上海環球金融中心終於開幕了, 雖然上層的公司行號租戶似乎還未全數移入, 但地下樓B1和B2的商店美食街已近90%的開幕營業.
果爸由公司那兒拿到兩張參觀門票, 所以那天(趁門票過期前)和果爸本來是想登高至位在94, 97, 和100樓的Observatory一探究竟, 不料竟要排隊等上近兩小時才能進入, 我們馬上放棄, 改到地下樓探險.
下樓打探的結果是, 我只能說, 哇! 這是我搬到上海以來, 少數感受到上海真的好文明的其中一刻, 感謝日本商人的商業企圖, 對我們這些長期在這裡要時常對惡質服務文化忍氣吞聲的異鄉人而言, 這亦是一項如久旱逢甘霖般的德政! 日本商業團隊將日本經營餐飲的服務與美食原汁原味的移到B2的Y's Table, 逛了一圈, 了解每個"攤位"的內容後, 感覺就是"好棒! 就像暫時來到日本一樣."
撇開過往國仇家恨的沉重嚴肅面, 純就玩樂休閒來談, 日本是個旅行資源很豐富的國家, 以此為出發點而言, 我真的很喜歡日本, 尤其在上海窩了這段時間後, 日本乾淨衛生井然有序的環境是我渴望重享親近的.
我和果爸對日本還有分私心 果爸年輕時在九州地區擔任傳教士騎腳踏車服務了二年, 後來果爸有幸因工作之故, 需要常跑日本, 而我也是因工作關係認識了果爸, 日本是讓我們正式來電的地方, 實在是星空太美, 而拉麵的湯頭與彈牙程度讓人陶醉, 呵呵....
總之, 雖然我們不是哈日族, 也不想變成日本人, 但我承認我們對日本的私心, 喜愛, 與好奇程度是很大的. 我另外對日本在維護古蹟傳統與環保節能努力的作為有一份敬佩, 至於我不喜歡日本的地方, 不是本篇重點, 就不談了!
旅遊尾聲最末兩天, 我們回到原點 Osaka(大阪). 大阪是日本第二大城市, 不過感覺上其繁華壅擠的程度, 比起第一大城市東京似乎仍有段距離. 這兩天我們基本上就是走路逛大街, 享受美食, 感受"正港"的文明城市的氣息, 以下分享一些隨意片段.
為超級狗迷的我們有個習慣, 就是不管走到哪裡, 都會特別注意跟狗有關的東西, 除了沿路逛街時, 順道逛了幾家pet's store外, 這次在大阪, 我們還見識了一種新玩意, 是一種讓人付費進入跟住在店裡的鎮店寵物狗們玩耍互動的寵物遊戲店, 這些店也幾乎都有租借狗狗讓你帶出去散步的服務. 也許是思狗兒子心切, 想念那種毛茸茸擁抱的感覺, 我們去了一家位在Osaka castle附近, IMP大樓一樓的這類型店, 店名叫"Dog Mind", 兩人付了一千日幣後就進去跟狗玩了, 沒有時間限制. 另外, 在我們下榻的飯店隔壁的Kintetsu department store(近铁百貨)頂樓有個空中狗公園(Dog Run), 我們也好奇上去參觀, 看來日本的愛狗人士應該不少.
Dotonbori(道頓堀)應該是觀光客必到之點, 這裡吃的東西不少, 不知道哪裡解決民生問題的話, 就到這裡吧!
道頓堀即樂商店街還蠻有趣的, 裡頭重現大阪早年的街頭巷景, 吃的玩的都有, 也有音樂喜劇表演.
在道頓堀享用的美食, 這裡好吃的太多了! 只能怨嘆如果自己能有牛的四個胃, 該有多好! 找好吃的食物不難, 不一定要全盤照旅遊指南推薦的, 有人潮的店東西一定不差, 這是打片天下無敵手的定理.
從街頭洶湧的購物人潮與打扮入時的年輕男女身上, 實在嗅不出明顯的日本國力衰退, 不過也許這也正是表徵之一, 就是年輕人沒有甚麼實際目標, 只想輕鬆生活, 流行, 購物, 打扮自己.
Osaka Castle大阪城. 這裡週邊的公園正是大阪的綠色心臟, 夜間來此運動的市民真的很多, 來這個公園走走, 感受當地人生活的脈動.
