New School Year 2024 新的學年 2024
Despite this summer holiday being much longer than usual for my son, time flew by, and now it’s already September. Most students started their school term last week, and today, it’s finally his turn....
Category: Family
Summer Holidays Ride 2024 暑假單車遊 2024
Summer in the UK is quite short, only lasts for about three months. By August, the sun starts setting after 8 p.m., and soon the days get shorter again. A few days ago, my son suggested we should going on a long-distance cycling trip given the slightly longer daylight and the fact that school hasn’t started yet. As he was so excited, I should have no reason to say no. However, in view of the pain in my right wrist, which probably caused by tendonitis, that haunting me for a few months, a long ride might make it worse!.
英國的夏天日子不算長，只有短短三個月，踏入八月，下午八點後便開始日落，又回復日短夜長的日子。早幾天兒子提議趁日間時段稍長，而且仍未開學，不如一起來個長程的單車一日遊。難得他有這個興趣，我理應義無反悔的應成，但心想近幾個月右手腕隱隱作痛，相信是筋膜發炎所致，勉強踩長程車，一不小心，可能手尾會更長！
Lunar New Year Holidays 2024 農曆新年
Time flies and we are already three months into 2024! If you’ve been following my monthly look back, you probably know that I’ve been busy migrating my blog to a new server. Better than what I originally projected, the transfer of all contents had already been done last week. What remains is to monitor the new system and make any necessary tweaks; my life is finally back to normal.
話咁快 2024 又過了差不多四份一，大家如果有留意我最近的每月回顧，大概都知道我忙於轉移我的網誌去新的 server。上星期尾剛完成全部 contents 的搬動，剩下來是新系統的監察及作適當的微調，空間多一點，生活又可暫時回常。
Slow Cooked Beef Ragù Pasta 慢煮肉醬意大利粉
For the past few years living in the UK, the food we enjoyed most was Italian pasta. If you remembered my previous post about testing out my son’s new bicycle, that small Italian cafe, Little Italy in Sunbury, is our favourite and we visited there almost every one or two weeks.
在英國生活的日子，食得最多就是意大利 pasta。 如果有留意之前和兒子試他的新單車的一篇，那間位於 Sunbury 的意大利小店 Little Italy 就是我家的至愛，差不多一、兩個星期都會去一次。
Here comes Christmas Again 又到聖誕
2023 went much more quickly than I had thought and Christmas had already arrived. This was the third Christmas since arriving in the UK and festive vibes were around Kingston since late November.
2023 年過得比我想像快很多，無驚無險又到了聖誕。 這是到英國後的第三個聖誕，早在十一月尾節日氣氛已濃𦋐整個 Kingston。
Summer Holiday 2023 – Day 1 暑期活動 2023 出發篇
To save some money on our trip, we chose the Avanti West Coast train departing from London Euston just before noon. The two-and-a-half-hour journey provided me a perfect opportunity to have a light lunch, read a book and catch a short nap.
因為要省錢，到 Lake District 的交通，我們選擇了中午前從 London Euston 開出的 Avanti West Coast 火車，兩個半小時的車程正好可以吃個輕便午餐，看看書再小睡片刻。
Summer Holiday 2023 暑期活動 2023
Time flies and half of the summer holidays has gone. As usual, my wife will work out the summer activities for our son. Last year, we spent a week in Scotland, and this year we will stay a bit closer, in The Lake District.
不經意地暑假又過了大半，一如往年，太太會為兒子安排暑期活動。 上年去了蘇格蘭，今年就稍為近一點，目的地是英國湖區，The Lake District。
New Family Member 家中新成員
Last October, my son’s bike was stolen from the underground carpark of my apartment. You might think that I didn’t properly lock the bike, but the truth is that I used a set of Cable Locks to secure it. Regrettably, those security measures were not sufficient, and the bike thieves easily cut through the locks.
