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Chủ Nhật, 23 tháng 10, 2011
Views of/from Tokyo's Rikugien and Kiyosumi Gardens (Photo-essay)
What with the weather being so pleasant (and the skies generally so wonderfully bright blue) for much of the time during my most recent Japan vacation, I couldn't help but want to spend a large part of it outdoors. Thus it was that on day five of my recent Japan sojourn, I ended up visiting not one but two Japanese stroll gardens: one of which -- the Rikugien Gardens in Komagome -- was
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'One panda is worth 10 of our lives'
There are about 20 zoos around the world where you can see the giant panda in captivity. But where’s the fun in that?
Animal lovers can find pandas in their natural habitat in the protected Caopo Nature Reserve, just over a mountain pass from the better-known Wolong Panda Reserve in Sichuan province, China.
There are only a few hundred pandas left in the wild and chances of seeing them are slim. Pandas are skittish and they flee when they sense humans or other potential predators.
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Blogger stuck at Taiwan airport survives on soy sauce and wasabi
The Japanese traveler who has been stuck in a Taiwanese airport for more than a month -- mimicking the hit movie "The Terminal," which starred Tom Hanks -- is finally going home.
Former reporter and restaurant worker Masaaki Tanaka became stranded at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on September 7 after running out of money. Things got so desperate for the 42-year-old that at one point he was forced to survive on water and packets of soy sauce and wasabi.
Now, thanks to generous donations, Tanaka is due to return home to Japan next week.
Tanaka, who identifies himself online as ZhongZheng, has been blogging about his life in the airport.
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Earthy Tone
One of my favorite tone for this period of time, not going to use season since there I don't get the autumn feeling in Hong Kong.
So here comes one of the worst period of the semester, when deadlines and mid terms are all suddenly coming towards your way. Can't say I didn't see that coming, but I'm just not yet prepared for it. Sucks to have such a short semester.
Pulled an all-nighter and crashed after today's class. Recouped the hours of sleep for yesterday and now, waiting for my bestie to bring me sushi for dinner. Weather here has been perfect so far, the best time to just lay on the grass and do nothing, swim, or even sit outside the cafe and chill with my friends. But no, time doesn't allow me to do so. I've been stuck in the library for most of the time, missing out on all the sunshine. Sunshine no kiss my skin, I depressed; so much for being a sun person.
Top: Taiwan
Shorts: Cotton On
Sandals: Rabbit
Watch: Casio
Bag: Pull & Bear
Headband: Topshop
Feel like heading home for just a weekend, stuff myself with all the awesome, cheap food back home, and also drink mama's soup. Great to know home is just 4 hours of flight away.
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My sweet tooth fixes from the weekend
Green Tea Frap from Starbucks; makes me miss college life more than ever, used to be 'stuck' in Starbucks from 10am till 12am because of A levels. Starbucks' ambience tops library's chilly, dead drop silence atmosphere anytime.
Paris from agnès b cafe; overpriced, commercialized dessert, luckily it was ok good.
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Hong Kong Wine and Dine Festival 2011
Event Ticket Price:
FREE
27 October 2011 - 12:00am - 30 October 2011 - 12:00am
Starting October 27 the world-acclaimed Hong Kong Wine and Dine Month begins, kicking off with the Hong Kong Wine and Dine Festival at the picturesque West Kowloon Waterfront Promenade.
Voted as one of the top 10 international food and wine festivals by Forbes Traveler.com, the Hong Kong Wine and Dine Festival is a four-day gourmand's paradise.
Fine wines from over 19 countries and regions will be available for sampling as well as culinary delights to whet the appetite at over 280 booths. The festival is held outdoors and harborside, with the stunning backdrop of Hong Kong's renowned skyline.
The festival also features performances by a variety of musicians, including producer and singer Hanjin Tan and jazz master Eugene Pao.
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Another Hainan development: Lan Kwai Fong and Mission Hills tag team
The Lan Kwai Fong Group and Mission Hills Group announced a partnership yesterday to develop a RMB 2 billion leisure complex located in Haikou, capital of Hainan island.
Upon its completion by the end of 2013, Mission Hills-Lan Kwai Fong-Haikou will be a 240,000-square-meter retail, shopping, entertainment and dining complex that will adjoin the Mission Hills Haikou International Golf Resort, which opened last year.
Ken Chu, CEO and chairman of Mission Hills Group, said that his company will finance the project while Lan Kwai Fong will manage it. He did not offer a breakdown of the financing.
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Dragonair's new menu: How to serve claypot rice while airborne
Dragonair has unveiled its new seasonal menu for first and business class passengers on its Beijing and Shanghai routes. The highlights include Hong Kong's winter staple, claypot rice.
