2005年12月20日

Nice Song: 男子組

Really like this song recently. It really tells how we, 30 something guys, feel:

男子組 - 林海峰

一二三四 兄弟打氣

中環人收工除呔 黑皮鞋收埋 穿新出經典復刻 七零年波鞋
湊夠腳約嚇老友 踢嚇波冇壞 細個慨老友到曬 個個都肚腩大

新波衫波砵皮球衝出球場拉柴 心情如小孩 仲扮活潑通山嗌
波友一黐埋 吹水懶灰諧 三張幾通處派 佢大力射左出界

身邊靚女走曬 我額頭禿鬼曬 仲廿歲仔咩 o徙氣
你系咪要想死 想死你都有排

車樓我點供曬 一身屁股的債 仲扮眼濕濕 扮曬o翕耷
但系我都冇錢 點借錢你還欠債

* 老友咪歎氣 我點幫你 baby 振振兩臂 拍拍背肌
打氣 baby 力要谷起 想當天可以孩子氣 未要揹飛
今天爭爭氣男子組靠你 *

死仔 黎埋堆啦埋 死佬 玩得起玩埋
死仔包 爭乜鬼金牌 一齊 跑唔完都跑埋

小球場 一班耆英 跑全場死捱 筲箕灣施丹大坑碧鹹狂打柴
踢兩野個個斷氣 個個煙癮大 老友記老過魯爾 對腳應砌去賣

呢班波 當打時期 拿小型球金牌 呢場全挽鞋 大啖白泡嘔得快
口水都干埋 踩波車拗柴 乜筋都抽過曬 佢淨系打winning快

啤酒兩jar隊曬 身紀有得好快 系咪要修身 減肥
食藥再搣脂 姿整過小女孩 翻工我翻足曬 我份人工減曬
又未到炒得 未算死得 就算炒 最多早退休 暢遊世界

Repeat *

細個大家執波很快 個個大把瀟灑走上街
球場維記 行行企企 平台訓覺 魚翅我食到飽曬

要買合金爸爸即買 細個話之當街小個解
童年時你 童年時我 聯群結拜 成個世界我玩曬

老友咪放棄 放都o徙氣 baby 振振兩臂 拍拍背肌
打氣 baby 用腦谷起 一班啤酒肚在喘氣 大曬腹肌
波波交俾你男子組靠你

老友我撐你 我梗幫你 baby 振振兩臂 拍拍背肌
打氣 baby 射到飛起 今天點可以話之理 仲放飛機
爭番一口氣男子組靠你

2005年12月13日

Protest against WTO



Hong Kong people asking for democracy is nothing compared to these people. They don't even have the basic to live. Sigh...

Funny Fund Ad



In short, the message is converting wool $500 per kg to carpet $12,000@. So the bank is helping you to manage the growth of your asset.

2 things I've found this funny. Firstly, the appreciation of value is mainly due to the guy in the middle. And part of such appreciation goes to this guy. So there is actually no way you can tell how much of such gain goes to you pocket.

Secondly, actually this is the first thing came to my mind, in Chinese saying, wool comes from sheep. It means whatever you get it comes originally from you. It carries a negative meaning. So the extra gain from the carpet is from the wool you start with and the money you pay to the middleman. Actually, you gain nothing at all!

I think in fund management, asset management fee is a concern. I wouldn't use or show sheep as something to sell your message.

2005年12月11日

My new hobby



Looking at my new hobby through my eyes. Trumpet is really a sexy instrument. Practising is tough. But really enjoyable. I hope I can play some real tunes real soon.

I am now taking a lesson from Tom Lee on every Monday evening.

2005年12月6日

Sale in Jusco



There is a sale in Jusco. About 10% in most items. The place is just packed like crazy. It seems to draw all the people from the neighborhood. Other mall or supermarket around needs to do heavy discount in order to fight back. But looking at the crowd here, no need to tell who has won.

Actually for some items, they have been marked up before the discount. Therefore, it is not really a great deal afterall. But we need to do xmas shopping anyway.

2005年12月2日

Art in MTR



Ronnie bought me one of these some years ago when he visited England. But one without the bag. And somehow up till now, I still cannot get it to work. I blow like crazy, but still cannot make a note. I guess that's why there is an air bag.

