Disappointing - 20091130

Yesterday Chelsea blasted Arsenal by 3-0. More humiliatingly, the victory took place in the Emirates Stadium. During the live broadcast, after Didier Drogba scored the first goal, one of the commentators said "Arsenal play the football, Chelsea with the goal". He hit the bull's eye.

Throughout the years, Arsenal have been exhibiting how beautiful football should be. Cesc Fabragas, as the commander-in-chief in the midfield, controls the flow of the Gunners attack seamlessly. Other quality players, Van Persie, Arshavin, Eduardo etc, being fed by Cesc, manufactures the goals in due course. However, football is not only about putting the ball into the net.

The Gunners lack the fighting spirit. There is no doubt that there are full house of talents in Arsenal. Nevertheless, most of them are premature. For example, Fabragas, putting on the captain badge, is only 22. Most of others are only around 20, or even younger. Arsenal's competence to shine from behind is yet to be proved. In the previous match against Sunderland, they lost 1-0. And this week, defeat repeated in similar fashion, or worse. The Gunners fail to fire.

Without somebody like Drogba who could ignite the fighting spirit, Arsenal's drought could continue. Though I'm a half-fan of them and yearning for the victory of beauty.

裝修 - 20091128

老家屋邨入伙已超過廿年。近日，裝修像傳染病般蔓延。樓上的剛完成了，隔壁的又隨即展開，灰塵、電鑽聲等沒完沒了的炮轟，煩。

有時，也慶幸閒日要上班。要不然，每天也要置身於像阿富汗山區，抵擋停不了的侵襲，人不發癲才怪。所以，要在香港地做甚麼草食男、電車男，忍耐力也要很高。

像今天星期六，士兵們準時早上九點便上戰場。戴上報紙摺好的頭盔，穿上重型靴子，精神抖擻，完全進入戰爭狀態。電鑽插入電座，手戴上手套，瞄準牆壁：一、二、三 . . . 嘭嘭嘭嘭嘭 . . . 我只有扯白旗投降了。

當裝修大功告成，隔壁的師奶們爭先恐後的到示範單位參觀。「嘩，好靚呀！」「成間皇宮咁喎！」讚嘆之聲此起彼落。當然，師奶們知道，為了滿足八掛慾望，賣口乖是不能避免的入場費。

不過，當師奶們返到自己的狗窩，對著爛賭老公，都只會說：「挑！爛鬼公屋使唔使裝到咁撚靚呀？」

Dubai - 20091127

When all the people think that the financial crisis has been gone, and the market has been speculating anything pushed into there. Just to name some, the $70,000 per square feet apartment, all the new listed stocks . . . Ironically, the ultra-wealthy nation Dubai is reported in default of debt out of the blue. Financial markets worldwide respond by a contraction today, the Hang Seng index has a 1,000-point plunge. It exemplifies how fragile the world is.

Dubai is a mirage. Any wonder there is so avant garde. The highest building in the world, the state-of-the-art hotels, those man made palm islands . . . However, all these stuff are merely hardware. With my next-to-nothing knowledge of Dubai, I am not aware of any famous "software" over there. Literature? Philosophy? . . . Anyway, if any intellectual in Dubai has a glimpse to Chinese philosophy, say I Ching, and understand the meaning of 降龍有悔, today's market slump might have been avoided.

After all, Dubai is no America. They could never save themselves by printing money and forcing other countries to buy their bonds. Physically, they are not as strong as Uncle Sam.