第六天晚上去Shin Umeda City看夜景, 這裡屋頂上的Lumi City Walk有許多巧思設計, 特別適合戀人.
七天六夜的假期就近尾聲, 惱人的家事國事天下事明天再去面對吧! 夜風清涼拂面, 夜景閃閃動人, 且讓此刻良辰美景畫下即時浪漫句點, 美麗京阪, 相約再見!
今天我們由大阪乘火車到Himeji 參觀日本第一座登錄World Heritage的Himeji castle (姬路城堡).
美麗的海景總是讓人心情有種舒吐暢快的感動
雖非首次造訪日本, 對日本的乾淨有序亦非首次經驗, 然而再見日本的乾淨環境, 仍不禁想再次讚嘆, 真的是好舒服! 在大阪前往姬路的火車上, 雖然一路乘客不少, 上上下下的乘客流轉率也大, 但是連一張小紙屑屑都看不見. 路途中, 坐我前座的阿公不小心打翻他自己正在喝的飲料, 只見他立即蹲下用自己的手巾把現場地板擦得一乾二淨, 並一直向左右附近的鄰居乘客道歉, 這樣的公德禮節真是令人印象深刻.
參觀完姬路城, 對於日本人對古蹟維護的執著與重視, 深思感動不已. 對古蹟保護, 就是讓下一代子孫能繼續享有欣賞古蹟的樂趣與啟發, 我相信未來時代有兩件東西人們會擲萬金以尋求一親芳澤的機會, 一是大自然, 二就是古蹟. 科技創新可日新月異, 唯自然與古蹟一但逝去是無法復返的, 希望我們這一代 能保持這樣的認知與使命感.
上圖是今天的早餐, 是和式洋食.
今早我們來到 Nijo castle (二條城), 關於城堡的歷史, 不多述, 網上都查的到. 這座已被列入UNESCO World Heritage site的城堡 (或者說古代豪宅吧~), 不論外觀或內裝均經極度細心地維護保存, 很為此感動與感慨. 欣賞豪宅內部均是塌塌米鋪陳的簡潔開放空間, 我感到其空間的定義與運用其實很靈活, 並極具現代感. 歲月刻蝕的原木樑柱與地板, 簡單卻呈現深沉大氣, 其中為防敵所設計的地板聲響效果, 真的很有意思. 由於裡頭禁止攝影, 所以只有我們在外頭照的影像, 其戶外花園造景設計, 也是美不盛收!
接著我們來到鼎鼎有名, 而且其別名比本名“Rokuon-ji“ (鹿苑寺)還有名的”Kinkaku-ji (金閣寺)”. 即使你還沒來過此地, 在看到金閣寺的照片時, 大概也會有種似曾相識的感覺, 因為它經常出現在月曆或明信片彩圖等之類的印刷品上. 雖然天候不佳, 金閣寺給我的第一眼印象仍是美的如夢似幻, 它給人的WOW-factor只能藉親遊一趟才感受的到. 特別是金閣寺的金色外觀, 有種不真實感(surreal)的錯覺, 我訝異於它能將三種完全不同時代的不同建築設計, 幾近完美地協調融和在同一棟建築外觀上, 也許正是這種不按牌理出牌的魔力, 才讓金閣寺更添增一份世外的美.
參觀完金閣寺, 我們問路循線來到一家有網友推薦的用餐地點, 真的不錯歐! 我覺得應該是金閣寺附近方便好吃又不貴的用餐首選地, 這家午餐吃到飽的和風家庭式自助餐廰, 店名是"思風都”(http://seafood-kyoto.com/), 從金閣寺出來後, 走回到主要十字路口, 然後右轉往前直走七分鐘左右. 好找好認, 門口還有中日英韓文的介紹.
在俗又大碗又好吃的思風都吃飽喝足後, 我們跳上公車, 一路來到 Ginkaku Temple (銀閣寺). 通往銀閣寺會經過"Tetsugaku-no-michi (哲學之道)"(路名真美~), 然後是一堆的商店, 喜歡吃吃逛逛的人會很喜歡這一路的風光. 雖然因整修之故, 未能見到銀閣寺本尊, 但是銀閣寺美麗典雅的園林仍讓我陶醉不已, 特別是園內培植生長的各式青苔, 為銀閣寺這片土地加添不少藝術生氣, 園內有一角還擺設了所有銀閣寺腹地內的青苔樣本, 喜歡種花蒔草的人, 若來這裡, 不妨多駐足欣賞一番.
