carpe-diem

London Burning 350

The Great Fire of London happened between 2nd September and the 5th 1660. Due to the timber structure, a fire burned almost half of the central London, and the fire was difficult to control. The policy of urban planning had changed dramatically after the fire, especially the housing structure and materials controls, and fire insulation.

There is a special event in London called LONDON’S BURNING 350. It is purposing to recall and memorise the Great Fire of London in its 350th anniversary. The event is aiming to bridge the past and future: to memorise the disaster in the past and to inform and involve the next generation to the history. The event includes diverse activities to attract people to get involved in it including exhibitions and interactive activities. The idea of it is trying to recall or introduce the past in an interactive way.

There is an activity called LONDON 1666, and going to take place on the River Thames between Blackfriars and Waterloo Bridges at 8 in the evening on 4th September. It is going to burn a 120-meter wooden sculpture of the 17th century London skyline. The event will live record online and on TV.

The sculpture is huge, beautiful and details. It is showing what the 17th century London looks like. The designers and youth volunteers are awesome, and I proud of them. I was surprised the sculpture was made by a group of young volunteers, most of them were students. Even though they knew it will be burned lately, they still made elaborate efforts to reconstruct the sculpture.

The details of the event: http://www.visitlondon.com/greatfire350

Sorry for the bad quality of the pictures, because I took it with my phone.

【影視筆記】致青春-原來你還在這裏

近年來，中國内地的電影題材大部分都圍繞著愛情與青春。而且，好像每一段青春都應該要有一段令人難忘的愛情，千篇一律。原本不太想看與青春有關的電影，因爲情節太相似，沒有多大驚喜。而看這部電影，其實就是因爲之前看過小説，就順便看一下咯。（我朋友說我喜歡看影視作品，其實好多都是因爲之前看過小説所以才去看的。）

《原來你還在這裏》，是一個比較虐的愛情故事。其實裏面有一部分是探討男女之間對與愛情的看法。程錚的一句 “你不愛我”，讓蘇韻錦心碎。可這也是最能表現出男女之間對愛的付出與需求的不同。在小説描述的世界中，蘇韻錦衹是一個從鄉村到城市讀書的女孩，她自卑内向倔强卻獨立。在她的世界中，有太多太多的事情需要顧慮了，所以愛情衹是生活的一部分。然而程錚是蘇韻錦的對立，他耀眼，自信，富有，卻也孩子氣。兩人之間的距離不是每人走一小步便可跨越的。所以他們的愛情注定了是艱難的，是辛苦的，是甜中帶苦的。

我們在愛情中都太害怕失去對方，我們付出一切衹爲了抓住愛情，最終卻兩敗俱傷。蘇韻錦的愛情中參雜了自卑和倔强，她不懂得如何表達，也不愿低頭。她希望她的愛情，是互相平等的，是平靜的。所以她寧願欠別人的人情，也不願程錚的幫忙。而程錚的愛情是無條件的一直付出，衹爲了留住想留住的人。他從小都生活無憂，無法懂得蘇韻錦的自卑害怕，也不懂遷就她的倔强。所以兩人在生活的摩擦和誤會中，互相傷害。這不就是男女之間一直存在的問題嗎？不懂得如何維持這般易碎的愛情，也不懂得如何放下自己的矛與盾。到最后，祗剩下血流不止的心房與痛苦。

愛了，便愛了，無法放手。這是多麽浪漫，卻不太現實的愛情。每個女孩都渴望著一段屬於自己長久的愛情，一個永遠不會離開的人。愿得一人心，白首不相離。真得存在嗎？我相信，是有的。我外公外婆相識相愛相處了一輩子，走過艱辛，亦有甜蜜。兩人互相遷就，互相照顧，打打鬧鬧，一輩子就這麽過了。所以我相信每個人都有屬於他/她的不離不棄，正如程錚和蘇韻錦的苦盡甘來，一生相守。其實衹要兩人各退一步，放下自己的刺，互相遷就包容，我想這便是一生了。