艾弗遜 - 20091126

盛傳「一代戰神」艾弗遜將會宣佈退休，有點可惜。

曾幾何時，艾弗遜也瘋魔萬千香港球迷。無他，以僅僅六尺的身高，於「高手」如雲的NBA裏戰鬥了這麼多年。單挑佐敦、4屆NBA得分王、以一己之力帶領費城自由人進身NBA總決賽，儘管敗於大熱湖人手下 . . . 艾弗遜無比的鬥心實在極具感染力。香港人身材較矮，看到艾弗遜打球，往往也幻想自己可以有點似他，成為擊倒哥利亞的大衛。可惜，艾弗遜至今始終未嘗總冠軍滋味，而香港也未有人能打NBA。

艾弗遜最大的問題是，不能接受由牡丹轉型為綠葉。年紀漸大，傷痛日多，爆炸力下降，靠「摌籃」搵食的他得分漸減。其他人都知道了，自己應該都知道了，只是做慣大佬，不能想像做阿二、阿三甚至阿四的滋味。其實，籃球是團體運動，只要各司其職，明眼人便能看到。看看加納特便知道。

現實總是殘酷的。

Philippines Massacre - 20091125

Mindanao Island, located in the southern part of Philippines, raised to fame overnight, albeit a notorious one. 46 people, including 12 journalists, were killed in a massacre suspected to be related to election. Some of the victims were mutilated, others were raped, even pregnant, before the bloody killing was taken place.

The scale and cruelty of the crime was so ridiculous that any hair raiser would be overpowered. As said by Tagore, "Man is worse than an animal when he is an animal", the massacre is the best representation of the maxim. Philippines, though a democratic country, bribery is so outrageously blatant. With the idiotic Arroyo refusing to leave her seat, Philippines have been lawless for a long time.

The Philippines tragedy could never be occurred in a better timing. We Hong Kongers are clamouring for the time table of universal suffrage again at the moment. The massacre could easily be cited by those "Chinese officials and co.", to promote the dark side of democracy and thus the progress of universal suffrage in Hong Kong should never be too quick. In addition, Szeto Wah added oil on the fuel by outwardly criticized Martin Lee for the "quitting proposal of Legislature". Until I die, Hong Kong could never realize the ultimate goal of democracy.

Though the governance of Philippines sucks, there is still press freedom to whip the massacre openly. Moreover, Arroyo must go according to the constitution in half year. Thus, in this sense, Philippines is still a better place than those autocratic states.

配對 - 20091123

報紙肥皂劇「兩港女北上釣金龜」曲終人散，結局悲喜參半。港大才女周小姐成功配對「大陸周潤發」；而建築師林小姐則因要求過高，大熱倒灶。此正是「革命尚未成功，同志仍須努力」也。

http://hk.news.yahoo.com/article/091122/3/faun.html

據說，港大才女最終成就「周周戀」，主因是「大陸周潤發」於配對中沒有三心兩意，從一而終的死咬著周女不放，結果打動才女芳心，令她接受富豪的紅玫瑰。戀愛介紹所形容，這猶如「王子與公主終於在一起，令人感動！」

真不明白，女權分子此時此刻躲到那裡去？如此這般赤裸裸的踐踏女性尊嚴，活脫脫的為暴發戶以金錢掛帥招妻，這口氣還嚥得下？封建思想陰魂不散呀！

更可恨的是，這兩位港女皆為有學識之輩，又碩士又建築師甚麼的，卻「自甘墜落」，寧背負貪錢之惡名，也要「北伐」尋夫。為了實現下半生「印印腳」的理想，雙姝抱「雖千萬人吾往矣」的心態勇往直前，可堪稱「現代花木蘭」。

說認真，只不過是世界難撈，搵食艱難也。

Kafka on the Shore - 20091121

Until I've read What I Talk About When I talk About Running, Haruki Murakami to me could hardly be anything but chic. When I was still a youngster, tried to be stylish, I picked up the Norwegian Wood which gave me no pleasure, except those sporadic sex scenes. Obviously I was too naive by then. Yesterday, I've completed the reading of Kafka on the Shore, a real fascinating novel that I could not stop flipping pages after pages in those cold nights of the previous week.

It is so sad that most of us lacks the guidance to understand different styles of writing. If people are not graduates of Arts, 99% of them would start scratching head if the novel on hand is not narrative. However, the world is so big and could absorb many different genres of writing, say magical realism. Thus, by turning a blind eye on imagination, we would put down those head-scratchers. Murakami's would be one of those.