上圖是商店裡的便當, 日本人連便當都要做的這麼美(讓人想放狗咬人~), 令人食指大動, 雖然掙扎後決定吃拉麵, 我忍不住照了張相來望梅止渴~ 今晚我們甜蜜不捨的告別京都, 移防大阪.
~ to be continued ~
一大早起床, 全身居然隱隱痠痛, 看來我這身老骨頭還是不太習慣有點硬的榻榻米. 對了! 忘了說, 昨晚睡前到大澡堂享受了熱呼呼的澡, 真的好棒! 我對這種日式的大澡堂開始有點上癮了.
旅館“nejan“(女中)按我們的要求一分不差地準時來到房間, 先是整理我們的床被褥, 然後送上豐盛的早餐, 仍是睡眼惺忪的晾坐在一旁, 看著他們俐落有禮又細心的動作, 讓我們覺得自己真是被寵壞了. 幾分鐘後, 當我興奮顫抖的將海苔裹住的米飯貪心的與新鮮的烤鹹鮭同時送入口中時, 那種對空傻笑留涎的幸福的感覺, 呵呵呵…, 真的每樣都好好吃歐!
今天我們先來到Kiyomizu-dera(清水寺)及周邊, 景點細節不是我的重點, 大家可參考其他專攻旅遊的網誌. 今天氣溫突然降的很低, 而且陰雨不斷, 有點小掃興, 因為照片不容易拍...
戀愛石
果爸堅持要我一嚐"音羽泉", 在排了二十分鐘後才輪到我, 看到我那付饞相沒?
清水寺週邊的巷道極富風情, 尤其是各式和風的商店, 每樣東西都好精緻, 值得漫步品嚐. 不管靜巷, 或是隨著人潮洶湧的名店, 京都的淨樸美似乎一致性的呈現, 這樣的風情是多少歲月的努力與共識才能打造出的呢?
中餐時間到了, 當然吃"Yudofu" (湯豆腐)去! 這家在清水寺附印近據說有三百多年歷史的湯豆腐老店"Okutan" (奧丹), 個人覺得真的值得一訪! 因為該宅院建築本身就極有參觀價值, 得天獨厚的條件, 給我們的一個視嗅味聽感,五覺的全方位京都饗宴. 在我們點的套餐中, 我最喜歡豆香濃郁的烤豆腐及黏呼呼的山藥泥. 希望我能找出那山藥泥的做法....
下午走訪Chion-in (知恩院)...等景點, 為何用"...等", 因為有些地方去的忘了名字了. 京都真的好美好乾淨!
跟果爸旅行要有一個心理與體力的準備, 就是他老兄喜歡用走的, 前幾年我還很勇, 怎麼走都行, 這兩年開始感到生理時鐘的殘酷, 傍晚我們來到Gion (坁園)的Hanamikoji (花見小路通)漫步, 基本上我的雙腿這時已經累的不聽使喚, 唉..這時真想唱"我的青春小鳥一去不復返"來哀悼漸衰的肉體. 雨越下越大, 氣溫亦漸微寒, 街上行人遊客稀寥, 我們試圖繞了幾條隱密後巷, 還是沒能堵上半個Maiko(舞伎), 由於雨勢漸強, 很快的, 我們就決定轉移陣地回飯店周邊的鬧區吃喝玩耍.
更多的照片在相簿內.
~ to be continued ~
疑~照片今天重出江湖了, 懸疑懸疑...雖然心裡還是有一絲不安, 但空坐搔頭無濟於事, 先分享關西一遊, 其餘的就交由果果頂著好了!
中國十一國慶黃金週假期期間我們去日本關西玩了一趟. 果爸被工作壓榨地有些不成人形, 滿腦子只奢望一個有沙灘海洋椰子樹跟美女的熱帶島嶼假期, 無奈我們手腳太慢, 在一波三折的折騰與逆轉後, 最後是去了日本, 對於這個結果, 我心中並無一絲遺憾, 因為日本是百遊不膩的!
日本我們去過好幾次, 不過多是因公之便, 未能真正好好度假暢遊, 這次選了大阪京都, 我都沒去過, 果爸多年前倒是遊過京都. 行前透過網路, 書籍與請益旅日達人朋友所做的小小準備功課, 助益不少!
