Episode 209 - Traditional Food Preservation

Drying (dehydration) is one of the traditional food preservation methods. This old method is still commonly used by fishermen in Hong Kong.

The above photos were taken by me during a neighbourhood outing to Cheung Chau. The fishermen dried the fishes and shrimps under the sun before packing and selling them to the tourists. The dried fishes and shrimps looked artistic on the drying board.

In the old days, fishermen dried the unsold seafood before it went bad. They would either sell the dried seafood or consumed it themselves when the weather was not fit for fishing.

Although the refrigeration method is more suitable for preserving fresh seafood and is readily available at reasonable costs, dried seafood has become a popular traditional food in itself as time goes by - it is no longer treated as a substitute or reserved food.

We steam the dried seafood (adding some oil on top of it) before serving it on the dining table - yummy!

Episode 208 - Buddha in the Rain

The photo was taken during a recent visit to Ngong Ping.

It was a rainly day. The finely crafted Big Buddha statue merged harmoniously with the nature in the light rain.

Episode 207 - Lung Fu Shan Spider

Another trip to the Lung Fu Shan Country Park this morning.

Whilst we were near the Pinewood Battery, we saw a crowd of people gathering together, each with a camera pointing towards an upper part of a tree. I soon discovered that they were taking photos of a large spider.

I took a photo of the spider as well - click on the photo above to see a larger image of it.

The spider had weaved a large web at the tree top and was obviously waiting for its prey. Before it could get its first meal, it became the prey of the photo predators.

Episode 206 - Butterfly at the Great Wall

After writing the last post, I recalled seeing a small butterfly at the Mutianyu Great Wall. The butterfly was white in colour and looked elegent with tails. It did not appear to be a specie that we would encounter in Hong Kong.

I took the above photo while the little butterfly rested on the steps of the Great Wall.

Episode 205 - Butterflies

My family took a walk at the Lung Fu Shan Country Park this morning.

The weather was fine - sunny but cool.

Although it is not a flowering season, we still saw patches of flowers along the paths which attracted a large number of butterflies. I know very little about butterfly but it seems that the species of butterflies at Lung Fu Shan are increasing in numbers in the past years.

Episode 204 - The Palace

This photo was taken outside the Palace Museum at Beijing.

The Forbidden City is always packing with people, making it difficult to take a good photo of this lovely architecture.

I discovered this wonderful location after leaving the back gate of the palace. It is at the back corner of the palace near the Wangfujing. On that day, I saw a lot of tourists sitting on the bench at the river side, enjoying this beautiful spot of the palace.

Episode 203 - The Mutianyu Great Wall

My family had a short holiday at Beijing recently.

In 2005, Gogo and I visited the Great Wall at Badaling of Beijing. This time we went to see that part of the Great Wall at Mutianyu.

Like Badaling, Mutianyu is situated outside the city and we had to hire a car to it.

The Mutianyu site appears not to be one promoted for popular visit as the car parks there were not designed for parking big limousines. Local tourism promotion leaflets were mostly for tours to the Badaling.

The runways of the Mutianyu Great Wall appear to be narrower (and steeper) than those in the the Badaling - hence not suitable for a large number of tourists.

Purely on the design and its setting against the mountains nearby, I prefer the Badaling Great Wall to the Mutianyu Great Wall. However, the Badaling is always packed with tourists which would greatly reduce the enjoyment of the journey. From the latter perspective, I prefer the Mutianyu Great Wall to the Badaling Great Wall.

Visitors can use the passage path leading to the wall on the top of the mountain to reach the runway of the wall. Alternatively, they can use the cable cars, which was our choice.

Episode 202 - Flowers from Friends

My friends gave Chiu Yin this plant. I do not know the name of it but the flowers are colourful. The leaves and the flowers of the plant close at night and reopen in the morning. Wonderful!

Episode 201 - Summer Flowers (3)

This is the "Gentleman Orchid" (Clivia) in full flowering position.

There are altogether 15 flowers in one single cluster. The first bud which alerted me of the flowering of the plant fell before the other buds opened.

The clivia is now matured (I purchased it from the flower market in Prince Edward in 2003), this cluster of flowers is much larger than those in 2006 and 2007.

Episode 200 - Summer Flowers (2)

The Clivia flower shoot has grown out and the flowers are opening.

Here are some photos taken this morning.

Episode 199 - "Understanding the Force"

In my previous posts on the Taiji principles, I discussed the concept of "Getting back to the Origin" and the Stages of "knowing oneself" and "knowing others".

These are the keys to decipher the meaning of "Understanding the Force".

In the "Know Your Own self Stage", you "understand the force" after you have started activating your sleeping parts. This is what we call the "tapping into the sacred portion". What we need to do next is to train up the other sleeping parts of the body. This "training" required then is different from "normal" training. Once you have activated a sleeping part, you can intensify the activation of the other parts while you are walking, stopping, sitting, or lying down. That means you can use your mind to call up the other sleeping portions while you are engaging in normal daily activities.

In the "Know Others' Stage", the training is different, you should learn how to adhere to and get contact with the other's body. You learn how to make use of the force of the opponent and control him. That's where the push hand training come into the picture. You learn how to adapt and adjust to different movements of the opponent and respond with "reflex action".

Episode 198 - Clivia - Summer Flowers

The past years have been busy and I did not have much time to take care of my plants at home. My clivia has not flowered since 2007.

To my surprise, I discovered earlier this week that it blossoms again - Good omen?

