Trial Move

Ok, I have wanted to move my blog to wordpress for quite some time, the functions here in blogger is kinda limited...

so I have exported my posts to wordpress, and here's the link to my new blog, let's see how it goes

http://booksntravel.wordpress.com/

Entertainment for CNY

It's time for the most boring festival of all-- CHINESE NEW YEAR!

It's already better now, compared to the days when I was a kid. No shops were opened. All the TV programs were about CNY, EVEN the commercials became more boring than ever. Still...

I've been searching for entertainment for my one day holiday... (coz I need to work on the 2nd day, perhaps sleep on the 3rd day of the New Year)

I watched this movie 醜女大翻身 on TVB last month and loved the movie and loves the songs! I told myself I would find the name of the songs after I came back from Israel, but I have totally forgotten until today.

From the movie《醜女大翻身》, these songs are really good.






I have just finished watching "It Just Started with a Kiss" 惡作劇之吻 on tudou.com, and plan to watch "It Just Started with a Kiss 2" 惡作劇2吻. Usually I hate stupid heroines, but in this one, the hero and heroine are both quite cute =), and the TV series is very funny, so I enjoyed it even though the heroine is unbelievable stupid... Quite surprised that I actually liked this TEENAGE idol drama, haha!

The songs from the series are quite good!






Any other good entertainment suggestions for a "mo liu" person like me? Even though I think the 2 episodes of "It Started with a Kiss 2" is quite enough for one day... haha!

Wish you all a really Happy Chinese New Year!

Birthday wish came true

One of my birthday wishes came true... on my birthday. =)

Hamas announces ceasefire after Israel declares truce

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."

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

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

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.

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

Carbon offset

I'm surprised that so many people has never heard of carbon offset or has never thought about the damage we did when we flew with planes.

Whatever you do to save the planet, with one long haul flight, the amount of damage you did could be much more than what you did to save it in a year,

Last time, when I went to Australia, I was too busy (in studying) to search for carbon offset options, even though I wanted to do it.

Some of the airlines allows you to buy carbon offsets, that is to give money to do things like plant more trees/support renewable energy to compensate for the carbon dioxide you produced with whatever you did, like flying, or driving.

Examples can be found here.

I have tried searching for a similar organisation in Hong Kong, but couldn't find one. hmm... maybe I should just try to buy carbon offset from overseas companies/organisations, or maybe I should just donate more money to environmental organisations??

(From Carbon Catalog, I can only find one in Israel and one in Japan in the whole Asia!!!)

And I started searching for environmental organisations in Hong Kong, this is the most comprehensive list I found.

WWF is using too much money for administration, more than 20% on admin, membership management, promotion, etc!!!

Greenpeace, is it too aggressive at times? A bit like LSD on environment instead of politics?

The others, I don't really care much about... hmm... Anyone with any good suggestions?

(btw, you can calculate your carbon footprint here.)

Legco Election Day- Observations

1. Volunteers

I ran into a group of DAB and FTU volunteers immediately after leaving home today very early this morning. Then as I walked towards the polling station, there are more and more DAB/FTU people, I just saw small groups of Civic Party/Democratic Part/LSD volunteers at the exit of the MTR station, and then more FTU/DAB and FTU/DAB people all around.

From this you can see why Beijing Olympics got so many volunteers =P, these pro-China groups have the tendency to draw more volunteers.

What I don't understand is why some relatively young people (I think they look like university students) are working for DAB/FTU!!!! Unlikely to be forced by parents at that age... Maybe easier to get promoted in these parties? coz a lot less young people? hmm...

2. District Councillor

My district councillor was/?is from the FTU (I did not vote for him!), but this time he supported the DAB... why did he betrayed the FTU? More financial support? I really don't like him.

3. Leung Mei Fun

The same thing happened like last week, Leung sent someone to distribute pamphlets right outside my church (which is in the Kln West District), and according to some of my friends, she got 3 different versions of pamphlets for DAB/church/?general? not sure.

Let's see her supporters. Really got to say "king", she could find so many "star" pastors/leaders in the HK Protestant Circle to support her.





One of the supporters gave the sermon today in my church, I guess after what happened to So Wing Chi, NO ONE dare to say a thing about the election =P haha!! So nothing at all about the election.

Some details about her background and how So supported her and why can be read here. Ignore the Bible/theology stuff, I think parts of it are wrong.

Another interesting post on separation of church and government.

4. Functional constituency

If you're a voter of the functional constituency, a letter representing the group you belonged to will be there on the sheet of paper they have in the polling station.

