Christmas movie

I kinda want to watch this... but most likely I'll wait for VCD/DVD... =P



I think the Taiwan trailer is better



If you haven't watch the TV series yet, you can watch the whole series here with Chinese subtitles =P

Someone uploaded parts of the TV series on youtube!! I like the professor a lot, haha!

Thinking about a new camera... just thinking!

The handgrip of my camera has fallen off, I don't even know when it did... Now I really want to get a new one, but the old one is still fully functional... And the functions are adequate for my use, I can adjust aperture, shutter speed, the biggest problem is just the noise control... plus it's small and handy as well.

I used to think if I were to buy a new one, I would have got a DSLR. After seeing my friend getting her "small" DSLR out from her backpack in our Jiuzhaigou trip, I'm not so sure...

Not that I'm buying, but the directions where I'm looking includes

Canon Powershot G10 (G10! and the control knobs seem pretty good, even with an ISO control knob)
Canon Powershot SX1 IS
Canon Powershot SX10 IS (not so good as G series? but really expensive!! lens range from 28mm to 560mm, I don't think I need another camera!)
Panasonic LX3 (obviously an upgrade of my LX2, I can probably get discount buying it, and a friend said the noise control is much better and the photos he got are even better than those using DSLR, and it's got ultra wide angle 24mm, and even f/2.0)

And the lightest DSLR of all- Olympus E-420
and just 70g more, Canon EOS 1000D
obviously for me to learn more on photography, but heavy and most likely need more investment on lens... $$$

Just thinking out aloud...

Actually kinda worried that my camera, with so many external parts broken, it may have some interior damage... what if it broke down during my trip...??

Planning on Peru trip (part 1)

Yeah, I know I still haven't left for my Christmas trip yet, hey, that's a trip for the idiots with my mom, so no preparations needed! Apart from paying for everything...

As many people know, the most famous sight in Peru is Machu Picchu (and I have wanted to go since I was in primary school), and you can hike a four day trail all the way there, or 2 day trail (and stay in the hotel at night time, no need to camp), or just take train + bus from Cusco to Machu Picchu.



I'm not sure if I can do the hike at high altitude for 4 days, the hardest part involves climbing 1000m in one day, not from 0-1000m, but from like 3000-4000m!

And March is the wet season in Peru, so you get lots of rain as well... (Wet season is from Dec-Mar, Dry season from Jun-Sept.)

Here're some good resources for me (and maybe you) to start planning on this part of the trip
Inca Trail FAQ
Lonely Planet FAQ Machu Picchu and Inca Trail
And this blog written by a Taiwanese girl who went to Peru on her own, great photos and details on her trip

I think a 2 day Inca Trail is more within my capability, I can still remember the misery I had (cold and wet clothes, cold food, shivering under my sleeping bag) when I hiked under heavy rain during my secondary school days... though I suspect this trip will be easier as there are porters and cooks, still 1000m climb... if it' not a rainy season, then maybe ok, well, this post I just read from the Lonely Planet site (by antarticmango) is encouraging =P

"The trek is hard if you are massively unfit and overweight as I was, but there is only one deadline each day - make dinner. Dinner's usually around 6-7pm and I managed to make it every day by at least two hours and I was the slowest person on the trail from any group or company! We were often among the first starters in the morning and I got to meet almost everyone on the trail as they passed me at some point during the day - it was a great way to meet people. At the same time as I was slowly completing the trail a four year old boy walked/almost ran the whole trail so anyone can do it. SAS, my tour company, were very good, always making sure that one porter was always close by to make sure I didn't get into trouble - it worked to his benefit as he met a local female tour guide and they hit it off big time :-) Slow and steady will get you there."

Good! Why are we so concerned about the lives of celebrities??

I'm really not quite updated in celebrity news, I don't even read the entertainment news on newspaper.

Recently, the latest celebrity news headline is about the breakup of Ngai Chun and Vivian Chow. (It's all over the internet even when I don't read gossip columns.) Many people thought the statement she gave was classy, I just found that too fake. Breaking up with her boyfriend after being together for 19 years! And she was so calm? I highly doubt it.

I like what the "ex-father-in-law" said.