2005年12月1日

Full Breakfast



A very nice breakfast at Frying Pan. An all-day breakfast in Soho.

2005年11月10日

Put the Glass Down

A lecturer was giving a lecture to his students on stress management. He raised a glass of water and asked the audience, "How heavy do you think this glass of water is?"

The students' answers ranged from 20g to 500g.

"It does not matter on the absolute weight. It depends on how long you hold it.

If I hold it for a minute, it is OK.

If I hold it for an hour, I will have an ache in my right arm.

If I hold it for a day, you will have to call an ambulance.

It is the exact same weight, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it becomes."

"If we carry our burdens all the time, sooner or later, we will not be able to carry on, the burden becoming increasingly heavier."

"What you have to do is to put the glass down, rest for a while before holding it up again."

We have to put down the burden periodically, so that we can be refreshed and are able to carry on.

So before you return home from work tonight, put the burden of work down. Don't carry it back home. You can pick it up tomorrow.

Whatever burdens you are having now on your shoulders, let it down for a moment if you can.

Pick it up again later when you have rested...

Rest and relax.

Life is short, enjoy it!

2005年11月9日

NANA

We went to see the movie, NANA, last night. I have been waiting for this movie for quite a while. After listening to its songs and sounds track for months, I finally get to see the movie.

http://www.nana-movie.com

It's about love, friendship, and dream. And the positive thing about the movie is that these people chasing for their dreams without affecting the people around them. They take up the responsibilities. And unlike many others who said they have dreams too, which is actually wasting their lives, these people know what they want and make it happens.

Also, the friendship between the 2 NANA is very sweet. The relationship is a bit hard to be understood by a guy. But being there for each other is very sweet already. I think I will buy a DVD later to watch it again.

2005年11月6日

結合吧!

我終於明白為什麼那些動畫中的機械人總是要有合體這個過程。以前我會將相機鏡頭裝落部相機到,然後放落個袋到,方便呀嗎。依家就唔得啦。鏡頭越來越多,越來越大舊。無辨法唔拆開先收埋。只好大叫一句:20D,結合吧!

2005年11月3日

Pinhole Camera

I've bought a new pinhole camera yesterday. Actually, it came in a set of science magazine and experiment. And I've used it to take photos for the whole day. It's very fun, but extremely difficult to use. I've already used tripod. But still difficult to get a sharp and clear image.

http://vlikeit.com/gallery/main.php?g2_view=core.ShowItem&g2_itemId=1597

2005年10月24日

War Game

We went for a war game yesterday. It's my 2nd or 3rd one after 15 years! The site is awesome:

http://www.ktwargame.com.hk/main_menu.html

We had a good time. With a minimum of 20 people, you will get an instructor with equipments. The instructor is nice. But the equipments are quite old. The machine guns did not work all the time. As a beginner and no experience, it's acceptable. With lunch and transportation included, it cost us $280 each. That's not too bad at all. Good exercise and something different than going to the mall or cinema.

2005年10月22日

Squash

We went to play squash tonight. It has been a very long time since the last time we played. To our very disappointment, there are really less and less people into this game. Both squash court were used for other purpose! One of them was teaching Ping Pong lesson. The other was even worst. It was used as a classroom for takwando.

On the other day, I was talking to a classmate about less and less people playing squah. But I can't believe it is getting to a point that the courts are used for other purpose. And I can see the damage done to the floor because of activities other than squash.

Anyway, we will try to play once a week. It's a good game and exercise.

2005年10月13日

New Mattress

Finally, we have bought ourselves a new mattress. If it does give us better sleep, I would really cry out. It's because of a bad mattress, we have been suffering from poor quality of sleep and probably back problem for all these years!!! I can't wait to try it out as it deliver in the next few days.

2005年10月5日

Rearranging the Desk

I've bought a pair of new speakers for my computer today. The old ones are just too... boring. So with the advice from Ronnie, I've bought a pair of these:

http://www.edifier.ca/products/mp300/mp300.html

It then free up quite a lot of space on my desk. So I have got everything rearranged. Now I have a much more comfortable typing space. I love it. Cool!

2005年10月1日

Headache

I don't dare to wake up late these days. Yesterday I woke up at 11:00am. Got a headache again. It seems that I cannot sleep too much. If I do that, I will get a headache. Sigh....