果媽拙筆也許不能表達出準確的京阪印象, 就讓圖文故事來直話直說吧, OK, let's go!
上海到大阪的飛行時間約兩小時, 我們降落在世界建築奇蹟- 浮在海上人工島的日本關西空港. 進海關時發現來自台灣的觀光團體就有好幾團, 目測人數應是當場的冠軍. 日本人通常很有效率, 但是日本海關通關速度的慢, 卻是一個另類特色, 我們等了很久才完成通關, 來到行李轉盤時, 所有的行李已經送達且有秩序地在一邊排排站, 等待主人提領. 在一樓詢問索取了幾份觀光資料, 再去購買Kansai JR-West Pass, 再不一會兒, 我們已坐上前往京都的火車, 京都, 我們來了!
踏出京都火車站迎面而來的是陰霾細雨, 看來侵襲台灣的颱風外圍環流也掃到這裡了. 跳進駕駛座在右邊的計程車後, 一路上, 我的視覺傳達到大腦的訊息一直是"左邊的駕駛座怎麼沒人在開車", 呵呵! 日本計程車資很貴是眾所皆知, 我們下榻的旅館離車站其實不遠, 但是車資也要十多塊美金, 可怕!
果爸在Expedia上訂了這間叫Matsui Honkan (松井本館 http://www.matsui-inn.com/honkan_eng/index.php) 的傳統和式旅館, 雖然果爸說這家在網上的評價很不錯, 但在踏進旅館前, 我們還是有一點忐忑, 不知道實際是否與網評一致. 這個疑問在我們check-in時已消除了一半, 前台的人員非常熱誠親切, 而且在我們站定開口前, 就主動歡迎並叫出我們的名字了. 上圖是我們的房間, 不大, 也有點歲月感, 但是古樸溫馨又乾淨, 看到滿室的榻榻米, 我的京都綺想已經開始加溫了!
認識旅館周遭環境是check in 後的首要任務, 我們很快發現著名的Nishiki ichiba (Nishiki market, 錦市場)就在五分鐘腳程內, 而與附近一大片的購物商店街(這一區應該Kawaramachi street 河原町通, Sanjo street三条通, Shinkyogoku新京極商店街這裡)基本上也是一氣呵成地連在一塊兒. 地理位置看來很方便.
就在我們在這一大片的商店鬧區街瞎闖亂逛時, 看到了這家似乎是網路上推薦的人氣豬排店 "Katsukura" ( 名代 http://www.fukunaga-tf.com/katsukura/index.html), 果爸雖然心懷陰謀想著他日本第一頓晚餐應該是okonomiyaki, 但是在我的"聽說是京都第一的豬排歐...okonomiyaki應該是到大阪比較好吃"的誇大鼓吹下, 其實也是tonkatsu"粉絲"的他馬上說"好!". 一進入前門狹隘的通道, 看到人客已排起小長龍, 嗯! 這是個好預兆, 香滋滋的豬排再不一會兒就要到嘴邊囉!
好不容易坐定位, 令人眼亮的調理醬汁的排場, 再看到令人左右為難的精彩菜單, 心想這時我如果像牛一樣有四個胃該多好?
在陣痛般的取捨後, 我們倆有默契但沒創意的都點了這道時節性特餐, 包括一塊基本号招牌豬排與一塊內填以京豆腐與秋季蔬莖為主角的炸物. 這時你一定想要知道到底好不好吃? 是否名不虛傳? 唉....除非倉頡復生為此造新字, 我才能斗膽一試, 否則就恕我放棄形容其味道口感層次的企圖吧....也不要逼我說出那碗隨餐的米飯在我口中伴隨豬排及醬汁一起旋轉舞動的快感為何? 我只能說我願意每餐都只吃這個也不會喊膩! 果爸這位被寵壞的frequent traveller, 雖然在我逼問下只願給他8.5, 他信誓旦旦宣稱他吃過還要更好吃的, 真想揍他! 不過我看到他在付完帳單後把碗盤上的小菜屑清光, 這不尋常的舉動, 嘿嘿!! 老公就認了說"Great"吧!
錦市場只營業至晚上六點, 我們順著錦市場內逛回旅館時, 市場內只剩下少數還在整理收攤的店, 我們沒能買到一些想吃的小吃, 只買了一帶豆乳小donuts, 回旅館看電視當零食, 也許是豬排在肚裡奉承作怪, 當晚我覺得怎麼連日本的電視節目都很好看.....