電影雖然衹有短短的一個小時，可是該有的結尾應該要有呀！這電影的結尾，勉强也不能算是開放式結尾！有頭無尾！討厭！我看到結尾的時候，有一種想要暴走的感覺，你玩我嗎？那我幹嘛浪費這一個小時去看這電影呢？將結局放在一首歌的MV中，真的很煩耶！所以，我還是不太想推薦這電影給大家。小説可以看一看，可電影真的……不要了！

【影視筆記】半妖傾城–服裝比劇情吸引

聽説近來有好多劇好看，閑時去看了看，做做宅女。現在每部劇都是帥哥美女，很是吸引人眼球！不過太多，有點審美疲勞。只看了幾部比較吸引的電視劇。平常我是看電影爲主的，因爲不用慢慢追著看。

剛看完于正的新劇《半妖傾城》，今天就來説説這部劇吧！這個故事的想法很是吸引，因爲本人比較喜歡看一些稀奇古怪的故事！一直以來，不管東方還是西方的神話故事，神仙妖魔鬼怪的故事比比皆是。說真的，《半妖傾城》的劇情并無特別，衹是將人妖相戀的故事放在了民國時期上演而已。不過，半妖的設定確實挺討喜的。在東方的故事里，半神半人或半妖半人的故事并不多。在這劇裏的半妖定義為人與妖結合所生下來的孩。半妖的壽命和能力都比一般人類強，有一對黑色的翅膀，鮮血般的瞳孔，金指甲，需要冬眠，死後化成一灘水并化成嬰孩重生……印象裏，東方故事里並沒有類似的設定。如果有的話，請各位留言告訴我哦！謝謝。

故事是圍繞明夏和傾城之間，人與妖的愛情故事。

其實，我追這劇的原因一部分是劇情，一半是服裝！不愧是花了巨資，每一套服裝都很精緻。可是太豪華美麗的服裝卻會令我覺得，當中的貧富之別并不突出。傾城家中明明是貧苦的，卻有能力穿得那麽好，而且住的地方未免也太大了吧？這根本就是過於美化背景嘛！這也是許多近代影視作品的通病，失去了寫實的部分，只是一味地追求豪華感和視覺美感。令故事失去了真實感，失去了代入感的看劇，并不深入人心。不過，這劇的服裝設計真的用了心。

以薄紗爲主的白色紗裙，配以花朵點綴，襯托出了少女的清純可愛甜美氣質。

傾城身穿白色長裙，配以黑色蕾絲勾勒和珍珠飾品，端莊成熟。

妖化的她，一襲紅裙加身，加上金屬飾品，突顯了魅惑和黑暗的魅力。紅裙上的刺秀……看了半天，也沒看清是什麽……有誰看到了嗎？

江雪舞的服裝以西服爲主去突顯她海歸感覺。她的服裝大多以藍白相配，給人的感覺會是聰明能幹，冷靜干練的女强人。

個人最喜歡的是她的婚紗。偏中式的旗袍裝，卻帶有偏西式的色調，給人一種中西相襯的感覺。絕對體現出了當時老上海在西方的時尚與傳統的服裝的碰撞與結合。這婚紗也與本人心中的夢想婚紗相似。我早已畫了下來，不知以後是否有機會做出來呢？

【影視筆記】北京遇上西亞圖之不二情書：唯美浪漫的書信之愛

今天終于看了這部在内地挺火的一部電影，北京遇上西雅圖之不二情書。其實我根本沒有看過北京遇上西雅圖的電影，所以我并不清楚第一部講述的究竟是一個什麽樣的故事。原先我對這部電影也并不太感興趣，以爲衹是一部講述一個普通無聊，且一點都不太現實的文藝愛情故事。可今天在無聊之下觀看了這部電影的預告片，繼而看了一整部電影。我對她的看法改變了。可能她的故事是我所喜歡的，是我所期望的，是打動了我心的一段情。（我并不是專業的影評人，衹是一個喜歡看電影的小女孩罷了。所有我所説的，衹是我觀看此電影后的想法心情）。

