Sheep Shearing

19 December 2011

'Baa baa bass' white sheep and the barking dog had waken me up early in the morning. Onuku Farm Hostel no longer has a working farm and as I knew almost all the sheep were put far from the hostel. I wondered where the noise came from. I woke up and walked to the shed. I was surprised to see herd of sheep. Soon I found out that they were from the Akaroa town, would be sheared in the shed here. 

I am someone who is terribly afraid of injection. I saw their fear, their worry from their face and body. I felt their emotion while they were waiting for their turn, as if I was waiting for my injection. 

Each of them was tagged with different color label on one of their ears. The special design of the wooden fence with a little door allowed the farmer to put the same category of sheep into the same area. It worked in this way. The sheep came in one row, one after another. The farmer stood near the door. The sheep with blue label were place on the right section and so the door were opened to allow them to move in. Otherwise, the door was closed so that they could only move straight forward into another section. They ran pretty fast. Sharp eyes to identify the label and quick hands to open/close the door were mandatory. 

pic: They were waiting painfully for their turn in the shed

Machine shears were used to remove the woollen fleece near their buttock, for the hygiene purpose. Sometimes, they struggled and got injured by the shears. 

The shed was full of stinking fleece by now. The day ended with the cleaning.

vid: Here is a video of the shearing process

New Zealand Flight Check In

27 April 2011

It is now the day we are going to fly to New Zealand via AirAsia. If you are a regular customer of Airasia, I believe you are aware of the new self-check in service through online or kiosk. It does save you a lot of time from the long queue. However, this service is not available for flights to Australia and New Zealand.

http://checkin.airasia.com/chkin/step1.aspx?Code=&lang=EN&langId=1

Check in counters open two hours before departure time for all flights except for those flight numbers beginning with D7, which open 3 hours before. New Zealand's flight number starts with D7. The answer can be found in below link.

http://www.airasia.com/ask/

Similarly, the counters close 45 minutes before departure time, but it is 60 minutes for flight number beginning with D7.

All passengers are allowed to bring one hand carry which does not exceed 7kg and the dimension 56cm x 36cm x 23cm, excluding laptop and ladies bag.

http://tommyooi.com/airasia-faq/

Bamboo Charcoal Bread

10 January 2011

I went to Pavillion yesterday and recommended by my friend to try the bamboo charcoal bread in Lavendar Bakery shop at the Food Republic food court. I saw the long queue once I reach the shop and I actually could not figure out the reason. Without thinking too much, I just moved around and looked for the bamboo charcoal bread. Here it was!!!

When I first saw this, it did not look like bread, but charcoal to me. I just wondered and asked my friend if the charcoal bread can really be consumed. She told me that the food made from bamboo charcoal is actually very good and healthy.

Most often, bamboo charcoal is used as an air and water purifier or in soap. I never expect it can be added into food. It sounds unappetizing but after searching more information about it from Internet, it is believed that it brings all of the toxin cleaning properties of charcoal to the food.

Try it out if you believe in this.

How to unblock youtube video

25 Dec 2010

Youtube's staff is getting more responsible? I had no video being blocked before until the two recent videos. I had no idea their reason being blocked. I made a photo slide show, of course with music behind that may violate the copyright. But out there are millions of videos which as well violate the copyright. Some of them even upload movie and series. Why me???

I just need to unblock them. Here I found the tricks from http://1001how2.com/how-to-unblock-copyrighted-youtube-videos-fast/

1) Login your youtube account

2) Go to My video

3) Click on the Content ID Matches on left

4) Click of View Copyright Info of your video

5) At the bottom, click on "I want to learn more about the dispute process"

6) You will be directed to another page. Click on "Take me to the dispute form"

7) You will see three options. Choose the second one saying about fair use

8) Under the please explain section, paste this statement:

Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for fair use for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use

9) Type you name as signature and under the statement of good faith, just copy the statement as displayed below the text box.

10) Click on Continue and then "Submit Claim"

It should immediately work right once you are done with the instructions above.

Europe Country 6: Itally III

24 September 2009

Paris Disneyland

The 14-day europe trip ended with one full day at Disneyland, Paris. Do you know how many disneyland theme parks are there in this globe? I made a quick search from the Internet and found this answer:

Disneyland Resort in Anaheim California.
Walt Disney World Resort, Orlando Florida.
Tokyo Disney Resort, Tokyo.
Disneyland Resort Paris, Paris. (Formerly EURO-Disney)
Hong Kong Disneyland Resort, Hong Kong.

Well, I have visited two one them, Hong Kong and Paris. I have three more to go.

