社區大學成果展 Achievement exhibition of the community college

我四月到六月在林口社區大學上課, 今天是學期末的成果發表. 藉由社大我認識了一群有趣的在地人, 活到老學到老的精神處處可見. 我這學期上的是經絡拳班, 我們的成果發表就是上台表演如何拍打以及義診. :-)

In the past three months I learned the accupunch in the Linkou community college for fun. I like it because there are many interesting local people in the class. Today we have the achievement exhibition, presenting the basic punch technique and providing volunteer clinic.

其實學了一學期還是很弱, 比如我幾天前在公司消防演習時因為玩逃生垂降導致肌肉些微拉傷, 整個手臂痛痛怪怪的, 我自己敲打兩天都沒用, 結果一位老師幫我打一下不到15分鐘經絡就全部鬆開, 只能說太神奇了~ 不過要謝謝老師賞了個精英獎給我~ 拿得有點心虛~ :-P

In fact three months arr too short to be good at the accupunch. For example, my arms were hurt by rappelling in the fire and evacuation drill in the office few days ago. I used the punch technique learned, but didn't heal myself. Today one teacher treated it within 15 minutes. Amazing~ By the way, thanks the teacher for awarding me by the Elite Award. :-)

另外要謝謝阿水兄帶我看他們書法社的成果, 並大方贈送他的一幅筆墨給我, 他的書法功力是在社大學了七年的成果~ 利害吧!

Besides, special thanks to a classmate who has learned calligraphy in the college for 7 years. He kindly showed me their club's exhibition and gave me one of his best calligraphy pieces. You can see how beautiful it is.

新竹海岸單車之旅 A ride along the coastline

It's the first outdoor trip with my new bike. I took the front wheel off, put the bike in the car I borrowed, and drove to Hsinchu. With my sister's family, we went to 17 Kilometers of Splendid Coastline at Nanliao. (Since we started quite late, we didn't finish the whole 17 km.) The weather was great, not too hot and with the blue sky. It's such a confortable and fun ride! :-)

這是我與我的腳踏車的第一個戶外之旅. 前輪快拆裝進借來的車子後岀發前往新竹, 和老姊全家一起到南寮漁港的十七公里海岸線騎車, 整條線從南寮漁港出發, 經過舊港和彩虹橋, 最後終點是香山溼地. (我們太晚出發所以只騎到彩虹橋~) 藍天白雲外加不是太熱的天氣相伴, 真是舒服又有趣的騎乘ㄚ~

ikki懷石創作料理 ikki Japanese Restaurant

寇哥是我2001年跟飛峇里島的正駕駛, 畢業後斷斷續續用e-mail聯絡, 在荷蘭唸書時寇哥飛阿姆斯特丹卻因為期中考的原因沒見到面, 直到去年在荷蘭出差才又見著寇哥, 寇歌帶去那充滿濃濃家鄉味的一大袋棗子和蘋果日報絕對是充分展現咱們台灣人的人情味~

今天又有幸和寇哥在台北 ikki 吃個飯聊聊天. 雖然和寇哥只見過這幾次, 但每次都像和多年老友聊天一樣輕鬆亂聊, 下次看看有沒有機會和寇哥的老婆和女兒見面, 應該是個有趣的家庭. :-)

Brother Kou was the captain of the flight which I sat in the cockpit from Taiwan to Bali in year 2001. After that flight we have kept in touch via e-mail intermittently. When I studied in the Netherlands, he used to fly to Amsterdam once or twice, but we didn't meet because of my midterms. Til last year we finally met again, after 7 years, in Amsterdam when I had the business trip in the Netherlands. The huge bag of the dates and the Taiwanese newspapers brought the familiar smell from home and the best Taiwanese friendliness.

