Sharing of Cycling, Travel, Baking and personal feelings
去過台北好幾次，但從來也未騎過微笑單車(YouBike)。主要原因是我沒有悠遊卡和台灣當地的電話號碼，無法作會員登記。另一方面，基於保安理由，我又不想使用信用卡作單次租車。 You may be surprised that I have not ridden any YouBike before despite that I have been to Taipei a number of times. The main reason is that I don't have Easycard nor local phone number. For security reason, I also don't want to use my credit card for one-time bike rental as well.
Early this year, I have kick-started cycle training with my newly installed CycleOps Magnus smart trainer. One of the simplest and cost-effective setups that I had discussed was using the built-in Planned Workout feature of my Wahoo ELEMNT bike computer. At that time, I had observed that the "Route" mode of trainer control provided by the Wahoo ELEMNT was not functioning. The trainer resistance did not reflect the actual elevation profile of the loaded route. The case was reported to Wahoo and I finally received their reply in mid-July on fixing the error. Sounded great !
I went to FoTan yesterday with my cycling buddy to have the bike fitting for his new bike, a 2019 Giant TCR Advanced 1-KOM model preconfigured with the latest Shimano Ultegra R8000 Groupset.
Doing window shopping is one of my favourite activities when having overseas visits. In my latest Osaka / Biwako tour in end August, I had included optional visit to some of the bike shops in my plan. Right before the day I returned to Hong Kong, I have spared some time to visit these shops.
十二月往台北的航程不算太長，約120分鐘的飛行時間，減去起飛、進餐、降落等，實際剩餘時間不多。 由於這次在台逗留時間較長，很多日常雜務都要事先安排好，也因此前一天很晚才入睡。坐在早班機位上已覺有些累，想小睡但稍嫌不足看，電影又未必能看得完，最後决定合上眼聽點音樂，稍作休息吧。 Flight from Hong Kong to Taipei is quite short and roughly takes about 120 minutes. Excluding activities like takeover, meal serving and landing, actual flight time is really short. Since my previous trip to Taiwan lasted for more than two weeks, I had to settle all those ongoing issues before the trip. Having just few hours of sleep before leaving Hong Kong, I was a little bit tired after boarding the plane. As such a short flight time made sleeping or watching a movie not really feasible, I finally decided to take a rest and listen to some music instead.
小朋友在一月中又要挑戰他的跆拳道進級試，今次試場也一如過往位於將軍澳寶琳。由於場地較細，應考學員卻非常之多，考試最終在臨近下午五時才完成。回家路上肚子有些餓，想找點東西吃，剛巧在地鐵寶琳站附近見到一間麵包店，名字頗特別 - I am .. bakery，就走去試一試吧。 My boy was having his Taekwondo promotion examination again in mid January. Same as before, the examination was hosted in a small multi-function hall in Po Lam of Tseung Kwan O. With such a large number of kids participating in various stages of the event, the examination was finally completed by 5 o'clock in the afternoon. I felt a little bit hungry on our return and noticed a shop opposite to the Po Lam MTR Station that came with a very interesting name - I am .. bakery. Sounded great and worth a try.
農曆新年期間市面非常淡靜，商舗和食肆大都休息，即使照常營業的很多時都會有加一的安排。假期間除了拜年外，最慳錢的活動相信是行山。既可一家人消磨數小時，也對身體健康有裨益。就像今個新年假期，我們一家就走了兩轉了。 During the Lunar New Year Holidays, most of the shops and restaurants will be closed. Even you can find restaurant that is open for service, it will definitely include a 10% surcharge. Other than visiting relatives or friends, hiking is believed to be the most cost saving activities. Not only we can consume some of our free time, it will also bring good health to us and that's why we had two hiking trips in this holidays.
I had a wonderful day in Mei Lam Estate today with my parents.
星期三（七月四日）下午，離開樟宜國際機場後，我們乘旅遊巴到旅程的第一站 – 新加坡理工大學 (Singapore Polytechnic)。 新加坡導遊Jessy小姐在車上講解新加坡文化和歷史，同學們都聽得津津有味。約30分鐘後，車子已經到逹目的地。眼前的理工大學樓高五層，非常壯觀，環境寧靜，絶對是一個理想的學習地方。我們一行40人，由Jessy小姐帶領到一樓圖書館參觀。 在圖書館裏，我看見了很多遊戲設施和一間小房間。 一位當地老師出來介紹每一樣設施，包括： 單車 彈珠機 籃球機 足球機 發光二極管乒乓球機 幸運輪 遊戲機 … 他們全都是理工大學學生採用不同物料用心合力製作出來的。 此外，那間小房原來是研究鐳射的，鐳射可以用來裁剪不同的物料，例如：𥿄張，膠板，玻璃，連鋼板也可以切割，真是厲害啊！ 老師講解完畢後，就是三小時自由活動。我急不及待地和同學們一起玩彈珠機，非常刺激有趣； 之後我又玩了發光二極管乒乓球機，它是一個玩法非常困難的遊戲，但我卻十分喜歡，所以玩了很久。其他同學也玩得不亦樂乎，房間裏充滿大家的歡笑聲。時間過得很快，我聽到老師的召喚聲後，就知道要離開這裏。我只好懷著依依不捨的心情地離開。 這次參觀，我認識了一些和STEM有關的知識，此外我很羡慕新加坡理工大學的學生們能發揮自己的創意，做出不同趣味的遊戲，我希望將來也能成為他們的一分子呢！😍😍
以往到外地旅行，事前總會作極詳盡的行程編排，隨著小朋友日漸長大，多了些他自己的意願，想去的地方也會隨時改變，因此我也只會安排交通住宿，其他的行程到時才決定。 像剛過去的台北、高雄之旅，我們也作了一次台南快閃行動。 In our past holiday travels, I would usually prepare detailed itinerary for the trip. However, as my boy is getting older, he has his own expectation on the travel and the places for our visit may change from time to time. As such, nowadays, I only planned for the flights and accommodations, the rest of the trip will only be worked out during the trip. In my recent Taipei/Kaohsiung trip, we had made a flash travel to Tainan.
Personal look back for the past month
筲箕灣是港島東一個舊區，是昔日一個魚港，人口相對港島東其他地區較為老化。隨著社區重建，新的住宅相繼落成，也為社區年輕化帶來一點動力。 今次我帶大家去看看區內一間較年輕的社區麵包店 - 小豬豬麵包。 Shau Kei Wan is located in the eastern part of the Hong Kong Island. In the old days, it was a fishing village and aging population is one of the its major concerns among other districts in the eastern Hong Kong Island. Along with recent city redevelopment projects, new residential buildings are erected which help to build up a more energetic community. I would like to take you to a tour of a relatively young community bakery shop - Little Piggy Bakery.
九月中在醫院留醫時，好朋友為我帶來兩本烘焙書籍。一本是「火頭工」，早前也寫過我的讀後感；另一本是「野上智寛的麵包全圖解」，全書主要圍繞著他自家麵包的製作技巧，雖然尚未讀完，但十二月中在台北的時候，也要走去觀摩一下。 If you still remembered that my classmate had got me two baking books while I was staying in the hospital, one of them is the "火頭工", of which I had a review on it. The other one is the "野上智寛的麵包全圖解", a book focusing on the recipe and baking techniques for breads sold in his bakery - Boulangerie Nogami. Despite I have not completed reading it, I was still eager to visit Boulangerie Nogami while I was in Taipei in last December.
不經不覺已有數個月沒做過麵包，隨著身體康復得七七八八，決定要練習一下了。 I have not baked any bread for several months since I had my surgery. As my recovery is good and it is time for practising baking now.
