Category: Family

Can’t Stand the Pain 痛不欲生

I always believe I was a tough guy!

Able to ride 40+ KM back home with my right hand seriously injured after accident and even managed to fully recover within two months after my Coronary Artery Bypass Graft operation.

I remained strong throughout and never felt desperate.

However, I finally reacquaint myself in 2023!

一直以為自己是個硬漢!

當年右手撞傷後仍可踩四十多公里單車回家,即使心臟搭橋手術後,不用兩個月便完全康復。

期間我沒有叫過辛苦,亦不感到絕望。

可是今天我終於重新認識自己了!

Piano Restoration – Welcome Home 鋼琴大翻新 – 回家篇

The full restoration of our Yamaha U1 piano, that was sent to the workshop in last April was completed for quite a while. As I was tied up with other bits and pieces, I failed to provide a timely update on the works. So let me wrap it up in this post.

家裏的鋼琴上年四月中運回 workshop 後,翻新工作早已完成。只因其他鎖碎事情,我遲遲未有作更新,就讓我今天來個總結吧!

A little update before Year End 年終前的生活點滴

In slightly less than 24 hours, 2022 will be in history. Despite I managed to achieve quite a number of my targets in the first half of the year, things were getting worst as I was terribly laid-back for the rest of the year. Judging from the ‘One-post-per-month’ of my blog writing, you will know what I meant. In fact, my personal loopback for November has already missed the schedule and probably (and hopefully) a bi-monthly version would be released shortly.

還有不到一天,2022 年便將成過去,上半年看似完成了很多目標,但無奈下半年卻像洩了氣的氣球一樣,變得不太積極,單從我最近每月一 post 便看得出端倪,而十一月的個人回望更早已脱期,相信要和十二月的一拼發佈!

Paying My Tribute to the Queen 我對女王的致敬

In the evening of 8 September, I was awakened by my wife from my nap. The television broadcast was disrupted by the latest news from the Buckingham Palace:

The Queen died peacefully at Balmoral this afternoon.

The King ad the Queen Consort will remain at Balmoral and will return to London tomorrow.

As some of those like me, who were born, brought up and enjoyed those glorious moments of Hong Kong, I believed the Queen definitive had an important place in our hearts.

九月八日黃昏,太太把我從小休中推醒,電視正轉播白金漢宮的最新消息:

The Queen died peacefully at Balmoral this afternoon.

The King ad the Queen Consort will remain at Balmoral and will return to London tomorrow.

對於像我這些在英國管治下出生,成長及有幸渡過最光輝時刻的香港人,相信英女王在我們心中佔有一定地位。

UK Horse Racing 英國賽馬活動

My wife recently asked if I would be interested to explore the British horse racing culture. Given that she would make all the necessary arrangement including the tickets, I had no reason not to immediately accept her offer.

早前太太問可有興趣到馬場體驗一下英國的賽馬文化,難得她會安排一切,包括購買入場票,我只須做個司機,真的找不到拒絶的理由。

Do It Yourself 自己的事自己動手做

Since I had published my last post on replacing my road bike tyres, some of my friends living aboard mentioned that DIY is the way to go to save money and possible lead time. I absolutely agreed with them and do believe that mastering DIY skills is another objective to achieve in UK.

居於外地的朋友們對我上一篇自行更換單車軚的網誌,都不約而同提出日常維修工作如果找店家或 Handy man 做,除了費用高外,往往亦要等很久,因此學習自己做 (DIY) 是必然的事。這個我完全同意,亦是移居英國後其中一個學習目標。

Piano Restoration – Part 2 鋼琴大翻新 (二)

Our Yamaha U1 piano had been delivered to the workshop for nearly one week and various components were gradually dismantled. Just received call from A. Hanna & Sons Pianos that additional issues were found by technicians and we were invited to their workshop for a discussion.

To be honest, not a good sign!

鋼琴運回 Workshop 已經差不多一星期,内部零件亦續步被拆開移除。剛收到琴行通知,維修技師發現了更多問題,邀請我們到 Workshop 看看及相討。

怕且情况並不樂觀!

Piano Restoration – Part 1 鋼琴大翻新 (一)

Just as mentioned in my previous post, our Yamaha U1 piano was about 20 years old. It was used by my boy’s cousin for her piano learning and subsequently passed to him. It carried two wonder stories of learning and development in music. From random playing with their little fingers to achieving Grade 8 certification and if possible, we would like to have the stories be continued.