In addition, generally speaking, I hate those Taiwan-translation pieces very much. The "Chinese" in it is always so winding. With the previous reading experience of Yukio Mishima's Forbidden Colour, that I gave up the awful Chinese version on half way, and embraced the English version to complete the reading with a fruitful experience. I thus picked up the English translation of Kafka on the Shore at the very beginning and the time spent was very nice.

So, although the 1Q84 is very hot these days, for the sake of better understanding, I would wait for the English version.

投入感 - 20091120

以下事件，若非我耳聞目睹，實在很難相信是真事。

本星期，香港持續寒冷，就算今天預計回暖，清晨還很涼快。因此，這陣子早上上班，從羅湖出來的火車，人也比平時小。太凍了，可以賴床的也賴床，可以請病假的也請病假吧，我們那麼精明。

就是我媽媽的老闆 - - - 排骨，家住深圳，也認為太冷了。他星期一晚致電我家，恰巧媽媽洗澡，我接聽來電。排骨說天冷，星期二還是延遲至七時後開舖吧，著我告訴媽媽。平日，媽媽六時二十分便上班。

媽媽聽到消息，道：「梗係唔得啦，咁凍，d學生哥無串熱野食點得呀。」

翌日，六時五十分，我如常起床。隔五分鐘，排骨來電，本想叫媽媽跟他先一起飲茶，後再開檔。可是，媽媽早已上班去了，如常。

其實，媽媽「蠢」成這般，我們精仔實望塵莫及。

Cheating - 20091119

Yesterday, France knocked out Ireland in the World Cup play-off match, from a goal illegally assisted by Thierry Henry, in the extra time. Henry admitted, after the match, that though he intentionally touched the ball by hand, the responsibility of judging should be on the shoulder of referees.

Cunning pretext. Henry clearly wanted to shovel off his sin, by blurring his trick with those natural errors, say misjudgment of off-side. However, he could never succeed. The true concern of the issue is intention. Henry understood too well that if he had not used his hand to control the ball, it would have been bounced out the baseline and a goal kick would subsequently be given to Ireland. Thus, he used his hand, twice, to tame the ball and crossed it for Gallas's later tap-in-by-head. Henry's act is comparable to diving in the box, which is outrageous cheating.

On the contrary, for those misjudges that intention is irrelevant, like whether the whole ball has crossed the line, it is then the referees' responsibility. To me, this kind of misinterpretation is acceptable, because men are prone to mistake by nature. Until instant replay is introduced to the game, these unintentional accidents are irrelevant to fairness. It's pure statistics.

Being the culprit of the crime, it's particularly nauseous for Henry to point finger at others. Just shame on him.

禦寒 - 20091118

只是十一月矣而，寒流無聲無色的提早來臨。這兩天，早上氣溫也低過十度，至中午也只是十四、五度左右。對身處亞熱帶的我們，習慣炎熱，十多度「低溫」已經夠凍死了。

大清早上班，在路口等小巴。天下著毛毛細雨，車輛經過輕濺起水花沾濕了褲邊。季候風使勁的吹，毫不留情的逼迫著暴露於空氣中的身體 - - - 面頰、耳朵、頸項 . . . 更甚的是，只要有空間，例如袖口、褲腳，風絕不放過任何機會，乘虛而入，上半身由手掌吹入手掙而至兩脇止；下半身更甚，冷風沿腳眼、小腿而上，直搗黃龍，最後連小兄弟也似被冰鎮了。

撐著雨傘，心裡期盼小巴快到。只是，看著紅綠燈號交差替換，車就是未到。雨繼續洒，風繼續吹，人逐漸由魚生變冰條。早餐尚沒下肚，有甚麼方法可以使人暖一些？聽歌！

首選當然是rock。可恨平日不聽Metallica之類的東西，如斯天寒地凍，他們應是禦寒佳品。惟有在mp3找些替代物吧。番來覆去，The Verve、Radiohead等皆可以令人有即時血脈沸騰的效果，使我及時保命，頂著冷，等到小巴到來。上了車，需要更持久的血脈沸騰，可揀選God Speed You Black Emperor的，一首post-rock作品，足夠使身體熾熱廿分鐘。

始終，音樂只能製造幻覺。要實在驅寒，還是下車，趕快到茶餐廳吃早餐。呷一口熱奶茶，暖燙心腸；吃一口即食麵，堅實腸胃。

Unfriend - 20091117

The word "unfriend" becomes Oxford word of the year 2009. According to the Oxford dictionary, the definition of "unfriend", as a verb, is "to remove someone as a 'friend' on a social networking site such as Facebook."