As they were searching for my name on the list, I noted there are like just 2-3 people with letters in front of their names on each page (like more than 40 names/page I think, not sure because I didn't count). Really small circle election. And the people with ID numbers around me are all young people already, if you go to the elderly group, I bet there might not be a single functional constituency voter in the whole pile of papers.

Legco Election- Change of Mind? (2)

I can't decide who to vote for even this morning, see previous post for detail about why.

I got up early in order to vote before going to church, and I went to the 2 final candidates' website to read their platform of election. It's a lot more detailed on their website than on those pamphlets I got!

Andrew To

Alan Leong

Then I checked the part on environmental protection, since this is the part I can't find in any pamphlets/debates. And all the other poverty reduction/economy/education/democracy stuff are pretty much the same.

One candidate got this:
環境

1. 空氣污染(施政報告2.5.15)
1. 引入再生能源，要求發電廠加設除硫設備
2. 政府應與珠江三角洲地區政府合作，解決廢氣南下的問題，以減輕本地空氣污染
3. 早日立法規管停車熄匙
2. 噪音問題
1. 改善航機噪音及道路噪音問題
3. 固體廢料問題(施政報告2.5.15)
1. 制訂固體廢物處理政策
2. 加強監管鄉效地區土地利用，防止荒廢農田被用作堆填區
3. 推動政府引入新技術，透過循環再造的方法處理有機廢物
4. 生態環境(施政報告2.5.16)
1. 城市規劃應重視自然保育
2. 全面綠化山坡山脊及斜坡
3. 爭取種植樹木應以本地品種優先

Another this:
採取世衛組織的空氣標準，改善本港空氣質素；立法管制屏風樓，評估新建樓宇對附近環境的影響；增加綠化和休憩空間。

I know it doesn't mean anything what they promised... but if they didn't even mention it in the platform of election, then it's unlikely to get done... hmm...

Legco Election- Change of Mind?

I have made up my mind who to vote for very early on... It's just that when I read all these controversies, whether you should vote for who you want most, or whether you should try to vote for some candidates who may get the seat (if you are sure that the person you wanted to vote for is gonna get the seat)...

There are 6 lists in my district, but only 4 seats. I won't vote for the DAB or the Federation of Trade Unions for sure =P I don't like the Democratic Party all that much, they have two lists. And then there's a list with the LSD (I can't believe it actually got the short form called LSD! I just found their English name from the web!) And one with the Civic Party.

I want the DAB list out for sure. Though I won't vote for Chan Yuen Han, I admire her for leaving the DAB, and stood apart from them on certain issues. =P

Actually the votes of two last democrat lists (according to the polls) combined together should be similar to that of the DAB! Should I change in the last minute and who should I vote for if I decide to change?

The last two lists are both selling their young and energetic image. Let's take a look.

There is this "boring egg" candidate.



And this is NOT my hands being shaky! This is actually the pamphlet I received in mail!



I really can't see why I should vote for a "boring egg" candidate, I can't even imagine why he would call himself a "boring egg"!!!

Then the second possibility from the LSD. His pamphlet is the best among all I have received! And the image is real good.









He looks professional, young and energetic, really like the kind who will fight for the people. And there's tear-jerking story from his wife, wow!



The only problem with the list is the LSD... I really don't like the way they try to get things done.

Or is the crazy way to do things the way real revolutionaries do? or maybe like what Jesus did when he turned all the tables in the Temple =P?

Legco Election

Legco election will be held next Sunday. This year's election is special in a way that it is so near the Beijing Olympics. I am the kind of person who is used to watching most of the debates, reading the pamphlets, gathering some information before I cast my vote. This year, it is difficult.

Most of the people I know are going to vote for the Civic Party. I am no exception. (I still haven't made my decision on my functional constituency vote yet.)

Most of the candidates concentrated on universal suffrage and poverty in the debates. Poverty is a very important issue, I agree. Universal suffrage is also important.

What about the environment? Some of them do have a few suggestions like stop building "barrier buildings" (not sure of the term in English).

Even if I wanna vote green, I don't know how to choose.

Typhoon at work...

When I set off for work yesterday morning, part of the sky is still blue...



And so few people in the West Rail train...



No day off for me... I can't even hear the winds blowing at work, haha...





Today, the sky is clear blue again after the typhoon, you can see the Lion Rock so clearly

Revisiting CUHK...

Went back to CUHK to get the library card today... it was also the CUHK Carnival today.

Saw this colorful building I've never seen before... dunno what it is...



Went to take a look at places where I've spent a lot of time...





