港澳行：local, pseudo-local and frequent visitor

I finally got to meet Michael and Kenny in Hong Kong. For the past two times I came to Hong Kong, Michael was out of town or something. We finally met.

Actually, I still got bad timing this time. They were all busy, even at weekends. Michael's working endlessly. And Kenny, well, spends time with his girlfriend.

Anyway, we finally met up. Yey! Time for dinner. When I am by myself, I wouldn't go to restaurants that are for a group of people. Finally a nice dinner tonight. Even better, I'm led by a local (and a pseudo-local) too. So we met up and went to 蘭桂坊 for... Malaysian food?! well, it's like a mixed style restaurant, not traditional Malaysian food. They said they came here last time when Joseph passed by Hong Kong. I thought we'd go for Cantonese food, though. I guess that'd be boring for, though. Anyway, the food was decious. I enjoyed it. Just that those 2 finished the food in Hong Kong speed while I chewed in Auckland speed. haha


And those two also chatted in Hong Kong speed. Talk talk talk. In Mandarin, English, and occasionally Cantonese when talking with the waitresses.
They haven't for met months either. So they talked about their friends and things in Hong Kong and there were quite a few topics I didn't catch on. Anyway, the general impression I got was, they were busy and bored in Hong Kong. Ha, Kenny, if you're bored in Hong Kong, where else can you find interesting? :P
Oh, another impression was Kenny always has girls in mind. :P

Later we went to 滿記甜點 for snack. One of its famous dish is the durian flavoured snack. For the first few bites, it was surprisingly delicious. However, a few bites later, I began to find it stank so much.
We also each had a bowl of sweet ice snack. That was delicious.

Soon after, the local, the pseudo-local and the frequent visitor went their separate ways. I wonder when these 3 will gather in one place next time?

港澳行：南ㄚ島的陽光沙灘

前一天從澳門回來就滿晚的了，早上晚起在住宿附近吃了皮蛋瘦肉粥又逛了一下街，就快中午了，啊，原本今天計畫要去看天壇大佛，但是距離遠，晚上要回到市區和 Michael, Kenny 碰面，就怕時間不夠，所以決定改去原本明天要去的南ㄚ島。


因為渡輪的班次，到南ㄚ島已經快下午 3 點了。今天天氣很晴朗，到達後就立刻感覺到寧靜小島的悠閒氣氛。不過，因為我一個人，6點又要回到市區，我就快步的往我的目標走去，途中經過了海鮮餐廳，據說這裡吃海鮮不錯，啊我沒機會，再來是一些小商店，啊我沒興趣，再走過林中小徑，終於到了，沙灘！


咦，怎麼這麼小呀？是我在找的洪聖爺灣沒錯，不過比我預期的小很多，啊我都是以 Takapuna Beach 來作比較的嘛，Takapuna Beach 從圖書館那邊走到右邊岩壁大概要十來分鐘吧；這洪聖爺灣，嗯，一分鐘就走完？據說週末時很多香港人會到這裡一日遊，天哪，這麼一塊小海灘要怎麼讓大家擠呀。

小歸小，今天的陽光加上眼前的沙灘，看起來真舒服。沙灘上有滿多人在曬太陽，也有一些人在海裡玩水。嗯，其實也不算多，只是聚集在這麼一小塊地方看起來多。我有樣學樣，換了短褲，塗防曬油，也找了一個 spot 來躺著曬太陽，悠閒啊，享受啊。

我已經兩年沒有享受沙灘了。在台北要去一個乾淨的沙灘好像並不容易？上次回奧克蘭時6月天也太冷了，只在 Takapuna Beach 看看海景。所以，今天來南ㄚ島算是我最期待的行程吧。

就在海風與平和的浪聲之中，手機忽然響了，真煞風景，這不是跟電影演的一樣嗎？在海灘上還在講電話談公事。不過我沒工作啦，應該是 Kenny 或 Michael 打來吧。結果不是，是以前同事打電話來問說明晚有沒有空吃飯。我說我在香港，通話就快快結束了。

又繼續躺下來曬太陽。海灘上有些人是怎麼曬那麼暗的呀，還好有白人超越我的白。

看著水中戲水的人們，我也很想下去游，卻擔心自己的東西沒人看管，如果護照掉了我該不會要一輩子困在這個小島上吧？(其實也不錯 :P) 最後還是臣服於美景，把包包拿到離水邊比較近的地方，記住包包的位置，就奔向海裡啦。游一游就偶而注意一下包包，沒人去動。 (在國外東西要保管好，這有風險的動作不鼓勵呀)

