驾着车上山的时候，第一眼看见那一排美丽的风车，心里是很感动的。白色的风车，像勇敢神圣的战士，背负着重要的任务，在风中坚守岗位。很幸运地，在山上赏风车的时候，还碰到牧羊人赶羊。绵羊、风车、草地，一起构成了一幅很祥和的画面。

 

Hastings的第一站，参观果园去了。 我终于看见真的苹果树、桃树、梅子树。 苹果还没有到收割的季节，长在树枝上的还是迷你size的，超可爱！黄色的梅子开满枝丫，那种果实累累的感觉，真的很好。

 

早上，我们从旅店出发到Napier。Napier离开Hastings大约只有15分钟， 是个靠着海的城市，是个充满着艺术气息的城市，非常漂亮。可惜时间不允许我多好好看看这城市。

 

回家前，看到开得正盛的薰衣草田。在一大片紫色的花海，呼吸着空气里淡淡的芬芳，大家都醉了。。。

2008年1月1日                         晴、天蓝无云

 

今天起得好早好早。天气很好，阳光好柔和。我在河边听着水流过的声音，靠在河岸的石头上小小地眯了一下，好舒服呢。没法子，实在起太早了！小睡片刻后，清澈的河水终于让我忍不住将牛仔裤管卷起，然后走进河里去 （当然也有部分原因是为了躲sandflies)。 水好冰冷呢。我故意坐在阳光照得到的石头上，自得其乐地拍照 - 拍河、拍树、拍石头、当然没忘了自拍，呵呵！  

 

回程途中，在草地上看见好多风信子。希望风起的时候，她能替我带个信息，将祝福带给身在各处的你们。祝你们都平安、幸福。

新年快乐！

不是新歌，林俊杰的《简简单单》，喜欢他干净的声音，尤其是在清唱的时候：

 

我们都是泡沫轻轻一碰就破　眼泪是爱的花火

昨天就像飞机穿过我窗口　我什么都没有

 

我摊开了双手你予取予求　直到你想自由

痛苦的时候我不会闪躲　就像树叶甘心为春风坠落

 

只是简简单单的爱过　我还是我

简简单单地伤过　就没有白活

简简单单地疯过　被梦带走

当故事结束之后　心也喜欢一个人寂寞

明天在家里举办个小聚会／小食会，请了一些都是身在异乡的同事与朋友预祝圣诞节。　由于屋主留下现成的圣诞树、装饰，我们就兴高采烈地摆弄起来。首先，我和Ivy将折起的树打开来， 一共有三个部分。我对组装这码事是很白痴的，所以只能当Ivy的下手了。在她英明的指导下，圣诞树终于组装起来了。 由于之前都被折起压缩了方便收藏，我们必须要细心地将“树枝”打开来，让它“开枝散叶”，才有树的样子。 弄一弄，发现这树还挺高的，大约两公尺左右．

 

接着我们打开装满吊饰的箱子，其中把我目光吸引住的是一盒塞得满满、细细的银色丝带。 我把它弄散开来，缠绕在在树上，营造下雪的感觉，效果很棒、很漂亮！我的亲们都知道我很喜欢下雪赏雪。前几天，当她们所在的地方下起了第一场雪时，都纷纷告知，让我觉得很窝心呢！我今年是无缘再看见雪了，如果可以的话，给我发照片吧，让我看看你们那儿，下雪白茫茫的照片。　

 

至于文里提到圣诞树，当然会有照片的，敬请期待！　

Cinderella was the first Pantomime I watched. I have always thought that a Pantomime is the same as mime where the entire performance is done without words, with only music accompaniment and the performers' body language to tell a story.

 

Hence, I was pleasantly surprised as the Cinderella unfolded. It was a very colorful musical performance, with plenty of audience interaction. There were a lot of kids among the audience and they were the keenest to shot out "Behind your back!", to boo the villains and to shout "Pockets!" at Buttons (who were knighted as Lord of the Rings at the end of the show). The plot were loosely based on the famous fairy tale. However the scripts were witty and hillarous with a lot of local content, such as the Puke ariki sandwich, Water Tower of Hawera and reference to Elton John's concert which was just held a day ago. The performers' facial expresson and body language were simply captivating, applause to the young artists who played the bees, pixies, butterflies and mice. We were seated at the third row, which was awesome as we could see even the flutter of the eyelashes!

