做冬

Yesterday, for the first time, I replaced the screen on the screen door on my own. I followed the instructions on the screen package and, after a few attempts, I managed to get the screen and the plastic tube into the tiny gap. The finished work was far from perfect, but I think it was a good first try.

A friend reminded me that today is the first day of Winter and is 做冬 for the Chinese. It's happens to be my niece Victoria's birthday too. Happy birthday Victoria.

Oh, I didn't have a chance to 吃湯圓 and I like the ones that are sweet inside. But I did make Cantonese soup myself. It turned out better than I expected.

Vacation

In ancient times, believers went on pilgrimages to holy places to worship God. In modern times, children and their parents go to Disney World and Disneyland to meet their beloved cartoon characters.

My first trip to Disney World was about 18 years ago with my parents, my aunt and her entire family from UK--about 13 people altogether. This is my second trip. The famous gothic castle still stands and the characters are still as popular as ever, but we have all changed.

The hosts of the castle--Mickey and Minnie. Dare to dream was the theme of the show.

Pirates of the Caribbean is a new theme. It has a nice ride.

On the African boat ride. Watch out, the crocs are coming!!

The late afternoon parade. Here comes Cinderella in her pumpkin carriage.

Here's Belle and Beast.

I'm not sure who are these two, but I bet my two nieces know.

Here is a classic character--Donald Duck.

The castle at night.

Viking house in Epcoy Center.

Epcoy Center at night.

Election Day & Afrikakorps Pak36 Anti-tank Gun

We have a President-Elect. Let's hope he can lead us to a better future.


I was watching the election results on the television and Internet while painting my Afrikakorps figures. Here they are unbased.

Yellow Rose, Agincourt and Saxon Warrior

I was in South Jersey last Saturday and noticed that there was still one more rose on the bush. Beautiful. I know I have said it before, but this has to be the last rose of this year. The weather is getting cold and I doubt there would be another one.


On the other hand, these are in full bloom.


Here is another figure that I painted months ago. This is Guillaume de Martel, Sire de Bacqueveille at Agincourt. I followed the color plate of him on page 58 of Ospray's Campagin Series: Agincourt 1415. Here, Guillaume de Martel is wearing a yellow surcoat emblazoned with his arms--three red hammer gules. He was the bearer of the Oriflamme at Agincourt, but killed in action and the banner was lost. I will have to scratch build the Oriflamme for this figure.

Here is a figure from a different period. A Saxon warrior carrying a round shield and a war axe.

Here is the figure from another angle. Kind of displaying a heroic stand when shooting the picture from a low angle. I painted the cross on the shield free handed. First, I used a fine tip designer marker to outline the cross, then painted the shield with arcylic paint and brush. It was my first attempt to paint shield patterns.

Halloween & Afrikakorps Anti-tank Gun Crew

Tonight is Halloween. A few days ago while I was walking down Ridge Blvd., I saw the Halloween lawn decoration below. Very creative.

This is a flying witch on a vaccum cleaner. With a strong wind blowing the black plastic cloak, it could look quite scary at night.




This is suppose to be a headless man with his head floating next to his body. The head is suspended by a wire and bounces when the wind blows. It looks amazing at night in the dark.

I finally found time to paint the WWII Afrikakorps Pak36 anti-tank gun crew. I took these pictures in the bathroom as it seems to be the only room in my apartment that has the best lighting. The paint job on these figures are not entirely done yet, but I want to see how they look through a camera's lens. Here is the officer pointing. I used Tamiya and artist arylic paints on the figures. I deliberately painted his shorts German Field Grey to add some variety to the set.

Here is the gunner with the standard M1940 desert yellow shirt, shorts and first pattern short ankle boots. On his head is the standard M1940 peaked field cap.

This guy is wearing all standard regulation issued Afrikakorps uniform, except for his tie and webbing anklet.

Here is the loader wearing continential field grey breeches. Perhaps M1940 desert yellow breeches supplies have run out. I have not painted the artillery shell he is holding yet.

Fall Blossom

I had my regular visit down in South Jersey this past weekend. It was nice to see the flowers at the front of the house have begun their Autumn bloom.

Are they blooming in memory of my mother, who planted them many years ago and passed away three years ago this month?

My birthday, my father's birthday and my sister's wedding anniversary are all in this month too.

I lost track of time doing some last minute painting of the window frames and had to take a late bus back to New York.

Pak36 Redux & Zulu War British Mounted Infantry

How to relax after dealing with all the headaches in the office? Why, putting togther the HAT Pak36, of course. Here's the Pak36 anti-tank gun for the famed Afrika Korps.

Here's another shot of it from the right front side. It's hard to believe that it's 1/72nd scale in size.

Here's the Zulu War British Mounted Infantry set that I also got the other day. The nice front box art.


Here is the illustration on the back of the box.

A box contains three identical sprues of 6 soldiers of different poses (3 mounted) and four horses.

HAT's Pak 36

Last week, I had some appreciative clients. It looks like I am not so lucky this week. I'm rather tired of some of the clients and the office. Tired of being blamed on everything, whether it was my fault or not. Tonight, I am going to take refuge in the HAT set PAK 36 that I purchased yesterday.

Here is the box art.

Instructions on the back of the box.

The box contains four sets of Pak 36s and crews.

Appreciative Clients: A Loving Daughter & A Caring Mother

Last week, two appreciative clients came by to thank me. One client, I have represented since 2001 and finally completed her case a few months ago. She was about to go to the Phillipines and came by to thank me before leaving the next day. She hasn't seen her parents for almost 14 years. She is now going back to see them, both of her parents are now elderly. She initially planned to go back in December, but decided that she shouldn't wait any longer as her parents are not getting any younger. She told me that she has been saving a portion of her income and each month wired it to her family in the Phillipines. She is a nice person and a loving daughter.