I went to Hong Kong Disneyland in 2007, the newest Disneyland on earth. In 2010, I went to the Paris one, which is larger, and obviously looks older. There are two parks in Paris Disneyland, The Disneyland Park and Walt Disney Studios. The former is home to the classic Disney characters set in 5 magical lands, where fairytales really do come true. The latter is the world of cinema and television comes to life. It was a regret that we only bought the Disneyland Park, missing the chances to experience the world of cinema.

One thing I like here was the fast pass. It saved our time on lining up for a queue. It's a ticket that holds your place in line for a ride. It lets you leave and do whatever you want and then get back in line when you are closer to getting on.

There are other things to know about a FastPass. First it is free and only certain rides offer fast passes. It expires at the end of the day and you can't run around and get all your FastPasses at the same time. Your first FastPass tells you when you're allowed to get another one.

Here is how it works:
1.Find the FastPass ticket machine near the line for your ride.
2.Insert your Disneyland admission ticket
3.Grab the FastPass that comes out (and your admission ticket). Keep it!
4.Look at the time printed on the FastPass. You can leave now but come back after the time shown on your ticket.
For instance, if it's now 11am, the FastPass may say "Return between 12:30-1:30". This means you can go, and then come back anytime after 12:30 and get in the special shorter FastPass line anytime within that hour. You'll stand in that line for about 5minutes, maybe 15 if it's hugely crowded that day. I am not too sure if this fast pass was offered in Hong Kong Disneyland four years ago.

quoted from http://www.disneylandvacationtips.com/tips-secrets-Disneyland-Fastpass-tickets.html

The first thing we did once we reach there was to capture a photo together with the entrance. And then the very first thing we did once we entered into the park was to quueu up in order to take a picture with Mickey. This was ridiculous as it took us around an hour just to take a picture and a signature which was not from the true Mickey.

pic: Snow white

pic: Aladin

We chose a few of the most adverturous rides. Among them, I love the most. It was really fast and exciting, but I still prefer the one in Hong Kong.

With the limited time spent there, we must be smart enough to choose the best places to visit/best activities to do.

pic: Mines train

pic: Space mountain mission (superb fast)

pic: Buzz Lightyear Laser Blast

And I was satisfied that we were able to finish almost all the items in our checklist, including the Disney Characters Demonstration and It's a small small world.

Indeed, I never expect It's a small small world was so enjoyable. I loved the decorations so much that they gave a sense of fantasy to me. We grabbed the last half an hour to visit this before we left.

pic: characters demonstration, Beauty and the Beast

pic: Aladin and his wife

pic: The mermaid

pic: Sleeping Beauty castle

Precious knowledge about the culture in Europe

Towards the end of blogging travelling experience in Europe, it is time now to share some general knowledge about their culture that I gained from my tour guide, Wanda, who is a Taiwanese married to a Dutch. In fact, I should have shared this before I started blogging anything about the sightseeing, but late is always better than never.

This is one thing good about travelling with travel agency. I believe you would not be able to hear so many "stories" about their countries if you are travelling on your own. The information that I am going to tell might not be 100% accurate, though I had tried my best to jot down while Wanda was telling us the information at the same time.

The very first interesting information was about the drivers. The drivers can never be allowed to work more than 12 hours a day. The time starts counting from the moment they leave the hotel until they go back and take rest. They must have at least 9 hours of rest and also one day off after every 6 working days. If they are found to break the regulation and caught for the first time, they will be fined, licensed will be suspended for the second time, and unfortunately will be jailed for the third time. Also, they must have a short break (can't recall the duration) for every few hours (can't recall the figure too) of driving. I believe the government enforces such regulation is to enhance the safety on roads. Yes, I think it is good from a passenger's perspective, but never from a traveller's. Due to the long driving distance and such regulation, we had sacrificed a lot of travelling time. It was my ever first trip without activities at nights.

Holland

I think most of us know that Netherland is well known for its tulips and windmills. If you do not know, I would advice you to read and hear more from people, tv and internet. To my surprise, Wanda told us that the origin of the tulip is Turkey and the windmill was introduced by Arabians. Everybody thinks that tulips come from Holland. Actually, Tulips are native to Central Asia and Turkey. In the 16th Century they were brought to Holland from Turkey, and quickly became widely popular. Today Tulips are cultivated in Holland in great numbers and in huge fields. Dutch bulbs, including tulips and daffodils, are exported all around the world so people think that it's originated from there as well. In fact many cultivated varieties were widely grown in Turkey long before they were introduced to European gardens.

http://www.allaboutturkey.com/tulip.htm>

It is more common to see the people here cycling than driving.

Houses are usually tall and skinny, with a small door and big windows. This is due to the fact that in older days, their government charged door taxes based on the door size. So the people make their house with small doors, just enough for a regular person to get through to save their tazes. Also, since land is expensive, they build their houses taller and skinny.

