Episode 189 - Lamma - the Southern Island of Hong Kong

The photo above shows the beautiful Sok Kwu Wan of Lamma Island and its fish farming site.

Our neighbourhood outing group had a half day outing to the Island earlier today.

We took a ferry to Sok Kwu Wan at 11: 50 a.m. and arrived at around 12:35 p.m. We had a short lunch break at a restaurant before we started our journey. Most of the restaurants there are seafood restaurants, selling sea fishes. We were not interested in the sea fishes and took some westernized food instead.

There are two harbours in Lamma Island. The Sok Kwu Wan Harbour (at where we arrived) and the Yung Shu Wan Harbour (from where we left the Island). There is a beautiful hiking route linking the two Harbours. If you walk at full speed, it will take you about one and a half hour to complete the journey. We were not in a hurry. The natural and beautiful scenery of the Island also slowed down our paces. It took us about 2 hours before we arrived at the Hung Shing Yeh Beach where the parents took a break and the kids had a sand castle building hour.

The beautiful Lamma Island sunset gave a final touch to our journey as we walked leisurely towards the Yung Shu Wan Harbour.



It has been over 10 years since I last visited Lamma Island. Compare with the one in my recollection, the Island has become cleaner and tidier. The rocky hiking route I last walked on is now well paved and there are clear and helpful road signs.

A wonderful place for a half day outing.

Episode 188 - Misty Forest

Another photo of the forest taken from the peak this morning.

The mist defamilarized the city for us by taking out its usual colours.

Episode 187 - Adding and Releasing

Adding and Releasing are 2 complementary application techniques in Taiji.

In the post on Spherical Power, I explained the technique of Releasing:

"Imagine you are a ball filling with air inside.............. If your 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."

What then is Adding?

In order to maintain the optimum position, the air inside the ball should be no more or no less. If more air is injected inside the ball, it will become unstable due to the increased pressure: You are in an unbalanced position.

Balancing oneself with 2 legs is not an easy task as one normally conceives - it is a result of continuous daily practice since we first learned to walk. Once this take-for-granted mechanism is disturbed, it is very difficult for a person to main his balance.

Adding and Releasing are useful tools for disturbing your opponent's balancing mechanism. One way to do it is to add air into the ball and then release it - an application technique applying the Yin / Yang Conversion Principle.

Episode 186 - Revisiting the Long Island

I revisited Cheung Chau yesterday. This time with Chiu Yin's friends and their parents who are also our neighbours.

The photos above were taken at the edge of the Vase Rock - one of the many interesting weathered granite along the path of the Little Great Wall.

The tour might have been a challenge to the kids as we walked a lot for the whole afternoon. Having said that, I do believe that they did find the journey interesting and enjoyable. They played along the East Beach, touched the weathered granite, and searched for the pirate's hidden treasure in the Cheung Po Chai Cave !

Episode 185 - Colourful Angels

"Angels are all around us, all the time, in the very place we live."

These are two of the Discuses I purchased from the pet shops at Prince Edward recently. The one in the first photo is a Red Turquoise; and the second one is a Pigeon Blood.

When they were first introduced to Hong Kong, Discuses were sold at very high prices. In the light of the profit margin, the tropical fish farmers soon acquired the skill to bred these fishes locally. Save for those newly developed species, the prices of the discuses have now dropped to a reasonable and affordable level.

Local people like to call the discuses the "Colourful Angels" and consider them to be one kind of Angle Fishes. While both the Discuses and the common Angel Fishes belong to the Cichild Family, it may not be correct to consider discuses as one variety of Angel Fishes. In any event, this is what they are being called here.

All the "Angels" hid behind the plants as soon as I released them into the fish tank. They even refused to eat anything in the first week and I worried that they would soon become angels. I tried to keep the environment quiet and treated the "Angels" with frozen worms. It worked! They are now swimming leisurely in the tank and will ask for food as soon as I walk close to the tank. Apart from worms, I also feed them with flake type fish food. I learned that the discuses can be fed with certain kind of hamburger - with cow's heart and shrimp as the main ingredient. That's why the discuses in some pet shops are so fat!

I keep some neon tetras with the "Angels" and they appear to be living together peacefully. Occasionally, the "Angels" would quarrel and fight among themselves - annoying but acceptable.

Episode 184 - Morning Fish Market

"There are many pet shops at the Prince Edward District, selling goldfish, tropical fish, coral fish, and aquarium products. ...........