Today I had the chance to have the great dinner and the nice chat with Brother Kou in ikki in Taipei. Talking to him is like talking to a very good friend, easy and including lots of topics, although we have only met these few times. Next time maybe I could meet his wife and daughters to see the interesting family. :-)

高中好友來過夜 A visit of the good friends from the senior high school

繼爸媽, Fareh, 麗紋分別來寒舍住過之後, 這個週末四位高中好朋友來住一宿 (原本是五位的, 但神經大條的阿萍居然完全忘了這檔事... 其所遭受之語論撻伐可想而知.. ha ha..). 畢業後大家落腳台灣各地, 但我們六個人每年都在過年的時候一定相約吃早餐, 這次我的新家落成, 大家可是難得過年外的團員呢!

阿昵參加完喜宴從台中前來, 姿樺從台南趕回來, 曉萍在台北當講師剛下課就過來, 雅盈則才從蘇格蘭回來一下飛機還沒回家就先被我們綁架來林口團聚再說. 我這個主人更是從早就開始打理, 先是去家樂福和市場採買"一家子"的食物, 肉, 蔬菜, 水果, 土司, cream cheese, 冰棒...等等, 然後整理一下家裡, 該煮該切的處理一下. 忙完坐在沙發上, 想想自己好像是第一次這樣忙, 畢竟之前一大群朋友或同事來都是下班後叫外賣, 也沒有住宿, 這樣忙到也是挺新鮮的.

在這短短兩天一夜的聚會中我們天南地北的聊, 關心彼此的近況, 而姿樺也帶來以前的照片, 發現我們高一還真是去過蠻多地方玩的, 包括學校的活動, 班上的活動, 和我們自己的活動等等, 那時的我們都還在找自己(這一直都會是進行式吧... :-P), 引用姿樺說的"那時候的我們明明就很年輕, 卻又要裝一副大人樣; 現在的我們是這麼的成熟, 卻又希望自己可以年輕一點", 感謝的是身邊的環境和師長朋友, 我們笑得好開心~ 過去是, 現在也是~ 　

After the stays of my parents, Fareh, and Li-wen, this time four good friends from senior high school came to my place to stay overnight. After the graduation, six of us went to different cities for the studies, but we have kept the tradition of having a breakfast gathering during Chinese New Year each year.

This time it's a very special opportunity for us to get together from everywhere, and not in Tainan. Jenny came from another gathering in Taichung, Tzu-hua came from Tainan, and Hsiao-ping came from Taipei. Nana just landed from Scotland and was picked up directly to Linkou. Absent-minded Ivy totally forgot this event, although the e-mails were flying over just 10 days ago... Since she already came up a plan to make up for this, let's don't blame her too much here... :-P

Although I had few groups of visitors before, we just simply ordered take-outs after the work. This time I started to clean the house, went to the supermarket, and cooked in the morning. I felt like having a big family while buying so much food. It's quite interesting.

During the weekend, we caught up with each other, talked a lot, and laughed a lot. Tzu-hua took some old photos. We played much more than we remembered. There were the school activities, the outings, the summer camps, and the trips arranged by ourselves. We were looking for ourselves. (It's a forever "ing" I think...) The comments Tzu-hua had for these photos were that "We were so young, but pretended to be matured. Now we are matured, but hope we could be younger." ha ha.. thanks for the environment and people around us. We enjoyed our lives so much, and now we do, still. :-)

New Arrival~ Giant Freeda Plus! 新貨到~ 捷安特 Freeda Plus!

今天特別請Renee載我上班, 下班後直接去牽我的Freeda Plus腳踏車! 這台是捷安特專爲女性設計的城市休旅車, 也是我在尋尋覓覓後一眼就愛上的車款.

Today I asked a ride from Renee to the office, so right after the work I could pick up my bike, Freeda Plus! This bike was designed for female by Giant, and I love it at the moment I saw it.