Internet has blurred the line between acquaintances and friends. In the old days, the two are quite distinguishable. For acquaintances, dealings are limited to customary smiling and greeting. Regarding friends, depending on the depth of trust and intimacy, exchange of personal stuff should be involved. Since the invention of internet, communication barriers around the world have virtually been demolished, except those communist states which information would still be filtered. From Icq to Facebook, the types of information could be exchanged have been greatly expanded, from text to photos, videos etc. Thus, no matter acquaintances or friends, everybody could see and be seen conveniently via Facebook and thus, your acquaintances could get access to your data in the friend-level.

Somehow, it would be quite strange to know that some introverts could have 100+ friends in the Facebook. Are you kidding? These friends, their friendship could be confirmed easily. By clicking a button for invitation, and a mere confirmation from the other party, done. One day, out of no matter reason, you don't feel like keeping his icon in your account, this person could be "unfriend" in the same manner. The eyesore is deleted, right?

That's no difference with ostrich in the sand. Once your information has been internet-accessible, anyone could copy anything without your prior consent. So, the villain you may though have unfriended, he could have already got your stuff, say nude photos, which could never be recalled.

After all, nowadays, friends are too fickle to be unfriended.

「留守兒童」 - 20091116

中國農村與城市間的貧富差距日益擴大，人盡皆知。農村父母為多賺幾個錢，離鄉別井，出城打工，把子女留在農村老家，是為「留守兒童」。據統計，這樣的變相孤兒，全中國有5,800萬。

其實，在香港，差不多個個細路也是「留守兒童」吧。香港地，生活指數高，除非失業，否則大部分雙親都在職場廝殺。不同的是，父母下班後，香港的「留守兒童」每天也有機會見他們一面。至於日常生活，富有家庭的陀地「留守兒童」有賓賓印印泰泰照顧；捉襟見肘的可以有祖父母看管；更甚的便只好提早自立了。

還是大陸的「留守兒童」慘。基本上，一年只有春節、勞動節有機會見到爸媽；加上在「一孩政策」底下，沒有兄弟姊妹相伴。閒時，沒人管束，實現完全自由。可惜，小孩天真無邪，容易受騙，結果男盜女娼，不在話下。至於香港孤兒，慘極有譜，好動的聯郡結隊，索k嫖妓；好靜的自我封閉，電車男女。儘管活該，無傷大雅。

說也奇怪，「留守兒童」的比例是多了，可是，小朋友們的獨立程度卻吊詭地急劇下降。父母平日沒時間陪伴管教，只懂以物質彌補。此外，先天地，外傭不敢責備少主，公公婆婆只會溺愛心肝掟。久而久之，令「留守兒童」不懂是非，只管依賴了。

War Game - 20091114

A war game has been arranged to happen this morning, taken place inside a factory building in Kwun Tong.

It is a little bit unexpected that, having been quite a vogue for several years, war game has not been wiped out, and still lingers around. As we all know, all the chic stuff come and go so easily and silently in Hong Kong.

Thanks to those management courses, which promulgate the concept of team building so vigorously, the market for war game forms. Thus, in order to provide accessible venues for organizations to drop in, people smartly converted vacant factory buildings into indoor war game sites. I guess it would be very unique around the world.