水清，還有看到小魚呢！沙灘則乾淨沒垃圾，真是舒服。

接近5點時，上岸趕快整理一下，又用不合島嶼氣氛的速度趕去搭渡輪回港島。一方面滿足於今天的陽光與沙灘，另一方面又覺得，這樣的地方多來幾次都行呀！

港澳行：澳門，bus trouble

之前已經在香港玩了兩次，市區內的景點大都去過了，這次就想說可以跑遠一點的地方玩，不久前看 Amazing Race All Star 才看那些參賽者從香港跑到澳門，這次我也來試試。

不過，行前對於澳門沒有研究多少，所以多花了一些工夫。也好，訓練像 Amazing Race 到當地去找路的技巧。找了一陣子才找到港澳渡輪的碼頭，買了票，護照又蓋了章，就坐船去澳門囉。三個星期前才看到 Amazing Race 的隊伍也搭這種 TurboJet 渡輪從香港去澳門的說。

我覺得渡輪上的 operation 有最佳化。開船後船員馬上拿 menu 問有沒有人要泡麵、可樂、sandwich 等等。一會兒後會問是否要免稅商品。然後當有些人會點東西來吃，飄出泡麵氣味時，船員又會再把那些泡麵、可樂、sandwich 實際端出來給你看，問你要不要吃。這些都結束後，前面的螢幕才開始播放電視節目，可能怕太早播的話大家就看著看著忘了買東西。

一個多小時後，船靠岸在澳門那邊，護照再蓋了章，啊然後勒，我要去哪？
就先去 Tourist Information 櫃檯那邊拿個 tourist map，開始研究。
嗯，好像最有名就是那個"大三巴牌坊"，就先過去那吧，啊怎麼去？在台北、香港、新加坡都有地鐵/捷運，只要搭地鐵就能去主要的景點了。這下可好，澳門沒有，好吧，研究怎麼坐 bus 吧。在找公車站的途中，有個 taxi driver 要來拉生意，說坐 bus 又慢又看不了這個城市。我這個喜歡便宜大眾運輸工具的還是謝絕了他的好意，沒想到他說的正是預言幾個小時後發生的事。




找了去士中心的 bus, 沒換澳門幣所以上車投了港幣，一邊看街景，看幾個賭場的外觀，注意馬路的名稱，對應 tourist map，順利到達市中心。

嗯，感覺起來很歐式的地方，逛呀逛，從賣 Giordano, bossini 這些一般商店的地方逛到賣葡式蛋塔，肉乾那種地方特產的地方，沒錯，就是到了大三巴牌坊。嗯，然後勒，好吧，拍照拍照，偶而幫其他觀光客拍照。吃個葡式蛋塔，嗯滿好吃的，外皮一層層酥酥脆脆的，口感佳呀！

接著到附近的大炮台看一看。好啦，古蹟看了。那還能做什麼勒？兩個想去的點是澳門旅遊塔和葡京娛樂場(賭場)。澳門旅遊塔被我稱為 Sky Tower Clone，因為長的跟 Auckland 的 Sky Tower 很像，那些高空彈跳 Sky Jump 的活動也跟 Sky Tower 類似。因為這些活動是同一個紐西蘭人 A.J. Hackett 辦的嘛。之前看 Amazing Race All Star 來這邊，所以我就決定要跟隨這路線啦。

Kenny 從香港打電話來！說他 available 了看要在哪裡跟我碰面。我說在澳門。"這樣猛!!" Kenny 就祝我好好玩，明天在碰面。原本 Michael 和 Kenny 好像都是星期三晚上才比較有空，所以想說今天就趕快跑遠一點到澳門玩久一點，因為可能會很晚才回去。當然，預期不一點都跟結果一樣的。有想說要不要跑回去跟 Kenny 碰面，但是覺得好不容易才來到澳門，以後可能也不太會來，就還是先把想看的東西看一看吧。