倪匡語氣明顯變得不耐煩：「那你要問甚麼？如何看法？你和你男朋友分手，你的家長可以如何看法！可以講甚麼！你想也知道答案了，對吧？（那你個人有否覺得遺憾？）話明個人感受，我為何要告訴你？這只是他們兩個人的事，為何你們傳媒一定要浪費時間關注這些小事，劉曉波坐牢這等國家大事你怎不去採訪？社會付出那麼多資源裁培你們，你們為何不做點有意義的事？他們兩個到底做了甚麼大事，是牽涉到人類命運還是經濟海嘯，你們一定要追訪？」告訴倪匡，雖然分手是倪震與周慧敏兩個人的事，但因為導因是倪震和城大女生在夜店熱吻，破了學校的風氣，亦對香港教育帶來負面衝擊，已不是純粹的情人分手，所以傳媒才會追訪，他更加生氣：「那你去問城大才對，問我做甚麼！完全搞錯對象！（那請問你覺得一個成年男人和大學生在夜店鬼混對嗎？）你不用套我，我食鹽多過你食米，肯和你說這麼多，我已覺得自己好低B！」一向予人嘻嘻哈哈的老頑童倪匡，第一次發如此大的脾氣。

You have to applaud the ingenuity of these reporters, HK education!!!!! And his reply, haha!

Central December 08

This photo is bad, but the advertisement is grand...





Not many people here in early morning, but I spot 3 other "mo liu" people like me taking photos =P, 2 with SLRs =P


State-of-the-Arts Gallery (I like both the name and the building.)










Really difficult to take pics of these skyscrapers... this is the only ok one... not good, but ok.

Finished Buffy Season 7

I have finally finished all the seven seasons of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. It took me like half a year to finish all the episodes, mostly because it got quite boring in the middle and I stopped watching it. =P

I have wanted to watch it for many years, but since it wasn't shown in television here in Hong Kong, I didn't have the chance to watch it. And one of my favourite writers love the TV show, and since she also loves the West Wing (one of my fav TV show), I thought I would love the show, so I got the DVDs. (China version =P)

Even though the basic plot of a superheroine who fought vampire, but fell in love with one herself is so cliche =P, the good dialogue and the gorgeous and cool heroes made up for it. =)

As I have mentioned before, the hero in the first 3 seasons- Angel (David Boreanaz), Buffy's first boyfriend, is good looking and cool.

The second one is so boring, I won't even mention him...

The third one- Spike (James Marsters), is really breathtakingly gorgeous. =P





Since I started reading about James Marsters on the web, I found a lot of interesting stuff about him. He graduated from Juilliard, he is actually an American (his British accent in the Buffy show is just an act!), and he is a singer and guitarist with his own rock band.

And this quote of his impressed me a lot.

"I don't know much about the internet, I'm afraid.

I don't have a computer - I don't like to get into it that much 'cause it can screw with your head a little.

I have not, just because -- see this brings up a very interesting thing, I don't have a computer, because it so -- it's like bourbon, going to a fan site you know, it makes you feel so puffed up about yourself and so cool, and I promised myself when Joss asked me to come on the show as a regular, I hung up the phone after screaming like an idiot and then like I didn't even pretend to be cool, I sat down and I was like 'okay, I'm gonna be getting a lot of money, I'm gonna be getting a lot of fame, but the most important thing is if I can keep from becoming an asshole'.

What I noticed was that when I go on the Internet, or used to, my head would swell. Why am I an actor? God knows but some of it has got to be the need for acceptance and stuff, right? So I'm just drawn to that stuff like honey and at some point I just had to say, 'James, get off the 'Net, go back, clean your toilet.' Now I find I'm like a mentor to the guys in the band because they're tasting it now too. And I'm like, 'Charlie, get off the Internet. Get off your fan site now. You're losing it.' And he's like, 'Yeah, boss, right.'"

I have never thought much about this, how celebrities would react to the "good" stuff people write about them on the net. I like this guy even more when I read this.

Plus bad boys are far more interesting than the good ones. Just compared Buffy's two vampire boyfriends with her human one (the second boring one). =P

Christmas- one of the songs I love most

It's December and Christmas is coming.

I have loved this song since I was in secondary school and heard the Chinese version the first time. Just wanna share this song.

This is the version with scenes from the Passion of Christ, if you are squeamish about blood, you can watch the next video, the song is the same, but video different.