2005年9月30日

Random Photos

After many trial and error and help from Ronnie, finally get my Photo of the Day to work on my blog!!! However, I think it's the problem with the program in my photo gallery. The photo doesn't seem to show everytime. Anyway, it's better than nothing. HA!

Anniversary

Today is our anniversary. It's so difficult to find something interesting or special to do nowsaday. We ended up having a nice breakfast in Soho, bowling in Kowloon side, and dinner in the peak.

This is the 2nd time we go to Cafe Deco. First time is only for a drink and dessert. The foods is honestly nothing special. It's not especially good or bad. Just ordinary. The so-called US Angus is not very good. I don't seem to recall that US beef is allowe back in HK. The beef is dry and tasteless. Quite disappointing actually.

During the dinner, there was a foreign couple being seated next to us. They wanted to sit by the window. But they were told that those were being booked. The arrogant man asked the receptionist how much he needs to pay her to get to sit there. It sound really annoying. When I think about it, my foreigner friends would probably speak in the same way. Maybe it's a cultural difference. But who does he think he is? If he can paid some money to sit by the window, I'd pay them double to keep the window seat empty.

2005年9月5日

My New Toy

Finally, I get back to film photography. I've bought a Canon 30V. I was quite amazed that its features are somehow more and better than my 20D, while the cost is only 1/6.

It's really a big different from digital. The first batch of photos are only to test the machine:

http://vlikeit.com/gallery/album27

I've asked the output not to adjust anything from my film. You can really tell the difference from digital photography. Using my 20D, I can adjust the exposure anytime I want. If it's not what I want, I can always take another one after looking on the screen. But with film, I must try to do it right all the time. Besides the cost involved, this is also a learning process.

And with my 30V, I've got a vertical grip. The machine looks really sexy. I love it!

Happy Birthday to V

Today is V's birthday. Both of us are taking a day off. After lunch, we went to bought a crab. Crab has become my cats' birthday treat. They love it. But it's a bit salty even to me. I guess eating it once in a while should be ok.

謝安琪 Kay One

After Rachel Kar, I've found another interesting album. 謝安琪 has a very different voice and singing technique. It's nice to see that there are people trying different things in the industry.

2005年8月23日

Rachelism

Bought Rachel Kar's new album the other day. I've been waiting for her album for quite a while. First time I listened to her was a live performance of her in Times Square. She's got quite a nice voice. And seeing her working so hard in her performance, I decide to buy her album. And actually, I can't remember when is the last time I buy an local album. Ha!

She wrote her own songs. I am quite picky on lyrics. Hers is not perfect. But comparing with the other famous artists, she is doing alright.

To my surprise, the album is a mix of Cantonese and Mandarin songs. It's nice to have the whole album at a similar tone. But one problem though is that the melody is quite commercial. Therefore, it's difficult to distinguish which is which.

Anyway, nice to see that there are still young artist working so hard in the industry.

2005年8月11日

Nice to Have PSP

My wife has recently got a PSP. I don't know how good it is until now. Sometimes I really have to work late. In the past, she could only sit somewhere listening to her iPod. Now she has her PSP. No more whining about waiting.

And for me, I have Treo to blog anywhere. I am a happy man.

Charles Schultz Philosophy

The following is the philosophy of Charles Schultz, the creator of the "Peanuts" comic strip. You don't have to actually answer the questions. Just read the e-mail straight through, and you'll get the point.

1. Name the five wealthiest people in the world.

2. Name the last five Heisman trophy winners.

3. Name the last five winners of the Miss America.

4. Name ten people who have won the Nobel or Pulitzer Prize.

5. Name the last half dozen Academy Award winner for best actor and actress.

6. Name the last decade's worth of World Series winners.



How did you do?

The point is, none of us remember the headliners of yesterday. These are no second-rate achievers. They are the best in their fields. But the applause dies. Awards tarnish. Achievements are forgotten. Accolades and certificates are buried with their owners.

Here's another quiz. See how you do on this one:

1. List a few teachers who aided your journey through school.

2. Name three friends who have helped you through a difficult time.

3. Name five people who have taught you something worthwhile.

4. Think of a few people who have made you feel appreciated and special.

5. Think of five people you enjoy spending time with.

Easier?