"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." - Episode 54 - Tiger Head



I and Chiu Yin visited the morning fish market today. We got up at 6 a.m. and took a cross harbour bus to Kowloon. We got off the bus at a stop near Prince Edward. After a 10 minutes' walk, we arrived at the fish market at Boundary Street.

The market starts at around 5:00 a.m. everyday. It is not a licenced market but the government has closed one of its eyes on this for many years. The sellers are self-disciplined and will leave before 8:00 a.m.

As you can see from the photos taken by Chiu Yin above, there were many fish sellers doing business along the street this morning and there were a lot of choices. Apart from common tropical fishes and goldfishes there were many strange fishes which we had never seen before (not even in books!). We also saw various kinds of tortoises and hermit crabs.

The prices of the "goods" were very attractive and there were a large number of buyers as well. The fishes were packed and sold in plastic bags.

You can get a good price if you purchase a large bag with over 20 tails of goldfishes or 100 tails of neon tetras or guppies.

Episode 183 - Rope Way to the Big Buddha

We had no specific plan yesterday but to do some shopping and had our lunch outside as a normal Sunday family activity. The Citygate shopping centre at Tung Chung is one of our favorites as there are a number of factory outlets selling garments and foot wears at very reasonable prices.

After lunch and some shopping, we took a walk at the concourse outside the shopping arcade. It was around 4:00 p.m. in the afternoon. Next to the concourse is the Ngong Ping 360 Cable Car Terminal. In the past, the terminal was always packed with people and we did not have any incentive to try the cable car. We were surprised to find that there were only a small number of visitors there, so we decided to have a go this time.

As there were not many visitors, my family was directed to occupy one cable car ourselves.

The Ngong Ping 360 is a 5.7 km bi-cable rope way, linking Tung Chung with the Ngong Ping Mountain. Looking out through the window of the cable car, I was impressed by the beauty of the Lantau Island Country Parks.

It took about 20 minutes to reach the top of the Ngong Ping mountain. As the last cable car to Tung Chung would leave the station at 6:30 p.m., we had about 2 hours' visiting time - which was more than sufficient for us to visit both the Tian Tan Buddha Statue and the Po Lin Monastery.

Shopping has always been an unwelcoming activity for the kids. They were happy to have an extra journey this time.

Episode 182 - Electronic Pet

This photo was taken at the Science Museum in Shanghai.

The "dog" was equipped with an artificial intelligence computer and could respond to the instructions of the visitors.

The kids always wish to keep a dog or a cat at home. Considering the work involved in taking care of an animal, various proposals were rejected. With the development in artificial intelligence, it may not be a bad idea to keep an electronic pet at home.

Perhaps I can even have an electronic martial art training partner some day.

Episode 181 - Nuri the Parrot

Typhoon Nuri visits Hong Kong today.

Typhoon Signal Number 9 is being hoisted outside and I took the above picture of the Lung Fu Shan through the window of the living room. Although it is a direct hit on our island, the typhoon does not appear to be strong and has not created great damage to the city. My flat is facing south and is not affected by the wind - it is just like a normal rainy day.

The Chinese name for Nuri is "鸚 鵡" which means parrot. Thanks to this bird, we have a relaxed holiday.

Revised at 10:16 p.m.:

I was wrong! It is blowing severe South-Westerly winds now and water is seeping in through the window frames! It is a crazy parrot!

Episode 180 - Hero

This is a Hero 2019 fountain pen.

Hero brand fountain pens were once very popular among Hong Kong primary school students because of their competitive pricing. I can't recall if the first fountain pen I had was a Hero but I must have had owned a few before.

I purchased this Hero 2019 at the Shanghai Book City. Although I seldom use a fountain pen now, the design, quality and the price of the pen was just irresistible - more importantly, it really brought back memory!

Episode 179 - Heroine

This is the tomb of the Heroine of the Mirror Lake - Qiu Kin.

Qiu was a revolutionary and a feminist at the time of the Qing Dynasty. She was arrested and executed by the Qing Government after an unsuccessful uprising in 1907. Her remains were moved to and buried beside the West Lake to accomplish her wish.

Apart from being a revolutionary, Qiu was a poet and a martial artist.

I still remember her famous poem: "Have Wine"

對酒

不惜千金買寶刀，貂裘換酒也堪豪。

一腔熱血勤珍重，灑去猶能化碧濤。

The statue is an imitation of Qiu Kin holding a traditional Chinese sword. The stone craving on the tomb was the calligraphy of Sun Yat-sen.