Thoughts on Jiuzhaigou Trip- Environment

The most frequently asked questions from my friends are
1. How much did I spend?
2, What is the best time for going to Jiuzhaigou?

How much I spent: very expensive for a China trip, it's enough for going to Japan!

Best time: Everybody knows the best time for Jiuzhaigou is when the red leaves appear. However, it's usually also the most crowded time as well! I chose to go this year because I thought there might be less people after the earthquake.



According to my research prior to the trip, the best time should be mid October to late Oct for the red leaves. (Remember the worst time is early Oct, coz there're way too many people because of the National Day holidays.) HOWEVER, this year the leaves did not turn more red/yellow until after 22th. And I asked the local people while I was there (27-28 Oct), the colour of the leaves would be even beautiful when there was frost.

The best time is NOT mid-late Oct, it should be early Nov, this year at least.

November is NOT high season, so everything is like half priced!! I should have gone in November... =P

Why was the appearance of red leaves delayed? Global warming again?

I was watching the TV program on Iceland yesterday, how the scenic national parks in Iceland stayed pretty much like its original state, all the pavements were made with natural materials which can blend with the environment, and there are no cable cars, tourists have to walk to see everything. Which reminds me of what I see in the Jiuzhaigou trip.

Cable car at Huanglong


Pavement at Jiuzhaigou


We need to work hard to protect our environment and try to keep it the way God created it.

Thoughts on Jiuzhaigou trip - Tibetan Family Visit & Tibetan Culture Show

Surprisingly, it didn’t turn out to be as commercialized as I had expected. Probably because we spent so much time in Jiuzhaigou (we left at 6pm on the second day of our visit), so we were the last two guests to arrive, and we were still eating when the other tourists had to leave.

We were served some Tibetan food, I forgot the names of most of the food. Because I don’t like lamb, they served us roasted chicken instead of lamb. The surprise came when the host told us he hunted that chicken that morning. (!)

Until then, I didn’t REALLY appreciate how much their life differ from ours, sure there is cultural difference, of course language barrier as well, but if we want a chicken, we will go to the market and buy one, but he HUNTED one for us.

It was delicious, by the way.





See the chicken on the lower part around centre of the table- that's what he hunted!


After some outrageous =P performances with really modern pop song-like pseudo-Tibetan singing, plus some teasing and games between the host family and some of the guests (which was really funny and entertaining, despite the spontaneity =P), the others left leaving the two of us.

The host family chatted with us while we were eating, they seemed really curious about city dwellers like us. None of them had education more than primary two level, the guy (younger brother in the family, aged 21) has never attended school before. However, they knew some basic English (!) from the guests they received. And the younger brother said he was the one who had traveled farthest among the family members, he had been to Chengdu, and he loved it, his comment was “such a big city and tall buildings!”

He was raised on horses, and so his first comment upon knowing where we came from was “Oh Hong Kong, that’s where the Olympic equestrian event was held!” (I was thinking if he thought Chengdu was so marvelous, what would he think if he had the chance to come to HK?)

The guy in front is the younger brother and the other two girls are his sisters.






It is really weird/unbelievable/maybe kind of sad when you think about it. When you look at the smog-filled sky of Chengdu (Really it’s a LOT worse than that in HK, just SMOG SMOG and SMOG), and these people (who is practically living in a fairytale land for us) actually want to move to Chengdu.

SMOG at Chengdu




No matter how much they try to preserve their own culture, it is going to disappear. And soon.

Which reminds me of the Tibetan show on the day before, the Tibetan “F5” (what my friend and I called them =P) who has got their own 主打歌 (not sure of the proper English translation, main promotional song?). The scenery may be preserved if they can generate money from it, but their culture once lost will be gone forever.

This is the guy who claimed he has a 主打歌 (main promotional song?).


This is "F5"!

Thoughts on Jiuzhaigou trip

Really kind of unexpected, in my 3 days in Jiuzhaigou and Huanglong, I only saw one piece of rubbish lying on the ground. (This is CHINA! Don't forget. A lot cleaner than ANY country park in Hong Kong.) And I don't recall seeing anyone smoking. Even in Chengdu, the amount of rubbish is no more than that compared to Hong Kong.