 

My favorite characters of all had to be the two evil stepsisters, Maxi & Mini, played by two guys in gawdy, tacky costumes. They were the most interesting characters of all, breathing a lot of life and humor into the performance. They never failed to make the audience laugh everytime they appeared on stage. Even Prince Charming paled in comparison. The gril who played Cinderella has a strong vocal. I enjoyed her singing very much, very pleasant to the ears and moving to the heart. Two other characters caught my attention, one of them reminded me of Ben Stiller (who played Dandini the evil valet), while the other reminded me of Big Bear from Yulin (who unfortunately had not been given the chance to speak throughout the show ^-^)  

 

It was at times like this that I appreciate the power of theater, with live music and live stage performance. It might have the occasional lapse of voice carry when the mic were misplaced, or when the sound effect didn't happen at the right split second, but it was very vivid and alive. It was the people who matter, not the skills of screen capture nor the million-dollar backdrop.

 

It was already 10.30pm when we walked out from TSB Show Place. The Christmas lights hovered above our heads and guided our walk home.

 

Merry Christmas to all my dear friends. May all your dreams come true and you shall live happily ever after. God Bless.

   

Memories.  Avoidance. Choice.

A virtual life. A virtually virtual life.

今天到Wellington出差，无心插秧，竟然看见好多漂亮的景色。心情太愉快了！

 

早晨，飞机飞过New Plymouth时, Mt Taranaki除了山顶尖，其余的完全沉没在云泥里。山顶仍然有薄薄的雪覆盖着，在阳光暖暖的照射下，构成了一幅好美好美的画面。

 

吃过午饭后，老板竟然带我去看了我一直想参观却缘悭一面的Parliament House，原来离SPM的办公室并不远。很有特色的建筑屋。建筑正中央和右翼是Victorian风格，很大气，可是左翼却是很前卫、蜂窝状的大楼。看见它的第一刻，让我想起了星际战争里的某栋大厦。不晓得这不平衡的设计，是故意的，还是机缘巧合，阴差阳错？不过我很欣赏。建筑前还有一片绿油油的草地，有很多人席地而坐，享受阳光清风。

 

Wellington的风很大。抬头望向天空，竟然能看见迅速移动的云朵，就象电影里特效处理过的镜头一样，很有魔法的感觉，很棒！

 

可惜，今早因为闹钟没响，几乎错过班机， 当然更顾不上带相机，不能和你们分享任何照片，请大家努力发挥你们的想象力吧！

才发现， 11月11日在中国是光棍节，也有含蓄点的叫法， 叫作光光节，专指单身的青年，特别是大龄青年。无从考究出处。我猜，是因为有4 个1 么？

 

1111 = 孤单只影, 孤家寡人

 

不过我说，也可以有另外一种解法啊。

 

1111 = 一心一意, 一生一世

 

不是也很浪漫么？呵呵。

早晨，被梦里的情景话语惊醒过来。是个没有妖魔鬼怪的梦，可却一直盘绕在脑里，久久不肯淡化、苍白去。

 

有人认识布梦的那位天使么？ 能说个情，让他给我改编个好梦么？

  

“要去吗？”

“看你啦，你说去就去。”

"那Ivy 他们要不要去？”

"他们说很累，不去了。”

“那我们去还是不去？”

“你说了算吧，都听你的！”

"嗯。。这样啊。。”

“究竟值不值得去啊。。”

“我们去看看，没看头的话，就回来，好吗？”

“好！我去换衣服。”

“嗯，我这就来接你。”

 

时：8点30分

烟花放演时间：9点

倒数中。。。。滴答滴答。。。　

 

呵呵，我和汉珂蘑菇了好久，终于决定出发去Pukekura Park 看烟花。我们两个窝在家里一天了，懒懒的。好不容易，我们决定出发了。接了汉珂后，我们驶到公园，可是到处都没有泊车位，车子泊得满满的，井然有序。看来整个New Plymouth 加Inglewood 的车子都在这里了，还挺壮观的，难得一见的人气！转了一会儿，还是没有泊车位。后来驶到一处较为广阔的地方，汉珂当机立断，说，就这里吧！我看看1）没有阻碍交通、2 ）离公园门口近、3）没有时间了！！好！就这里！