繼續澳門行程。不過，碰到問題了，怎麼搭車呢？嗯，看地圖上寫的從牌坊這裡到旅遊塔只有一個路線的公車直達，我就走了一段到了地圖上標的公車站位置。奇怪，這邊個公車站怎麼只有往反方向往北的車？問了一下公車亭人員，她說這裡沒有那個車子，要去市中心那邊搭車，所以我又回去最早市中心下車的地方，奇怪，又只有往北方向的車。對面的站牌，ㄟ，根本沒有這一路公車。又去問了一個 tourist information 的人，說是在那邊等沒錯，可是等了好幾班就是沒有往南方去旅遊塔的車。後來再仔細研究公車站牌，也仔細研究 tourist map，才發現這條路線所標的箭頭只有單向。所以這個路線是環狀的，不是同個路線來回，要往南去的要... 不知道去某個地方搭車。

我研究發覺很多公車會到葡京娛樂場，就決定先坐 bus 去那邊轉車。我終於離開那個地方了，已經從天亮在那邊遊蕩到天黑了。到了葡京娛樂場那裡，看著賭場的外觀，想說是不是要乾脆先進去看看，最後只在外面照了幾張照，還是決定要去 Amazing Race 去的 Sky Tower Clone。我那時穿短褲還沒換長褲，也不適合進賭場吧。嗯，這個地點的 bus 就比較多了，不久就搭了一般 bus，哇，我終於到了 Sky Tower Clone! 天已經黑了... 泣... 原本是想傍晚去的，看點日景，然後也許待到夜景。

既然天已黑了，就不急著上去了，先在這邊找東西吃，這裡面沒什麼商店，買了 sandwich 來吃，還半價勒，因為他們要關店了.. sigh.. 一個人在偽天空之塔的底部啃三明治，實在很孤獨，這是這一趟很沮喪的時刻，覺得一個人旅行實在太孤獨了，一切只能自己承擔，想到剛才為了 bus 浪費幾個小時，實在很不值得。如果有兩個人以上，至少可以一起找路，互相鼓勵或吵吵架，就像 Amazing Race 那樣。

啃完三明治，既然來了就去塔上看看吧。跟櫃台問一下開放時間，嗯，9點關，現在8點多了。沒關係，還是該上去看看，櫃檯人員問我有沒有學生證，我說沒有，但是他還是給我了學生票。可能他也知道快結束營業了沒什麼好看的吧。

半價的三明治和觀景台門票是旅遊塔給我的小小安慰?
觀景台上沒什麼人了，繞了一圈大概十個人吧。夜景的確沒什麼特別，和港島太平山的夜景差多啦！可能比較特別的是澳門連到另一個島的幾座大橋，在夜裡是一串串的燈光。另一點特別的是賭場的燈光。這個在正版 Sky Tower 就看不到了。

後來覺得如果再去賭場看的話可能時間太晚，就準備從旅遊塔搭車去港澳碼頭坐渡輪回香港。可是我又錯了，不該坐 bus 的，bus 上沒 GPS 顯示現在到了哪一站，結果我坐過了頭。後來下車後叫了 taxi, 才到了港澳碼頭。然後發覺，其實澳門很小，景點距離不遠，而且 taxi 計價也不貴，今天早先如果坐 taxi 的話，可能就可以省下不少時間。

So, here are my thoughts of the day:
It's not as easy to get around in Macau. It's better to go to Macau early and have more time in Macau.
Macau is famous for the casinos. There are few other interesting sites for sightseeing.
It might be better to see the view from Macau Tower during the daytime.
Learn from Amazing Race. Take taxis!

港澳行：旺角黑夜

又在香港降落了，之前曾經坐華航和港龍航空都曾在降落時爆眼過，沒想到這次坐長榮的也爆。爆眼是我亂編的詞，其實是在飛機下降時，眼睛會非常非常痛，甚至感覺眼睛爆掉或 pop out！目前還不知道為什麼會發生這件事，只是發覺自己的身體對於壓力變化好像很敏感。

到了機場，text 給 Michael，果然還是回我訊息說今晚沒辦法碰面。也是啦，他太忙了，我到的時間也太晚了。等到我到 hostel 房間時已經晚上10點多了。那還能做什麼呢，住在旺角，外面好像還是很熱鬧，就下去附近走走吧。
嗯，不過 Michael 說這邊幫派份子多就是了，說是像台北的西門町。
的確，出去之後，附近發覺有個徒步區，還是人來人往，我是覺得比西門町週一晚上十點多人很多啦。
後來又走到"女人街"，其實就是就是一個個攤位在賣些小東西，衣服，飾品等等的，感覺跟台灣常看到的類似，只是他們攤位的棚子搭的比較高 :P
快十二點時很多攤位和店家都陸續關門了，就在附近吃了碗牛丸河粉，就回 hostel 休息囉。
不過，在 hostel 也很難休息, 這次這間房間很容易聽到走道上的聲音，快兩點的時候還有一堆人在外面大聲講話，實在是喔...
旺角黑夜，好像是個港片的名字，Hari你到底看過沒？喔對喔你不希望我沒事在 blog 裡提你的名字 :P

An Inconvenient Truth

Dad said there are free screenings of the documentary "An Inconvenient Truth". So we went to watch it. There were few people, probably because the free screenings run for months so many interested people have been to them already.

