2015.08.28 | 慶讚中元

[Volume 10 Issue 8, #2051]

The 7th Month of The Chinese Lunar Calendar

嚟到舊曆七月中, 即係大家所熟悉嘅中元節或盂蘭節, 又或者俗稱嘅鬼節.. 我覺得我係相信有往生後幽靈之說嘅, 因為自細我都好怕呢啲嘢㗎.. 譬如話如果屋企附近有喪禮(尤其係道教義式嘅), 我會因為聽到啲超度念經同打齋聲而唔敢去瞓覺, 我甚至唔敢經過辦喪事嘅屋企而要搵路兜.. 點都好, 人大咗情況就好得多啦, 我同自己講其實唔駛去亂諗嘢嚇自己.. 普遍上大家都係相信舊曆七月鬼門關大開, 幽靈會由地府傾巢而出在人間遊蕩, 大家可能因此怕怕.. 不過我又聽聞其實呢個月內雖然係鬼門關大開, 但係就只開俾尚在人間遊蕩嘅無主孤魂返回地府, 只係有入而冇得出嘅.. 我會選擇相信後者.. 其實我哋都存在於唔同嘅空間, 雖然就同時共存, 甚至有時係因為某些原因可以聯接得上.. 之不過, 正如人與人之間一樣, 只要大家互相尊重, 河水不犯井水, 查實都大可以相安無事.. 呢個月唔係謠言及商業電影講得咁恐怖嘅, 反而我哋應該遵守留傳世代嘅禁忌, 從而反映出我哋嘅尊重.. :)

it's mid of the 7th month of the Chinese lunar calendar, or commonly known as the Hungry Ghost Month.. i guess i do believe in spirits and souls in the afterlife world, as i remember when i was still young, i was quite haunted and bothered by all these "things".. for example, if there were funerals (especially the Taoist funerals) nearby, i would be scared by the noise of the chantings and instruments from the funerals until i dared not sleep, i was frightened to even walk passed the funeral that i wanted to avoid it by taking alternative routes.. anyway, it got better as i grew up and i told myself there is no need to be bothered by all the unnecessary thinkings.. i think most of the Chinese believe that for this month, the gate of hell is opened and spirits are free to roam for the entire month, hence probably the scare.. on the other hand, i have also read about another saying that, the gate of hell is open but only for wandering spirits to return or to be sent back to the afterlife world through the gate, only in they go and nowhere they could get out to roam.. now, i choose to believe the latter.. we are present in very separate dimensions, though both dimensions actually exist at the same time, and at times the frequency may draw us together.. however, just like between humans, as long as we respect one another, there should not be any worries.. this is not a month to be haunted by spirits like many old sayings and what are shown in commercial movies, but rather to show respects by observing the taboos passed down from generations to generations.. :)

2015.08.25 | 陽光水果

[Volume 10 Issue 8, #2050]

Fruits Infused Solarized Water

睇咗Twilight Anay嘅呢一篇貼, 話佢飲咗所謂嘅陽光水(solarized water)之後, 成個人都精神爽利.. 於是我就蠢蠢欲動, 第二日就即刻去買咗兩個玻璃樽返嚟自己整陽光水飲.. 不過就買唔到有色玻璃樽, 得呢啲透明無色嘅.. 唔緊要, 到時可以用各種唔同顏色嘅透光紙包住, 仲過flexible啦!! 好喇, 乜嘢陽光水呀你問?? 其實就係將你支(一定要玻璃, 唔可以用塑膠)樽入滿水, 再放喺太陽下曬佢兩個鐘, 就係咁簡單.. 呢度我就無謂囉嗦喇, 閣下若有興趣知多啲, 可以上網搜尋關於solarized water color therapy呢個古老治療, 睇睇各種顏色嘅不同效益.. :)

i read this post from Twilight Anay that he consumes solarized water daily and feels recharged and energetic all day long.. i was very excited about this therapy and the next day, i immediately went to buy two glass bottles and started making my own solarized water.. too bad, i could only get these transparent bottles since colored ones were unavailable.. never mind, in this case i can always wrap them up using different color films, even more flexible this way!! what solarized water you wonder?? simply expose your (glass only, not plastic) bottle of water under sunlight for a couple of hours and that it is!! anyway, i'm not going to be redundant here, if you are interested to know more, just google solarized water color therapy and read the benefits of this very ancient wisdom.. :)

最近喺網上睇到有人飲呢個生果泡水(fruits infused water), 雖然唔係新聞, 但係我覺得幾有趣噃, 一試無妨.. 於是靈機一觸, 我將兩者二合為一, 產生咗我嘅生果泡陽光水(fruits infused solarized water)嚟.. 就希望兩者嘅效益唔會相撞之余, 其實可以互補互惠啦, 呵呵!! 以下係試過嘅兩款, (1)醒神: 檸檬, 青檸同桔仔, (2)沁涼: 靑蘋果, 青瓜及薄苛葉..飲前我會加冰塊, 凍冰冰易入口, 再加半茶匙鹽(係鹽, 唔係糖!!)俾佢更加清涼.. 飲後感:- 靑蘋果, 青瓜及薄苛葉如果直接打成汁會好味啲嘅; 檸桔嗰個呢, 其實幾適合咁整而且好好飲喎, 我鍾意呀.. 拋開你嘅汽水同所有加工嘢飲,嚟試下呢個健康啲嘅啦!! :)

lately, i have also read about people drinking fruits infused water, likely an old story but i find it interesting that i would want to try too.. and so, i combined both ideas and came out with my fruits infused solarized water, with a hope that their benefits won't clash but rather complement each other, haha!! here were two that i tried, (1) invigorating: lemon, lime and calamansi on the left, (2) cooling: green apple, cucumber and mint on the right.. i would add ice-cubes to serve them chilled, and also half a teaspoon of salt (no, not any sugar!!) to make them taste even more refreshing.. my verdict, probably it's nicer to just blend apple, cucumber and mint into juice; as for the citrus one, i find it suitable for and taste good this infused-water way, i like it!! ditch your soda and all processed beverages, try this healthier one!! :)