這個故事講述了身處世界兩端的兩個人，因爲一本書和一個相同的地址，而互相相識、相知、相愛的故事。這故事和< 84, Charing Cross Road>的故事是如此相似，卻又如此的不同。小蝦和教授，因 <84, Charing Cross Road> 而開始了彼此的筆友之旅，也開始了相互之間的影響與成長，更開始了一段浪漫的愛情故事。他們，也比< 84, Charing Cross Road>的Helene and Frank更幸運。

“信是千里之外的一雙眼睛，她能看見你的心。不管是危險的念頭，還是下流的欲望。”

現代的我們因爲習慣了快速的便捷，不再理解曾經的那種慢節奏，那種充滿哲學的生活態度。在一個悠閑的下午，靜下心來，讀一本書或寫一封信。比起執筆寫信，我相信更多人寧願用社交網絡吧。這讓我們能及時與千里之外的親朋好友即時通信，也讓我們失去了耐心，失去了擡頭正視身邊人的機會。

信，記錄了另一個人親筆爲我書寫的，或祝福，或煩惱，或解答，都會慢慢地透過不同的交通工具，到達我的手上。我會在等待信件的過程中，充滿期待，也學會了等待的耐心。可能小的時候，有看過<84, Charing Cross Road>，也聽過類似的的故事。所以對此，充滿了無限的想象與向往。我知道的那種細水長流，那種真誠相待的以文會友的幾率很少，可一直忍不住有所幻想。我的筆友中，與我一直通信最長的是我的一個好朋友。因爲我們都喜歡文字和寫信。更因爲有些話語比起面對面的講出來，寫在紙上的感覺更爲舒服，也不會有那種尷尬的感覺。（請允許我在此向她說聲謝謝哦！=D ）

電影中，有講述許多不同的道理與哲言。在此便不一一細説，將來有機會再聊吧！最後，奉上我在電影里最喜歡的一段話吧！

Letter from the bookshop owner, Mr Thomas.

I have a confession to make for which I must ask for your forgiveness.

I have been secretly partaking in your happiness.

My whole life I’ve been sitting here, and your letters have allowed me the opportunity to experience the world…

Your letters allowed me to travel back to the time of my youth.

A time when the immediacy of an email was not an option.

Sometimes waiting for a letter felt like a life time.

Letter writing requires you to slow down.

Slowly write out the most romantic and heartfelt thoughts.

The slow process of finding true love is something that is the best.

Homemade card- Graduated Elephant Birthday Card

I love to design greeting cards in leisure time. JUST DESIGN. It is practising my creativity and imagination. I don’t make a lot of cards honestly because I don’t have enough tools at here right now. I would love to share some of my card design. If you’re interested in it, please feel free to contact me or leave a comment. Thank you.

Recently, I made a birthday card to my friend. She loves elephants. And she is going to graduate in this year. When I designed this card, I was asking myself that why didn’t I integrated these two elements into a card? So this is the card.

Souvenirs?! Postcards?!

Would you buy souvenirs when you’re on a trip? Do you love to receive a gift from friends? Do you want the gift you receive? Would you throw it away, keep in a corner or donate it?

Souvenir culture is common in Hong Kong. It occurs every time when you are on a trip. Once everyone knows you are going to somewhere else for holiday, they would ask you to buy something for him/her as a souvenir, including skincare products, sweets or clothing. Could it be called as souvenirs? I don’t think so. It’s just taking orders from friends without any revenue. And it’s annoying. You need to remember all your friends’ orders and buy it for them. The luggage weight on the return journey always over because of those products and have to pay the additional charge. If you rejected the ‘asking’ or missed one order, everyone knows that and you would be tagged as a stingy person.

These how many postcard I posted from Vienna.

My understanding of souvenirs is different to the souvenir culture. It’s a gift I am willing to buy for someone on a special occasion or a journey. It’s not compulsory. It is a blessing and love rather than an order. I tend to send a postcard when I’m on a trip to avoid buying something useless. It’s unique and warm. It’s also a cheaper and affordable souvenir on trips for a student. Of course, if you are sending more than 20 postcards on each journey, the expenditure on postcards and posting fee is huge.