Episode 178 - Picture Within Picture

This photo was taken at the "Little Heavenly Island" in the West Lake.

There are 3 small islands within the West Lake, the "Little Heavenly Island" is the largest and the most spectacular.

The Little Heavenly Island has its own lake, pagodas and bridges.

The Island is an excellent exemplification of a Chinese garden - a combination of hill, water, poetry and drawing. It is a picture within the picturesque West Lake.

Episode 177 - Dragon Boat

If you wish to take a boat trip in the West Lake, there are many options. Here is one of them - It should be fun if we can have a party inside this dragon boat whist travelling in the lake.

Episode 176 - Thunder Hill Pagoda

The Thunder Hill Pagoda is a rebuilt structure. The old pagoda collapsed many years ago. The relic of the old pagoda is preserved within the new pagoda.

The new pagoda is a modernised building with lifts installed inside. There is an escalator leading uphill to it.

The Pagoda forms a beautiful backdrop to the West Lake (see photo in Episode 175) and provides the visitors a unique place to take a bird's eye view of the lake.

Episode 175 - West Lake

This photo was taken at the coastal area of the West Lake in Hangzhou.

We had a short holiday and visited Shanghai and Hangzhou recently. We stayed in a hotel in Shanghai. With the improvement in the railway system, travelling from Shanghai to Hangzhou is very convenient. We boarded a super express non-stop train bound for Hangzhou at the Shanghai South Station. It only took us around one and a half hour's time to arrive at the Hangzhou Railway station.

We took a taxi to the lake area and boarded one of the many round-trip tourist cars to the "Thunder Hill Pagoda" on the other side of the lake.

Episode 174 - Rainstorm

We had a huge rainstorm here yesterday.

The Observatory hoisted the Black Rainstorm signal from around 6 a.m. to 11 a.m.

According to the Observatory's press release, " rain was heaviest in the morning. The Observatory recorded 145.5 millimetres during the hour from 8 to 9 a.m., the highest hourly rainfall since record began. From midnight till 6 p.m., 304.8 millimetres of rain fell at the Observatory, the 5th highest daily rainfall record in June. "

A number of landslides were reported. The Lung Fu Shan (literally the Dragon and Tiger Hill") near my home was one of the victims. The photo above was taken by me this morning. The landslide uprooted a number of trees, leaving a "wound" on the surface of the hill. The trees, the mud and the rocks slided downhill and caused a huge flood in the Western District yesterday.

Due to the bad weather and terrible traffic condition, I had to stay at home until 11 a.m. before I got back to work at my office - a nice break though.

Episode 173 - Purple Cattleya - The Flower Is Out

The flower is out.

A 3-petal flower in normal size.

The photos above recorded the blossoming process of the orchid.

Episode 172 - Purple Cattleya - In Bud

I further divided the purple cattleya into two pots last year. This is one of them (using the old flower pot).

The flower shoot has only one (but large) bud this time. It will blossom in the next few days. I will post the full flowering position.

The cattleya appears to have settled down well after the partition. I now have 3 pots of purple cattleyas - all develop from the mother plant I purchased in 2004.

Episode 171 - Bun Festival - tradition and change

This is a training ground for the Bun Snatching participants. As you can see from the photo, people were climbing up to the top of a tower.

The Bun Festival is an important event in Cheung Chau. It is associated with the religious tradition of the Pak Tai Temple. In the past, three bamboo bun towers - the towers were covered with edible buns and were commonly known as the Buns Mountains - would be erected in the front of the Pak Tai Temple. On the festival night, young people climbed up the towers to snatch the buns and took them home. It was said that the buns could bring good fortune to the family.

The traditional Bun Snatching event was abolished following a serious accident in the 1970's. One of the bun mountain collapsed that night and many people were injured.

The event has been rejuvenated recently - this time as a festival and a sport event which provides an excellent opportunity for the climbers to test their skills. On the festival night, the bamboo (reinforced by steel) tower will be covered with plastic buns (instead of the traditional edible buns). A participant is required to take down as much buns as he / she can. As the buns at the top of the tower carry the highest marks, the participants will try to climb to the top to snatch the buns there.

Episode 170 - Physical Strength - Do we need it in Taiji?

Some taiji practitioners always claim that their art does not require any physical strength and what is most important is "Fajing".

This view probably arises from the belief that pure softness can overcome pure hardness. Taking this view in their heart, the "soft" practitioners focus their training purely on the taijiquan forms and non-contentious pushhand exercises.