~ to be continued~
最近的台美中三地的新聞不只是壞消息, 而且多是令人沮喪又憤怒的壞事, 從把國務當做他家的家務在打理的腐敗政客, 到過度消費入不敷出所致的經濟危機, 再到草菅人命唯利是圖的政商....等等, 身為市井小民, 面對這瘋狂又似乎無法無天的世界, 你能不憤怒?
說穿了, 就是負不負責, 這麼簡單的道理而以, 孩子都懂. 我們幾乎每個人在年少時, 都會被教導要分清是非黑白, 要負責任. 很少會有父母對孩子的諄諄教誨與期望會是"黑白不用分, 做壞人最棒." 那麼問題到底出在哪裡? 為什麼沒有人願意做負責任的人了? 而是出事了都是別人的錯!
每個人守本分盡責, 這麼簡單而已, 守本負責, 仰不愧天, 俯不怍于人, 這樣的情操信仰亡矣否?
許多人選擇不固本分逃避己責, 以為如此做, 可聰明地避免束縛, 偷得快樂自由. 邪惡從來不會帶來幸福的, 撒旦的伎倆之一就是讓我們覺得不負責任逃避良知是很容易的, 因為就是拍拍屁股走人嘛, 而負責任有良知是很困難很多後果麻煩的. 一定要認清這個混亂心情感覺的詭計, 個人責任(personal accountability)的良知美德, 才會讓我們避免被罪惡的重軛套住, 獲的真正的自由平安與幸福.
改變世界, 從改變自己做起, 壞人壞事還是很多, 但是我相信我們不該懼怕人比懼怕神更多, 如果每位好男好女願意試驗"個人榜樣"所能帶來的巨大改變力量, 不負責任的人事就會開始鼠遁, 我們孩子的明天會更好更穩定.
That day, daddy decided to track down where my "poofing process" is . Because I wiggles all the time, he usually hold me and weight us both and then eliminate his weight to get my weight.
"Monster, are you ready for this?" "Don't tell me, dad!"
"Oh, man, I can't believe my eyes..(daddy was stunned)" ".........(no words from Squarky)"
"57 pounds! son! What happened??" "57? Is that the total number of birds and rabbits I had ate? (pretend dummy)"
"Son, what are we going to do with this 57-pound?!" "I am innocent! ...It poofs! I can't stop it! (pretend "baby" immdediately)
"Mommy, since I've reached another milestone, can I have some biscuit?"
Hi, mommy can you see me? I am all yours. What's next? Bring it on! 哈囉! 馬麻..你有看見我嗎? 我整隻都是你的了, 接下來的節目咧? 儘管放馬過來吧~
Mommy apparently doesn't like my "bring it on" challenge. She said I am pretty close to fire her up to make a stew out of me. Oh.... got'ya, mom....顯然, 馬麻不喜歡我那個"放馬"的挑戰, 她說我再提放馬一事, 她今晚就來燉現宰飄香肉了, ㄡ噢....瞭解了, 馬麻...(改變低調中..)
How about this then, mommy? Can you stew such a cute thing? 太低調實在太悶, 那這樣呢? 馬麻... 你忍心磨刀霍霍烹煮這樣的小古錐嗎? 
Last weekend was Mid-autumn Festival 中秋節 (or "Moon Festival") holiday. What is this Festival for? I'll give you a liitle background at the end of this posting.
In spite of the fact that Tim was out of town, Squarky and I managed to make the best out of this beautiful holiday.
"Mom, where are you going?" "Monster, you stay home and be good. Mommy is going to Yuyuan Garden (豫園)."
"Whaa.......aaat? It's not fair. I don't like this idea..."
The Huangpu river (黃浦江) divides Shanghai into west area (浦西 "Puxi") and east area (浦東 "Pudong"). Puxi was developed ealier and it is Shanghai's cultural, populational and commercial center. Pudong was much later developed in 1990 and was designated as the center of finance and economy of Shanghai. We live in Pudong. The ways we go across river to the Puxi side are either by car, by Metro or by ferry. Today, I decided to take ferry. The picture shows the entry of the ferry. The red colored sign on the wall is one of the funny propaganda signs going crazily around the city. In earlier time, these signs were primarily promoting for the Olympic and now they are all about the World Expo coming to Shanghai in 2010 . This one says: "Discerning honor and dishonor, behaving civilized, preparing for World Expo"(知榮辱, 講文明, 迎世博).
