to cross pollinate the purple cattleya with the white cattleya next year. It should be fun!

Episode 111 - New Flowering Orchid

The next plant to blossom should be the yellow cattleya instead of the Ascocenda.

This cattleya has been in my home for about 3 years. The last time it flowered was in the summer of 2005 (see photo). The orchid has 2 leaves per shoot and the size of the flower is smaller than those one leaf orchids. As you can see from the photo, the flowers of this variety are very colourful.

Last year, I divided the orchid into 2 pots. It appears that the plants were not happy with the division and have not been flowered since then.

I just note that one pot of the yellow orchids is developing flowers. There are, just as last time, 3 flower buds in one shot.

Another pot of summer orchid.

Episode 110 - Cattleya: new developments

photo updated 19/5

The flower buds of the cattleya have burst through their flower sheaths. There are 2 flower shoots so I will probably have four flowers this time.

This pot of cattleya does not flower at the right season, but I am happy with this. The plants in my home keep on blossoming, one after the other, from the beginning of the year.

The next flowering orchid in my home will probably be the Ascocenda, which is developing well with a lot of white roots extending from the plant.

Episode 109 - Bauhinia Blakeana

I spotted this flowering Bauhinia Blakeana at a small garden near my home. May is not supposed to be the flowering time for the tree. Perhaps the changes in global weather have affected this tree's "characters".

Bauhinia Blakena is said to be a mix of Bauhinia Purpurea and Bauhinia Variegata. It was first discovered in Hong Kong and has been adopted as the floral emblem of Hong Kong since 1965. It is also known as the Hong Kong orchid tree.

It is easy to confuse Bauhinia Blakeana with Bauhinia Variegata as they have similar outlook and heart shaped leaves. Bauhinia Variegata bears red flowers and blossoms in spring. Bauhinia Blakeana bears purple flowers and blossoms in Autumn. A Bauhinia Blakeana will not bear fruit.

Although Bauhina Blakeana is the "flower of the city", it is not commonly seen in the street - you can find more Bauhinia Variegatas than Bauhinia Blakeanas in Hong Kong.

Episode 108 - Sake and Beef

Kobe is one of my favourite cities.

Many of the sake makers are in Kobe and many of the manufacturing sites are open to the public. Visitors can take a wine tasting course at some of these sites.

Kobe is also famous for beef.

There are a large number of restaurants in downtown Kobe, offering various beef menus to customers. Not all of them are good. The Kobe beef is very expensive, it is disappointed if you do not get your money's worth. I located a good restaurant in downtown after several trials. Its teppanyaki is fantastic.

I like to walk to this restaurant from the New Kobe Shinkansen Eki, as I can visit the Foreign Buildings District on the way. There are a number of traditional western houses in the district. Many of them were once consulate houses. The house in the photo was once a British Consulate.

Episode 107- Elephant Clock

This photo was taken at the Clock Hall in the Forbidden City at Beijing.

The exhibition hall has a great collection of antique clocks. Some of them were gifts to the Qing emperors from representatives of overseas countries.

I loves time pieces. I like to spend some time in the Clock Hall to watch these clocks every time I visit the Forbidden City. These clocks are my fantasies come true.

This elephant clock is one of my favourites. It features a war elephant with a cart of soldiers, each assuming different posture. There is also a "driver" on the top of the elephant. This finely crafted elephant clock appears to be gold plated and embroidered with jewels. The time piece is at the rear portion of the war cart.

It is said that the elephant can walk if it is wound up.

Episode 106 - Cattleya: summer flowers

As you may recall, I divided my purple cattleya into two pots. The mother portion flowered earlier this year.

The cattleya in the photo is the new plant. Unlike the mother plant, The new plant bears flower sheaths. There are 2 flower shoots this time. The buds are still within the sheaths but they can be identified if the plant is placed against a light source. The buds will grow bigger and burst through the sheath.

I anticipate that the orchid will flower in 2 to 3 weeks' time.

The unusual weather has affected the flowering seasons of the orchid. According to the book, this variey of orchid flowers in Spring. I will have summer orchid this year.

I will post another photo of the plant when it flowers.