One factor may be the number of rubbish bins available, you can find rubbish bins within short distances.(They have two bins joined together, one for recyclable materials and one for non-recyclable, even though I don't see much difference in the stuff being dumped in the two bins. =P)

However, I think Chinese people do realise these areas ought to be treasured.

As for Chengdu, is that an post-Olympic effect? I am not sure...

China is improving, I still remember when I got back from Yunnan, I was saddened by the way people act in these scenic areas.

I guess this is evidence that China is changing for the better.

Obama Speech 4 Nov

If you haven't heard it yet (I watched this live), you have to watch this. The guy is so charismatic. It is so moving, makes you feel like he's really gonna change America. I am not sure if he can. I guess the first step of doing anything is to have a dream.

Jiuzhaigou in 2 days

I think one should do Jiuzhaigou 九寨溝 in 2 days at least, if you have time you should do a 3 day tour.

If you don't like photography or nature, you can probably do it in one day, getting on and off the bus at the scenic spots, take a look and leave on the next bus.

However, if you enjoy taking a good walk (not really strenuous, the level is like those Family Walks in Hong Kong country parks), and taking pictures, two days' of time is a minimum for you to enjoy Jiuzhaigou.

There are basically three valleys (溝) in Jiuzhaigou- Rize Valley 日則溝, Zechawa Valley 則查洼溝, Shuzheng Valley 樹正溝. They formed a Y shape.





The best valley in terms of scenery is Rize Valley 日則溝. 1 day should be allocated to Rize Valley and another day to the other 2 valleys.

Basically once you get into Jiuzhaigou, the bus travel onwards up to the highest point on either side of the Y, and then you can travel downwards with bus which stop at different scenic spots.

You won't know which way the bus is going until it gets to the middle- Nuorilang 諾日朗, because the bus driver will be told by the director which way to go only when they get there, if you want to go to the other side, you need to get off the bus and wait for the next bus.

I did Zechawa Valley 則查洼溝, Shuzheng Valley 樹正溝 on the first day because the bus I got on happened to go that way.

I started early the first day, got to the entrance at about 8:30am, but it was so crowded with lots of tour groups, but I finished early that day. On the second day, I started at 9:30am, with a lot less people around, but finished late at 6pm, because there is so much to see in Rize Valley 日則溝.

This is a picture I took at the entrance on the second day. Almost no people!


I didn't take any pics on the crowds on the first day simply because all my energy was used to get on the bus, here's a photo at the last stop of the bus, imagine these crowds times 10 for the crowds at the entrance!


Either get there VERY early like 7am (this is what some travel books recommend), or a little bit later to avoid those doing 1 day tour.

If I were to plan it again, I'll probably start later on the day I'm doing Zechawa Valley 則查洼溝 and Shuzheng Valley 樹正溝 to avoid the crowds, or you can do it on the second day if you think you might want to revisit some of the more beautiful spots after going through the two valleys.

Some people do it in 3 days, one valley each day, I think if you do it in 3 days, you can walk a lot more, which is good. Because the bus does NOT stop at EVERY scenic spots, so in order to visit all, you need to walk. Due to our limited time, we chose to walk if the bus stops were nearby (within 1-2km) or if the spots could not be reached by bus but are really beautiful according to travel books.

You are going to miss a lot of things if you just get on and off the buses, that is why I recommend TWO days minimum.

One very important thing- when you get on the bus, sit at the FRONT! otherwise you won't be able to hear whatever the tour guide on the bus are saying, because those people in the bus will be talking VERY LOUDLY!



I can't hear a thing on my first day. The tour guide tells you important information like where the next bus stop is, what you can walk to from a certain bus stop. Therefore, sit in the front! (Unfortunately only Putonghua tour guide is available, I am not sure if the guides can speak English, but good English guidebooks can be bought, and lots of people who don't speak Putonghua are doing the trip on their own, so it should be ok.)

How to do a Jiuzhaigou Huanglong trip on your own?

It's actually pretty easy to go to Jiuzhaigou 九寨溝 on your own.

First buy plane tickets from Chengdu or Chongqing to Jiuzhai-Huanglong Airport, of course, you can always choose to go by bus if you want to save $$, but it's a long bus trip. =P





After you leave the airport, you will see lots of taxis, with price preset already.



You can go to Huanglong from airport and then to Jiuzhaigou, OR go to Jiuzhaigou first from airport and then go to Huanglong on your way back to the airport.