Canteen is changed! So colorful!







Got this new building... so modern...









There's this new Chinese medicine garden!



See what is written



haha! You can see how much food you have used up





Never noticed words on the bridge before... =P





CC library changed so much



Sportsground so new... why is there a Hyatt here??!!



You can get Octopus points if you recycle!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



Olympics everywhere





Know why the Hyatt is here

Day after Typhoon No. 8

Not even one drop of rain... I finally got the chance to wear the rainboots I bought, but not even one drop of rain, and I had to use my umbrella for the sun instead of rain...

Did we ever think about the consequences of the "small" things we did?

I remembered watching on TV: actor Li AhPeng threatening the Hong Kong reporter and barely able to restrain himself on violence against the reporter.

What I was thinking was that the Hong Kong reporter deserved that. It's so very understandable for a father to be protective of his own children.

Apparently most Chinese have the same thoughts as mine according to a poll on the web.

I still remembered explaining to my mom why the reporter wanted to get a picture of Li's daughter after watching that short clip on TV, as my mom is even more ignorant on celebrity gossip than me. (In case, you're just like my mom, his daughter got cleft lip.)

Why is it that we want to see what his daughter looks like?

Come to think of it, why is it that we want to know about these celebrities who have nothing to do with us? This pathological curiosity is driving these paparazzi into doing crazy stunts.

So many reading materials in the world, so many types of entertainment, why do we need to read about these celebrities? Even if one hate reading "words" and just want to read a magazine that requires no brain cells at all, one can just read a magazine on travelling or food, right?

If there's no market, this type of stuff simply won't happen.

Same thing with printing 10 pages of the same thing just for convenience's sake. If you think about the consequences-- the sheer number of trees it will involve if everyone in the world uses 10 more sheets of paper.

Instead of saying the 10 sheets of paper I used , or the one magazine I bought is not going to make a difference to the world, think about this-- if everyone keeps saying the same thing like this, this world is never going to change.

How come so many people agreed with the actions of Li AhPeng in protecting his own child, yet the magazines' sale is still so strong? If you think protection of children is important, why not start protecting his children by stop reading these gossip magazines?

Flamenco Second Lesson

You thought flamenco class is just using your body, not your mind...

I received this sheet of NOTES!! for my flamenco class yesterday!



The teacher said we should count the beats by Spanish... and know the names of the dance steps, so we need to learn a bit of Spanish... unfortunately my Spanish is just limited to "gracias", "Hola", "senor" and "senorita"... =P so I probably need to spend a bit of time on it...

The second lesson we learned a bit more of the steps and twisting of wrists. I discovered I really need a bit more of stretching exercise, coz when the teacher forced me to do some stretching exercise (in a position I have never done before), I had trouble standing up afterwards because my calf felt so PAINFUL!!! And I found out that shoes without straps is not a good idea for flamenco...

Escape from Iran

I don't know how much of this news report is true or if it is propaganda for the US against Iran...

It's just shocking to read this story about a guy who's only slightly older than me. And the story about how he survived all these tortures in prison and escaped to America is stunning.

I have some questions about the story though. The guy could leave the prison for exam for a degree and escaped with a video camera, Dell laptop and withdrew cash from an ATM machine???!!! Is this real??? I don't understand how this can happen...

The last part of the report sounds like propaganda, if not for the last paragraph.

When his flight from Vienna landed at Dulles Airport near Washington in late June, Batebi was astonished to see that the airport worker waving the jet into the gate was a Muslim woman wearing a tight head scarf.

Batebi was enthralled, sensing a casual tolerance that was exactly what he had longed for in his own country. "It seems to me that people here are free to live their lives, as long as they do no harm to anyone else," he said.

There are more distinguished figures in the Iranian opposition - people who have spent decades in the struggle - as Batebi is quick to acknowledge. But he is discovering that few are so recognizable. For the Iranian diaspora, The Economist's 1999 photo remains an iconic image.

Batebi was a little nonplussed, Mazahery said, when an Iranian-American woman outside a Washington grocery store walked past him a few days ago, did a double take and called out his name. When he said that, yes, he was Batebi, the long-imprisoned dissident, she burst into tears.

Zahir Janmohamed of Amnesty International USA called Batebi "grounded and humble" about his role.

......

Batebi speaks of working from afar for peaceful change in Iran. He recoils when asked about the possibility of U.S. military action against Iran, saying that if the United States attacked, "I might go back and fight for my country myself."

I don't doubt that parts of the report must be true, and it makes me treasure the freedom I have even more.