The lesson: The people who make a difference in your life are not the ones with the most credentials, the most money, or the most awards. They are the ones that care.

"Don't worry about the world coming to an end today. It's already tomorrow in Australia." (Charles Schultz)

2005年7月31日

Cool! Blog again from Palm!

But this time even better. This is from my treo. I wonder avantblog would support Chinese... ???@??¥?.

2005年7月24日

New Toy - Treo 650

I couldn't resist but buy a Treo 650 smartphone last week. With that, I can get rid of my t610 and Clie. Less gadgets in my pocket, and at the same time a better performing piece of equipment. Now I am a very happy man.

2005年7月15日

Busy Week

It has been a very busy week. A lot of decisions needed to be made for the new restaurant. I keep my fingers crossed that we can meet the deadline.

One personal side, I keep on visiting the Chinese medical doctor for Hepatitis B carrier problem. Although he cannot promise a cure, at least I hope he can fix my fatty liver problem. The medicine is actually not cheap. It costs me HK$50 per day. And I have to keep drinking those medicine for 3 months. Anyway, I can live with 3 months. After that I will see what it achieve.

2005年7月8日

Cool Widget!

I've just installed a cool widget on my mac. In this widget, I can post blog easily! Cool!!

2005年7月4日

I was in Hong Kong park yesterday. Thanks to someone's advice, I had a good time there taking a lot of photos, although I had to wake up early.

When I was there, I saw a falcon sitting in the middle of the road (see picture). I was quite scared actually. It took me a short while to figure out it's a falcon. I originally thought that it's dead, as it's sitting in a weird position. But it turned out that it'd just hunted down a pigeon. There was probably some fight. Therefore, it was just tired. As a woman walked by, the falcon got scared and fly away. Hope that it's alright. It left the pigeon on the floor. The secuirty guard took it away. I guess it means it had to hunt for another one.

i had some arguments with the license consultants recently. The details are quite complicated. Anyway, the conclusion is that these consultants are identifying my problems, which I am aware of, rather than solving it. I don't know what we are hiring them for. Sigh...

And I've found myself losing patient easily with people who cannot meet my expectation as time goes by. I guess I should just learn to loose up a little bit.

2005年7月1日

My external harddisk was dead today. Really troublesome. A lot of data cannot be recovered. What an unlucky day!

2005年6月30日

I've met a friendly person in ICQ a couple of weeks ago. Since then, I've message with her every day at work. I personally think that it's really nice to have new friend, especially one you meet in the Internet. For instance, if both parties respect each other, you can basically tell the other anything you want.

Another thing, which is quite different from spouse or friends in real life, is that you do not have demand on the other party. The only thing you expect from your ICQ friend is him or her listening to you, and vice versa. You don't find any "burden" from this new friend. But I guess I'm just lucky to meet a nice person. In the past, I've got some chatting with me, which turns out to be boring or silly.

It reminds me of a date through internet chat when I was back in the university. It was quite a silly one. At least the outcome was. I guess once you have expectation or demand from the others, it puts a test to the relationship. Mine didn't work out that time. Somehow I feel lucky about that. Anyway, Life is full of tests, which make it interesting.

2005年6月29日

Moving office today. The office is smaller than before. But it's quite cozy and comfortable. Too bad that the internet is not up yet. Therefore, everything is quite troublesome. :(

2005年6月26日

Dinner @ Chesa

We went to Chesa for dinner today. It's a Swiss cuisine in the Penisula Hotel. We spent HK$1,300 with 2 appertizers, 1 soups for 2 to share, 2 main course, 1 dessert, 2 glasses of wine and 1 coffee. If you like cheese and chocolate, you will like the restaurant. Besides, the foods are done very nicely. We had a veal steak and a oxtail. The oxtail is one of the best I had ever have. We were very full afterwards. I think it requires much exercise before I can burn the extra fat I gain today!
I really hate my vacuum cleaner. It's a product of OSIM, called Little Mermaid, which cost me over HK$4K a few years ago. OSIM is a company produce health product. This vacuum cleaner is one of their line, as it's considered as cleaning your home properly. The problem of this company is being a copycat. This type of water filter system vacuum cleaner is in the market for many years. OSIM just copies from them.

