May 2005 Brisbane Blog 布里斯本博客    
       
May 23, 2005 去歐洲旅行, 香港佔盡了地理優勢. 既省錢又省時間. 這方面我深有體會。不足之處是香港的旅行團一般要到出發前一個星期才決定是否成行, 所以開始我根本沒考慮香港。本來想跟所謂的鬼佬旅行團Trafalgar, Globus, 但時間不太合適。這時偶然發現香港的一個歐洲團竟然提早三個星期已成行了, 時間和行程都很理想, 一算費用, 包括我來回澳洲的全程機票, 比前者的酒店級數更好, 而價格還更便宜, 就是行程比較匆忙。

不過這是我第一次去歐洲, 反正以後還會去, 何樂而不為呢!

 
       
May 20, 2005 Whatever age Australians sitting somewhere with a book in hand is a common sight. Their reading habit is cultivated from an early stage in life and often becomes a lifelong hobby . This, I regret to say, is a quality lacking in many Chinese.

You know the tutor of my history course organizes the class in such a way as to give everybody a chance to make a speech on a chosen topic. And I could never help marveling at the knowledge displayed by my classmates. My curiosity, however, was gratified during a lunch time talk when I was told that they keep buying books, brand new or second-hand, on interested topics and reading them at leisure. When they are done with the books, they sell them as second-hand. No wonder there are so many second-hand bookshops around and they are not devoid of patrons.

To the right is a part of West End that has some second hand bookstores.

  
       
May 12, 2005 我今天體驗到澳洲人真的非常認真, 善良, 熱愛生命。

我在第三年紀大學上歷史課, 每次都會由不同的學生根據預定的課題作研究, 然後在課堂上做總結報告, 讓其他的學生發問。我上個星期因故缺課, 但是將自己的問題預早交上去, 也不過是希望對方略做解釋, 並不期望深入的答案。這個星期回去上課才知道原來上次做報告的Caroline剛好也在那個星期因為癌症要入院做手術而缺課, 不能回答我上次預交的問題。其實我知道了她生病哪裡好意思還要她勞神回答我的問題。

這個星期上課我碰到了已經出院的Caroline, 她看起來果然面色蒼白。我上前問她健康恢復得怎樣, 她忙不迭地跟我說不好意思, 不能馬上解答我的問題, 因為涉及層面比較廣泛, 要跟另一位同學John討論後才能答覆我。今天Caroline一看到我, 馬上把我抓住, 給我單獨上課超過半個小時解釋她做的課題, 並且非常詳細地回答了我上個星期交的問題! 我真的很感動!

   網上英語教師 英文
       
May 5, 2005 It was not until I had an afternoon tea (delicious homemade sushi) at a friend’s house, did I decide to pick up gourmet cooking. Health conscious as I am, I started from cheesecake, a real delicacy. See what I did. I studied the recipe in detail, cutting down drastically on the fat and sugar content. Then I began to mix ingredients according to the instructions. You can imagine my frustration when I smelt my cake burning right in the stove! Then I decided to try once more, reducing the cooking time by half. But I almost cried out in dismay when watching the batter leaking out from the spring form! I had missed an important step: pressing down the base against the sides of the spring form!

Only for the 3rd time could I eventually manage to cook a decent cheesecake to give a real treat to my friends. They enjoyed it immensely and asked me for MY recipe.