Was sagst du? 樣樣都德

Hong Kong was handed over to China on 1 July 1997, and has been preparing itself for the transition for more than 10 years before that fateful day, in a period more commonly called the 'transition period'. Since the hand-over, Hong Kong has put on a new look and experienced many ups and downs, but has it really changed? In many respects, Hong Kong is still the way it is, in concert with the Basic Law which guarantees '50 years of no changes' from the hand-over. However, this lack of change may be a sign of stagnation and complacency. Let's take the recent debate on political reform. Officials from Beijing and those in favour of the status quo insist that the executive arm of government should predominate the political functioning of Hong Kong and that the Chief Executive, the head of Hong Kong's administration, be better empowered in his/her duties. One of them even claimed that the separation of powers (executive, legislative and judicial) would not be applicab...

I live on the fringe of the City of Munich, close to woodland and fields, including a strawberry field. As the strawberries come into season, many people are out in force to pick them from the field. 我家位處慕尼黑市邊錘，附近有一片樹林及幾片田野，其中是一片紅草莓園，近一個月紅草莓逐漸成熟，便吸引不少人前往採摘。 The best things about picking strawberries from the field are that you can eat during picking and choose only the best ones to buy. Freshness and sweetness are absolutely guaranteed! 自採草莓，可邊採邊吃，擇優而買，保證顆顆令人滿意！ It's too easy to pick too many strawberries when so many of them look really irresistable, and it's impossible to eat them all. How should one make use of them? Lately the supermarkets are running promotions of gelling sugar, which is most suitable for making jams. It's actually quite straightforward to make strawberry jam just by following the instructions on the packet. First, wash the strawberries and dice them up. Then put in the sugar and crush the strawberries. (The ratio of sugar to strawberries will depend o...

Munich is a very old town - in fact it's celebrating its 849th anniversary this weekend! The city put on a show with typical Bavarian - and sometimes medieval - flair, showcasing a lot of traditional arts and craft as well as food. It wasn't such a big festival this time round, but who knows what is in store when it's the next birthday bash! So next year, there's another good time to visit Munich apart from Oktoberfest - and trust me, the weather in June is generally better than late September (when Oktoberfest takes place)! 相不到慕尼黑已有849年歷史了！本週末市中心便舉行了一個小小慶典，街頭擺賣不少傳統手工藝及食品，頓時充滿巴伐利亞鄉土風采，還有點古時氣息。今年的慶典看來也非特別大規模，大概是要留待明年「大壽」才大搞一番吧！所以要是明年來慕尼黑旅遊的話，不一定等九月杪的啤酒節，這也是一個好的時候——況且六月的天氣一般都較好呢！ Celebrating with music and dancing 歌舞助慶 Time for ancient fashion! 潮流服飾興復古！ Busking 街頭賣藝 Some traditional handicraft ... 傳統手工藝 ... and some rather post-modern ones! 也有用現代手法表現古代題材的 How can a Bavarian fest be complete without a beer garden? 傳統巴伐利亞的慶典，怎少得露天啤酒園？ A special message from this Bavarian f...

Last week I had the opportunity to attend the first conference since coming to Germany. It was a neuroscience meeting held in Göttingen, and since the Sunday immediately after the meeting was free, I decided to catch up with an Australian friend who has just moved there for work. Like many German cities, the centre of Göttingen is where the Old Town is situated. The Old Town was full of buildings aged in the hundreds, including many houses of which the beams were no longer straight. Those houses were still standing, but it's another thing whether they were really safe. Historically, Göttingen has been a meeting point for some of the best minds and most influential people in Germany and around the world. Many of the houses were in fact former residences of those famous people, and were identified with plaques on the wall bearing their names and years of residence. Göttingen is also famous for the statue of the Gänseliesel (the girl with the geese). My friend told me that, as part of...