Year in Review 2011回顧

Mmm…again, the humor is more suitable for mature audience.
嗯…再次提醒一下內容可能不宜兒童觀看。

Holiday Cheer 2011 佳節快樂

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A World of Wild Imagination 怪誕幽默的幻想世界

Director Tim Burton's Exhibition finally came to Los Angeles County Museum of Art (through October 31, 2011). I really enjoyed the exhibit; the collection of Tim Burton's works - from high school projects to sophisticated movie puppets - really showcased the emergence of an unusual contemporary artist. His works often seemed macabre at first, but often done with unique humor. All those alien-like monsters suddenly became adorable in my eyes. I especially enjoyed his drawings done on notebook papers, often accompanied with funny poems, and his hand-written letters. For movie fans, you also get to see costumes from Edward Scissorhands, Batman, Sleepy Hollow, and many puppets from Nightmare Before Christmas. It's quite a welcomed stimulus to my ordinary mind.
電影導演提姆伯頓的特展終於來到洛杉磯美術館(至十月底)。 我對伯頓的電影作品並不是很熟悉，但這個特展真的很不錯。展出的東西可說是琳琅滿目，從高中時期的作業到精緻的電影玩偶樣樣俱全，整體敘述著當代鬼才的成長與蛻變。伯頓的作品給人的第一印象是怪誕又黑暗，仔細瞧就能體會伯頓式的幽默，看著看著各種怪物就變得可愛起來。我特別喜歡伯頓在筆記本上的塗鴉，常配有超好笑的短詩，和他學生時期親筆信。 若是電影的粉絲，還有剪刀手愛德華、蝙蝠俠、斷頭谷、聖誕夜驚魂 等等的服裝道具及模型。 看完展後感覺自己平凡的腦袋受到另類的激盪，真好!

Yoga in Times Square 時代廣場群體瑜伽

This morning I had a workshop at a hotel on 45th @ Broadway.  I walked by the Times Square and it was packed with so many people participating in an all-day yoga event sponsored by a yoga apparel company. It was before 8:00am!  What a sight...and only in NYC!
今早我和上司去參加一個座談會，就在時代廣場旁的飯店內。我走近時代廣場時就聽到活動的聲音，一看竟有一大群人在做群體瑜伽，八點不到就塞爆整個廣場。這活動由一家瑜伽服飾公司贊助，從早到晚，真是奇景，不知是否跟金式記錄有關？

Uncle's Book 大伯的書

Uncle Philip's math textbook (co-authored with Yasutaka Sibuya) is available in the market place. He also started his own site at WordPress. Author Po-Fang Hsieh Bio

替大伯寫的常微分方程基本理論教科書做個廣告，順便連結大伯新的網頁.。

Hummingbird 蜂鳥

Hummingbirds are quite common around here, and we do have plenty of delicious nectar in our garden. Earlier today I came face to face with one when I was checking out the baby peaches; I must have startled the bird and it flew away. Then I spotted another one perching on top of a Japanese cypress in our front yard, and I finally got to test my long lens.
窗外常看到蜂鳥在飛來飛去，有些鄰居還放糖水引來蜂鳥，但我家就靠純天然的花蜜。 今天似乎跟蜂鳥特別有緣，早先在看剛結的小桃子時竟跟一隻停在枝子上的蜂鳥兩眼互看，它大概也嚇到了，嗄的一聲就飛走。 我轉回前院，又看到一隻悠閒的停在柏樹頂端。我去拿相機，換長鏡頭後，還原位不動，真的很難得。

Barn Owl Family 倉鴞家族

“God loved the birds and invented trees. Man loved the birds and invented cages” ~ Jacques Deval (Afin de vivre bel et bien)
「上帝愛鳥，於是造了樹。人愛鳥，於是造了籠子」~ 雅克德瓦爾

There is an Audubon sanctuary in my county. I saw on a TV program that its website has a live broadcast of a barn owl family through two webcams, 24/7. It is simply amazing. The owls reuse this tree hole, so most of the time you'll see animals. Right now there are baby owls, so check it out! Take me there!

奧杜邦學會在我住的郡內有個保護區。不久前在電視上看到相關介紹，得知保護區的網頁有二十四小時轉播樹洞裡的倉鴞家族。這個樹洞大多時候都有倉鴞住著，現在剛好可以看倉鴞爸爸和媽媽如何照顧幾隻小倉鴞，真的很有趣! 去看倉鴞家族

Year In Review 回顧2010

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New Guava Record 芭樂新紀錄

We got another record-breaking guava this year, weighing in at 762 grams (1 Lb 10 oz.), which broke the old record of 617 grams. We had to harvest it due to slight damages from recent storms, but it was delicious nonetheless.
雖然正值冬天，芭樂樹上還是果實纍纍。過去兩星期的豪雨讓一些果子受損，只好把它們提前採下來，而體型龐大的這一顆又破了去年617公克的紀錄，重量達到762公克!嗯，而且很好吃。

Christmas in Virginia 維州聖誕街景

Holiday Cheer 2010 佳節快樂

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Ping-Tung Night Market (2) 屏東夜市(二)

