Qing Ming Riverside

今天和媽媽去了欣賞清明上河圖，入場門票是媽媽的朋友送給她的，媽媽找我陪她去看。從沒有想過可以去看，因為門票當天已售罄，所以能得到入場門票，我們都很高興。

真是很好看的動態畫，很細緻地表現出宋朝時人們的生活。有醫生、有砍柴的、有抬著貨物的，也有小孩子在玩耍。每當一個小孩子走出來追小豬時，在場的觀眾都起哄，似乎這小孩追小豬是整個動畫的高潮。

其實更開心的是可以和媽媽一起去看，她看得很開心。不過很多時候都是我走來走去拍動畫，媽媽就在附近等我，好像是她陪我看呢!

Qingdao

十月去了青島一趟，這個城市有很多文化遺產，因為曾被德國統治，所以留有很多富歐洲特色的建築物。它也是個風景很美的地方，有山又有水。當地的人大都很友善，我們有多次要問路，有些人很耐心的跟我們一起看地圖，然後教我們如何去目的地。

青島的嶗山很美，一大塊一大塊的石頭都是圓圓的，有些甚至出現在山頂上，好像從天而降一樣。

青島如其他中國內地城市一樣，貧富懸殊的情況並不罕見。有一次我們乘計程車去一個博物館，到達後，計程車司機跟我們一起下車，等我們買入場票，但因為我們仍未吃午飯，所以我們打算先到附近的店吃一些東西再回來買票。但那位司機卻不停地說服我們先買票，我們覺得很奇怪，我們買不買票跟他有何關係呢？

原來我們買了入場票後，會有一張「刷刷咭」，有了這張咭，司機便可以以優惠價錢入汽油。我們不明白這個規定的詳情，問題是當我們跟賣票的說，我們買了票後，會稍後才進去，她們卻不准許。於是那位司機不停地纏著我們，說服我們買票。

煩了很久，我們決定離去，行了一會，那司機追上來，手中拿著入場票。他已付了錢，並說服了博物館的負責人，讓我們可以遲一些才進去。其實他這樣做是冒了一個險，因為我們不一定會買這些票。看到他這樣堅持，我們便跟他一同回博物館，跟負責人對證，然後付款給他。

這個司機必定不是富有的人，所以他會用盡所有方法，節省開支。我不知那張刷刷咭能幫到他多少，只知在內地仍有很多未必能夠到香港自由行的貧苦市民。

Book review 15 – Three Weeks with My Brother

I have finished another book by Nicholas Sparks written together with his brother Micah Sparks. This one is a memoir about their childhood adventures and the tragedies they faced during the years before they reached their mid-thirties.

Before their mid-thirties, they have already lost their parents to a horse-riding and a car accident, and their sister to brain cancer. The relationship among all members in their family has been so close that the loss of three family members was really a great blow to them. There are many scenes that both men cried when they had to move away from their original family for work or for setting up families of their own. So, it is not unreasonable that both of them cried uncontrollably when their parents and sister died.

During the period that their sister had to undergo treatments to cure and control the cancer, Nicholas and Micah spent much time to accompany her or visit her. As said in the book: "When you know that someone close to you is going to die, there’s a natural tendency to want to spend as much time with them as you can." If you have experienced that before, you know that is true.

Towards the end of the book, Nicholas wrote: "I had suddenly become aware of the fragility of life and the preciousness of time….I came to believe that because life could end at any moment, I had to be prepared for any eventuality."

Time is indeed precious and life is fragile. No one knows what will happen in the next minute. We have to treasure any moment that we can meet and share with our family members. Don’t wait till they are sick. Enjoy good times with them when they are still healthy.