爲了能一車兩用(可以外出騎也可以在家騎), 我決定也買個自行車訓練台. 考量到一般固定後輪的訓練台都很吵可能會吵到鄰居, 我最後選擇的是比較有挑戰性但聲音相對小的滾輪式訓練台Elite Parabolic Rollers. 雖然控制不好會摔出去, 但不害怕的話很快就熟能生巧啦~ :-)

To be able to ride it outside and even inside the apartment, I decided to buy a training station. Considering the noise the normal training station which is bound to the frame of the wheel would make, I bought Elite Parabolic Rollers. Because the wheels can slide freely on the training station, the user might fall out of the rollers, making it more challenging. :-)

阿勃勒花 Golden Shower Tree

這次我們回台南全家團聚算是剛好慶祝端午節, 延後慶祝母親節, 提早慶祝老爹的生日. 一劍三貂. :-P

老爹帶小外甥安安到台南大學和南師實小爬樹屋是每次姊姊一家回來的固定爺孫行程, 這次按照慣例爺孫兩滿頭大汗回來, 說著爬樹屋的點點滴滴, 還有阿勃勒花多美多美, 老爹一直要我去看, 於是我就騎著摩托車載小安安讓他帶阿姨去賞花嚕~

This time my family got together to celebrate the Dragon Festival, the late Mother's Day, and the early Daddy's birthday. ha ha... killed 'three' birds with one stone...

When my sister's family comes back to my parent's home, going to the Tainan University next to my parents' home is always a "must" trip between my dad and my nephew . This time as usual they came back home, sweating and describing the details of climbing the tree house and making new friends. They mentioned how beautiful the Golden Shower Tree was and suggested me to take a look. Therefore taking my excited nephew with me, I ride the motorcycle heading the nice scenery.

BBQ at Ashley's house

一陣子沒看到Ashley了, 今天和部門同事一起到Ashley漂亮的家烤肉, 和這群有趣的同事共 同悠哉地渡過一個下午和傍晚愉快的時光.

花園和周邊的環境都有種說不出的閒情, 男生留守看火, 女生在社區附近散了一下步, 剛好有一間重新整理的希臘藍白屋即將完工, 主人認識Ashely, 我們就進去參觀了一下, 看看主人如何建構他們夢想中的家.

回到烤肉, 食物可是多樣又美味, 有來自新竹的自製醃肉和甜不辣, 有花蓮的西瓜, 台北的甜點, 忘了哪裡來的香腸, 還有好多各式食材. 此外, 我以前怎麼不知道原來烤皎白筍是如此人間美味~ :-)

Today the colleagues of my department and I had a BBQ party at Ashley's beautiful house. It's very nice to see Ashley again and to spend the great afternoon and evening with my interesting colleagues and their families.

The garden and the surrounding environment were so easy. We took a walked around the neighborhood. (The guys stayed to take care of the fire. :-P) There was a house remodeled with the blue-and-white Greek style still under the construction. Since Ashley knows the owners, we visited the house to see how the owners designed and built their dream house.

Back to the BBQ, the food was various and delicious. We had the homemade-preserved meat and tenpura from Hsinchu, the watermelon from Hualien, the cakes from Taipei, the sausages from somewhere which I don't remember, and etc. By the way, how come I didn't know that the water bamboo can be so delicious at BBQ~ :-)

three videos

1. Team Hoyt

You must see this video if you haven't! "How much love can be" was the e-mail subject when I received it from a friend. When I searched and read the story of the Team Hoyt, I was impressed and touched deeply. Dick Hoyt is really the man, with incredible determination, strength, and love! I think that it's fundamentally based on the faith in and the passion for his life and his love to his family.

No matter how good or bad our lives are, we are the ones to make them really good or bad. When a person is over 2o years old, he/she can't blame anyone for his/her life. No one can make us change but ourselves. Team Hoyt shows the world the best spirit and execution!

如果你還沒看過這個影片, 強烈推薦一定要看! 收到這封轉寄信時, 標題是"How much love can be". 網路上搜尋閱讀了這個故事後, 被這個爸爸深深懾服. 他有的不僅是決心毅力, 強韌的體魄, 更有那份驚人的愛, 我想那來自於對生命和家人的愛的信仰與熱情.

不管我們的生活有多好或多壞, 我們才是真正讓生活好或壞的那個人, 人過了二十歲就不能因為自己的生活而責怪任何人. 除了我們自己, 沒有人能夠改變我們. Team Hoyt這對父子對全世界做了最好的示範!


