The Cube: March 2013

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Post Box at House Number 100

Saw this on my usual jogging route, just had to stop and grab a photo. :)

Side note: This is a scheduled post... I wonder if I am having some yummy dinner when this is published.. :P

Saturday, March 23, 2013

(Some) China history in bite size

Disclaimer: My knowledge of history is very subpar...

Ming Dynasty started after conquering China, thus ending the Yuan Dynasty (Mongol)
The first 3 emperors of Ming Dynasty - Hongwu Emperor, Jianwen Emperor and Yongle Emperor. These are the era name. (Example: Zhu Yuanzhang was the given name for Hongwu Emperor.)
Jianwen Emperor is the grandson of Hongwu Emperor, the son of the initial crown prince who passed away before succeeding his father.
Jianwen era was short, as he was taken over by his 4th uncle, Yongle Emperor via Jingnan Campaign (civil war)
The given name for Yongle Emperor was Zhu Di, later assumed Prince of Yan.
Zheng He (or Cheng Ho) was born Ma He, later known as Ma Sanbao when he served Prince of Yan. He was conferred the surname Zheng, following his contribution in one of the battles.
Zheng He is the Laksamana (Admiral) Cheng Ho whom I read in History classes in school. He led seven sea expeditions and one of the gifts he brought back was a giraffe. There's even a San Bao Temple in Malacca, Malaysia.
Yongle Emperor moved his capital to Beijing and started the construction of Forbidden City, now known as Gugong.
The dynasty after Ming was Qing (Manchurian, that was the era where men wear the queue hairstyle)
The 4th emperor in Qing Dynasty was Kangxi Emperor.
There were some dispute in Kangxi Emperor's succession but eventually he was succeeded by his 4th son, Yongzheng Emperor (given name Yinzhen)
Yongzheng Emperor was succeeded by his son, Qianlong Emperor.

In my desperation to cram in and remember somewhat of China History, I googled for facts based on some TV dramas that I have watched. These TV drama somewhat loosely adapted parts of the history. Of course, scrapped off all the romantic bits, none of those are real.

However now everytime I think of Zheng He, I remember him as this. = ="

Source: Link

But I think he was more like this...

Source: Link

And my memory version of Yongzheng Emperor is this...

Source: Link but I think the author got it from here

But according to wiki, he looked like this...

Source: Link

Before I got carried away, my friend very promptly reminded me that Zhuge Liang does not look like this.

Source: Link

Side note: Off to hols soon!

Sunday, March 17, 2013

Peer pressure

Part of Merri Creek... I think

... is a b*tch. Pardon my French, but it is. However in this case, it is a good b*tch, if there are good b*itches. You wonder what has that got to do with the serene looking stream photo. Allow me to explain.

I tried out the couch to 5k thingy in Sydney, and my usual go-to place to do this was none other than the Harbour Bridge. When I started out, to and fro the Harbour Bridge was just the right distance, and if I need to go further, I could go all the way towards the Opera House side, or continue towards the Royal Botanic Garden next to the Opera House.

I moved to Melbourne thereafter, and am fairly unfamiliar with this place. Note the present tense. One fine day, I was jogging (a very slow jog in my context) and stumbled upon this place above, to which I believe is part of the Merri Creek Trail and the river, is probably the Yarra River, if not Merri Creek.

Somewhere at Digits Falls Trail

To be honest, I am still clueless about as to which trail I was jogging on, as there are Digits Falls Loop Trail, Yarra Bend Trail, Capital City Trail, etc around the same area. I could have been on part of trail A and move to trail B unknowingly. There were times when I happily jog on and realised that I have no idea how to get home, but still stubbornly refused to retrace my steps. A couple of times I fished out the phone to check on google map but it would lead me towards the main road but I would ignore it and trying to find my way in the middle of the reserve trails. There were also times where I would trail behind other people to find new routes, but those are not the best way as I am a slow jogger and I have absolutely no idea where they are going. Lady Luck must have higher tolerance towards silly people like me, because I always find my way home before dark. ^ ^

Anyway, I digress. Back to peer pressure. Despite enjoying my slow jog, there were many times when I was just plain lazy, slug by nature and would just roll at home. However when my friend told me she is going for a run, this peer pressure switch would be turn on, and I actually feel guilty for just ゴロゴロ (goro goro; idling) at home.

It's a b*tch in that sense, but it's actually to my own good, so it is a good b*tch. Don't you think so?

Side note: Note to self - stop buying yummy food to munch... = ="

Monday, March 4, 2013

A walk to the City

I'm the one on the left - no bicycle

I had a brilliant idea of walking to the city from where I stayed.. just for fun. It was a brilliant idea at that time until when I executed the plan, particularly when I was starving half way through the route.

I stay about 5.5 km away from the city, specifically Flinders Street Station. It wasn't a really long walk, just slightly over an hour but I should've brought along a snack or had a heavier breakkie but I didn't.

I live fairly near a train station, and yup, I forgo a train ride and walk. One could argued that it was a beautiful day but it got to a little more warm than my liking but toleratable at 27 degrees tops as the day went.

The stretch along Hoddle Street were not very exciting and I probably look a little silly walking with a camera hanging off my neck. LOL

Display outside a mirror shop

St Phillip's Vicarage

It appears that there was a church next to the vicarage. The church was built in 1865 but demolished in 1968 due to lack of finance to repair the deteriorated building. The vicarage was however built in 1866 and still standing as of now though it looks deserted.

This St Phillips Reserve stands between the vicarage above and a town hall.

Outsome some shop that appears to be selling leather goods

I thought this is St John the Evangelist Catholic Church given it's location in google map, but when I looked at the image, it looks different. I should've taken a picture of the name of the church as well :(

From here, it's fairly short walk to Jolimont Station, where it is a hop and a skip to Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG). Before I moved to Melbourne, I was clueless what MCG stands for. Shame on me as MCG is an icon in Melbourne :/

Love the greenary

Shane Warne - one of the few criketeers I know by name

William Barak Bridge connects MCG with Birrarung Marr. It is said that this bridge is to improve Melbourne's pedestrian environment and encourage public transport use to and from events within the Sports Precinct, particularly during the Commonwealth Games and for major events held at the MCG and Tennis Centre.

William Barak was one of the elders of the Wurundjeri-william clan and an influential spokesman for Aboriginal social justice. Along the bridge one can hear human voices aired through built-in speakers. It is a public art project for William Barak Bridge commissioned to celebrate Melbourne 2006 Commenwealth Games.

This area is the home to other stadiums - Rod Laver Area and Hisense Area. These two stadiums are the main venue of Australian Open for tennis since 1988.

Birrarung Marr is next to Federation Square, sitting on the north bank of Yarra River. 'Birrarung' means 'river of mists' and 'Marr' refers to the side of the river in the language of Wurundjeri period who originally inhabited this area.

The Federation Bells is a set of 39 brass bells located in Birrarung Marr. The bells can be heard at certain time of the day. Refer here for the schedule and ha, wasn't I lucky, I actually just right at the bells were ringing.

It's a nice, shady place to sit down and read a book, preferably with some snacks and drinks at hand.

From across Yarra River, the unmissable Arts Centre Melbourne.

By the end of it, I was craving for some fries and icy cold bubble tea :P

Side note: French Vanilla almonds are evil

Saturday, March 2, 2013

Pearl of the Orient

I went to on two separate trips, much to my regret, I didn't post any on the first trip. There were some blog posts on the second one, but not in this blog. That being said, it means that both trips were prior to October 2007.

I am fairly sure things in HK have changed since, so there isn't much help even if I write on transportation, eatery places, etc. I wonder if the sites changed too.

In no particular order...