 

把车泊好，我们立刻往公园门口疾步走去。　前面还有一家人，推着婴孩车。哇塞！好黑阿，管不了了，都走到这步了，前进！进了公园后，我们才发现，路灯与路灯之间实在隔太远了。 好暗啊，路两边树影重重，不理不理，我和汉珂互相圈着手，小跑步追向前面的人，因为我们完全不懂方向，紧跟，不能丢了！走了好长一段路，可是我们知道离主台还有一段距离，能赶上吗？真的好暗啊！汉珂拿出手提电话，想藉着一点光去照明前面的路，可是，真的好暗！

 

突然，我们听到几声巨响，从树与树缝间，也看见隐隐若若的火光，是烟花表演开始了！接下来，巨响不停，前面的人开始跑步，而我们也跑开来了，一群人仿佛在枪弹雨林之中逃亡，除了，我们那肆无忌惮的笑声。快啊！ 快跑！要来不及了，好喘！终于，我们来到一空荡处，可以清楚地看见烟花了！五颜六色的烟花，不断地在夜空中散开，然后向我们洒下，而我们就仿佛沐浴在这绚丽的流星雨里，真的好美！虽然烟花的变化不多，可是我们处在的地势很好，居高临下，没有遮挡。烟花离我们好近好近。结束时那同时爆发的烟花组合，还是很有震撼力的。

 

呵呵！还好赶上了，好幸福！谢谢汉珂同学！

 

Guy Fawkes Night (also known as Bonfire Night, or Fireworks Night) is an annual celebration on the evening of the 5th of November. It is celebrated primarily in the United Kingdom, but also in former British colonies including New Zealand, parts of Canada, and parts of the British Caribbean.

 

It celebrates the foiling of the Gunpower Plot in which a group of Roman Catholic conspirators, led by Robert Catesby and including Guy Fawkes, attempted to blow up the Palace of Westminister on the evening of 5 November 1605.

熟悉的声音，不熟悉的歌。

有点陌生，却还是让人安心，像离我那么近。

不约而同，选的都是偏冷门，却是有回忆的曲子。

你们是想用声音记录生活么？

那请容许我用文字记住你们。

 

我北半球的所有朋友，天转凉，请你们多加衣。

赤道的朋友，虽然常年如夏，也请你们多保重。

没有理由，需要理由么？

随心而来， 随意而去。

何可何不可？

 

什么时候该努力争取？什么时侯该安分守己？可不可以什么都不在意？

After 12 hours of quality sleep from my 8D7N trip, I am ready to share some interesting anecdotes of my first overseas family trip.

 

As I had to catch the 7am flight from New Plymouth to Auckland, I woke up before day break. I fell asleep on the plane the moment I was seated, trying to catch as much sleep as possible, knowing that it would be a long day ahead.

 

It was a pleasant surprise to bump into Steffen as I walked out from the terminal. He just flew from Perth and was waiting for his connecting flight back to NP. We chatted till he needed to board the plane. At 8.20am, I was left all alone again, with 4+ hours to kill, before my family's arrival :( Fortunately, I found a free Samsung internet terminal to continue reading the gripping story of 《情不自禁》 from 墨妖. I found it a very touching story focusing on the theme on family values, set in the hugely popular Qing Dynasty under the reign of Kang Xi （是的，是清穿文，可是粉好看，绝对不是言情小说) -  strongly recommended.

 

At 12.40pm, I finally saw my dad, mum and my two brothers walking out to the Arrival Halls. Yeah! I called the car rental company from I-site and off we went to search for the motel that we would put up for the night. We found the hotel fairly quickly and as everybody is tired, we rested a while in the room. Fei and I tried the trampoline outside the hotel and it was a lot of fun!

 

Mum was determined not to waste the daylight in the hotel, hence, she dragged all of us out and we drove to Auckland city. The first stop was to the Mt Eden. The view from Mt Eden was as pretty as before but the wind was blowing mercilessly. We ducked back to the car and drove off to the Auckland Museum. We missed the turning, and as none of us was too keen to the trip, we skipped that part of the itinerary and went to Mission Bay to look at the sails on the sea.