Posting cards in Prague.

Once, I sent a postcard to my friend, and she only received the address part. The postcard was divided into two. Only half of it has been sent to the right place, and the other half has been missing. It’s shocking, funny, and a bit sad. When I told this story to my friends, they didn’t believe it. OMG… It’s not a joke! Here is the photo.

Czech cuisine in Prague

Before I went to Prague, I had searched and read a lot of blogs and travel tips about it, especially food. There are couples of suggestions. But how can I try all of them in three days? I picked some of them and tried it. I am going to share What I had on my trip to Prague.

Sweet-Potato Chips

My friend wanted to try this one while we were walking to the Charles Bridge. It is similar to the chips in Taiwan’s night market. But the Taiwan one is made with potato, not sweet potato. The sweet potato one is much sweet. It’s not a traditional Czech cuisine. We wanted to eat street food at that time.

In Day 1, we spent a half day on trains and travelled from Vienna to Prague. We went out for dinner after settled down. Luckily, we found a good restaurant on the KARLOVA Road (the entry of the Old Town Square).

Bohemian Roasted Duck (Pecena Kachna) and Pork Knee (Pečené vepřové koleno)

It’s better to order beverage rather than water in restaurants. They don’t serve tap water. The water they have is sill and spring water. And the price of a beverage drink is similiar or even cheaper than water.

We compared the price of those restaurants on and around KARLOVA ROAD before we decided which restaurant for dinner. And this one is the cheapest one on the road serving Czech cuisine. Its price is affordable and in a good deal. The portion of the dish is huge. My friend and I, two girls, it’s difficult for us to finish these two dishes. Because our eating habits are different, we can eat a big portion of rice but not meat or potato.

The eating habits among Asian countries are opposite to European countries.

ASIA |Europe

1) rice is the main dishes |meat is the main

2)vegetable> meat |vegetable< meat

3) in Southen China, people prefer hot drinks |Tap water (In Prague, beer is cheaper than water)

We joined a free walking tour, and the guide suggested to be careful about choosing which restaurants for traditional Czech dishes. Some restaurants serve a dish in a portion as small as a side, and the portion of food at some restaurants is served as a family portion.

TRDELNIK (TRADITIONAL CAKE

This is the traditional cake and sweet pastry, but I prefer calling it a bun. It is grilled on a stick and topped with sugar.

Picture: Trdelnik served with vanilla ice-cream and Nutella. We ate this as a lunch and watched the play of the astronomical clock.

My friend saw a picture online of the bun with ice-cream before the trip. And she gave me the suggestion about it. Lots of bakeries in the square are selling Trdelnik and providing various options, like ice-cream, jam, and Nutella.

After the first dinner, we decided to order two meals and share it together. The portion is huge enough for two Asian girls. We ordered Pilsner Beer, Goulash Beef with Potato Cake, and Sausage cooked with Dark Beer. We are highly recommended the sausage cooked in dark beer. It’s yum! The taste is a bit sour and hot. Sausage and dark beer are in a perfect combination. We love it so much, we even searched the recipe when we were in the hostel! The goulash beef is nice as well. The beef is soft and juicy. We wanted to cook it at home. But after we searched the recipe online, we gave up. Lots of ingredients and steps. I love cooking, but we I’m also a lazy people.

Sausage in Dark Beer

Goulash Beef with Potato Cake

Homemade Sausage (market next to the Old Town Square)

The third dinner in Prague was in a random pub and restaurant near the hostel. We discovered it’s difficult to be a vegetarian in Prague. Vegetables are expensive in Prague. We ordered a salad in the restaurant, but only three to four cherry tomatoes cut into pieces, small pieces of cucumbers, and lots of cheese. Come on, I wanted some more vegetables like lettuce leaf, peppers and sweet corns. I missed vegetables and fruits on the trip.

Homemade sausage

Svickova na smetane (Beef in Sour Cream)

The salad

Beer again.