兒子的單車在去年十月尾被偷了，地點是我住的 apartment 的地下停車場。 你可能認為我沒有把單車鎖好才給賊人下手的機會，但實情是我已用到一組 Cable Locks 鎖上，遺憾的是保安程度不夠高，輕易地被偷車賊剪斷了。
Can’t Stand the Pain 痛不欲生
I always believe I was a tough guy!
Able to ride 40+ KM back home with my right hand seriously injured after accident and even managed to fully recover within two months after my Coronary Artery Bypass Graft operation.
I remained strong throughout and never felt desperate.
However, I finally reacquaint myself in 2023!
一直以為自己是個硬漢！
當年右手撞傷後仍可踩四十多公里單車回家，即使心臟搭橋手術後，不用兩個月便完全康復。
期間我沒有叫過辛苦，亦不感到絕望。
可是今天我終於重新認識自己了！
Piano Restoration – Welcome Home 鋼琴大翻新 – 回家篇
The full restoration of our Yamaha U1 piano, that was sent to the workshop in last April was completed for quite a while. As I was tied up with other bits and pieces, I failed to provide a timely update on the works. So let me wrap it up in this post.
家裏的鋼琴上年四月中運回 workshop 後，翻新工作早已完成。只因其他鎖碎事情，我遲遲未有作更新，就讓我今天來個總結吧！
A little update before Year End 年終前的生活點滴
In slightly less than 24 hours, 2022 will be in history. Despite I managed to achieve quite a number of my targets in the first half of the year, things were getting worst as I was terribly laid-back for the rest of the year. Judging from the ‘One-post-per-month’ of my blog writing, you will know what I meant. In fact, my personal loopback for November has already missed the schedule and probably (and hopefully) a bi-monthly version would be released shortly.
還有不到一天，2022 年便將成過去，上半年看似完成了很多目標，但無奈下半年卻像洩了氣的氣球一樣，變得不太積極，單從我最近每月一 post 便看得出端倪，而十一月的個人回望更早已脱期，相信要和十二月的一拼發佈！
Paying My Tribute to the Queen 我對女王的致敬
In the evening of 8 September, I was awakened by my wife from my nap. The television broadcast was disrupted by the latest news from the Buckingham Palace:
The Queen died peacefully at Balmoral this afternoon.
The King ad the Queen Consort will remain at Balmoral and will return to London tomorrow.
As some of those like me, who were born, brought up and enjoyed those glorious moments of Hong Kong, I believed the Queen definitive had an important place in our hearts.
九月八日黃昏，太太把我從小休中推醒，電視正轉播白金漢宮的最新消息：
The Queen died peacefully at Balmoral this afternoon.
The King ad the Queen Consort will remain at Balmoral and will return to London tomorrow.
對於像我這些在英國管治下出生，成長及有幸渡過最光輝時刻的香港人，相信英女王在我們心中佔有一定地位。
UK Horse Racing 英國賽馬活動
My wife recently asked if I would be interested to explore the British horse racing culture. Given that she would make all the necessary arrangement including the tickets, I had no reason not to immediately accept her offer.
早前太太問可有興趣到馬場體驗一下英國的賽馬文化，難得她會安排一切，包括購買入場票，我只須做個司機，真的找不到拒絶的理由。
Do It Yourself 自己的事自己動手做
Since I had published my last post on replacing my road bike tyres, some of my friends living aboard mentioned that DIY is the way to go to save money and possible lead time. I absolutely agreed with them and do believe that mastering DIY skills is another objective to achieve in UK.
居於外地的朋友們對我上一篇自行更換單車軚的網誌，都不約而同提出日常維修工作如果找店家或 Handy man 做，除了費用高外，往往亦要等很久，因此學習自己做 (DIY) 是必然的事。這個我完全同意，亦是移居英國後其中一個學習目標。
Piano Restoration – Part 2 鋼琴大翻新 (二)
Our Yamaha U1 piano had been delivered to the workshop for nearly one week and various components were gradually dismantled. Just received call from A. Hanna & Sons Pianos that additional issues were found by technicians and we were invited to their workshop for a discussion.
To be honest, not a good sign!
