Was sagst du? 樣樣都德

Last Saturday I bought a bit of saffron from an Asian grocery store for making a paella the next day. The price of that smidgen of saffron looked innocent enough, A$3.5 (US$2.9 or 2 euros) for 0.25 gram, but took me aback when I figured that it was the same as A$14 per gram (US$11.5 or 8 euros). If you happen to know that gold is trading these days at about US$950 per ounce (28.3 grams), which is US$33.6 per gram, then you would realise the saffron costs 1/3 as much as gold! I have no way to tell if the grocery store was running a scam with their saffron, nor can I decide if the saffron was indeed worth the money after all. The saffron didn’t give any distinctive taste in the paella, and although it was indeed the ingredient that gave paella the vibrant yellow colour, I’ve also read recipes which claimed that there were other means to produce the same colour. But what I can definitely say is that the preparation and cooking were no walk in the park, especially as the chopping took up a...

It’s indeed a real pity that air pollution has become a perpetual problem in Hong Kong as I mentioned in the last post. To make this problem worse, it is really inescapable to everyone’s eyes whenever the landmark Victoria Harbour becomes shrouded in this veil. Thankfully not everyday is like this, however. 上文提到香港空氣污染是個老問題，可幸有時也有些天色較好的日子，不致於令維港終日都「烏雲蔽面」。 I had this pleasant surprise on my second night in Hong Kong during my last trip in March, when I saw a perfectly crystal clear view of the Kowloon side as my taxi drove along the Eastern Corridor expressway. It boded well for the next day (14th March) as a day to appreciate the full beauty of the Harbour. 上次回香港的第二晚，乘計程車駛經東區走廊時，但覺對岸九龍的夜景份外明朗，心想翌日（3月14日）天色必定不錯，機不可失，不去觀賞海景真的太浪費了！ I wasn’t disappointed when I saw the morning sky the next day. I made my way to the roof and enjoyed a panoramic view of the surroundings as if even the last bit of dirt in the air has been mopped up by an omnipotent vacuum cleaner. 幸好我所料不差，早上的天色果然不錯，從酒店天臺遠眺四周，一...