Vietnamese noodle
We saw a post suggesting Vietnamese cuisine in Prague because there were lots of Vietnamese refugees immigrated in the past. So it is one of the must-try cuisines in Prague. I have no clue it is traditional or not because I haven’t been to Vietnam before. But its taste is similar to the Vietnamese cuisine I tried in Hong Kong.

【旅行日記】火車

現在的我，正在乘坐前往Bristol的火車上。其實，已經換了一趟火車了，接下來還有一趟巴士要坐呢。到底有多久沒有這樣靜下心來乘坐火車呢?好久了吧~記憶中的長途火車，是在我十一二歲時第一次參加夏令營，第一次獨自踏上沒有父母陪伴的旅程。從廣州坐火車前往北京，大概需要十八個小時吧。記憶中，是需要在火車上睡上一晚的。雖然，在那趟火車上我無法洗澡，也只有泡麵充飢；卻是我印象最爲深刻的一趟火車旅行了。

不知是否是命運的安排，我在今趟的火車中讀著一本與綠皮火車有關的書，齊棟的《老火車的時光漫游》。這書勾起了我許多獨自前往北京旅程的回憶。我曾乘坐的那趟火車并不是綠皮，不過那速度肯定沒有現今的快。作者的綠皮之旅，邂逅了許多各式的旅伴，也在火車上渡過了豐富的時光，是不可忘卻的獨特旅程。在他的旅程中，綠皮火車成了一個有人情味的象徵，也是一個能夠慢慢的，靜下心來接觸自然的浪漫途徑。

書中所描寫的多趟綠皮旅程中，勾起了我曾經在長途火車上的一幕幕，與友人擠在床上打撲克消耗時間，聽著工作人員推著餐車來回叫賣聲和其他乘客大聲的講話聲所交集在一起的混亂樂章，晚上隔壁間的哥哥姐姐打開門在走廊上講鬼故事，晚上看向窗外的一片星光，還有那許許多多站在走道上持有站票的乘客們。那時候的我雖小，卻也有幸經歷了一段曾經的平常卻成了許多人心中的回憶。作爲一個90后的女生，我算是比同齡人體經歷了更多曾經的曾經吧。也可能因此，我比許多同齡人更有懷舊的情懷吧。

在那一趟來回于廣州和北京的火車上，究竟途徑多少個車站，我已經忘記了。不過卻難以忘記從車窗上看到的北極星。我記得曾在半夜上醒來，那刻的火車是靜止的，因到站了。外面除了火車站所發出的微弱燈光外一片漆黑，當時的我也有幸透過車窗看到北極七星。那好像是我第一次親身看到北極七星。生活在城市的我，因光污染而與星空無緣。所以，那黑黑的火車站與夜空于我是深刻的。另一次印象深刻的夜空，是在丹麥的一個小島上，被星空包裹著，好像只要伸手，便能觸到那一顆顆的星星。

另外，也曾在澳洲的Cannes(開恩滋)坐上了Kuranda Scenic Railway 的一列火車上，慢慢的開往Kuranda Station，途中也會經過一片密林。火車的窗是能完全打開的。我便伏在那窗邊，閉上眼晴感受著那溫暖的陽光透過一片片樹葉照射到我的臉上和那和煦的微風拂過我的肌膚我的長髮。那是多麽舒服的片刻呀~

舊式的火車雖有種種缺陷，可無可否認它的慢，它的擁擠和它的吵鬧是現代高速火車所失去的。一列列的高速火車正取代著舊日的火車。便利了，車廂里卻變得安靜了，無聊了。每個人都低著頭刷著手機，叫喝聲沒有了，人無言了，距離變遠了。車窗無法打開了，感受到的只有那冰冷的冷氣，自然好像離我們更遙遠了。現代化的發展完全地改變了文化，卻也扼殺了人與人和人與自然之間的距離。當綠皮火車完全下綫的時候，那日後人與人之間的距離，是不是會越來越遠呢？