鋼琴運回 Workshop 已經差不多一星期，内部零件亦續步被拆開移除。剛收到琴行通知，維修技師發現了更多問題，邀請我們到 Workshop 看看及相討。
怕且情况並不樂觀！
Piano Restoration – Part 1 鋼琴大翻新 (一)
Just as mentioned in my previous post, our Yamaha U1 piano was about 20 years old. It was used by my boy’s cousin for her piano learning and subsequently passed to him. It carried two wonder stories of learning and development in music. From random playing with their little fingers to achieving Grade 8 certification and if possible, we would like to have the stories be continued.
正如之前的一篇説過，家中的 Yamaha U1 鋼琴已有約二十年歷史，原本是兒子表姐自小的學習伙伴。一座漆黑的鋼琴盛載着兩個音樂成長故事；由只懂亂敲琴鍵，到取得八級資歷，如果可以的話，我很希望這故事能一直延續下去。
Riding with my boss 與 Boss 走一轉
Studying in UK is really wonderful, there are so many term breaks throughout the school year. Just like the recent Spring Term Break that began on 1st of April, my little boss started staying at home with nothing to do again. Early Sunday morning, he suggested to go cycling, which I had no reason to turn down despite of the cold and windy weather.
在英國讀書真好，年中 term break 多到難以至信，剛過去的四月一日又是 Spring Term Break 的開始，家中小老闆又再百無聊賴的 hea 在家，星期日早上，難得他提議午後騎車出外走走，雖然天氣非常寒冷，我也無法拒絶。
Driving in UK 英倫駕車日常
I had about 30 years of driving experience in Hong Kong and it wouldn’t be any surprise that I would pick up driving in UK. Once accommodation was settled, I started by car buying exercise.
在香港開了差不多三十年車，到了英國自然心思思想買車，居所安頓好後便開始我的買車行動。
Medical Consultation in UK 英倫睇醫生
One of the greatest concerns when moving to UK is medical care. People like me having chronicle illness, getting the required medicine and proper medical follow-up are the major issues to be addressed.
移居英國其中一個極大的憂慮就是醫療，就像我這類長期病患者，覆診和藥物安排都是主要面對的問題。
Meal Deals 平價午餐
In UK, we normally cooked our dinners and would only go to restaurants during weekends or holidays. As my son was at school during weekdays, making lunch for just two of us became quite uneconomical and we normally ended up having instant noodles, pasta or bread instead.
在英國的日子，晚飯都是在家煮食，通常星期六、日或假期才出街食飯。至於午餐，因兒子上學，剩下我和太太兩人煮飯就變得頗不化算，又不知煮甚麼餸，往往只是吃個公仔麵、意大利粉或麵包就算。
UK Immigration – Six Months Summary 移居英國 – 半年小體驗
Dated back in late April when I first arrived in Heathrow Airport, it was cold at 7 to 8℃. Despite I had my thick jacket on, I still couldn’t stand the cold weather. Next came the UK summer where I had enjoyed some lovely warm and sunny days. Stepping into late autumn, weather is getting colder and colder. Temperature suddenly dropped back to 6 to 7℃ and I have to put on my thick again.
記得四月尾到達倫敦，剛踏出機埸，氣溫只得七、八度，雖然已穿上厚厚外套，但還是有點吃不消。往後有幸過了一個陽光普照，和暖的夏天。轉眼半年，剛踏入十一月的深秋，這幾天氣溫又驟降到六、七度，又是時侯重新披上我的羽絨外衣了。
Bringing your Piano to UK 鋼琴也移民
One of the most important tasks of our immigration is to ship my son’s piano to UK.
You may wonder why we did not buy a new one in UK?
移居英國當中一件很重要的事就是把兒子的鋼琴帶到英國。
你可能會問為什麼不在到步後另行講買?
Getting Your Home in UK 英國找居所
Quite a lot of the families planning to move to UK are struggling whether they should buy or rent a house / apartment
移居英國，好多家庭都會糾結在應否自置居所還是租屋。