Victoria Day long weekend @ Vancouver Island 之 Victoria

We were back to Victoria on Victoria Day just to catch the famous Victoria Day Parade. I hadn't seen a real parade in Canada, so I was pretty curious about the event. The parade took place at Douglas St, the main street in downtown Victoria. We arrived at ten sth, almost an hour after it started cos none of us could get up that early. :p We were totally exhausted in the first two days.

My camera was punctually out of memory the day before. Luckily Jingjing's camera still got a lot of space, so I was able to get all those pictures of the parade. A lot of high school bands joined the parade, but sarcastically about 90% of the bands were from Washington State, and even Oregon. And the American school bands all looked much more professional and better-trained than the local bands, which was quite a pity tho...


American high school band


oh, she's pretty!


Norway pirates


Victoria Chinese


hot chics

After the parade, I took some pics in front of the BC Parliament Building and Empress Hotel as usual. The weather was surprisingly sunny with a comfortable temperature. Dont know what the hell happened when we were at Tofino. This time I went into Empress Hotel. It's simly gorgeous! But everything inside is so expensive, not for ppl like me... :p


BC Parliament Building


Empress Hotel at the back

~~THE END~~

Victoria Day long weekend @ Vancouver Island 之 Tofino

So here we are at Tofino on Saturday night after four hours of drive from Nanaimo. The weather was nasty, raining all the time with irregular breaks. Thanks to our Great Chef Fiona. Without her, we were really like 饥寒交迫. Once in her hands, simple stuff can turn into a tasty meal. :)


The masterpiece of our Great Chef, Fiona

The town of Tofino is really...err...tiny. There are less than ten streets in total, even considering all places that actually have some ppl living there. But it has an awesome location, right facing the open Pacific, yup, the real Pacific, absolutely not the calm water that's surrounding the UBC campus. So the next morning, we went ahead to Chesterman Beach and Long Beach to embrace the sea. It was sitll downpouring, and the wind was roaring like a beast. With only a t-shirt and a jacket, I was shivering all over. (I expected to enjoy the sunshine at the beaches!) But the bad weather created another kind of sea view, grey sea water, big waves and tides. Water was coming up to the shore so fast that your fee could be 'underwater' within seconds. Now I know why tsunami can wipe out so many ppl---It's simply too fast.


Tide and wave, Chesterman Beach


Lonely rock in the ferocious Pacific


Drenched all over, and cold!!

Just before lunch, we took a boat to go to a small island called 'Spring Garden'. It's said that this island is privately owned by an American woman, who actually pays for the boats for ppl to visit her island. But it's not open every day, and we were very lucky to be just in time.


Spring Garden---世外桃源


My photography skill is steadily advancing, hehe

To be continued...

Victoria Day long weekend @ Vancouver Island 之 Nanaimo

Victoria Day is for commemorating Queen Victoria's Birthday. (She's Queen Elizabeth II's grandmother, if I'm not wrong.) Thanks to the granny Queen, we got a long weekend from last Saturday to this Monday. So, Howie, Fiona, Jinging, and I, four of us decided to spend the holiday on the Island and have some fun.

The trip started with some thrill. We planned to catch last ferry at 9pm last Friday to Victoria, but we left Fairview at about 8:35pm and it's about 35 min's drive (almost 2 hours of bus) from UBC to Tsawwassen Bay Ferry Terminal with smooth traffic. I was already thinking about the ferry-missed-scenario. But there came our trip-saver, Fiona's friend. Within 15 min, he drove us from UBC to Tsawwassen, and thanks to his incredible speed, we were just on time for the last call for boarding. I believe that driving recorde will remain to be challenged for a while. :p

After one and half hours on the sea, we arrived at Swartz Bay on the Island, picked up the car we rented and began our 'adventure' the next morning. As Howie is the only one who has a driver license among four of us, he inevitably became the exclusive driver. See how confident he was while driving in the down-pour along the meandering mountain road! :p


Howie, the driver

Our first stop out of Victoria was Nanaimo, "the harbour city". (That's what it says on the giant welcome-board.) Although it's the second-largest city on Vancouver Island, it's actually no bigger than a small town. But there are some nice buildings and we were also very lucky to catch their Heritage Day and be able to take photos with ppl in traditional British costumes.


War Memorial


Court House


Scottish skirt

Our tight schedule only allowed us to 'drop by' Nanaimo, and then we began our 'long march' to Tofino, which is on the west coast of Vancouver Island. The route we followed cut right thru the Island and the inter-connecting mountains. It's a long journey from Nanaimo to Tofino due to the mountain road as well as the shitty weather. During the 3 hour+ of drive, the ladies dozed off one by one, but I stayed awake till the end to make Howie feel less lonely while driving. :p

To be continued...