You must be surprised how the furniture get in with such a small door. Well, there is a hook on the top used to transport their large furnitures from ground to the upper floor through their big windows.

For more information about their red light district and wooden clog, please visit http://yvaineinuk.blogspot.com/2009/11/europe-trip-country-1-netherland.html

Belgium

It is only founded for only around 170 years and consequently there is not national language. They have three official languages: Dutch, French, and German. Some of them speak English. The people here works for 11 months but get salary for 13 months.

Belgium encourages the people to have children. The government pays 80 euro for the first child and doule up for each subsequent child. Children under 12 years old can enjoy free rides on all tranportaions.

Belgium is famous for its Godiva chocolate.

Luxembourg

This country has
1) high number of working women
2) women can enjoy hign number of maternity leaves for 6 months and yet get 70% of their salary
3) high cleanliness

Heilderberg

90% are students

San Marino

The smallest republic country in europe which is situated in Itally

Switzerland

It is common to see tunnels and raiways along the road. There is one tunnel called San Gottardo Tunnel which is 17km long.

疗伤小贴士

被烫伤的伤口用冷水冲洗后有可能会引起水泡。烫伤引起局部血管扩张，血管壁通透性增加，使液体渗出，组织肿胀，形成水泡；烫伤属外伤，会引起体内炎症介质大量释放，产生局部炎症反应。所以水泡里的液体成分包括体液以及一些炎性细胞等，如不正确处理，会引起感染，严重时还可能形成SIRS.

有水泡要不要戳破？事实上，这方面也是要经由医师的临床判断。水泡如果小最好不要弄破，让其自行吸收。如果大不易吸收可用无菌针等挑破（一定要防止感染），尤其一些比较大的水泡和关节处比较会破的地方，医生会用空针将水泡抽出。 若是浅二度的伤口，通常会在两个礼拜之内愈合，若未感染通常不会留下疤痕。病人约略两天到医院换药一次，用抗生素的软膏就可以了。

水泡可以刺破，但不可以揭去或剪去水泡皮，直接上烧烫伤药物，坏死的表皮会慢慢自行蜕去

Bruise

I remember that one of my housemates, shu mei told me that there are always bruises on her body, even without crashes. A week later, I heard another friend of mine is having the same problem. She mentioned that the bruises will appear especially during cold days. Since then, she became the weather forecast station among her friends. I told them my opinion that the blood circulation may be affected during cold day. No one was sure about that until today. I have just checked it out from internet. Seem like this opinion does make sense.

护齿新态度

不说你不知，如果一天里少吃多餐，反而会对牙齿造成伤害。每一次我们吃喝的时候，牙菌膜会分解糖分而产生酸素，而酸素会侵害牙齿健康，令表面的矿物质流失。而牙齿长时间处于酸性的环境下，我们便很容易会蛀牙。而口水具有中和酸性的作用，能阻止牙齿的矿物质流失。可是整个运作过程需要一到两个小时。所以每一餐之间需要相隔至少两个小时。就连喝水也要喝清水。

Medical visit

03 july 2009

It was raining since morning. At around 9.30, i went out with cousin to go to the NHS (medical center) in Chinatown to register a GP. We were in a bit rush as he had to get to work in 11.30. I could not make an immediate appointment with my GP. The earliest was 6.05 pm. It was very inconvenient to go there again as it was quite far.

On the way back, we realized that there is also one NHS near my hostel. My cousin asked me to try register one gp here as it is nearest. I heard from my senior that GP is like a 'family doctor'. each person can only have one GP. we can only change our gp when we moved to another location.

I had a struggling mind in the afternoon whether or not to try my luck to go to that nearest NHS in rain and alone. It is really inconvenient without a car. Finally, i went there together with one of my housemate and her sister before they went to shopping in city center.

It was a bad news that students staying for less than 6 months are not allowed to register a GP. If we are to see doctor, we will be charged 33 pounds for consultation. This branch of NHS is so strict and consequently i was not able to register any GP. Chinatown one is more lenient. my friend's sister then recommended me to go to a walk-in NHS in city center. She adviced me that the reception there will surely ask me to register for a GP. If they ask, i will just have to say 'I will do it later'.

From her, i knew that all medical centers in UK are governed by government. She was true that all patients will have to wait no matter how wealthy you are. Patients are prioritized based on urgency. Now i understand that why the people here rarely turn to doctor but pharmacist unless necessary.

I waited for more than two hours there. There is no doctor in this walk in NHS, but only experienced and practised nurses. My blister was broken by the nurse and then bandaged. I was diagnosed to have dry skin decease called eczema, which caused my rashes. I was recommended to buy a special cream to apply on my body. The medical centers in UK do not provide medicine. They only prescribe. We ourself have to go for pharmarcist to get the medicine.