It’s been quite a long time since I published my last blog post, 318 days to be exact. 2019 has been a busy and wonderful year to me where I have the chance to explore and learn so many things that I have never dreamt before. I am […]
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.
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.
非假日的行山路線，我們都會集中在港島區的短程路線，這樣會有較充裕的時間接送家中小孩下課。像近期行過好幾次的金督馳馬徑便是其中一個很好的選擇。
Our weekday hiking routes are normally focused around those short trails in the Hong Kong Island where we can have adequate time to pick up our little boy after school. The Sir Cecil’s Ride located in the eastern part of the Hong Kong Island that we hiked recently is one of the great choices.
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.
還記得九月中寫過一编關於阿段烘焙和火頭工的文章，今次台北之行就要去走一敞。
住在台北的老同學早前在面書上分享了羅大佑與音樂瘋子的傳奇派對音樂會。這個由羅大佑和王治平携手合作的Live Show，除了讓大家回味他過往的作品外，也提供一個平台給年輕樂團和樂手作表演。音樂會安排在每月最後的一個星期三晚上。
碰巧十二月份的表演日子，我和其他舊同學一行三人仍在台北，當然不想錯過這難得的機會。
Can’t remember how long I have not watched a movie in the theatre. Yesterday, I went with my friends to Vieshow Cinemas Taipei Xinyi to watch Bohemian Rhapsody, a documentary on the rock band Queen and the lead singer Freddie Mercury.
Last week, I went hiking with my wife and one of my cycling buddies to the Big Wave Bay (大浪灣) along the Leaping Dragon Walk (龍躍徑) located in the eastern corner of the Hong Kong Island.
We started our journey from the Siu Sai Wan Promenade in Chaiwan, which is right next to the entrance of the Leaping Dragon Walk.
Miho Museum (美秀美術館) is a private museum managed by the religious group Shinji Shumeikai (神慈秀明会). It is named after the founder of the group, Mrs. Mihoko Koyama and initially housed the vast collection of tea ceremony utensils and Asian antiquities collected by her. The collection was subsequently grew into a vision of an art museum, aligning with Koyama’s vision of promoting beauty, peace and joy through art.
The museum is a place that I have been longing for a visit.
Yes, for a very long time.
In fact, I had been there before but not exactly visited the museum. Why?
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.
My wife and I are not those die-hard Japanophiles who always visit Japan as a kind of worship. Instead, it is the excellent culture and the friendliness of Japanese that make us not tired of visiting Japan.
For this summer holidays, we continued to explore other parts of Japan – The Biwako area in the Shiga Prefecture.
This was a downshifting journey for us to enjoy the beauty of the Lake Biwa, the country life and the cultural side of the Shiga Prefecture.
Today’s journey started at the Tatara Shimanami Park in Omishima. Major reasons are availability of bus service from Imabari and the Rent-a-cycle Terminal. Moreover, it is close to Setoda Sunset Beach where we would have our lunch. The only downside is that we have to ride the Tatara Bridge twice just like what we had for the Kurushima Kaikyo Bridge in yesterday’s ride.
It took around one hour to arrive at the Omishima BS. Quickly we picked up our bikes at the Rent-a-cycle Terminal and started our ride towards the Tatara Bridge.
When I looked out from the hotel window early in the morning, I just couldn’t believe what I had seen. Blue sky, bright sunny day and flock of seagulls. That’s completely different from what we had the day before!
Weather report stated that typhoon Noru had moved across Honshu, the main island of Japan, towards the Sea of Japan. What an excellent forecast work by JMA (Japan Meteorological Agency)!
To allow more time for the ride, we planned to take the 9am local bus to Innoshima/Setoda.
Woke up in the morning after having a good sleep, my wife and I were busy checking the weather report on TV and from the Internet.
It was mentioned that typhoon Noru was moving over Shikoku and towards the main island of Japan during the day. Due to the slow pace of Noru that might result in extended periods of heavy rain, evacuation advisories in Shikoku and warning for river flooding, landslides, strong winds and high waves in other affected areas had been issued.
During my Chinese New Year holidays in Hiroshima in early 2017, we had an one-day trip in the city of Onomichi. Fascinated by one of the top cycling courses in the world, Shimanami Kaido, my family and I had an ad-hoc short ride from Onomichi, crossing Mukaishima (向島) and arrived in Innoshima (因島) via the famous Innoshima Bridge (因島大橋).
The scenery along the cycling course was stunning. The cycling infrastructure was great and convenient to the cyclists. Together with the friendly drivers we met along the way, Shimanami Kaido gave us a wonderful cycling experience.
By the time we arrived at the Innoshima Ohashi Memorial Park, it was already two o’clock in the afternoon. As we had to catch our train back to Hiroshima by the evening, we had no other choice but to head back to the Onomichi station.
On the return trip, my boy asked if we could come back again and ride along the Shimanami Kaido from Onomichi to Imabari.
Why not! I said.
Living up to my promise, I had gathered all the information on Shimanami Kaido, working out the itinerary and making all the necessary reservations.
During my boy’s summer holidays in 2017, we sat out to conquer the Shimanami Kaido.
Woke up in a hot summer morning with nothing to do. My wife asked if I would like to have a short trip to Stanley with our boy.
Well, why not??
New Chapter in Life 