It was an engaging documentary. It really makes me wonder about where mankind is heading, and what's the world going to be like for our grandchildren, children, or even for ourselves in 20 years.

This film convinced me that global warming is a fact. (actually I'd never doubted it.) We should really do something about it now. It's human nature to put off things that don't have immediate impacts. But this problem needs to be dealt with by us. If we don't, it may become too late and we'll lose our world, our only Earth.

Yes, I think the title is appropriate, an inconvenient truth... We don't want to deal with it now so we deny the truth. People do that to a lot of issues too. On a personal level, I probably have some issues I don't deal with either.

Problems won't be solved by itself. Something has to be done. I hope people would all watch this film and be aware of Global Warming and start act on it.
I hope politicians will really start dealing with the problems, not just deny them and try to shift attention away to some other issues they make up.
Politicians, stop bickering over silly stuffs! Especially those in Taiwan. If you really care about this land, make regulations to cut down greenhouse gas emission, ratify the Kyoto Protocol! 這就是愛台灣啦~

希望陳總統對於文化多樣性與永續發展的致詞不是說說而已。雖然我覺得只是說說，but I hope I'm wrong.

Please have a look here to see the actions you can take in everyday life to reduce your impact on climate changes.
Reduce your impact. The things you can do to help.

上班的最後一天

上班的最後一天，心情很亂。之後，我就不會像平常一樣每天來這個熟悉的地方了，可是對其他同事們來說，明天又是下一個普通的工作天。
一方面覺得耶，終於等到這一天了，嗯，是不是要照相留念，跟同事最後聊一聊，把想說的話說一說；看看同事們又覺得，這只是對我自己特別的一天，對他們還是一個 working day。
反正，就這樣啦。也不希望停在這種情緒裡。

在台大打羽球

不知為何被台大畢業的同事找去打他們資管系的羽球比賽，雖然跟我一點關係都沒有，但是既然有機會去台大打球，就把握機會去台大的體育館看看。
可惜，他們缺的是女生。男生其實已經夠了，無法排我上去打男生的名額。不過他們有個規則是女生不夠的隊伍可以派男生用左手(非慣用手)來打女生的比賽。我就莫名奇妙的被派去打女單的比賽，在開始前又左手練了幾球，實在打不到幾球，後來我那一隊的人就說這場算棄權，讓我用右手打。我才用了右手跟這個滿強大一女生打了場，最後輸了幾分，see, 不用左手讓也會輸呀。
後來就沒再打其他的比賽了，只是趁場地有空檔跟同事去練練球。OK 啦，沒真的打到比賽，不過有機會來這裡打打球也不錯，以後大概也不會來這裡了吧 (除非我去讀台大，哈)。

Gathered up for Spider-Man 3

After about 6 months, the ex-Aucklanders have finally gathered up again. Well, some of them. This time, we introduce the new member, ND. Alright, he's been in Taipei for half a year. But we haven't gathered for just as long. So they haven't met him.

This time we had Cantonese food for lunch. hm, I thought Tony would suggest steak or BBQ because Claire didn't come, but he didn't. We actually went for a cheaper lunch this time.

After that, we went to watch Spider-Man 3. I still remember I went to watch Spider-Man 2 in Auckland years ago with a large group of people that were from different sub-groups. hehe. The villain and action of that one was underdeveloped. I hoped it'd be better in this one. And it was! There were so much action and so many troubles in this one. It actually feels a bit dizzy sometimes. The story had to move on quite quickly. Maybe too quickly that I felt some plot devices were weak.

There was a part when Peter Parker wore the Black Spider-man suit and became kind of evil. It reminds me of 夜神月 of 死亡筆記本. What a pity that Peter Parker didn't go for becoming the god of the new world :P

A part I found funny was when Sandman was bombed and a part of his head was blown off. That was literally "腦殘". hehehe