Hello River Chao Phraya

Hello Chao Phraya of Bangkok

It is almost a year from the last time I come to Bangkok. Now after covid-19, Bangkok is busy again for its all year summer, good food and lovely ladies. I used to stay in Sukhumvit, but the hotels there are getting dear so last time I stayed in On Nut. This time I am staying at Royal River on the other side of the river. Surprisingly it's very cheap though the hotel facilities are old (you can still see the old industrial valved flush toilets instead of siphonic flush), but you can have a river balcony room at a very affordable price. One would enjoy the comfortable environment and great scenes of the river. You may not want to go out.

Bangkok Sarsi

I don't know how many aged persons can remember the taste of sarsi - a kind of cola. If you're not sure, you can taste it out in Bangkok. Yeah, they still have that dated back to year 1888.

短談《論語》

 

短談《論語》 short talks on "The Analects"  

《季氏》

子曰：「益者三友，損者三友。友直，友諒，友多聞，益矣。友便辟，友善柔，友便佞，損矣。」

The above is mostly translated into the following contemporary Chinese:

有益的朋友有三種，有害的朋友有三種。

正直的朋友、誠實的朋友、見多識廣的朋友，是有益的 ；

走邪門歪道的朋友、讒媚奉迎朋友、花言巧語朋友，是有害的。

 

May I ask "what is the difference between 正直 and 誠實?"

It seems to me  正直 and 誠實 come very close or sometimes interchangeable.

May be you can say 正直 = frank, 誠實 = honest ->  so they are different.

 

If you check back the original scripts, one is 直 and one is 諒.

To me, they means 2 different moral qualities.

直 = frank and honest

諒  = 寬容 = tolerant

 

In its context, 直 is the opposite of 善柔. I believe the original meaning of 諒 meant 寬容 (tolerant) rather than 誠實.

便 means the act of/behave, such as 辟 (歪) 佞(花言巧語)

 

So if you mean to learn from the web, look for reliable sources. Nowadays, most on the web copied from the same source. The 1^st one makes mistake, everybody makes mistake!

《里仁》

子曰：「朝聞道，夕死可矣。」 

It is a simple one, actually no need further explanation.

Some say, it has profound meaning：懂得了仁義的道理，就應該用自己的一生去實踐它，有時為了捍衛之，甚至不惜犧牲自己的生命。

Trust it or not, you yourselves to determine.

 

To me, these 2 phrases reflect each others. Let re-order the 2nd phrase a bit to 夕可死矣. You will find them a proper pair.

 

朝 - word of time

聞 –verb, word of action

道 - object about (here is about moral)

 

夕 - word of time

可 - verb, word of action

死 - object about (here is about death)

矣 - auxiliary

 

In simple English, it is:

“there is no regret in life once you understand the truth of morality”

一旦明白道德的真諦，人生便沒有遺憾了。

太不像話, 今年一段慶祝國慶的 Whatsapp, Wechat 信息也收不到, 啲愛國人仕/同志死晒去邊度?

It's indecent. This year I did not receive one single Whatsapp, Wechat congrad message for the celebration of somebody's great National Day. Where have all those hard dead patriots/comrades gone?

真善、偽善

最近在網上認識一位女士，她説她是從國內來的， 來了香港18年。 從事人壽保險工作，成績斐然。 我早前在網上提及舊電影「一水隔天涯」和澳門。 所以我和她說有空的話可以在網上看看這齣當年的電影。

她說她討厭澳門。 

我問她為何？

她說澳門毀掉很多家庭，她不喜歡賭博。

我繼續問她喜歡日本或者日本人嗎？

她說她喜歡日本和日本人。 她去過日本三趟。

我說日本曾經侵略中國及其它亞洲國家， 他們摧毀成千上萬的家庭， 他們手段殘忍，他們犯了戰爭罪行，令很多人受痛苦。在我一生之中我從來未踏足過日本， 即使我有免費機票往哪兒。