Claypot rice is essentially a casserole of white rice with various toppings, traditionally prepared over fiery charcoal. While this method of cooking is not possible onboard Dragonair's flights, the airline has figured out how to mimic the original dish as closely as possible.
Flight attendants have been instructed to reheat the rice bowls covered with a cabbage leaf to preserve moisture in the rice and toppings. The rice on the bottom of the bowl even gets crispy, like an authentic claypot rice dish.
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For Hong Kong walkers
If you are planning to do hiking in HK, here’s a site for your reference. It is run by the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department, with a very comprehensive listing of all the hiking trails across the territory, long and short, for leisure and for challenge.
Each trail is given a route map and transport details with some introduction about the trail’s characteristics. You can search the hiking trails by region, by type and by degree of difficulty.
It’s the most comprehensive hk hiking site I’ve ever seen. So don’t miss it.
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Trail: A mix of history and nature
Walked this trail last weekend – highly recommended it. It combines a bit of history and nature with the destination being Mui Wo, a low-profile and yet peaceful and beautiful outlying island.
Mui Wo
- Mui Wo’s beach and shoreline
Mui Wo is not a popular outlying island for tourists as well as locals, because there is not “much” going on there. This is particularly so after Tung Chung MTR station was opened, allowing people to go visit Po Lin Monastery, a major tourist spot, via Tung Chung instead of passing by Mui Wo.
The island however, has attracted a growing number of expatriates living there for its quietness and scenery. I have not been to Mui Wo for long. In fact, I can barely recall when I visited it last time. But it looks like it has frozen in time. Nothing much has changed. This is rare in the fast changing HK where the city landscape is in flux. Except for one thing. There are now more cafes and bars catering to expatriates, especially near the pier, testament to more expatriates living there.
a commanding view from the trail
The walk is not hard with some gentle slopes on part of the journey. Along the route, there are villages to visit, some of which, however, are quite abandoned or have been re-developed with little traces of the past. 
Info-at-a-glance:
Starting Point: Pak Mong Village
Take taxi from Tung Chung MTR station. Look for the blue taxi at the taxi stand which serves the Lantau Island and therefore offers lower fares than the red taxi which serves the city. The taxi ride is about 10 minutes with fare not more than HK$40.
Finishing Point: Mui Wo
If you take the fast ferry, it is only 20 minutes from Mui Wo to Central. Fare is HK$28 for weekends.
Map: See here for the map showing the route.
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Only one rich business man dares
It was recently disclosed in the media that Jimmy Lai, the media mogul behind HK’s Apple Daily, a major Chinese newspaper, is the main sponsor of all pro-democracy parties here. In the elections for the Legislative Council seats, about 60 per cent of the votes go to pro-democracy parties. You would guess, under the circumstances, the business sector or some rich business people would give some support and donation to the pro-democracy parties. Yet, only one rich businessman in the whole Hong Kong dares to donate to them and that is Jimmy Lai.
The reason? All the others are too afraid to anger Beijing who see the pro-democracy elements as its enemies.
So it follows that Jimmy Lai has instantly become the target of attacks in the China-supported media, such as Wen Wei Pao, and Tai Kung Pao. Their editorial and article titles include “Jimmy Lai uses money to rig election”, “Why Jimmy Lai has to escape in haste” and “Jimmy Lai’s book reveals his strategy of controlling the opposition camp”. It reminds me of the era of cultural revolution in China when organized and coordinated attacks of individuals deemed anti-revolution were the order of the day.
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Of butterflies, dragonflies, birds and more in Japan
Spotted at Rikugien Garden: a moth (or is it a butterfly?)that one could easily walk pass by without noticing --but which I think it would have been a shame to do soAlso spotted in the Japanese stroll garden:a colorful dragonfly perched atop a rope barrierTaken too at Rikugien Garden: Photo ofa crow perched nonchalantly atop a tree branchAs the weekend nears here in Hong Kong this week, my
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9 best things to do in Kowloon
Gritty, hectic and mischievous, Kowloon is the Mr. Hyde to Hong Kong Island’s genteel Dr. Jekyll. But unlike Mr. Hyde, who was a murderous psychopath, Kowloon is actually quite friendly once you get to know it.
First occupied by the British in 1860, Kowloon was home to farming and fishing communities for hundreds of years. Its name, which means “Nine Dragons,” supposedly comes from the Song Dynasty’s Emperor Bing, who named the area for its eight tallest mountains.
The ninth dragon was, of course, the emperor himself.
In honor of that long-departed egocentric emperor, here are nine ways to spend a day in Kowloon.
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