日本武士百年前杀死朝鲜国母 其子孙到韩国谢罪

日本人可以到韩国去谢罪，是不是也应该到中国，到南京去一样去谢一下罪呢？
P.S. 明成皇后长的还真是个标准的韩国妇女。:p [Tony]




　　一些日本人来到韩国南洋州市的洪陵，祭拜了长眠在这里的朝鲜王朝高宗皇帝和明成皇后。110年前杀害明成皇后的日本人的子孙为祖辈流下了忏悔的眼泪，也替祖辈进行了真诚的谢罪。这个迟来的“民间谢罪团”再度勾起韩国人对那段痛苦历史的回忆。
　　朝鲜国母惨遭毒手
　　明成皇后是李氏朝鲜王朝末期的政治家和女强人。在国运日渐衰落、列强虎视眈眈要吞食朝鲜的动荡局势中，她为高宗皇帝亲政立下了汗马功劳。这一时期，日本加快了并吞朝鲜的步伐，借帮助李氏政府镇压甲午农民战争之际，在朝鲜部署了大量军队。
　　1895年10月8日，日本政府决心采取行动除掉明成皇后这个眼中钉，日本驻朝鲜公使三浦嗦デ鬃灾富恿苏獯未拧傲院钡淖髡叫卸Ｊ艿街甘镜?0多名日本剑客和浪人在日本军队的配合下，闯入朝鲜皇宫景福宫，在明成皇后就寝的玉壶楼里杀害了明成皇后和多名宫女。
　　三浦梧楼以保护为名，带着军队掌控了景福宫，并命令手下毁尸灭迹，这一行为引起了朝鲜国内和国际社会的愤怒。日本政府为了平息事态，对三浦梧楼和国友重章等55名凶手进行了审判，但不久却以证据不足为由将他们全部释放。
　　凶手子孙真诚忏悔
　　参加110年前刺杀行动的主犯国友重章和家入嘉击的子孙这次专程到韩国，为祖辈犯下的罪行谢罪。由国友重章的孙子、家入嘉击的儿媳和日本熊本“怀念明成皇后组织”的10名成员组成的“谢罪团”，在访问韩国期间祭拜了明成皇后，向高宗皇帝的子孙作了真诚的谢罪。他们还到明成皇后被害的景福宫现场参观。
　　国友重章的孙子河野龙巳见到高宗皇帝的子孙时流下了忏悔的眼泪。他说，站在明成皇后陵墓前，他唯一所能讲的话就是“向您谢罪，请宽恕我们”，他为祖辈感到无比惭愧。
　　河野龙巳说，小时候他认为爷爷的行为是爱国主义的表现，但知道了事实的真相后，他才知道爷爷犯下的是无法弥补的错误。他本人早就想到韩国谢罪，但既没有勇气又没有机会，这次在“怀念明成皇后组织”的帮助下，他终于下决心亲自到韩国向明成皇后谢罪。
　　家入嘉击的儿媳是茶艺专家，在祭拜明成皇后时用日本茶艺传统礼节上了茶。她指出，这是以她自己的方式向明成皇后谢罪。
　　呼吁日本政府谢罪
　　韩国媒体对河野龙巳等人到韩国谢罪作了充分报道。舆论认为，经过了漫长的110年之后，当年杀害明成皇后的凶手的子孙们为祖辈谢罪的确是有点太晚了。但不管怎么说，这还是表明，日本有良知的人们对日本过去的罪行是有正确认识的。
　　110年来，日本政府对杀害明成皇后一事并没作出深刻反省。河野龙巳等人说，记录杀害明成皇后事件的日本历史教科书仅有一种，而且最近右翼分子想方设法要删除这些内容。
　　这次组织“谢罪团”的是日本熊本市的民间组织“怀念明成皇后组织”。去年11月成立的该组织致力于寻找杀害明成皇后的凶手后裔、调查有关记录、还原历史真相等工作。
　　韩国一直要求日本对过去的罪行作出反省和谢罪，希望日本对历史负责，对下一代负责。河野龙巳表示，日本对历史的谢罪要从110年前杀害明成皇后的罪行开始。他还说，这次迟来的谢罪是一个新的开始，他们将为真实地记录历史而尽最大的努力。
　　“怀念明成皇后组织”表示，他们最近将开展一场市民运动，以促使政府在教科书上真实记录杀害明成皇后事件。

