货车内的乐队 Band in a Truck

It is a truck and a band

前晚，在Annex一带的大街上，我们见到一队三人乐队（两个吉他手和一个鼓手）在一辆大货车内玩音乐表演。货车内有完整的drum set和音响设备，还有简单的灯光！超有创意！

街上挤满了人群，有些兴奋得跳起舞来，或高声尖叫，就好像真的是一场音乐会。街上车辆继续往来，大家虽吵嚷，可也很守本分。

本来该去吃晚饭的，怎知他们的音乐实在是好到不得了，加上是我们喜欢的音乐 （Pulp Fiction 和 Kill Bill 类型的音乐），我连肚子空空也没知觉。听得起劲时，我们站在街边和大家一起大大声叫嚷鼓掌。真的很过瘾！

这时，我问Ed，他们这样做，需申请准证吗？街边‘开音乐会’有点阻碍交通吧？Ed说，警察来，他们就跑为上着啰！

多伦多真是个充满创意的城市。多留意，处处有新点子。

we are the fans !!

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Where is my tranquil Melbourne ?

Peak hour commuters cram onto the platforms at Flinders Street station. (photo by theage.com.au)

When I was reading theage.com.au yesterday, I was shocked to see the photo above.

When did Melbourne, my favourate city have become so crowded? It is definitely not safe for public transport like this. This sort of image only reminds me of Hong Kong or Tokyo, not Melbourne.

Almost three years ago, when Ed first arrived in Melbourne, he said :’Melbourne is too slow, it is like 20 years behind Toronto’. At that time, we were walking on the quiet, green and tranquil Drummond St in Carlton North, a neighbourhood I had lived for more than 5 years and still loving it.

Obviously, Melbourne has changed since. During my recent visit back to Melbourne a few months ago, I recalled there were many incidences I was told to have to wait for at least 30 minutes for my favourite hot chocolate at Koko Black. Is Koko Black too popular? Or economic too booming? Or simply just too many people now?

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再见夏天….Bye bye, Summer…

Bye bye summery beach days .....(Sandbank Park Beach)

好日子过得特别快。

夏天终于正式结束。

今天是秋天的第一天。

不过，这几天的天气特好。

虽不至于可以去沙滩晒太阳，

不过天天sunny, 二十度到二十三度左右，

坐在咖啡厅外喝咖啡看书最好。

Yesterday was the last day of summer, and today marks the official start of autumn (Torontonians call it Fall). The good times always fly much quicker than any other time, isn’t it?

Strangely, the weather for the last few days have been beautiful – sunny everyday, about 20-23 degree celcius each day. Though not good enough for a swim or a tan at the beach, it is definitely perfect for a cup of warm coffee at the patio. At least, this is the right temperature I like.

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最喜欢的TIFF电影 ：善.恶.怪 My favourite at TIFF : The Good, The Bad & The Weird

一年一度的多伦多电影节(TIFF)，匆匆上映，匆匆下映。

今年，虽忙婚事，也忙TIFF自愿工作，我还是有办法硬抽出时间看了七部电影。

在这七部中，我的最爱是 : 善.恶.怪 (The Good, The Bad and The Weird) 。这是一部韩国西仔片，也是有史以来花费最贵的韩国电影。 以上是有英文字幕的电影预告片，可是我比较喜欢另一个没英文字幕的预告片（如下）。

这部戏真的是好看得不得了。刺激，好玩，又好笑。有很多次，我真想站起来大声欢呼尖叫。当然，我不可这么失礼，只有大力捉捉坐在旁边的Ed的手，以告诉他 ‘我很喜欢也！’ 我想，在戏院中很多观众与我同感，因我常听到有人忍不住’wow’, ‘wah’ , ‘ah ‘ 地轻呼。

戏后，导演金知云 (Kim Jee-woon) 上台让观众问问题。其中一个是，‘身为韩国导演，你为什选拍这种较冷门的西仔片呢？’ 他说：…‘because it is cool…’

他真的做到了！ 这部电影真是太cool 了！

This year Toronto International Film Festival, comes and gone. Though I was very busy with TIFF volunteering work, as well as preparation for the wedding, I still managed to squeeze some times to watch seven films !