The big problem is the poor design of the machine itself. I've talked to a couple of people using the same machine. One of them said no problem at all. But I told her that it's because she is not the one using it. Another friend told me that it's a real piece of junk. Because it's so expensive, we have no choice but use it.

One of the major problem in the design is its ease of use and durability. I think I need 10,000 words to talk about these. Anyway, the result is I get hurt almost everytime I use the machine. Yesterday, I clamped my finger to bleed. The other day, the metalic hose distached and dropped on my foot, which takes a few weeks to heal.

After I've got this vacuum cleaner, I have never bought anything from OSIM again. A few months ago, I bought a massage chair. I haven't even considered OSIM, although they have a wide range of products. I've got a Panasonic Momi Momi. And I am very very happy with it.

2005年6月24日

Bought an electric tooth brush after the dental visit the other day. I am really poor at cleaning my own tooth. But since I realize it's so expensive to get them "repaired", I may as well invest in the "maintenance".

I've bought a Philips Sonicare:

http://www.sonicare.com/products/elite/7500.asp

Quite impressed with what it can actually do. I have an Braun one before. It didn't nothing compared to Sonicare. Although it's expensive (HK$1,140), I think it does the job 100 times better than I do it myself. And as I said, I should put more effort in maintenance. There it goes.

2005年6月22日

I've finally put my mind into filling in a monthly contribution form for ORBIS. I haven't really done any charity for all these years. One day when I look at my photos, I've found that it's really a gift for most of us who can see the beautiful world. So, I hope that my little contribution would help those to share this view with the rest of us.

2005年6月20日

Cloudy day.

Now I wish it rained this afternoon. I've got my full camera set with me. If it rained, I'd have gone out for some photo shooting. But instead of raining, there's just heavy cloud. Another afternoon wasted. Sigh...

2005年6月17日

The weather is fantasic this afternoon before lunch. Therefore, I brought my little camera with me to take some snapshots under my long lost friend, the sun.

I enjoy the sun shining on me. It makes me warm. It makes me comfortable. In the past, if I ever have a chance, I'd try to have my lunch in open area. I'd do that on sunny days, even during summer. It's especially nice to do it with friends. To eat alone, even the warmth of the sun can't seem to warm you up.

When I stepped out of my office, I just can't help but take out the camera and take whatever I can see. I'm hungry for shooting some photos. Then I had a simple lunch, get a book, and it started to rain. Sigh... It rained very heavily. I of course hadn't got my umbrella with me. I had no choice but stood under a cover.

The rain drops and drops. No sign of stopping. I don't know when it starts. But I begin to enjoy watching the rain. I think it's since I drove the other night during a heavy rain storm. The rain was hitting on my windshield from a direction. I looked up. Under the lamp posts, looking up the sky is like watching meteor showers. So beautiful.

Since no sign of stopping, I took out my little camera. Now I realized how difficult it is to use a small camera. It's not clear and fast enough to see the rain drops. And mine hasn't got a zoom function. Therefore, it's difficult to do some closeup. Anyway, I am happy. It's a start.

2005年6月16日

Recently learned that there is a radio show on RTHK2, called "星 空 奇 遇 鐵 達 尼". Quite an interesting show. Many girls called there to talk about basically anything. Sometimes about love. Sometimes about friendship. Sometimes about family.

When I first heard this show, I've found the DJ quite repelling. He is actually arguing with the caller. The girl is talking about problem of her boyfriend. But instead of comforting the girl, he is arguing with her. it made me quite uncomfortable. Maybe I always play the listener role. But when I think about it, listening or agreeing with the other may not help with the problem. Instead this guy, 麥潤壽, encourage the caller to face the problem. It is not easy. But it's the way to solve a problem. Impressive.
Keep on raining these days. Sigh...