She took me out to lunch and we chatted for a long time, talking about her plans for the future. We have become good friends and it is clients like her that makes my practice enjoyable.

I had to go back to work and she had shopping to do; she is buying her family presents. So, she promised she will come by to see me again when she returns. For someone who have gone through a lot of adversities, she is a remarkably optimistic person.

Another client who recently arrived in NYC came by to thank me for the work done on her case. She is a relatively new client and her plans for her children almost got unravelled by the government's erroneous application of the law. It could have deprived her children a very important and valuable once-in-a-life-time opportunity. She could have given up, but she fought on for the sake of her children's future. Fortunately, a few hours of legal research followed by a series of letters and emails straightened things out. She gave me this present, from her company's inventory I believe, as a token of her gratitude. It's a nice Chinese snuff bottle, beautifully painted.

Here is the box. These things usually don't come in such boxes. She must have searched high and low to find a container for the snuff bottle. The "lock" of the box apprently has lost. So, she use a piece of rope to tie it up. I like it all the same.


Here's the bottle in the box.

Here is one side of the bottle, showing a scenic painting. The painting is done by hand inside the bottle. It's a traditional Chinese arts and craft.

Here is the other side of the bottle, showing another scene perhaps a herder with his goats. Simply marvelous.

Down with a cold

Last Friday was mother's third anniversary of her passing. So, I stayed at my sister's home and went to the cemetary on Saturday. Even though it's a Catholic cemetary and we are no longer traditional Chinese, I still brought a packet of "555" cigarettes for father and a peanut snack for mother. They were their favorites. I missed them.

My nieces were both down with a cold. After spending two days with them, I started to feel miserable on Monday night. My throat felt funny on Monday night and on Tuesday morning I began to have a running nose. This makes me realize how weak my immue system is. I have a lot of work this and next week, so taking a day off is quite impossible. Actually, I might have to go to the office to do some work over the long weekend.

I can't even get up a bit late. Tomorrow, I have a case in Garden City at 7:30 AM. Yes, that's 7:30 AM. Why on earth the government schedules a case for 7:30 AM at a place far from the NYC is beyond me. I stopped asking such questions many years ago. Nowadays, I consider this as just part of the job.

Central Park & Viking

It was raining lightly last Sunday when I went by Central Park. Desipte the rain, the horse and carriage business was still operating.

Here's another one. Pretty little things, aren't they? Makes me want to finish painting and putting together my Imex 1/72 Stagecoach.

The stagecoach will take me a long time to complete, but for now I can show you my 54mm Conte Collectible Viking that I painted a few years back. A bit of paint had chipped. I will do some touch ups on it some other time and re-seal it properly this time.

The End of Summer & Memories

The Summer has come to an end. In the backyard, the tree still has one yellow rose left. This is probably the last rose for this year. A neighbour next door who passed away a few years before my mother used to come over and ask my mother for a few roses every year. She admired our roses very much. Mother always let her picked whichever ones she liked.




These flowers below came out this week. They always bloom on schedule in Autumn. Mother planted a few of them a few years before she passed away. They have been coming out like clockwork every year. I love them. Seeing them reminds me of mother.

Past Glories

It was my sister who put the idea of fencing in my head. I have to thank her for that, because it created an important and memorable chapter in my life. I started practising fencing around 1979 or 1980. I had my first competition in the same year and began representing my school in competitions.

Below is the Gold Medal for Men's Team Foil Event at the 1982 Joint School Fencing Competition. This competition really made our name as formidable foil champions. Because of this championship, our team got first-seed in the Interschool Fencing Competition later that year.

In those days, medals were in the form of a key chain.

The reverse side of the medal showing Tuen Mun Fencing Association as the organizer of the event.

The bronze medal of Men's (Boys') Foil Team Event of 1982-83 Inter-School Fencing Competition. Assistant Coach Edmund Wong of then Jubliee Sports Center in Shatin, NT, Hong Kong named our "lost" as the "Battle of Waterloo." Everyone were expecting our team to capture the gold medal in this event, but in the final round, facing two left-handed fencers that we were unfamiliar, we broke. We managed to keep the third place and earned valuable points for the school in winning the Omega Rose Bowl. There is a trophy that goes with the medals. It is, I believe, still in the trophy display case at school.

Shortly after the "lost," I began learning the techniques of sabre fencing on my own, mainly from reading books on saber fencing. I had a more junior fencing buddy from school as a partner in helping me work out the techniques. After a few months of training on my own, I entered the 1983 Hong Kong Open Men's Individual Junior Saber Event. Lo and behold, I managed to get to the finals and captured the 4th place. Below is the trophy. When I received it from Head Coach of then Juliee Sports Center, Mr. Tom Norcross, the next day, he asked me if I was upset at being the Second Runners Up in the event and thus did not pick up my trophy at the ceremony. I told him that I was not expecting to receive a trophy for being the 4th place and so I left after my final bout was done. After that, Tom had me begun receiving training from a Hong Kong Team saberist.

This is the last medal that I received before leaving Hong Kong. I can no longer remember exactly which competition it was from, but I remember that it was a Men's Individual Foil Event and was a tough competition, and I finished the final round with terrible leg cramps. I was still very young and had quite a temper. I remembered throwing a fit and behaving like a spoiled brat at one point arguing with the president officiating the bout. This is the best gold medal that I ever received. It's actually made by the German fencing gear manufacturer Ullmann. It's big and came with a blue velvet display case. However, the organizer did not make any inscriptions on the back and I have lost the display case when I moved to the U.S.