Nonetheless, the effectiveness of building up team value, by participating in some war games, is always doubtful. With a mere several-minute briefing by the coach, how could anyone smart enough to grasp the game plan? So, at the end of the day, everybody would be a lone soldier on their own, shoot others aimlessly. Lucky survivors could stay on course for another 5 minutes, maybe. Generally, throughout the "war", participants could shoot some bullets, shed some sweat and pump up the adrenaline, and nothing more. Never fantasize team be built.

Anyway, in such a selfish society like Hong Kong, fighting for team value is just another Don Quixotic move, no matter by any means.

中國救地球！？ - 20091113

聞說，電影《2012》有描述中國人造挪亞方舟拯救地球一幕，內地觀眾看後極度亢奮！

首先，我肯定不會看這一套戲。那些甚麼《明日之後》已經夠令人心煩了，何苦再浪費數十塊錢、160分鐘看沒有分別的東西呢？真實世界發生的災難還不夠駭人嗎？

當然，有些叻人一定會說，現在中國掘起了，金融風暴後全世界也靠中國打救。因此，荷里活反美左仔為反美而親中，合情合理。再者，憑片寄意，也是鬼佬的一貫戲法。

不過，我不能相信西人會認低威，承認被東方鼠輩打救。高加索種是最優秀的呀！所以，我以為，加插這些中國英雄的片段，只是單純的商業計算。西人準確拿捏中國人愛威風的心態，為了尋找「吐氣揚眉」的感覺，唔使一張毛主席就買到，抵到爛啦。再加之以糞青在網上推波助欄，這戲在大陸想唔收都難。鬼佬爛船仲有三斤釘。

不過，為賣片，死鬼頭妄顧前因後果卻實在抵打。為什麼會有末日呢？「世界工廠」絕對是有力出力。加上中國人從來不理環保，「各家自掃門前雪」，有垃圾廢料污染物，通通掃過隔離就算。所以，如果有末日，也多得大陸唔少。因此，真係要佢拯救，也只是「食飽飯埋單」罷了。

The Brothers Karamazov - 20091112

Just finished reading this 700+ pages novel. A truly masterpiece.

Russian writers are always of the image as scholar, Dostoyevsky is of no exception. Mustache together with thick beard on his face, he preferred writing to meaningless stuff as shaving. In Chinese value, his broad and high forehead equated wisdom. Dostoyevsky's eyes were hawk-sharp, and his puckered brow elevated his thinker's aura.

The novels of Dostoyevsky are as philosophical as his person. The Brothers Karamazov , his final book, should be the apex. With patricide as the main theme, the four brothers, representing different prototypes, clashed in order to search for the meaning of being. It is thus treated as one of the bibles of Existentialism.

So, in the end, neither the belief in God nor pure rationalism vanquished the other. It is rather intriguing, for rational readers to reflect throughout the reading. So, even the test of lawfulness is passed, like deliberate ignorance to wrongdoing, somehow the conscience would subsequently cast the punishment. To me, "the religion of love", as promulgated by Lee Tin Ming, is a very viable solution, as the rudimentary value to fill the hollowness.

Dostoyevsky understood human beings so profoundly. Through the love entanglement among the characters, grudge, jealous and patronization fulfilled their meaning in the absolute sense. The vulgarity of women was demonstrated, through the maintenance of a relationship not by love and affection, but on narcissism by capturing the moral high ground. None of the view was of cliche, not a bit.

Gripping it is, not in the advertisement-type dimension.

「正常跳層」 - 20091111

長實於將軍澳又有新樓出賣！名曰「領峰」。銷售者稱，樓層「只會」有「正常跳層」，即撇除13樓及4字尾樓層，頂樓最終會增高10層。

又耍花招混淆買家了。甚麼時候，「跳層」也有正常和不正常之分？區別由誰定？長實？換言之，長實樓「跳層」就正常，恆基就不正常？這麼說，李嘉誠是否要跟李兆基抬槓？

長實那「正常跳層」論，目的是製造五十步笑百步的效果。如13樓改稱15樓，「發水」幅度只是15%；但46樓改稱88樓，「發水」幅度便達91%！看長實多麼有良心啊！

其實，「跳層」這安排跟本就是明目張膽的誤導和作假。名稱有訛誤，錯就是錯，對就是對。在零與一之間，沒有灰色地帶。所以，凡「跳層」皆是錯，沒有錯得多、錯得少的辯論空間。

反之，如果是感觀性的東西，如氣味，沒有絕對標準，拗也是浪費時間。正如李嘉誠堅持「領都」鳥語花香，正常人說堆填區臭，口同鼻拗是也。

The Berlin Wall - 20091110

These days, the West is celebrating the fall of the Berlin Wall, joyfully.