 

It was pouring in the evening as we walked down Queen's street. So, we decided to retire early as everybody was very worn out - me from the lack of sleep in the past 1 week, my family from the long flight. It was hard to navigate in the rain and dark. Thanks to Wises's step-by-step instruction, I managed to bring everybody back to the motel, phew! Everybody hit the sack by 8pm. Zzzzzzzzz....   

 

Best quote of the day:

"Auckland is a big farm...."

"The sails look old, unlike the ones in the TV touring programme."

 

 

Rise and shine! Mum and I woke up first to cook breakfast for everybody. Everybody had a bowl of the old good Maggie mee with big fat prawns, sausages and bacon. Very yummy. We returned the car and boarded the plane to Queenstown. 

 

It was drizzling slightly when we landed and it was cold! But the view was breathtaking with snow capped mountain surrounding the airport. Khai and I went to the car park to collect the Toyota Previa we rented. We found the car alright but we soon found out that none of us knew how to get it switched to "Drive" gear! Fortunately, there was a kind traveller who gave us a hand. For safety reasons, we had to step on the brake, before we could shift the gear! Something new for us to remember..

 

Queenstown is quite a compact city. We drove for a while and before long, the famous Lake Wakatipu appeared in our eyes. It is the longest and third largest lake in New Zealand. Its length is a whooping 80km! We parked the car by the lake and took a stroll to the city centre. We saw a huge tree which my dad took to his liking. It was quite a funny sight to see my dad taking photos under the huge tree. The stark contrast seemed to have dwarfed my dad.  

 

After lunch, we went to Deer Park Heights, which claims to be the largest LOTR film shooting site. Llamas, goats and mini hourses roamed freely here with a few more types of animals behind fence. The llamas were just so cute! And two mini hourses were brave enough to stay so close to our car that it blocked our entrance! We drove all the way to the summit, and the view was fantastic! I could imagine Frodo and his fellowship travelling on this path, stopping by to drink water from the lake where I stood. Mountains, lakes and local bushes made perfect backdrop for photo taking :)  

 

Arrowtown was an ex gold mining town. It was saddening to visit the Chinese village and saw the huts that housed the miners once upon a time. The village was located away from the heart of the town. The huts were very simple and tiny, but flesh and blood had called them home once. The mining workers were invited here  but were never welcomed. The miners were mainly from Guangzhou. Shocked with the harsh weather and mean winter, they preservered. They worked hard but were discriminated and scorned by the local society for many years. Still, they had worked hard with the only dream to return home one day. They could only keep to their own community and grit it through. Their dreams to return home were dashed, many managed to do so only after their death. Only in 2002 that the government had formally apologized for the legal discrimination, and acknowledged the contribution they had made.

 

Gibbston Valley is an up and coming winery area in Central Otago, not far away from Arrowtown. We swung by to have lunch at Gibbston Valley, followed by a wine cave tour and wine tasting. The restaurant was located amidst the winery, with beautiful tulips around. Beautiful setting! The lunch was immaculate. But the rose color 2006 Blanc de Pinot Noir, complementary from the restaurant with a coupon I presented, was my favourite. The wine tour in the cave was quite interesting and I picked up a fact or two about wine making.

 

On our way back, we stopped by at Kawarau Bridge, which was the first commercial site for Bungee Jumping. There wasn't anybody doing the plunge and I didn't have the guts to do the jump either, so we were quite contented with taking pictures on the bridge :)

 

We then started the drive to Te Anau. It was still bright and sunny when we arrived. But we soon noticed that our neighbours were fiddling with some chains which he tried to fit onto his car wheels. Curiosity piqued, we asked.

 

"I am travelling to Milford Sound tomorrow and the bus drivers told me that it is required by law to carry snow chains before we enter the highway to Milford Sound. Moreover, we need to be able to use the snow chains in case of black ice."

 

What!!??!!

 

I was puzzled over the snow chains and ski rack instructions when the Car Rental customer officer first passed me the rental guide pack. But she merely shrugged it off that I wouldn't need to use it when I asked. So I took for granted that it wasn't worth finding out more. And now this...

 

Sigh... Khai, Fei and I took out our snow chains and began to study the instructions. We couldn't quite figure it out. Luckily, our neighbour gave us some tips. He was from Australia and worked in the Air Force. Our snow chains were quite different from his. He spent almost 30 minutes with us and we managed to grab the basic principles, our fingers almost frozen by the biting wind.

