Plinther of Manarola

»What is a plinther?

Manarola, Cinque Terre

Italy is so blessed. »More photos.

Whiskers of Manarola

Manarola, one of the five lands of Cinque Terre. Land of cats, stunning coast and moaningly good mussels.

London tube clock

You can see this in some of the older stations like Victoria or Bond Street.

Someone please tell me where to get it, because I fear I might have to steal it soon.

Poppy appeal

I haven't seen this poppy in probably 20 years. Out of the blue, I saw it last evening at the Russell Square tube station when I was coming back from the airport.

It reminded me so strongly of my childhood that I went back to the station today to donate and get one from the veteran. I can still remember that particular day in my childhood: it was a sunny Saturday afternoon, my mother had gotten off work and my dad must have dropped me off at her office in the Collyer Quay area. I was no more than five or six - she was holding my hand and we were walking. Along the way, she must have stopped to donate something towards the »poppy appeal - I don't recall too clearly, probably because I was too short then to notice. But I did remember holding a poppy in my hand and walking off together into the afternoon sun...

The poppy has not changed much from that day - still the same crinkly red paper and black button, except it is now adorned by a leaf.

The same cannot be said for the other two protaganists.

I did not realize

That the accordian is the jealous sister of the soprano-sax. Bulky, hoarse and less eloquent, but ambitious nonetheless.

Constitutional law in autumn

The weight of a historical sentence
   can no longer linger in silence.

A cacophony of coughs
   insists on punctuating.

Bogeymen

»William Safire and »Far Eastern Economic Review, the twin bogeymen of Singapore in the early 90s, are both dead.

Kings of Convenience, Barbican

Today, I saw a violin flirting flamboyantly with the guitar.

And the crowd egged them on.

Once upon a time, there was a lion and a gazelle

Every morning in Africa, a Gazelle wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the fastest lion or it will be killed. Every morning a Lion wakes up. It knows it must outrun the slowest Gazelle or it will starve to death. It doesn't matter whether you are a Lion or a Gazelle... when the sun comes up, you'd better be running.

Leicester Square, Sunday 11.57 am

The casino presumably opens at noon.

Demographics of the queue: Chinese aged 50++
Standard deviation: Zero

Camera-phone series #17.

Westminster at night

Another straight out of camera.

马子

Sometimes, I mistake the clip-clop of gals in boots for those of horses in hooves.

Incidentally, both are 马子 in Chinese.

My window view at noon, M-F

Sometimes, the horses come in black.

Canterbury Cathedral, circa 1174

Yes, Canterbury as in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. And where Henry IV and the Black Prince also repose. Highly recommended. Stay for the evensong service where the choir boys sing.

(And yes, j'adore my lens. Handheld and almost unadulterated - only very slight curve adjustment and sharpening.)