20 years ago, the iron curtain separating Germany, has been pierced down by capitalism. West eventually prevailed over the East. Gradually, those European communist states, Romania, Poland, Bulgaria . . . just to name some, relegated the big brother and embraced the Occidental value. The European Union subsequently established, and is still expanding with some exotic states lined up to be its members, most prominently Turkey.

During the celebration, some giant dominos have been overturned, to signified the collapse of communism. However, in the real world, the domino effect was not that overwhelming. Take a look at North Korea.

Similarly, 20 years ago, a country on the other side of the world had a riot, which was framed by that government as an "event". That country, used to be a member of the communism, also followed suit for the change of tide afterwards. However, the change only limited to the economy. Other important values of capitalism, like freedom, fairness, equity and so on, have yet to be realized in any sense.

Thus, no official of that country seemed to has appeared in the Berlin party. If so, it would be a prick of the rose.

懶皮 - 20091109

曼聯近日敗仗連連，領隊費格遜不斷指罵球證不是。

舉昨晚敗於車路士手下為例。費格遜指費查沒有犯規，那錯判的罰球導致後來泰利的入球實屬不公。其實，誤判絕對是足球比賽的一部分，費蛇久歷沙場，豈有不知之理。你何時見到費蛇承認球證對曼聯有利的誤判？像昨夜伊雲斯於禁區內蓄意向杜奧巴施以穿心腿卻未判罰十二碼，他老人家有說漏咀嗎？

話到底，費蛇出口術，還是「展望將來」，希望球證以為欠了曼聯，日後有所回報。可惜，費蛇應該不知道，打從上次他批評球證體能不合格後，紅魔已經成為球證的眼中釘。我想他們還有排受。

也只怪費蛇愛隊情切。季初放走C朗賺八千萬磅，可惜球隊竟然沒有買人填補，馬死落地行，惟有轉型。如能以貝碧托夫為進攻重心，輔之以一批工兵型球員，紅魔本還有力一爭。只可惜，費蛇老眼昏花，錯以朗尼為軸。朗尼無疑勤力，奈何技術、視野未達頂級，誤傳頻頻。昨夜敗陣，貝碧托夫倦勤，看看紅魔陣容：卡域克、費查、華倫西亞、布朗、奧沙 . . . 還以為是史篤城。表演平庸，落敗誠合理，責難球證實掩耳盜鈴，懶皮矣。

看來，今屆英超只屬車路士、阿仙奴之爭。正常球迷當希望悅目的兵工廠奪標，但理智地看，藍戰士們的老練實不能小覬。

Massage - 20091107

We Hong Kongers are addicted to massage. No matter how Hong Kong dollars depreciate vis a vis Renminbi, flock of zombies rush to the massage parlours round-the-clock in Shenzhen, healthy or filthy ones.

There are way too many stuff for us to handle in our everyday life. Gossiping, clamoring, surfing etc., the pressure exerting on our frail bodies, from foreheads and shoulders to thighs and feet, are somehow too much. Our stiffen bodies, together with the numb mind, are finding way out. Unfortunately, most of us are short of motivation to relief through exercise and thus, massage is so vital.

We are too familiar with different types of massage. Foot reflexology is the basic therapy for our feet after any winding shopping. Subject to the intensity of boss's illogical requests, in the weekend, we go for massage from head and shoulder, to the whole body in Shenzhen. When double pay is finally on hand, the annual extravagant indulgence spa in Thailand could not be waited for another extra second. And for the massage created most GDP is, of course, the phallus massage.