2. Why do you have to be like others?

It's a nice video to tell people, especially the youth, that we don't need to be like others. Everyone in this world is equal. We all have something similar to others, and something different than others. We all have something better than others, and something worse than others. Meanwhile, who are we actually comparing to? the people in Asia? the people in US? or the people in Africa? What we really need is to compare ourselves yesterday with ourselves today. Have I had a better heart? Have I learned something I didn't know? Have I continuously improved myself?

這個影片主要是告訴我們 (尤其是年輕學子) 其實我們不需要像其他人. 每個人在這個世界上都是公平的, 我們都有一些像其他人的地方, 也有一些和其他人不同之處, 我們都有一些比其他人利害的地方, 也都有一些不如人之處. 更不用說, 我們到底在跟誰比? 跟亞洲人比? 跟美國人比? 又或是跟非洲人比? 我們真正要比的是昨天的自己和今天的自己. 我的心有沒有變更好? 我有沒有學習我以前不知道的東西? 我有沒有持續改善我自己?


3. 王彩樺的台灣英文

This video shows a funny way of indicating certain Chinese words by very poor English. It's a bit stupid but really creative. You won't understand it if you don't know Chinese.

王彩樺超有創意的, 我真的很佩服她的反應速度. :-)

我的音樂 My Music

音樂是一種頻率的共鳴
當旋律對上了
描述不出的暢快
音樂是一種靈魂的牽繫
當靈魂接上了
掙脫不了的喜愛

愛pop
不愛rock
愛爵士
不愛藍調
愛古典
也愛交響樂
...
這樣的分類
有點太籠統
因為愛的當中有不愛的
不愛的當中也有愛的
因為愛的當中有以前不愛的
不愛的當中也有以前愛的
誰又知道愛的當中會不會有以後不愛的
不愛的當中又會不會有以後會愛的

描述音樂很像在描述愛情
沒有什麼一定的條件
端看演出者如何詮釋
激昂的樂曲可以很迴盪
平淡的樂章也可以很感動
擺脫音樂分類
感覺對的音樂就是我的音樂

Music is a resonance of frequency
When the melody matches the heart
Can't even explain the pleasant
Music is a connection to the soul
Once it's connected
Can't get rid of the love

Like Pop
Do not like Rock
Like Jazz
Do not like Blues
Like Classical
Also like Symphony
...
This classification is a bit too general
Because among what I like I don't like some
Among what I don't like, I like some
Because among what I like, I didn't like some
Among what I don't like, I liked some
Who knows in the future whether I would like some among what I don't like
Whether I would not like some among what I like

Describing music is like scribing love
There is no certain criteria
It depends on how the performers interpret it
Passionate music can be echoed
Ordinary music also can be touching
Break away from the classification
The music brings the right feeling to me is my music

心不在焉 Absent-minded

一個週末, 呆事一堆...

找東西開了上櫃忘了關, 頭就硬生生撞了個大包, 還多了個讓我五分鐘內痛得說不出話來的紅色三公分髮線. 冰箱裡朋友留下的冰塊對消腫算是貢獻卓越...

到板橋辦點事, 結果在反方向等公車沒注意, 上了車也沒注意, 一直到車開到舊林口我才從自己的思緒中醒來, 不過也不急, 下車後慢慢走到對街等車, 沒什麼大不了...

難得在家開火, 已經煮幾次的魯味居然也會失敗...

心不在焉的最佳寫照...


It's a weekend with some silly things...

Forgetting closing the door of the upper cabinet, my head hit the corner of the door hardly. I couldn't talk within five minutes because of the swelling and the three-centimeters red line in the hairs. The ice left by the friends in the refrigerator was very helpful.

I waited a bus on the wrong direction. I paid attention neither when I was waiting for the bus nor when I was in the bus in the first 15 minutes. Anyway, it's not a big deal in such a lazy weekend, so I just got off the bus, walked to the other side of the road, and waited for the next bus coming from the other direction.

I cooked something I was familiar, but totally failed...

I was absent-minded...