Our air-conditioned ferry was coming to get us. The ticket is RMB2 - half of the RMB4 Metro ticket.
When our ferry crossing the river, my camera caught the other ferry which is non-air-conditioned and costs RMB1.5.
The multimillion dollar condominiums and super skycrapers on Pudong side.
The ferry arrives on the Jingling East Road ferry stop (金陵東路站) on the Bund (外灘). I then strolled toward Yuyuan Garden. It takes about 15 minutes. On the way, I saw this street vendor selling freshly sliced fruit on the stick which is commonly seen on the street around the city. I always feel temptated to buy one (who would say no to a big piece of jucy freshly cut watermelon on such steaming day?). But, I never dare to try - sorry, the hygiene standard is a little bit "offbeat" to me .
After walking through this Gucheng Park (古城公園), Yuyuan Garden would be right in front of your eyes! But wait a second, did I see someone in PJ hanging out during this bright daytime? Yes, this is for real! PJ-fashion is very Shanghai-ish. The lady on the left in the picture was not crazy. She was just doing what the locals do - wearing PJ as a normal street outfit. I don't know how long it will take until I get used to seeing this. Tim has suggested that we should try this once for fun before we leave Shanghai. Hahaha!
I've been to Yuyuan Garden many times. So I decided to explore some of the small alleys around today. This is a easy way to be closer to the pace of the locals' daily life - outdoor sewing/mending stall and barber shop, people only wore underwear washing their hair in the sink in front of their house, and, of course, I didn't miss the free PJ-fashion show in the neighborhoods....these local neighborhoods were fun to see!
In spite of skyscrapers mushrooming everywhere and that China has been working hard to build/ rebuild everything new, I somehow feel the chaotic old Shanghai breathes out more its own charisma and is more real. I don't say that I prefer the old Shanghai than the new one. I enjoy both of them. It's just that the old world seems to be more genuine and humorous.
Here we are, the Yuyuan Garden (豫園)/ Chenghuang Temple 城隍廟(Old Town area) and Shanghai Old street(上海老街). This area is one of the top, must-see tourist attractions in Shanghai. This area retains old traditional Chinese feel which is speedily disappearing under the shadow of Shanghai's modernizationa. More about Yuyuan Garden, you can read http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yuyuan_Garden.
The picture shows what I had for my lunch - a steamed veggie-pork bun (菜肉大包), a tofu glass noodle (green bean noodle) soup (油豆腐細粉) and braised sliced beef shank (滷牛腱).
Here is where I had lunch - my number one favorite light Chinese meal place - Ding Tai Fung (鼎泰豐). Talking about this awsome place, Ding Tai Fung, my heart would be filled with pride because it is a Taiwanese-owned restaurant that became so successful that the New York Times rated it as one of the top ten gourmet restaurant in the world. The founder Mr. Yang was born in China in the year of 1927. He fled to Taiwan in the year of 1948 to leave the Civil-War-torn China. Reading its legend, I realized that the story was part of sad modern Chinese history and the food speaks for long-lasting beautiful Chinese culture beyond politcs and human-errors. I like the way that Ding Tai Fung has refined and sublimed the type of Chinese food it serves. And I feel this is the direction that Chinese culture should strive to go toward in modern era. Japan is a good example. Many parts of Japanese culture were originally influenced by ancient Chinese culture. However, Japan has been continuing to refine their culture through generations. In the process, they brought out the best essence of Japanese culture, their own cultural identify gradually surfaced to show the way. It has led its culture to where it is today - well loved, honored and preserved by Japanese people. Anyway, more about Ding Tai Fung, you can read http://www.dintaifung.com.tw/en/index.asp
I want to show you something nteresting. You can see a a religious wall-mounted shrine in the above right picture. Many Taiwanese business like to put a shrine similar to that in their business place (like restaurant or even luxury hotels) and use it to worship "Guan Yu" or "Duke Guan (關羽或關公). Guan Yu who was believed to be born around 160AD was a General in the late Eastern Han dynasty and Three Kingdoms era of ancient China. His real-life character was a little bit controversial. However. he was widely fictionalized as a valiant steadfast character in ancient Chinese literature and folk tales. Because of that, many people worship him, especially business people, because they believe that Guan Yu can protect them and make their business prosperous. Something special about him is that he holds status in Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism and is jointly worshipped by these three major religions in Chinese culture. This makes me think of anohter comparison character - Abraham. Abraham appeared in Jewish, Christain and Muslim. He was regarded as a holy patriarchal role in all these three religions.