 

True enough, we were stopped at the gate before entering the highway to Milford Sound. We were asked about the snowchains and Fei managed to show suffiencient "skills" and familiarity about the snow chain that we were let passed easily. Phew!

 

Day 4 was a day dedicated to the appreciation for the force of Nature. First, we experienced 5 earthquakes. One of it woke us up during our sleep. The scale of the earthquake was 6.9 and we could all feel the tremble. And it was pouring non stop for the entire day, despite my fervent praying for it to stop as we would be taking a cruise. I had never seen such extended pouring in NZ.

 

Milford Sound has been called the 8th wonder of the world and I was determined to take a photo of the Mitre Peak with its distinct triangular reflection on the lake. The boat we chose was a small one. As it wasn't associated with any tour groups, all other passengers were independent travellers too. The atmosphere was cosy and friendly. The captain, clearly sensing my unhappiness over the weather, promised me to stop the rain. Although he didn't manage to achieve that, we were compensated with the view of stupendous falls during our cruise. It was amazing to see so many huge waterfalls at one go. Truly awesome! And it was funny to see the captain intentionally drenching a fellow passenger who had stood at the front deck of the boat, by guiding the boat through one of the waterfalls. Haha! The passenger was sporting enough to endure through and we all gave him a round of applause when he came back into the boat.   

 

 

Puzzling World is Wanaka's key attraction and our first stop in Wanaka (after numerous stops to take pictures with cows, sheeps, orchard, that is). My favourite place of all was the Hall of Following Faces. As I walked around in the room, famous faces such as Mother Teresa and Albert Einstein followed me around, watching my every move. The faces were made from concave surfaces, but they looked as if they were from convex nature.  A shame that my camera ran out of battery but fortunately Fei recorded a a movie clip as he walked around the Hall.

 

With great anticipation, we then drove to Mt Cook. I have seen the signature Mt Cook white lily on brochures and postcards and was so disappointed when I didn't see it. My daad couldn't stop laughing, seeing my disappointment painted clearly on my face..

 

However, the drive to Mt Cook was definitely worthwhile, if just to see the turquoise blue Lake Pukaki. I simply couldn't get my eyes off the lake. It has to be the prettiest lake that I have seen so far.

 

Lake Tekapo is located at altitude of 900m above sea level. At 6+ in the morning, I heard my dad waking my brothers to watch the snow. It was snowing outside! And the whole place was covered in snow. It was the first time for my family to see snow and my first time to see it in NZ. Very thrilling. Needless to say, we took many more shots in the snow, with the snow, on the snow.. 

 

Before continuing our journey to Christchurch, we visited the famous Church of Good Shepherd and the statue of Shepherd Dog. It was still snowing still and it looked surreal, when I could so clearly recalled the church in spring just the day before..  The drive from Lake Tekapo to Christchurch was like a journey through the time tunnel. At first, snow flakes were floating down and the pine trees were covered in white. As the trees receded, the snow thinned down until we could see the greens again. From winter to spring in half an hour!   

 

The first impression that I had of Christchurch was the number of cars. There were a lot more cars on the road than Auckland, even when we were just on the suburb of the City. But it is still a beautiful city with a lot of Victorian buildings and beautiful gardens. After lunch, we decided to venture out from the Christchurch to minimize driving time on the last day. Hence, we drove out again to visit the University of Canterbury and Lincoln University. I liked the latter better, especially with the egg-shape wire frame art piece next to the library. Fine work indeed.   

 

Fei suggested to have dinner in Akaroa and I thought it was a fine idea. We couldn't be more wrong. The drive to Akaroa was the most difficult throughout the journey. Akaroa is a French village about 90km away from Christchurh. It is by the sea, and we fully expected the drive to be a straight and smooth drive. However, it turned out to be very windy! We had to travelled along the rugged banks of the peninsular circumventing the mountains. The drive was longer than we expected. The town is rather pretty, though a little too quiet and there are hardly any restaurants! We were worried about driving back after the sun set. Hence, we had to skip the idea of having dinner, but headed home after spending only 30 minutes in the city....