新闻来源: 自由时报 于 May 14

News Repost

台湾人似乎特别在行编卡通，新闻里面车祸事故或是抢劫银行都可以以卡通呈献，现在连战也被搞上了，只是因为西安小学生欢迎他的一首儿歌。就如文章里所说，两岸其实在文化上是已经有相当大的差异，这一点从综艺节目上就可以看出来。
[Tony]


“连爷爷您别回来了！”
● 林琬绯

　　西安后宰门小学三天前欢迎连战到访时所表演的儿歌，在台湾全岛爆红，从立法院、媒体、大学、“唱”到互联网，只不过版本各异，趣味盎然。

　　西安小学生唱的原版是：“两岸的小朋友手拉手儿把歌唱，爷爷啊，您回来啦！您终于回来啦！您的母校热情欢迎您！爷爷啊，祝您健康、幸福、快乐！”小学生字正腔圆的夸张表演，让台湾观众连连喷饭，媒体甚至如此形容：“可怜在场的连战紧抿嘴唇强忍，后面的连胜文和连惠心，早已忍不住笑出声来。”

　　独派集团当然不会放弃机会，把儿歌改编成不同版本，尽其嘲讽。

　　民进党先由立委人蔡启芳在立法院以台语朗诵一回：“连爷爷啊，您别回来了。这是您亲吻过的土地，台湾人请您别回来了！”随后，多位立委再组成诗歌朗诵团，就在立法院大厅怪腔怪调就地表演：“连主席，让您与您的熊猫，一只叫‘一国’，一只叫‘两制’，一起度过与祖国的美好时光。您就别再回来啦！您就别再回来啦！”

　　台联也有自己的版本：“带着您的LV留在中国吧。在中国有您的阿嬷，在台湾您什么都没有。喔！不！您还有一堆钱，还有千亿党产啊！”

　　独派团体的改编版固然荒谬无聊之极，但大陆的八股样版戏让台湾观众鸡皮疙瘩掉一地，却也多少显示了两岸即使是在文化上，仍存许多“尚待磨合”的鸿沟。

　　昨天国民党的中常会还播放了连战和平之旅的新闻纪录片，在看到西安后宰门小学学生表演“连爷爷，您回来了”的片段，原本一脸严肃的连战也忍不住笑了出来。

　　民进党昨晚举办的国代造势晚会，也由成人打扮成西安小学生，重新演译这个片断，讽刺连战“左边也回来了，右边也回来了，上面也回来了，下面也回来了”。


《联合早报》

----------------------------------------------------------
有了连战的“前车之鉴”，宋楚瑜反倒有点怕这样的欢迎仪式了。

红了“连爷爷”
吓坏“宋爷爷”
● 林琬绯

　　西安后宰门小学欢迎连战重返母校的夸张演出，让“连爷爷”被台湾全岛“唱”了足足一个星期，宋楚瑜见了，心有戚戚焉。

　　据说，为了避免再成为另一个“宋爷爷”，宋楚瑜已请大陆中共官方不要再安排类似的欢迎仪式。

　　大陆方面能否明白“宋爷爷”的难言之隐，还得等到“宋爷爷”9日回到湖南家乡昭潭小学母校的时候才有分晓。

　　不过，昨天当宋楚瑜抵达西安首站，一个星期前拿着花束彩球列队迎接连战的小学生阵仗却没有出现，改由一群中学生出场，虽然“欢迎、欢迎，热烈欢迎”的典型口号还是不能少，由大孩子来喊，却显得含蓄低调得多。就不知是纯属巧合，还是大陆官方煞费苦心的安排？

　　据台湾媒体报道，“爷爷！您回来了！您终于回来了！”的后宰门小学学生朗诵片段，近日除了给绿营立委卖力改编模仿演出，现在就连手机都能下载片段当来电答铃，不只有原音版，还改编成“爷爷您打来啦”的手机夸张版，搞笑上阵，令人喷饭。


《联合早报》

Night Trip @ Grouse Mountain

Went to Grouse Mountain on Thursday night with Jingjing and Angela. This is the second time I went to Grouse Mountain, but with a totally different purpose. Last time, I went for hiking and actually climbed all my way to the top. This time, however, we took the SkyRide. (It's damn expensive, over 30 dollars for round trip, holy...) And I took some quite professional-look photos of the night view of Vancouver looking from the top of Grouse Mountain. Pretty satisfied with my performance on photography this time, heehee. More photos in my MSN space.


Night View of Vancouver from top of Grouse Mountain


万家灯火


Dusk


UBC: Looks so small surrounded by the sea


Last time, there were only two grizzlies on Grouse Mountain. Now, three more wolves have joined the family. Look at those “狼深邃的眼睛”.

Photo courtesy of Jingjing

Nostalgic

The Computer Pro's Working Desk @ Gage