This is however not the position taken in the Taiji Classics. "On the Art of Taiji", talks about "Jing" and "Lik". "Jing" - internal force is generated through tendons. "Lik" - physical strength is generated through bones. It does not downgrade physical strength. "Jing" and "Lik" complement each other.

To overcome pure hardness by pure softness requires a good understanding and mastering of the yin yan conversion principle.

The "Softness" approach originates from the Artisticalisation of the Martial Art - the art is practised as soft physical exercise. The stress in the exercise is on the spiritual aspect and the will power. Artisticalisation of the art at its highest level may enable a practitioner to act more "skillfully" than a man with great physical strength. The achiever should have a thorough understanding of the fundamental principles of the art plus the support of training in fighting. However, this is only one of the achievements of the Three Levels. In Martialisation of the art, the "Lik" aspect is stressed. Again, this is another achievements of the Three Levels. Don't forget that we also have the harmonization of the artistic and the martial in another level.

Not knowing the fundamental principles of the art, the beginners (in terms of knowledge - not seniority) focus blindly on pure softness only, believing that such is what taiji is all about, reducing the art to one kind of morning exercises.

Episode 169 - Scarecrows

These photos were taken during our recent visit to the KFBG. The boys were happy to see these beautiful and well dressed scarecrows.

These scarecrows were set up more for educational purpose than to frighten birds away.

Episode 168 - Honey Bee

This photo was taken during my visit to the KFBG.

The flowers were blossoming, and there were a large number of honey bees.

This was the first time I tried to take a close-up photo of a bee. It was not easy to capture the motion of a bee as it would not stay on a spot for a long time. I took a number of photos but most of them were not satisfactory. It would have been a wastage if I were still using a traditional film camera. Thanks to the digital camera, an amateur like me can take a large number of photos at any time without the need to consider the issue of costs.

Episode 167 - Da Hua Bai

We visited Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden ("KFBG") earlier today.

KFBG is situated at Tai Mo Shan and spreads over 148 hectares of land. It was set up by the Kadoorie brothers in the 1950's, with a view to assisting the local farmers to develop and improve the qualities of their produce and livestock.

As there is no canteen inside KFBG, we first had our lunch at Yuen Long before taking the 64K bus bound for Taipo. After a 15-minutes' drive, we got off the bus at the stop opposite the entrance of KFBG.

The sleepy animals in the photo are the famous "Da Hua Bai" pigs. These purebred pigs are originated from Guangdong . It is said that due to the low commercial value of these pigs (too much fat in the meat- which was a big selling point in the past), very few farmers are rearing them and there are not many of them remain. The pigs are given plenty of space and area for exercise. Hence they are in very good forms. Franky speaking, this visit has changed my wrong pre-conception that pigs are ugly and dirty. These "Da Hua Bai" pigs are beautiful, healthy and clean.

KFBG said that they intend to demonstrate a better and kinder alternative compare to the existing practices in most intensive farms where animals are confined to crowded conditions.

These "Da Hua Bai" pigs are probably the luckiest pigs in Hong Kong.

Episode 166 - Lion Dance

This photo was taken by me earlier today at a shopping arcade.

Lion dance is a popular folk performance during the Chinese New Year Festival.

There are two types of Lions: the North Lion and the South Lions. The one in the photo is a South Lion which is popular in the southern part of China. Traditionally, the South Lion is further subdivided into 3 types of Lions: The red, the black and the colourful. The red Lions and the black Lions look fierce. The colourful Lions look more gentle.

In the old days, Lion Dances were mostly performed by people from martial art schools. The Lions danced freely along the street and paid tributes to the merchants during Chinese New Year festival. Some merchants would greet a Lion with a special gift called "Green" - comprised of a bundle of seasonal vegetables and a red packet (with money). The merchants would hang the Greens up at the ceilings of their shop fronts. A good Lion Dance performer would use spectacular martial art skills to take down those Greens one by one. Such performance would attract a large number of spectators and give publicity to the merchants' businesses.

With the development of the city, the traditional Lions become less popular. With a view to having good street order, it is not permitted to perform Lion Dance in the street without a licence.

Notwithstanding the restrictions, Lion Dance has re-birthed in the form of a sport in the modern city. We have Lion Dance competition every year. It is not necessary to go to a martial art school to learn the skill and a player need not be a martial art practitioner. The competition lay importance on the techniques of taking down a Green. The Lion teams are required to dance on high poles before reaching the Greens.