I think I should try to think about how to do photo shooting on rainy days. Or else, my camera will be covered with dust throughout the summer. :(
I really like this old song from Stefanie 孫燕姿 recently:

天黑黑
作曲:李偲菘
填詞:廖瑩如 / April
編曲:吳慶隆

我的小時候 吵鬧任性的時候 我的外婆 總會唱歌哄我
夏天的午後 老老的歌安慰我 那首歌 好像這樣唱的
天黑黑 欲落雨 天黑黑 黑黑

離開小時候 有了自己的生活 新鮮的歌 新鮮的念頭
任性和衝動 無法控制的時候 我忘記 還有這樣的歌
天黑黑 欲落雨 天黑黑 黑黑

*我愛上 讓我奮不顧身的一個人
 我以為 這就是我所追求的世界
 然而橫衝直撞 被誤解被騙
 是否成人的世界背後 總有殘缺

 我走在 每天必須面對的分岔路
 我懷念 過去單純美好的小幸福
 愛總是讓人哭 讓人覺得不滿足
 天空很大卻看不清楚 好孤獨*
Repeat*

天黑的時候 我又想起那首歌 突然期待 下起安靜的雨
原來外婆的道理 早就唱給我聽 下起雨 也要勇敢前進
我相信 一切都會平息 我現在 好想回家去
天黑黑 欲落雨 天黑黑 黑黑


I especially like the part:
我走在 每天必須面對的分岔路
我懷念 過去單純美好的小幸福

Life is so much better to be simplier.

2005年6月14日

I am starting to rate my own photo album. Over 7200 digital photos taken so far. By rating it in iPhoto, I am able to create some smart albums. So far, I have created Portriat, Snapshot, Travel, and Cat. And in order to be selected into the album, it must be 4 or 5 stars photos. I am hoping to select some of my best shots. As times go by, I'd have quite a lot of photos in the smart albums. I'd review them occasionally and see if I have made any progress. I certainly hope that I would. If my skills or standard are raised, I believe some of the photos in the list may be removed. Then I can keep on improving. At the end the album would go to the web and share.

See how it goes. :)

2005年6月13日

Thinking about "passion" recently. I've found myself lack of passion in doing almost anything. I do my job well, and at least I believe my company thinks so too. However, I believe I still have more to give.

Back to photography. I was quite astonished after visiting this site:

http://www.fotop.net/QA/Allan

Honestly, I've looked at quite a lot of photos. But nothing strike me like these. You may find his photos too artificial. However, I find some of them tell me a strong feeling. For instance, the one below.

http://www.fotop.net/QA/yunnan4/F1000031_001

With the snow, ground, tree, the face of the girl, I feel such a strong sense of loniness. I almost can't breath. I hope that I can do something like this one day.

I think it's again the passion. The will to make a good shot. The will to share the feeling with the others. The passion towards photography.

2005年5月19日

林振強的一警世語句
● 人生許多不必的要的痛苦,起因都是因為夾硬穿上細了一個碼的衣服。
● 常以為還有下一次,所以不懂得珍惜這一次。
● 走下坡的時候,路是平坦無阻的。
● 頹廢的意思,不是Cool;而是Fool。
● 唯一別人搶不去的東西,就是時間、所有的時間,都是等我們自己失掉的。
●其實世界上只有兩種人,落手落腳的和指手劃腳的,遺憾的是後者是不沉默的大多數。
● 每個願打的人背後,都有一個願捱的人。
● 我們沒有什麼記不起,也沒有什麼放不下。
● 最戇居的水上活動,就是一個人跌進愛河。
● 直覺的正名是『靠撞』。
● 最難墮的胎,就是你我各懷鬼胎。
● 情場不是超級市場,請勿薄利多銷。
●要做個快樂的人,並不需要天天都有愛情,也不需要每天都有麭包,但一定需要每天都有大便。
● 愛遇見了不起的人,怕遇見對不起的人。
● 站在海傍時,浪漫之人仕會認為自己在看海,不浪漫的人覺得自己在(睇水﹞。
● 鄉村朝朝雞叫人,城市夜夜人叫雞。

2005年5月16日

After little effort, I've upgraded my Mac to its latest OS, Tiger. I am getting more impressed with Mac on the effort it makes to make computing easier for everyone. I really like the Dashboard. It's like a second desktop with all the applications on it. I've put the calculator, dictionary, weather, etc. on it. Now, when I need to check the weather, I simply press F12 to turn to my dashboard. If I need calculator, F12. COOL!