You can see from the photo above that a flower shoot with a number of buds is growing out from a margin of the leaves of the plant.

To avoid "holding up of the arrow" by the leaves. I cut open the leaf margins to allow more space for the flower shoot to develop and grow out.

I shall post more photos of the clivia in the coming posts.

Episode 197 - Porcelain Painting

I purchased this porcelain painting recently.

Judging from the descriptions, the painting should be around 70 years old. Isn't it beautiful?

Episode 196 - "Kua" and the "Three External Coordinations"

"For the training in "Knowing your own self", this is only half of the story. The next step forward is to establish the connection on the lower part of the body; the practitioner will need to find out how the power connection can be extended from the foot to the hands - in order to complete the construction of the "Power Sphere"." - Gate of Life

The "Kua" is the connection between the upper part and the lower part of the body. The post on Back Power analyses the importance of the back and its key role in the upper part of the body. Activating the upper part alone is not sufficient. If the coordination with the lower part is not possible, exercising "coherent force" is an unattainable dream.

Many people talk about the principle of the "Three External Coordinations" without knowing what exactly it is. The "Coordinations" as emphasized do not simply mean different parts of the body doing things together. It is the transfer of power from the lower parts to the corresponding upper parts that counts.

To achieve the "Three External Coordinations", one should know the precise answers to the following questions:

1. Where is the "Kua"?
2. How to "loose" the "Kua"?
3. How to motivate the "Kua" to coordinate the upper parts and the lower parts of the body?

Episode 195 - Taiji Wheels

This photo was taken recently during a walk to the Lung Fu Shan Country Park.

The Taiji Wheels in the photo can be played by 2 persons independently at the same time - each person operates a set of 2 wheels on his/ her side. Each wheel has a small handle. . The exercise is simple, you hold the handles with your hands and turn the wheels. The wheels should be turned together simultaneously - either turning to the same direction or to different directions. The purpose is to enhance body and mind coordinations. To get the most benefit out of the Taiji Wheels, you have to turn the wheels by utilizing the movements of the whole body and transfer the force as generated to the hands. Don't turn the wheels with your hands alone. The hands are simply the media between the wheels and the body movements - There is no hand in Taiji.

From a martial artist's perspective, I consider that the wheels are too loose and too easy to turn. If you know the rationale behind the Taiji Ball, you may still be able to obtain benefit from the wheels training to improve your level of coordinations. However, you won't be able to use them to increase the internal power.

As the wheels are easily available in most of the parks in Hong Kong, and it is not convenient to bring along a Taiji Ball for outdoor exercises, you can say my comments above are too picky!

Episode 194 - A Heart Without Worry or Obstacle

This photo was taken at the Wisdom Path at Lantau Island.

This is part of the wood inscription of the "Prajna Paramita Hrdaya Sutra" (Heart Sutra) erected at a slope at the Lantau Peak. The wood craving was the calligraphy of Professor Jao Tsung-I.

The Chinese characters mean "A heart without worry or obstacle" - another version of "Live Water"?

Episode 193 - Narcissus for the New Year

Wishing you a Happy and Prosperous Year of the Ox.

Episode 192 - Narcissus for the New Year (3)

The flowers are out today.

I have moved the flowering bulbs to a flower vase.

Compare with those last year, the leaves of the narcissus are much shorter, thanks for the excellent weather condition. These bulbs are early birds. The other narcissus bulbs still need a few days more to blossom - just in time for the Chinese New Year.

Episode 191 - Narcissus for the New Year (2)

Although the weather was cold in the past weeks, there was sufficient sunshine.

Some of the bulbs from the first batch have already developed mature flower shoots. It is expected that they will start to blossom in the course of next week. The last batch of bulbs is developing flower shoots and will flower in the Chinese New Year days.

The qualities of the bulbs are acceptable. Whilst they are not in very regular shapes, most of them have at least 7 to 8 flower shoots.

Episode 190 - Narcissus for the New Year (1)

I purchased 3 boxes of narcissus bulbs from the flower market.

The prices of the bulbs have dropped this year: HK$85 for 2 boxes with eight bulbs; and HK$68 for one box with 6 large bulbs. Unfortunately, the qualities of the bulbs appear to have dropped as well.

This morning we invited one of Chiu Yin's classmates to do the cutting. Educational and fun!

It normally takes around 23 days for the bulb to flower after the cutting. If the weather is unusually warm (like 2006) the time may be shortened to less than 20 days. Likewise, cold winter (like last year) would prolong the time required. In order to ensure that I have flowering narcissus on the Chinese New Year days, I did the cutting in 3 batches. The first batch was completed 2 days ago. The last batch was cut earlier today. If we cut the bulbs one or two days later, we may not be able to see the flowers on the first day of the New Year unless the weather in the next 20 days is as warm as 2006 - which is unlikely. There are of course remedial measures. If the weather is unusually warm, we can move the narcissus into the refrigerator for a few days to delay the flowering time. If the weather is unusually cold, we can add warm water to the flower vase and move the narcissus under spot lights. I do not like to use any of these remedial measures if they are avoidable.

I purchased a set of narcissus vases at the flower market this afternoon - see the first photo. They are beautiful, aren't they? A set of 4 vases only costs HK$170. The flowering narcissus will look more attractive in these vases.

You can click on the links below for the cutting method (normal cut) and photos of the flowering narcissus last year.


Cutting method

Flowering Narcissus


P.S. I visited the flower market earlier today (10th January 2009). They were selling cut narcissus bulbs at HK$15 each.
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