 

But we weren't always unlucky. We were very fortunate with two sunny days in Christchurch. On the second day, we went punting along Avon River and took the famous tram ride. Both were something that mum had looked forward to doing. We then visited the Botanical Garden. I simply loved the landscaping. The tulips, daisies and the trees of various colors. Words are simply insufficient to describe the beauty. Please refer to the many photos that I took in the Botanical Garden. They should worth many thousands words...

 

We visited Willow Bank for Kiwi Encounter and a Maori Cultural Performance. It was my second Kiwi Encounter, but my first time of being less than a feet away from a Kiwi, without a glass in between too! Just a shame that I wasn't allow to pick it up... The Maori Cultural Performance was a very nice experience, allowing us a glimpse to their history, culture and beautitful songs. It was a small group that day and all of us got invited on stage - the women were taught to use the "Poi" in a dance, and the men were taught to do the "Haka". Beautiful evening..

 

After sending my family off at 4.45am. I drove back alone to the motel. I woke up again at 9.30am, checked out and had brunch in 叙缘居 for dimsum. It is a Chinese restaurant serving mainly Guangzhou dishes.  Simply delicious for someboy who had been deprived for an extended period of time. I voted it the best restaurant on my South Island trip :)  

 

I had to return the car by noon, but since my flight was not till 4pm, I had a couple of hours to kill. I decided to visit the Antartic Center. It was a very nice experience. I arrived in time to watch the feeding of penguins and the snow storm simulation. Definitely better than Kelly Tarton! The blue penguins were so cute and adorable.

 

The flight home from Christchurch to Wellington was my best flight so far. I flew over plains, rugged mountains and blue sea. As the plane made its decend, the sky, mountains and sea were all in different shades of blue, decorated with white clouds. It was a scence that I shall always remember. Sigh..

 

Home sweet home.  

 

从来没有看过这么大的天然湖，从一端完全看不见湖对岸。 “一湖死水”， 完全不能套用在这湖上，因为也许面积太广，风吹过，湖边竟然泛起了一层层的"湖“浪。。傍晚，坐在湖边看拍婚纱照的新人、黑天鹅，心里很平静。就这么坐着，直到夕阳西下，吞没了一声叹息。。。

 

Huka瀑布倾泻而下的水有着最迷人的蓝色，像是能流动的海蓝宝, 漂亮而不哗众取宠。水冲到河面卷起白色的浪花，更像是童话故事里不断滚动出蓝色棉花糖的搅拌器，勾出回忆, 一幕幕，诉说着故事。 乘坐的船接近瀑布时，阳光透过空气里的水珠，形成了多道彩虹，似有似无，似近还远。 每一道彩虹的出现及消失，是那么美丽而又脆弱，承载着梦想、希望。。。

 

这是一座三周前才爆发的活火山，可是这一点都没有阻止热衷于滑雪的爱好者，还有具大无畏精神的我们。坐着滑雪梯上山，好高好高，叠叠山峦，在云间雪里。欣赏那震撼的景色，即使滑雪下山时跌了好几次，也不遗憾了。 雪化开，化为没有。。。 

 

无心插秧的机缘下，驶进了43号高速公路 - 那著名“被遗忘的高速公路”。入夜，车子完全被黑暗吞噬，路上几乎没有人烟。难得看见屋子，屋里也没有亮灯，不知道还有没有人居住，还是主人已经搬离多时。 所有电话失去讯号，收音机只有沙沙的噪音。 车灯打在路两边的反光灯，在黑暗里，白得非常诡异，指引诱惑着车子，开向一条没有止尽的前方。。 可是，这时候，只能前进，而不能后退。。。 

 

友人非常激烈地指控马国华校生思想狭窄，爱搞民族主义、小圈子，已经到达害国殃民的程度。他身为非华校生，感觉被边缘化。 我觉得那也说得太严重了吧，我们何德何能，有此影响？我一向风花雪月，粉饰太平，没有忧国忧民的抱负，甚为汗颜。。。

 

况且我觉得这世界上是有好人坏人、男人女人、聪明人蠢人、善人恶人。 可是，这都和种族、国籍没相关。 没有特别优越的种族，只有优秀和低劣的个体。 是我想法太幼稚？也许我的确活在美丽的泡泡里，呵呵。 而也许我该大量召集大家住进这个泡泡屋里，那么会不会多一点太平，少一点纠纷？