Paradoxically, as a habitual runner, I do not have great desire on massage. From gut feeling, people would think that sport lovers would have stiffer muscle. However, with proper stretch and relax through exercise, the body is relieved unconsciously. Though the need is not great, I would enjoy those rare occassions of massage, if come.

「網遊症 」- 20091106

據說現在辦公室流行「網遊症」。患者不自覺於上班時間逛閒網，如鹹網。論者指「網遊症」影響上班族工作效率，連累老板蝕本。

本末倒置。正常打工仔，撇開「投入感」那些虛無縹緲的形容詞不說，有工作便做吧，正所謂「受人錢財，替人消災」。如果有工作不做，閒著上網，老細逼迫你而又嘔不出功課時，不是會被抄魷嗎？尤其是現在經濟差，市場風聲鶴唳，普通人會當清兵嗎？所以，正常人也至少會在沒事幹，或沒有急差辦時才做私事，如網遊。

或許，經濟真的很差，以致公司真的沒生意幹了；另一方面，同事害怕被點相，不敢早走，因此，逗留在公司的時間超長。為免蝕突，唯有把工餘才做的，靈活地搬過去公司完成。找卡數、徵友、打麻雀 . . . 各式其適。其實，只要是一間正常運作的公司，人手沒有過盛，根本不可能有網遊症出現。

再者，香港的辦公室，密度應該都是全球之冠了。要有網遊症，也要避過鄰座同事的小報告吧。三尺距離，沒有圍板，人能有私隱嗎？所以，「網遊症」影響工作效率，笑話一則罷了。

Disneyland - 20091105

Shanghai, as long expected, announced the plan of building a new Disneyland. Its size will be more than double of ours.

As usual, in the media, different pundits congested into every corner to cry wolf. Professors from Social Science, Tourism, Finance etc. dressed up and expressed their "mother-is-woman-type" comment. It seems that, if Hong Kong do not craft other new site spots, our tourism will go bust, sheerly because of the new Shanghai Disneyland.

Let common sense prevail, please. As a tourist, would you choose a holiday venue, with the size of Disneyland as your main concern? Unless you are a big fan of Disneyland, say, one of my colleagues said she would go to Orlando for a whole week to immerse in it. Otherwise, normal people would not avoid Hong Kong, just out of the fact that we own the tiniest Disneyland. What is the selling point of Hong Kong? The shopping paradise one, by stereotype. Thus, theme park like Disneyland is always an appendix to the main course.

One more thing, the number of visitors to Disneyland is never equivalent to those to Hong Kong. As such, it is nothing but illogical to shiver owing to that new park in Shanghai.

必玩之地 - 20091104

《Lonely Planet》剛出版《Best In Travel 2010》，推薦明年旅遊地方。包括蘇里南、厄瓜多爾 . . . 令人神往。

沒有香港人不把旅遊列作自己的興趣吧。可是，大家有否想過，熱愛旅遊這興趣是被迫出來的？

在辦公室，每年大家都要清大假，短則法例規定的7天，長則如公務員有39天。因此，為了「用」這些大假，絕大多數的人都會去旅行。所以，先天條件上，旅行是清假的手段，沒有甚麼目的可言。因此，懶惰、愛跟風的我們旅行目的地大都千篇一律，三甲順序是日本、台灣及泰國。

當然，三個都地方都很好。只是，那種「因循」有時叫人有點無耐。更甚的是，很多同事都會買手信。坦白說，香港還有甚麼買不到？如果要探討買手信的心態更是可怕。同事們相親相愛？機會渺茫。怕沒手信被人指指點點？沒有個性。公佈天下自己去了那裡到此一遊？低俗無知。所以，我不買手信回公司。

如要遠遊，例如歐美，淨機程來回也要兩、三天。對上班族來說，直是浪費；還要困在狹小經濟客位，根本折磨。所以，蘇里南、厄瓜多爾 . . . 看「Globe Trekker」算罷。

Nose Allergy - 20091103

Being a sufferer of nose allergy, autumn brings me the feeling of ambivalence. The sunny sky and cool air undoubtedly comfort everybody, nevertheless, the sudden change of temperature is always a mission impossible for me to cope with. Monsoons, creating a greater swirl of air, make the situation worse. My runny nose is running at the moment.