正如之前的一篇説過,家中的 Yamaha U1 鋼琴已有約二十年歷史,原本是兒子表姐自小的學習伙伴。一座漆黑的鋼琴盛載着兩個音樂成長故事;由只懂亂敲琴鍵,到取得八級資歷,如果可以的話,我很希望這故事能一直延續下去。

Riding with my boss 與 Boss 走一轉

Studying in UK is really wonderful, there are so many term breaks throughout the school year. Just like the recent Spring Term Break that began on 1st of April, my little boss started staying at home with nothing to do again. Early Sunday morning, he suggested to go cycling, which I had no reason to turn down despite of the cold and windy weather.

在英國讀書真好,年中 term break 多到難以至信,剛過去的四月一日又是 Spring Term Break 的開始,家中小老闆又再百無聊賴的 hea 在家,星期日早上,難得他提議午後騎車出外走走,雖然天氣非常寒冷,我也無法拒絶。

Driving in UK 英倫駕車日常

I had about 30 years of driving experience in Hong Kong and it wouldn’t be any surprise that I would pick up driving in UK. Once accommodation was settled, I started by car buying exercise.

在香港開了差不多三十年車,到了英國自然心思思想買車,居所安頓好後便開始我的買車行動。

Meal Deals 平價午餐

In UK, we normally cooked our dinners and would only go to restaurants during weekends or holidays. As my son was at school during weekdays, making lunch for just two of us became quite uneconomical and we normally ended up having instant noodles, pasta or bread instead.

在英國的日子,晚飯都是在家煮食,通常星期六、日或假期才出街食飯。至於午餐,因兒子上學,剩下我和太太兩人煮飯就變得頗不化算,又不知煮甚麼餸,往往只是吃個公仔麵、意大利粉或麵包就算。

UK Immigration – Six Months Summary 移居英國 – 半年小體驗

Dated back in late April when I first arrived in Heathrow Airport, it was cold at 7 to 8℃. Despite I had my thick jacket on, I still couldn’t stand the cold weather. Next came the UK summer where I had enjoyed some lovely warm and sunny days. Stepping into late autumn, weather is getting colder and colder. Temperature suddenly dropped back to 6 to 7℃ and I have to put on my thick again.

記得四月尾到達倫敦,剛踏出機埸,氣溫只得七、八度,雖然已穿上厚厚外套,但還是有點吃不消。往後有幸過了一個陽光普照,和暖的夏天。轉眼半年,剛踏入十一月的深秋,這幾天氣溫又驟降到六、七度,又是時侯重新披上我的羽絨外衣了。

There is always a “First Time” 總有第一次

There are countless “First Time” in one’s life. The first time going to school, the first time taking up a job and the first time to fall in love with someone, etc. It always make people worried and nervous, no match how old you are. The same applied to me when I have my haircut today.

人生總有無數個 ⌜第一次⌟,第一次上學,第一次上班,第一次拍拖 ⋯,總會令人有點固慮、有些緊張。即使已經踏入七老八十的行列,亦無一倖免!就像我今天去剪髪,情况也一樣。

Self Isolation 自我隔離

We’ve been to UK for two months and most of the times were spent on arranging those bits and pieces of living here. Quite a lot of the works could only be done one at a time and not much shortcut are available for speeding up. With the amount of planning and arrangement, I didn’t have much spare time and couldn’t afford to timely update my blog.

Given that most of the works needed to be done had been settled recently, let me resume the sharing of my UK immigration.

到了英國有兩個多月,大部分時間都花在租屋,搬遷,日常生活及孩子找學校的安排,很多事都要一步一步做,沒有太多㨗徑可走,閒著的時間不多,更提不起勁去更新自己的網誌。

最近要辦的事也完成了七七八八,終於可停下來繼續寫我的移居體驗了!

A Sun Never Set Journey 日不落的旅程

Taking long haul flight is definitely not my cup of tea and the only times were those trips to Europe. Due to time zones difference, most of these flights leave Hong Kong in midnight. Passengers normally went to sleep shortly after the take-off and rushed to the immigration upon arrival next morning.

In consideration of the adverse impact brought about by covid-19, our mid-night flight to UK was rescheduled by BA to the afternoon.

過往甚少乘搭長途機,記憶中只有飛歐洲的數次,通常都是夜機,而大部份乘客一上機就抱頭大睡,早上醒來便匆匆下機。

今次飛英國的航班亦可能在疫情影響下,由深夜提早至同日下午。

Times Up! 夠鐘啦!

If you are fond of photography and used to surf the internet for latest information, you should be aware of DigitalRev TV, Kai as well as Lok. DigitalRev TV was once an extremely popular YouTube channel with around 1.9 Million subscribers and total page views exceeding 430 Million in its glorious days.

如果你對攝影有興趣,閒時會瀏覽網上最新資訊,相信對 DigitalRev TV,Kai 同 Lok 也會有一定的認識。當年這個 YouTube 频道及這對好拍檔極受一眾攝影愛好者所追捧。全盛時期,頻道有190萬的訂戶,瀏覽率亦超過4億。