她說：如果你糾纏在歷史和過往，你的心將永遠充滿仇恨。

我說：如果你比較日本和澳門哪一個犯了更嚴重的罪行(而要令人憎惡）？日本犯了嚴重的戰爭罪行， 殺了成千上萬的人， (毀了成千上萬的家庭）你不憎惡他們。反之你憎恨澳門，因為澳門目标一些貪婪和找快錢的人。是不是殺成千上萬的是小罪， 懲罰一些貪婪的就是大罪？（所謂的義不殺少而殺眾。）

她說：我不討論政治問題，

我說：這不是政治問題， 這是道義。

她說：我的能力只適合活在當下，我不喜歡牢記仇恨。 (不是你最先提起仇恨澳門嗎？)

 

Analysis: It is common for some professionals who want to establish a positive image in their clients’mind or say building trust. To stress that they do not like or even hate gambling implies that they are moral and can be trusted. As Japan is our distinguish neighbour, a place where most HKers like/proud to go. To please most people including your clients, certainly you would say you like Japan and Japanese.

Fish and Chips

 

也不知多少年沒有吃過 fish and chips. Many years not having fish and chips. Miss the days in the UK.

汝非吾親生

 

美女與俊男同飲， 女量淺， 不勝醉， 語紛亂。

男參扶， 意有所望。

女耳語曰：「汝呼吾為娘， 告汝密事」。

男困惑， 然終呼女為娘。

女醉步入臥。男見機趨之曰，何密事？

女曰：「汝非吾親生!」

ordinary meal

An ordinary meal for an ordinary person. However it reminds me my mother's cooking. I started cooking when I was a teenager. Although I'm educated and have been cooking for many years, however I cannot cook as good as my mother. At least the following three dishes I have to submissive to my mother: scrambled eggs 炒滑蛋, deep fried fish 煎魚, Chinese broccoli with wine 酒香芥蘭.

You may think they are simple then you could be naive. Yes. they are simple for villagers but could be hard for urban professionals. If you are in doubt, then check with the favorite chefs and seek their opinions.

一水隔天涯

 

「一水隔天涯」是不少港人的集體回憶， 當年年輕的苗金鳳更是不少人心目中的女神。 這「一水」所指的就是和香港一衣帶水的澳門。

 

曾幾何時每逢週末， 不少港人蜂擁前往澳門， 澳門的飛翼船服務最為活躍， 有時一票難求， 回程船票票價通常炒上二三百元一張。

 

時移世易，皇恩浩蕩，自港珠澳大橋通車之後，穿梭巴士金巴服務變成正統，而且價格較當年專利的飛翼船服務更為便宜，那橫越70載的專利黃金航線時代結束。 以現今長者單程票來說，單程車票只需港幣33元， 來回也不過是66元。 比由深圳往東莞的火車票價還便宜很多。

The Coronation of King Charles III.

 The Coronation of King Charles III.

No doubt, 6th May 2023 is a big day for British Nation as it is the coronation of King Charles III.

I watched the entire process from the evening to late night. It was a precious religious moment. I am glad I could watch this precious Anglican Church and royal crowning ritual process of a great nation.

The Choir

You can see the choir consists of many faces, not just purely British. Chinese, Indian, glasses, tall, short, bald, bearded, pretty and the average are all among them. It shows the great tolerance of the nation.

The Royal Members

It was a rare occasion of royal member gathering. I am not an expert on etiquette or British history. I put down the names as long as I can recognise. Black gown was worn by the direct royal blood, whereas blue gown was by the spouses of the princes. However, Prince Michael seems to be the only exception. His gown was blue with garter star on the right, red on the left shoulder. For all other royal direct blood, they were all dressing the black gown with garter cross on the right, purple red on the left shoulder. Seems Prince Michael dress was similar to the spouse of the direct blood - It is my intuitive observation and I could be wrong.