2005年4月22日

【你怎可以這樣呢?】
二零零一年,密西根州一名男子以七千美元刊登的全版廣告:
作者:占。韋利士(Jim Willis)

當我還是一頭小狗的時候,我的頑皮滑稽行徑每每惹來你的笑聲,為你帶來歡樂。雖然家裡的鞋子和枕頭都給我咬至殘缺不全,你依然把我視作你最好的朋友,甚至把我喚作你的孩子。每當到處搗蛋,你總會對著我搖搖手指說:「你怎可以這樣呢?」不過最後你都會向我投降,鬧著玩地搓我的肚皮。

你忙得翻天的時候,百無聊賴的我只好把家裡弄作一團糟。我的無聲抗議對你總是管用的。每晚睡覺前我都會跳到你的床上,倚著你撒嬌,聽你細訴自己的夢想和秘密。我們常常到公園散步、追逐,偶爾也會駕車兜兜風。有時我們會停下來吃杯冰淇淋──你總是說冰淇淋對狗兒的健康不好,所以每次我只能吃到雪榚筒。每天午後我都會在斜陽下打盹,準備迎接你回家。這些日子,我確信是我一生中最快樂的時光。

漸漸地,你花更多時間在工作上,再花更多時間去找尋你的另一半。無論你怎樣繁忙、怎樣困惱,我都會耐心守候你,陪你渡過每個絕望心碎的日子,並支持你的每一個選擇──儘管那是一個糟透的決定──無論發生什麼事,每天你踏進家門,我還是會一樣興奮地撲向你,熱烈迎接你回家。

終於你談戀愛了,我為你感到無比的欣慰。你的她──你現在的妻子──並不是愛狗之人,對我這頭狗兒總有點冷漠,但我還是衷心地歡迎她到家裡來。對著她我也絕對服從,偶爾還會撒撒嬌;我要讓她知道我也很愛她。

後來你們添了小娃娃,我也跟你一樣感到萬分雀躍。我被他們精緻的面孔、他們的一顰一笑攝住了。我真想疼一下他們,好像愛你般愛你的孩子,然而你和你的妻子卻深怕我弄傷他們,整天把我關在門外,甚至把我關到籠裡去。

你的孩子慢慢長大,我也成為了他們的好朋友。他們每每喜歡抓著我的毛皮蹣跚地站起來、喜歡用幼小的指頭戳我的眼睛、喜歡為我檢查耳朵、也喜歡吻我的鼻子。我尤其喜歡他們的撫摸──因為你已經很少觸碰我了。有時候我會跳上他們的床,倚著他們撒嬌,細聽他們的心事和小秘密,一起靜待你把車子駛進車道,回家的聲音。我喜歡他們的一切一切;如有需要的話,我甚至願意以自己的性命去保護他們。

我總是深信你的快樂就是我的快樂,我是如何如何愛你的和你的家人呢……這樣的想法,令我最終成了「愛的俘虜」。

曾幾何時人們問起你家裡可有寵物的時候,你總是毫不遲疑地從錢包掏出我的照片,向他們娓娓道出我的軼事。不過,近幾年有人問起同一個問題,你只冷冷的回答「是」,隨即轉向別的話題了。我已經從「你的狗兒」變成只是「一頭狗兒」了。你甚至對我的開支變得吝嗇。後來你的仕途來了個新轉機,你極可能要到另一城巿工作,移居到一幢不許豢養寵物的公寓去。終於,你為「家庭」作出正確的抉擇。可是,你可還記得我曾幾何時就是你「家庭」的詮釋?

你的車子出發了。我不知就裡,在旅途中充滿期待。終於我們抵達的是一家動物收容所。裡面傳來不只是貓兒和狗兒的氣味,還有恐懼、絕望的氣味。你邊寫著文件,邊對那裡的人說:「我知道你們一定可以為牠找個好歸宿的」。看著你,他們聳聳肩,露出一個很難過的神情──對於這裡的老犬最終會走的路,他們瞭如指掌;縱使老犬們身懷著各種各樣的證書,又奈何。

你的兒子緊抓著我的頸圈,哭喊著:「不要!爸爸,求你別讓他們帶走我的狗兒!」你狠下心前去撬開他的小手指,直至他再也觸不到我。我擔心他,更擔心你為他教的人生課:什麼是友情、什麼是忠誠、什麼是愛、什麼是責任、什麼是……對生命的尊重!