《老火車的時光漫游》裏我喜歡的兩段話：

“旅行的意義之一，在於一些悄然邂逅的驚喜感。不管是之于美景還是之于行人。任何一處可能稱之爲景色的東西，衹要人類的第一隻脚印，它就可能像病毒般蔓延到全人類的腦海里。我們所謂的旅行，不過是一遍遍地重複先人的足跡而已。…旅行中總有一些東西，會驚鴻一地出現在你的世界，它不是處女地，對於你，它卻是你的處女地。”

“命運安排了你和某人相遇，也會安排你和某人錯過。在并不漫長的人生旅途中，這也是一件值得珍惜的事情。”

致喜歡旅行的你我

致喜歡旅行的你我，

許多認識我的人都會知道:旅行是我的假期，我的興趣，我的夢想。不管是和朋友一起出發，還是獨自上路；不管時間的長短，衹要是離開平常的生活軌跡與範圍，我便稱之爲旅行。從少，我便喜歡旅行，更將環球旅行當作我的人生目標。

Took at Central, Hong Kong

「讀萬卷書，不如行萬里路」是我家人常挂在嘴邊的古句，更是一句他們會以身作則的古語。因此我和表弟都有幸能從少便去游覽這個花花世界，也造就了我們對旅行的喜愛。在旅行之中，除了得到無比的樂趣外，更學到了許多課本上無法學到的東西：人際關係，危機處理，時間管理等等。也讓我的眼界，不會被局限於彈丸之地，放條之中。我覺得謙虛的性格也是從旅行中所形成的。在每一趟旅程之中，我都會遇見各色各樣的人，他們都會讓我更加深入的瞭解一個地方，或者讓我用另一個角度去思考這個世界。

對於我來說，旅行不僅是一個可以讓我觀察這個世界的機會，更是一個獨自反思的時間。闖進別人的生活之中或是走進大自然的神秘之中，都是一個機會去瞭解和思考這人世間的種種，也讓我們發現自己的渺小或者我們生活之中的種種缺點。在這自我主義昌盛的時代，自大、驕傲、優越是如此普遍。如果沒有機會去發現自己的弱小與無奈，那麽就會成了自以爲是。每個人都有自己的方法去削弱自身的自滿，而我便是透過旅行中所增長的見識和遇見的陌生人而反思。

喜歡旅行的我，請記得：不管任何時候，任何地方，也不要過於自滿，該謙虛時便要謙虛。請記得，旅行不是炫耀，而是反思學習。最重要的是：勿忘初心！

Took at Central, Hong Kong

【旅行日記】高處

要登上The Church of Our Survival的頂端，需要先走大概398層的樓梯，才能俯瞰哥本哈根（Copenhagen）。站在高處看著整個城市，會令人忘了一步步登上頂端的辛苦；因爲她太吸引人，太美了。然而，最讓我深刻的卻是步上頂端的過程。因爲是一條樓梯上落，所以在窄窄的旋轉樓梯中，經常出現‘塞車’的狀況。也會碰到許多不同的人，大家互相鼓勵著，慢慢地一步步上去。其實，這過程比那美景更讓我深刻。正如許多事情，要成功必須先下一番苦功。可現在的我們，過於著重結果，忽視了過程的得著；也過於輕易得到想要的東西，越來越想一步登天；過於安逸，無法受苦受難…當我們重新重視過程中的種種，才會有得到比結果更多的得著，才會成長爲成熟的人。

的確，站在高處的美景很吸引人，可頂端衹能容納一個人，你會如何選擇呢？在社會中，衹有1%的人能站在那所謂的‘高處’；在君王時代，也衹有一位帝王。可站在那頂端，在金錢與權力的中心，真的好嗎？高處不勝寒，一人獨得卻無法分享的滋味，會令人快樂嗎？我在The Church of Our Survival，并沒有踏上最後的那一級樓梯。因爲太大風了，而且那位置窄得衹能站一個人，再加上後面的人太多了…在現實生活中，我更願意爲了精彩的生活而歷險；更願意與別人分享不同的片刻；更加感激地、快樂地享受著生活之中的小風景…

Be grateful and enjoy life！

Views from the Church of Our Survival, Copenhagen