If you go to Huanglong first, the good thing is that Huanglong is much less beautiful, so you'll have a better time in both places (compared to going to the really beautiful Jiuzhaigou and then get disappointed by Huanglong =P), but the downside is that on the way to Huanglong from the airport, you need to pass through really high altitude, so you can get mountain sickness on your way.

It's over 4000m on the way.



For me, my choice was limited by flight availability, so I didn't get to choose. I had to go to Huanglong first.

You can store your luggage on the taxi/car while you tour around Huanglong.

I highly recommend you take the cable car. Just look at the height from ground, if you don't take the cable car, you need to walk up this far! And at a high altitude, don't forget!



Be prepared to feel breathless when you're there, especially if you go there directly from airport. See my fingers got all bluish here, I think I was hypoxic.



Then you can walk towards the scenic spots on level ground (for 2.75km), and then after touring around the ones on the top, you can walk downwards, it took me 4 hours to tour around the whole area (including cable car), if you choose to walk all the way up and down, you have to have more time than that.

From the top to bottom, it's more than 4km!





As for Jiuzhaigou, no outside vehicles are allowed, so you need to take the buses inside anyway, the only problem is how to get to the entrance. The best way is taxi!

The price is also all set. And there are LOTS of taxis around.





After getting in, you can take the buses inside, they're really frequent, like once every 2-5 mins, so you practically don't have to wait, but I was there during high season, if you go in low season, be prepared to wait longer.



Easy? Go to Jiuzhaigou on yourself next time!

Jiuzhaigou '08

More photos uploaded here than my Facebook albums

Jiuzhaigou '08

Huanglong

Intercontinental Jiuzhai Paradise and Others

Chengdu

Planning the trip

Initially I planned to go to India, October is a good time to go and my leave happened to coincide with an Indian Festival, so I thought it would be special, however, the fact that I could not find any tours going to India plus news of a serial bombing in New Delhi changed my plans.

With the recent earthquake in Sichuan, I thought it might be a good time to go, because there maybe slightly less people. (Even though October is the traditional high season, it is usually so crowded that you cannot take a photo without anyone else in it. =P)

The price is steep though. Especially since our planning is a bit late, and some flights are full already, and all the cheap tickets are gone...

If we can really see the red leaves, then it'll be worth it. =P That's why I'm checking this red leaves index! The leaves are turning red now! Will they stay red till I go?!

Most of the tours only spent one day in Jiuzhaigou itself, (maybe because the entrance fee with bus fee is >RMB300 already! not to mention the hotel is more expensive in Jiuzhai compared to Chengdu!), plus I hate all the shopping!! That's why we went into all the trouble to plan the trip ourselves.

Here's our plan (mainly due to plane ticket problems):
25/10 Hong Kong--> Chengdu
26/10 Chengdu--> Jiuzhaigou/Huanglong Airport--> Huanglong --> Hotel
27/10 Jiuzhaigou
28/10 Jiuzhaigou
29/10 Jiuzhaigou/Huanglong Airport --> Chengdu
30/10 Chengdu--> Hong Kong

6 Million Others - Happiness

I watched this program on one of the English TV Channels.

6 Million Others is a simple yet profound project where the people around the world are interviewed on simple topics like happiness, love, family.

One of the clips about happiness, the woman said "I am happy because I have water." Are you happy? Why? And why not?

You can watch the testimonials on the website as well. It can make you rethink your life.

Mimosa

One thing we see less and less in Hong Kong, apart from the old buildings (as from my previous post), is -- MIMOSA!

I don't know if you feel the same way, when I was a kid, I used to see mimosa everywhere in parks, along the pavement, even in urban areas! My grandmother used to bring me to a park near my kindergarten quite often after school, and I could find mimosa along the way.

Some people told me mimosa can only survive in places with air quality that is not bad. I guess that is why I don't see mimosa all that much now.



I thought this wasn't mimosa when I first saw it, I was fooled too many times by plants that looked like mimosa but wasn't, but it really was, and there were lots of them nearby!!

This picture was taken in Yuen Long last month, just wondering when mimosa will disappear from the New Territories as well...

Edited Kowloon City Photos

If you want some photos like this, check this out. (I found this out from a colleague!)

See the original from my previous post.