2015.08.21 | 手機演進

[Volume 10 Issue 8, #2049]

The Chronicles of My Mobile Phones

我係喺2000年先開始擁有自己部手機嘅, 都相當肯定係朋友及同事之中最後一個「有機一族」.. 我認為自己都算係個中庸嘅手機使用者, 咁多年以嚟都只係換過6部手機, 平均每2.5年先至一次棄舊迎新.. 大家嚟睇睇下面我的手機演進史, 其實都用咗啲時間上網搵啲相㗎, 尤其係前幾部古董, 哈哈!! 你呢?? 幾時開始有第一部手機?? 用咩款?? 依家又係第幾部手機呢?? :)

i only started to own a mobile phone in year 2000, i am pretty sure i was the last to (finally) have one amongst friends and colleagues.. i consider myself quite a moderate mobile phone user because throughout these years, i have had only 6 phones all together, which means i ditched an old phone for a new one every 2.5 years on average.. look at the chronicles of my mobile phones, i actually spent some time searching for the pictures especially the antique ones, haha!! how about you?? when did you first own your mobile phone, what model was it?? and what is the phone you are using now after how many changes?? :)

2000: Panasonic GD90 2003: Sony Ericsson T630 2007: Samsung E900 2007: Nokia 6300 2011: Apple iPhone 4 2014: Apple iPhone 5S 2000 Panasonic GD90 各位朋友, 我人生中第一部手機, 仲有支大天線添, 哈哈!! 其實係眾多朋友及同事俾壓力, 話成日聯絡唔到我, 先決定去買嘅.. 升級為「有機一族」果然感覺良好, 記得身邊啲人比我仲興奮, 呵呵!! :D folks, this was my very first mobile phone, still with an antenna, haha!! a result of all the pressures from friends and colleagues that they could not contact me once i'm out.. it felt amazing to finally have my own mobile phone, everyone was even more excited than myself i still remember, hahahaha!! :D 2003 Sony Ericsson T630 上一部手機嘅殼甩漆甩到慘不忍睹, 親朋戚友嘈笑有損我型像, 叫我換過部啦.. 三推四讓之下, 終於買咗我第二部手機, 係有彩屏同相機㗎!! the paint on the previous phone scrapped off very badly until my family and friends could not take it and urged me to get a new phone (to match my image), haha!! and so here it was, my second phone with color screen and a camera!! 2007 Samsung E900 上一部手機都用咗好一些年, 直至四個角啲按鍵全部要大力㩒先用到.. 為免手指再痛, 於是乎就換咗呢部推滑式手機, (想當年)係好型㗎!! the previous ones lasted some years until i decided to get a new one, because i had to press super hard for buttons at the corners to get them working.. to save my fingers from further hurting, i got this slide phone which was so d*mn cool (back then)!! 2007 Nokia 6300 同一年第二部新手機, 唔係我作風噃!! 有法子, 因為上一部手機喺MV一列逼爆人嘅KTM內俾人扒咗去(@#$%^&*), 所以迫不得已立即要買過部新機.. 如冇記錯, 呢部手機係我第一部有得(龜速)上網嘅.. another phone within the same year, so not my style!! no choice but since the previous one was picked-pocket in a very packed KTM (@#$%^&*) at MV, i had no choice but to go buy a new one immediately.. if not mistaken, this was my first phone which has a (tortoise speed) web browser.. 2011 Apple iPhone 4 上一部手機其實非常好用, 當人人都開始用觸屏式智能手機時,我仍然對佢不捨不棄㗎.. 直至多次跌落地, 以致按鍵壞壞地同手機殼走位, 我先最終踏上觸屏式智能手機嘅列車.. the previous phone was actually a good and useful one, i was still holding on to it when everyone moved to use smartphones with touch screens.. until many falls on the floor causing the keypad to not work well and the shell came slightly off, i finally jumped onto the touch-screen smartphone bandwagon.. 2014 Apple iPhone 5S 最後, 我依家用緊嘅呢部, 當時好有可能係一時嘅衝動?? 因為身邊嘅朋友個個都upgrade, 喺我面前揚嘛.. 於是舊年去北海道前幾日, 按奈不住走去簽咗電訊公司嘅trade-in配套, 成為呢款手機嘅忠實粉絲.. 你問我會唔會好快又upgrade?? 可能㗎, 嘻嘻~~ :p lastly, this is my current phone, which probably was an impulse?? everyone around me was upgrading and showing off in front of me.. finally just few days before i went to Hokkaido last year, i took up the telco's offer for a trade-in plan, and happily became a loyal user of this phone.. will i be upgrading soon, you ask?? likely, hehe~~ :p