With the influx of cool air invading, my nose is too frail to withstand it. Itchy, the nose could not help sneezing and the water tape inside could never be tightened. Pieces of tissue come and go, out of control. Used one could be dumped so swiftly, when the call of nature is on, and environmental friendly becomes a non-issue. Half day gone, and the bin was half filled, still, the second half day is inevitable.

The dry air steals all the moist from your skin. Every brush of the tissue to your nose is a torment. The cumulative friction results in a red and oversize nose, and somehow, few people would be mistaken as drunkards. Vaseline and cream could be of temporary soothe. However, when the other wipe is needed, the consoling effect gone. When so much of water has been lost, dizziness comes and not much could be done, except rest.

Anyway, I will try my private way to cure the allergic nose, that is - - - run. It seems that water lost through the skin pores could dry up the nose.

十月屠殺 - 20091102

日前林村有共一十一條狗被集體毒殺。照片所見，狗屍口吐白沬，部分死前失禁，便溺處處，狀甚恐怖。

香港愛狗人士極多，尤其是年輕人，但是，原因基本不明。據經驗，他們的「愛」多是直覺，九成只有三分鐘熱度。例如，昨天看了「導盲犬小Q」，金毛尋回的銷路當會節節上升；今天在「娛樂熱點」見到鄺美人帶Cash去祈福，比熊又被人爭先恐後的帶回家。但是，當中不少的狗，最後目的地是愛護動物協會，吃過最後晚餐，接受人道毀滅。

問題：究竟是一十一條「烈狗」慘，還是被人遺棄的「三分鐘熱狗」慘？

舉一個實例。前陣子住我公屋家對面的男子和一女子相好，女子帶曲架同遷入。初時，也見他倆在深夜溜狗，一次起兩次止。但是，狗男女要工作，大部分時間不在家，因此，曲架也只好呆在家，留給一個八十歲開外的婆婆「照顧」。阿婆有自己生活，會下街「油糊」，更有不少時間回大陸住。因此，我疑心那條曲架是獨居的。初獨守空房，狗兒也會吠及亂跑；及後習慣了，曲架悶聲不哼，不過卻傳出陣陣惡臭 . . . 近日，狗女和曲架都不見影踪了。

我認為，還是「三分鐘熱狗」慘。第一，「烈狗」生前應被真愛犬人士照料，生活一向愉快；第二，如要淪為「三分鐘熱狗」，最後目的地是愛護動物協會。在這個會，人人道貌岸然，如那傳訊經理。見到他們的咀面，直是生不如死。

BBQ - 20091101

By "improvisation", somehow, I went to BBQ today.

BBQ is such a "Hong Kong style" term. I have no idea whether foreigners would call barbecue so. BBQ has left me long. From my very vague memory, the last occasion that I had a touch on BBQ should be several years ago, with my mum and uncle etc, in 流水嚮.

From BBQ, we could see how agile Hong Kongers could be. According to my limited understanding, the choice of food for westerners' barbecue is very limited. The main course should be meats, together with some vegetables to accomplish the dish, and that's it. However, to we Hong Kongers, anything you could imagine, it could be BBQed. The classic one should be 棉花糖. Now, people are so sophisticated that they would prepare all sorts of yummy for BBQ. Prawns, scallops, sweet potatoes . . . and sweet soup as a final note to finish the BBQ. It's simply buffet.

Though to ordinary lazy Hong Kongers, for the sake of convenience, many of them would simply buy those pickled assorted meats, which are with ambiguous colours. These meats could never be described as fresh and delicious, normally speaking. However, the flavour of it is so "old time", which the taste of nostalgia emerges, and I had a mouth of it today.

In autumn time, with such a wonderful atmosphere, BBQ is especially welcome.