Out of these seven films, the one I loved the most, is the western movies made by a Korean director, Kim Jee-woon – The Good, The Bad and The Weird. It is also the biggest-budget Korean film ever made in the history so far. The above is its trailer with English subtitles. I also posted another trailer without subtitles (as below) which I like better.

This movie was just fantastic ! Awesome, funny, lots of adrenaline and weird ! I was so hyped up and nearly wanted to jump off the seat and shouted ‘I love this !’. Of course, I could not do this in the cinema. The only way to show my mad love to this film was to squeezed Ed’s hand tightly. Poor Ed ! 😉 I think there were many audiences felt the way because I could hear many ‘wow’, ‘wah’, ‘ahh’ in the cinema.

After the movie, there was a Q & A session with the director. Someone asked, ‘ as Korean director, what make you wanting to make a western genre movie? ‘ Kim Jee-woon answered coolly, ‘ …..because it is cool…’

And he did just that !

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异国中秋

最近几天，很多网友找‘中秋节’或 ‘happy mid-autumn festival’的文章时，无意间来到我这个部落。

每逢佳节倍思亲。如今，在外国生活或工作的华人越来越多。在中秋时节，上网看看其他华人如何在异国过中秋来解解乡愁是可以明白的。不知找到我这里来的网友多是哪里的朋友呢？看来，他们有点想家吧？

小时候的我很爱中秋- 吃月饼，点灯笼，玩腊烛游戏…马来西亚的中秋气氛还算浓厚。那么，现在的我呢？今天是中秋，我怎么在多伦多庆祝呢？

在多伦多，是没什么中秋气氛的。我是在去华人经营的杂货店买东西时，看到很多月饼，才惊觉中秋将近。 墨尔本的情况一样。不同的是，在墨尔本，我有很多华人朋友。有几年，刚好大家空闲时，会搞个中秋晚会或大吃会。

在多伦多，我们没有熟识的华人朋友。Ed的家人在这里住得久了，已没有庆中秋。

至于月饼，虽然我很爱吃（尤其是脆皮的上海月饼！），可也懒得买了。在墨尔本，有散卖的月饼，就算没和朋友庆中秋，我也会买一，两个来吃。这里呢，我没看到散卖的。要买就是必须整盒买。Ed不爱甜的食物，虽然我其实可以将整盒月饼一个人吃完。可是，才不敢呢！很怕自己变成大肥猪！看来，要等到下个周末，去Ed父母家吃饭时，我们才买一盒月饼一起吃吧。

今天中秋，虽有点冷清清，不过，我也习惯了。我和Ed呆在家里看电视，煮饭吃，悠闲自在，也很快乐。虽没月饼，没灯笼，我们一样有圆圆的月亮！

嗯…今晚，我必须记得摇个电话给妈妈！

还有，当然是祝大家中秋快乐！

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….it happened yesterday….

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Festivals for Everything ! (Part 2)

Outdoor Art Festival at Nathan Phillips Square

除了以上提到的，还有很多很多，如Carabina Festival 啦，南亚节庆啦，户外艺术品节 (上图）, Hot and Spicy Festival ， 手工艺品节, 台湾美食节，沙滩爵士音乐节， 应有尽有。

竟然还有街头表演者的街头节庆，有些街头艺术者还山长水远地从英国，澳洲, 日本等国来表演。我在那溜了整天，看惊险的杂耍，看小丑讲笑，喝咖啡，听拉活音乐…..又刺激又写意。

Apart from what I mentioned above, there are also Carabian Festival, South Asia Festival, Outdoor Art Festival，HOt and Spicy Festival, Art and Craft Festival, Taiwan Festival, The Beach Jazz Festival….you name it, you get it.

I was excited to know there is also a street festival for street performers/buskers, it is called BuskerFest here. Some of performers came all the way UK, Australia, Japan etc. I spent a full day there, laughed at the jokes from street comedians, watched jaw-dropping fire juggling, listened to live music, sipped my afternoon cup of coffee….both thrilling and relaxing…

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