During my recent trip to Taiwan, I had a chance to travel down south with my family for a night. We arrived at Ping-Tung before noon by train. We quickly took care of the main business, and headed straight to the Ping-Tung Night Market. Even though it’s called a “Night Market”, the stalls open early in the morning for breakfast and then for lunch. There’s a Ping-Tung meatball stand that has been in business since my mom’s childhood days. The meatballs are made fresh each morning and tend to be sold out by noon, hence our sense of urgency.
這次回去台灣，趁著辦事的機會，下南部過一晚。中午前到達屏東後，匆匆辦完事，我們一家就直衝民族路的夜市。雖然說是夜市，其實早上就營業，是吃早餐和午飯的好地方。有一家歷史悠久的【正老牌屏東肉圓】是我媽小時就有的攤子，它的肉圓可說是當地人的早餐，售完為止，常過了中午就關店。所以，肉圓店是我們第一個目標。

Ping-Tung’s meatballs are steamed and on the small side. Each serving bowl has 3 meatballs, and you have to dress them with the special sauce. The outer semi-translucent skin is soft yet slightly chewy, and the meat inside is lean. I forgot to take a picture until I was ready to dig into the third one, thus the photo only shows one meatball…my bad. This stall has many loyal fans because of its nostalgic flavors; the family who were waiting behind us also came back from overseas. The fish ball soup here is also delicious.
屏東肉圓是蒸的，體型不大，一碗裡有三顆，加上特製的肉圓醬，是又軟又Q的好味道。照片裡只有一顆，是筆者的疏忽，直吃到第三顆才發現忘了照相。在後面等我們桌子的一家人也是從國外回來的，所以這家的肉圓可是很多人想念的味道。魚丸湯也很好喝。

Our next stop is the #27 stall that I wrote about two years ago. Our favorites here are the variety plate and steamed sausages. The rice noodle is also good and the owner offers free soup. The sausages would always spark a debate in my family as to which town has the best sausages: Tainan or Ping-Tung. Of course, my parents predictably root for their own hometown taste. For me, I like the Ping-Tung sausages better. To read my previous post, click here.
下一站當然就是兩年前介紹過的27號攤【上讚肉圓糯米腸】。來這裡不外乎就是吃黑白切、糯米腸和粉腸。這家的米粉也很好吃，又有感情湯，是我們必吃的攤子之一。每次說到糯米腸和粉腸，我家就會上演到底是台南的好吃，還是屏東的好吃的戲碼，真是公說公有理，婆說婆有理。我呢，還是比較喜歡屏東的粉腸地。想要讀上篇屏東夜市食記的話，請按這裡。


Even though it was late fall, Ping-Tung was rather warm. After two stalls, I felt overheated. Near the #27 stall and closer to the night market entrance is a refreshment stall that has been in business for 87 years. The old lady serves up icy treats like almond jelly and “Ai-Yu” (Ficus pumila) jelly in citrusy syrup shown below. Normally “Ai-Yu” jelly is served with lemon juice, but this stall adds kumquat juice and zest to the ice, which takes the freshness to another level. What a conclusion to my lovely lunch.
雖然是深秋，屏東氣溫還是蠻高的，吃完兩個攤子就覺得有點熱，從上讚往復興路路口再走幾步就是郭記桔仔愛玉冰，是87年的老店。我點的是杏仁愛玉冰，這裡的特色就是最後會放點桔仔汁和磨碎的皮，有畫龍點睛的效果，很清爽，是超棒的句點。

Field of Flowers 花海

Currently one of the big events in Taipei is the 2010 International Flora Exposition. During my recent trip, a friend of mine gave me a ticket. Due to my schedule and maladjustment to warmer humid weather, I was only able to visit one exhibition hall, the EXPO Dome. The day I visited was middle of the week but there were a lot of visitors. Having a lot of visitors is great news for the event organizer, but capacity management is also crucial in ensuring visitors’ overall experience. The long lines reminded me of Disneyland; every which way I turned, I saw people, people, people. With patience and maneuvering of camera angle, I was able to take some photos without people in the background. It’s really nice to see so many colorful flowers covering wide open spaces in a metropolitan city; although the expo is temporary, it calls attention to the importance of green open spaces in long-term city planning and the enhancement of urban lifestyle.
最近台北最大的展覽就是花卉博覽會了。這次回去剛好老朋友給我一張門票，可惜的是，因為時間緊湊加上對氣候的適應不良，我只參觀了爭艷館和附近的設施。我去的那天是週間，但還是人山人海。對主辦單位來說，參觀人數多當然是好事，但景區的容量管理及流線規劃乃與整體體驗息息相關。排隊的經驗讓我想起狄斯耐樂園，似乎等的時間比參觀的時間多，走到哪裡往任何方向望，眼前就是人、人、人。不過，靠一點耐心和相機的角度，還是可以照到沒有以人潮為背景的照片。走在園區裡放眼看去的花海和開放的空間讓人心曠神怡，我想若城市裡有更多如此開放的空間該有多好，只可惜花博園區是暫時的，加上維持種植密度如此高的花圃應該也得花很多錢。綠地空間能提升都市生活的品質，應是長期都市計畫的重要一環。