Before heading home, I hit a dessert place called "Honeymoon Dessert" (香港滿記甜品) to enjoy some Hong Kong style dessert. I had soy bean milk jelly(pudding) with mango puree and mango (芒果豆腐花). This kind of Asian dessert is something I missed a lot when I was in the US.
There was another PJ fashion show I was able to catch before I headed home.
Moon Festival falls on August 15th of the Chinese Lunar Calendar (the Farmer's calendar). This Festival originated from ancient China dated back 3000 years ago. Its tradition and custom has spread to several countries/ cultures in Asia. Many of these areas has made it as a public holiday like what China and Taiwan did. Moon Festival is also the second most important holiday in Chinese Calendar (the number one of course is the Chinese New Year) in China (and also in Taiwan). On this day, families traditionally get together to eat moon cake and pomelos outside under the moon and enjoy bright, harvest full moon. Same as Chinese New Year, Moon Festival is the time for family reunion. There is a Chinese proverb says :月圓人團圓 (it means :Family reunite when full moon). The round shape of the full moon symbolize "reunion". Pomelo is a fruit similar to grapefruit but it's much larger. Pomelo is harvest during the Moon festival time. As a kid, I remembered we liked to put the peeled pemelos' rind on top of our head as a hat for fun. You can see how pomelo looks like here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pomelo.
(crunchy hot home-made Milk Bone right off the oven!)
Milk Bone Dog Biscuits Recipe
3/4C hot water
1/2C margarine
1/2C powdered milk
1tsp salt
2tsp sugar
1 egg, beaten
3C whole whea flour
In a large bowl pour hot water over the margarine. Stir in powdered milk, salt, sugar and egg. Add flour, 1/2C at a time. Mix or knead to form stiff dough. Pat or roll into 1/2 inch thickness. Use cookie cutter to cut into bone shape or cut into any shape you like. Bake on ungreased baking sheet at 325F for 50 minutes. Cool. The biscuits will dry out quite hard. (I often turn off the oven earlier and let the biscuits to cool in the oven slowly. The biscuits will be hard and crunchy)
Read more...
我不在家一個半月的結果就是:
回到美國兩個多星期了
感覺好棒
自由自主的感覺
能夠和朋友鄰居的相聚敘舊
每天短褲T恤拖鞋輕鬆出門
不會有人把我當成"阿姨"對待
不會看到路上有人吐痰或尿尿
過馬路也不用擔心車不讓你
也不用提防店員冷不防的惡劣態度
日日藍天白雲綠樹清風
呼吸百分百全方位的自由與輕鬆感
啊!真有點不想回上海了
嘻嘻
給果爸知道的話他會很緊張
我也是很想念果果的
雖然這兩星期來天天都是100F的酷熱天
不過這種乾熱比上海的大蒸籠好受的多
忙著在有限時間內把房子內外小小整修一番
每天三顧home improvement stores
買貨搬貨退貨
跟contractors討價還價
忙著在短時間內做各種顏色尺寸樣式的決定
發現remodeling也不是很好玩
新點子與後悔感隨時交錯出現
when reality kicks in, 真的很多時候就隨便它而不再堅持理想跟自己過不去了
感謝有朋友們的協助
不然很多瑣事靠我自已一人是完成不了的
他們的幫忙非常重要
當然更感謝老公辛苦上班賺錢
希望最終展現的成果是值得的
This picture, which was taken in June year 2003, three months after we brought him home, shows the very first "funeral" I held for the very first group of these "casualties". After that, no funerals could be possibily held as Squarky had advanced to "digest" most of these victims
The toy shown in the center is called "Bad Cuz" made by JW Pet company. Bad Cuz with the fido football on the right are the new additions to Squarky's toy collections. Squarky loves these two toys. The pink tennis-size ball on the left is to contrast the size of Bad Cuz and the fido football. And yes, Bad Cuz and the fido football are both super sized and Squarky likes this way. 
JW Pet company does make good fido toys that are fun and tough. So far, their toys remain indestructible from Squarky's point of view. © Free Blogger Templates Spain by Ourblogtemplates.com 2008
Back to TOP