Apart from competition, some Lion teams participate in commercial activities for rewards. The sport lions (like the one in the photo) are usually gold in colour and look more gentle than the traditional Lions. Merchants like to use the beautiful sport Lions to attract customers. Lion teams are invited to perform Green taking shows on festival days. Hence, you can often see Lion Dance performances in shopping arcades during Chinese New Year and other festival holidays.

Episode 165 - Narcissus - Flowers for the New Year

[taken on 8/02/08]

[Close-up: taken on 10/2/08]

[Full-size: taken on 10/2/08]

[Four Narcissuses in one pot: taken on 13/2/08]

The Narcissuses have more flowers now.

Another pot with 4 bulbs now have 2 flowers. I will post the full flowering position later.

I gathered from the news that the narcissus flower farmers suffered losses this year. The narcissuses did not sell well in the New Year Eve market as most of them were not flowering. According to the news, flower farmers destroyed many unsold narcissuses after the market closed.





Click the links below to see earlier stages of the narcissuses:

Part I
Part II
Part III
Part IV

Episode 164 - Narcissus - First Flower

The first flower is out!

Just in time for the New Year Day tomorrow.

The weather is exceptionally cold this year. Many people, including the flower farmers, expected a warm winter and planted their narcissuses too late. They have to wait for a few days more for the flowers.

Lucky me.

Kung Hei Fat Choy to everyone visiting my blog!



Click the links below to see earlier stages of the narcissuses:

Part I
Part II
Part III

Link to subsequent stage:

Part V

Episode 163 - Narcissus - Flower shoots

The weather was cold in the past week. It is no good for the narcissuses. The leaves of the plants are growing long. As you may appreciate, the cold weather may delay the flowering.

As a remedial measure, I have placed the plants under spot lights and used the warm light to assist the growth.

As you can see from the photo above, a number of flower shoots are coming out. The quality of the narcissus bulbs this year appears to be good. Each bulb has eight to ten or more flower shoots. The price of a flowering narcissus in the new year eve market can be very expensive. It is more economic to buy a bulb and grow it yourself. Although it calls for a lot of effort, the happiness you can get from seeing your narcissus blossoming is simply invaluable.

Hopefully, all my narcissuses will flower in time!

Click the links below to see earlier stages of the narcissuses:

Part I
Part II

Links to subsequent stages:

Part IV
Part V

Episode 161 - Good Taste From Tradition

These photos were taken at Tai O recently.

The sticky substance in the rounded-shape baskets is another famous local produce of the village - shrimp paste. The paste was being dried under the sun before it was packed for sale. In Tai O, you can buy shrimp paste in the sauce form or in the brick form (see the shrimp blocks in the 2nd photo (taken by Gogo)).

Shrimp paste is a delicious ingredient commonly used for cooking fried vegetables or steamed pork. However, the manufacturing process of the shrimp paste could be a nuisance to many people as the unfinished paste emits repulsive smell.

Episode 160 - Narcissus - New Developments

The narcissus bulbs are growing well.

I have moved 2 of them to a smaller vase, as I wish to have 2 pots of flowering narcissuses on the New Year days.

The weather was not steady in the past few days. There was not enough sunshine. The leaves were growing long. The flower shoots are not yet visible but I expect to see the first one in a week's time.


Links to subsequent stages:
Part III
Part IV
Part V

Episode 159 - Narcissus Bulbs

Cutting and planting your own narcissus for the Chinese New Year is fun. If you wish to have flowering narcissus on the New Year day, it's time to cut and plant the narcissus bulbs. I started the work yesterday.

I purchased one box of narcissus bulbs from the flower market recently. There were six bulbs in one box. As you can see from the second photo, the bulbs were individually packed. They had dark brown coloured clothes and came with mud. They looked ugly.

The first step I did was to remove the mud and the clothes of the bulbs . The result was six white onion like bulbs (See the third photo). They looked beautiful.

I cut the bulbs with a knife. The cut began at the position of around 1 cm from the bottom and went up to the top. One cut to each side of the bulb (2 cuttings altogether). I loosened the layers at the top of the bulb to make rooms for the flower shoots to come out (See the fourth photo). No pain no gain?

I then dropped the bulbs into a bucket of water and left them there for 24 hours (See the last photo). Live water?

They are now sitting in a flower vase (See the first photo).

Waiting for the flowers!


Links to subsequent stages of the narcissuses:

Part II
Part III
Part IV
Part V