December 2003	布里斯本博客
December 28, 2003	香港移民到了海外，總緬懷一些香港獨有的精神食糧，比如明報周刊、壹周刊等等。現在有了互聯網，這些周刊都上網，在海外成為訂戶可以與香港同步看到新鮮熱辣的八卦故事。 不過我的精神食糧，信報(Hong Kong Economic Journal)，不上網。以前我在香港居住的時候，遷居海外的親友總叫我每天將信報重要版面傳真給他們，現在卻沒有人傳真給我。我曾經問過信報郵寄的價錢，他們提供每天空運服務，但是價格昂貴得令人咂舌，大約要幾千港幣一年的郵寄費。我在想，以信報為精神食糧的港人移民不止我一個，為什麼信報不能將版面直接掃描到網上，然後讓我們海外訂閱掃描版呢？照理說成本應該很低，也能照顧到海外港人的訂閱需要。
December 23, 2003	為了慶祝聖誕和新年，市這幾天都在南岸河濱公園舉辦了一系列的免費露天電影公演，號召本地居民一家大小來觀看，順便消暑。我也帶了個小坐墊去湊熱鬧。我看的是輕喜劇，"Maid in Manhattan"，劇情沒什麼特別，不過大家都看得很開心。 這真是一個舒暢的體驗，在無邊的星空之下，聽著蟬鳴，聞著植物的氤氳，坐在微濕的綠茵上，旁邊還有好心的昆士蘭人請我吃巧克力呢。不過最令我驚嘆的不是良辰美景，而是電影晚會結束後，所有的觀眾自覺地拾起自己的垃圾，草地上沒有留下任何不屬於那裡的東西。下面是南岸河濱公園的官方聯接: http://www.south-bank.net.au/
December 19, 2003	以前在香港住的時候一直以為赤柱是騙遊客的地方，這次去玩完全改觀。香港的商場越來越單調，來來去去都是那幾個連鎖店牌子，招牌特色貨品越來越少。其實赤柱的貨源也比較單一，但是相對於商場貨，還是很有新鮮感。 我比較喜歡的是那裡的全麻、全棉的東方味服飾，全羊絨（cashmere）毛衣，還有東南亞風味的餐具台布，床上用品，都是手工制作，用料很好，款式方面要靠自己精挑細選。怪不得識貨的外國旅遊手冊大力推薦。 坐在雙層電車上層，看著街景緩緩流過，覺得自己並沒有離開，香港依然動人。		網上英語教師 英文
December 16, 2003	I just returned from a vacation in Hong Kong, feeling like a retreat back to the countryside from a cosmopolitan. Every time I passed by Hong Kong, I couldn't help feeling so proud to have been a part of her, an international hub embracing incredible density, dynamic lifestyle yet law and order. At the famous corner of Sogo in Causeway Bay I was among the hustle and bustle again, moving along with the crowd from one arcade to another, how familiar! It was the first time that I was in Hong Kong as a tourist, doing all the touristy things that I missed while living there - afternoon tea at Repulse Bay, bargain shopping at Stanley, seafood in Saikung and even dining out at the Peak at night. Contrary to what I always thought, Stanley actually has a wide array of quality products to offer at a very reasonable price. Perhaps you should take a fresher look too.
December 11, 2003	I went to Singapore for 3 days as a side tour from Hong Kong. My first visit to Singapore was in 1997, and was quite impressed with the Garden City which did live up to its reputation. However, I was a bit let down this time. There were far more smokers in the streets and understandably more cigarette butts lying around on Orchard Road; the Botanical Garden had more spit and garbage on the ground; and the MRT toilets were starting to smell. Perhaps it is still recovering from the SARS shock. I went to the Santosa Island, and was disappointed to find the park's monorail quite run-down. The famous Santosa beach was actually located right next to a container terminal with quite a few oil tankers in sight. I also paid my first visit to Singapore's red light district which I was not aware of in my previous visits. In the end, I concluded that 3 days was way too much time to spend in Singapore and therefore departed for the airport 6 hours earlier.
December 1, 2003	這兩天在安排回香港一個多星期度假，順便探望親友。本來想聖誕假、新年在香港過，但是一轉念，還是回來昆士蘭感受一下不同的體驗吧，而且12月中到1月初剛好是假期高峰，回澳的機票大幅度飄升。 我發覺由澳洲出發最便宜的機票就是Qantas直接在網上發售的特價機票，通過旅行社出票總會比網上特價貴，但是時間要夠靈活，能夠符合特價日期的條件。相比之下，由香港出發到澳洲的機票就便宜得多，特價日期選擇也多，以前在香港的旅行社出票來澳州幾乎都比澳洲出發便宜起碼20%。從這點來說，香港真好。