你始終要走了。你躲開我的目光,最後一次輕輕拍我的頭說再現。你禮貌地婉拒保留我的頸圈及拉繩,頭也不回的走了。

我知道你有你的期限,我也知道自己的期限將至。

你走了以後,收容所那兩位好心腸的女士說,你既然早知道要離開這城巿,應該為我的未來作出打算。她們搖搖頭歎息道:「你怎可以這樣呢?」

這裡的人整天到晚都忙得團團轉。但倘若時間許可,他們總會抽空照料我們。在這裡我食物不缺,可是這幾天以來我已吞不下嚥了。

最初每當有人經過這牢籠,我都會滿心期待的跑過去,以為是你回心轉意把我接回去。我多渴望這一切一切只是一場噩夢啊!後來我退而求其次,只盼望有誰會來救救我,或者只是關心一下我已心滿意足了。更多更多的小狗被送到這裡來,我這頭老狗唯有撤退到最遠的一角。可悲的是牠們仍天真活潑,似乎對將要面對的命運毫無知覺。

我聽到她的腳步聲,一步一步私迎著我而來;我知道那一天終於來臨了。

她帶著我輕輕走過長廊,走進一所異常寂靜的密室裡。她輕輕抱我放在一張桌子上,揉著我的耳朵叫我不要擔心。我清楚聽到我的心因為預期即將發生的事而怦烈跳動,可是同時腦裡隱隱浮現一種解脫的感覺。

「愛的俘虜」時日無多了。但是本性使然,我還是為她擔心。我能感到她肩上負著十分沈重的擔子,就像我能感應你一切的喜怒哀樂一樣。她淌著淚,溫柔地在我的前腿套上止血帶;我也溫柔地舐她的手,猶如許多年以前我在你悲傷的時候安慰你一樣。然後,她以熟練的手勢把注射針插入我的靜脈裡。一陣刺痛以後,一股冷流走遍我全身。我開始暈眩,我感到倦了,躺下了。我看著她慈悲的眼睛,喃喃地說:「你怎可以這樣呢?」

她好像理解我的話,擁著我連聲道歉,並急忙解釋她必須要這樣做以保證能帶我到一個更好的地方?--?一個充滿愛和光明、跟塵世不同的世界,在那裡我不會再受冷落、遭遺棄、被欺凌,不用再到處閃躲,不需再自謀生存。

我用盡全身最後一分力氣向她搖了搖尾巴,我竭力想她知道這句「你怎可以這樣呢?」並不是對她說的,對象其實是你──我最愛的主人。我想念你。我會永遠懷念你,永遠等待你。我只希望你生命中的每一個人也可以同樣忠誠的對待你。

別了,我最愛的主人。

作者按:如果這篇文章讓你淌下感動的淚,我可以告訴你我當時也是邊哭邊寫的,因為這是真實的故事,是千千萬萬個發生在美加動物收容所的故事。其中大部份被人道毀滅的寵物本來都是為人豢養的!

這篇文章受版權法保護,不過該法已列明所有人士可以在不牟利或非商業用途下發佈或傳播。所以懇請大家把這篇文章張貼在網上、動物收容所以及獸醫診所的告示板上,教育人們對待寵物的正確態度。

要知道為家裡添一頭寵物是生命裡一個重要的決定,他們應該獲得我們的愛及關心。倘若有一天你決定捨棄他們的時候,你必須為牠們尋找另一個好歸宿。如需尋求協助,可到慈善機構或動物權益組織查詢,這是你應有的責任。

敬請把這個信息傳播給所有人。不要傷害寵物,或讓牠們難過。這或許可以拯救到即使只是一隻將被遺棄的寵物。

世上所有生命都是寶貴的。懇請各位負起自己的責任,停止殺戮,並為寵物進行絕育手術,以防止牠們過度繁殖,衍生出被遺棄的一群。--占?韋利斯

緊記︰若我們待寵物以愛,牠們也會無條件的愛我們。

2005年3月22日

"Self-esteem is the reputation we acquire within ourselves."
- Nathaniel Branden

"Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage."
- Anais Nin

"If you don't risk anything, you risk even more."
- Erica Jong

"The only way to fail is to fail to try."
- Jacqueline McLarens

2005年2月18日

Long Time No Blog

Haven't write anything on the blogger for a long long time. So many things
have happened. So much feelings to share. I wish I can post more here...


I've found mail to blog very slow. I don't know if it is my problem or not. Strange....