il Giardino Romantico

從圖片右下方就可得知這是在九月九日在市政府前的廣場舉辦的活動。
當天有各式各樣的廠商，但環繞著的主題只有一個：貓咪狗狗！
在活動前幾週確定當天沒事之後馬上告知Animals Taiwan
以上是當天攤位中所能看到的一些商品。

從泰雅達利走到車站約要半個小時。不過那是以我一邊走、一邊享受風景的速度。
It took me about thirty minutes to walk from the lodging down to the bus station.  But that's because of the intermittent stops for photo shots and view enjoyment.
如果回程的風景沒那麼美，也許可以節省十分鐘。約二十分就到了！？
It would probably take a lot less than thirty whole minutes if the view hadn't been so beautiful.
這些是下山途中拍下的風景。

也許是旅遊節目看太多。到達住宿地點前，一直告訴自己這一定是個很棒的地方！
Perhaps from watching too many travel shows, I've been imagining this place as impeccably wonderful.
不過無論實際上與所期望的相差多少，有一點是無法改變的：我是來這放鬆的。所以沒有任何人、或事情可以破壞我這與自己獨處的夜晚！
However reality differentiates from expectations, there is one thing that is unchangeable:  Nobody nor anybody could have sabotaged this perfect night I had all by myself!
泰雅達利 The Lodging

接著，我繼續往上爬。上次沒走到的地方，這次繼續挑戰。其實好奇的是到底上頭有什麼？
Then, I continued climbing higher.  Exploring new land. 
找到的地方，豈是區區幾張照片能容納的下的？因此我用攝影功能把他帶回來。此地，看似還尚未開放。我先帶大家先睹為快：
What I found there, was simply too much for one picture to hold.  So, here is a video clip of the extraordinary place I discovered, that apparently is not yet open to public.
[這裡本來是要放影片，可是還是一直放不上來。日後若上傳成功，在麻煩大家跑一趟過來看看吧！！]

The reason why everything tangible is obsolete is because that is the natural order of this universe.  For everything, there is birth, and then there is death.  For that makes up the universal duality. 
The birth of my passion for classical music was impregnated by my first iPod - iPod shuffle.  It was the best investment I had ever made.  It helped me discover Vivaldi's invigorating depiction of the four seasons, the spell-bounding symphonies of Beethoven, and later it became my very own private tutor of Spanish, Italian, German, and even French.
After  a continual complaint about not being able to see the details of the songs I'm listening to, a new iPod soon came into my life - iPod Nano.  It was just as good, but even better.  I continued to let it inspire me.
I love not being able to decide whether I should read and listen to a symphony, or do a half-hour language session every day as I leave for work.
I love that my little personal orchestra plays exactly what I ask it to play and whenever I want it to play.  Karajan, Corelli, Kempf, and Menuhin, always at their best and at my disposal.  Just a click and turn, and they will all promptly perform their magic on me.  I am the queen in this world.
But as the days go by, the acoustics slowly fade away.  The inspiration that first started out as a fierce blazing fire, now dimming down to the last flicker.  However well they play, the mind seems to have forgotten what it felt like.  Inspiration, in the words of the Romantics is a spontaneous overflow of very powerful feelings.  Like a waterfall.  Powerful.  Unstoppable. Well, now, it dribbles drop by drop like a broken tap. 
Time to celebrate the birth of a new inspiration.  The trumpets will blow and hats will be taken off in honor of the old worn-out earphones.  They have served me well. 
Bidding farewell is indeed, difficult.  Nevertheless, sorrow ends as soon as the new arrives. 
Today my orchestra is revived.  Once again, Bartoli's Lascia Ch'io Pianga is able to squeeze out a droplet of tear.  I am the rider of the Valkyries.  The canvas of dusk in this chaotic city becomes another masterpiece of God, as my choir sings Missa Solemnis into my ears.
The concept of aesthetics is not elusive.  But you do need the right tools to help you get a good start.  I walk bravely onward from my past into the future as my mechanical pendant, my amulet, hangs blessing-fully around my neck.  No matter how the world should overwhelm me with the most nefarious sounds, I will be ready.  It is my shield and my sword.  Polished and renewed.  It's exactly the thing I need to  become even more secluded than I already am, from the rest of the world.

烏來遊記下篇因為有個影片檔上傳一直出現問題，所以還是讓兒子來表演一下。
今天要秀的是：我與紙袋。
喔！太棒了！全新的紙袋耶～
這是我的！誰都不准碰！
媽咪也不例外喔～～～～
紙袋紙袋，你別想跑～
你只屬於我一人。
別惹我喔～
不然下場就會跟『紙袋』一樣喔！
紙袋最後的下場：
再來看看我這隻瘋貓是怎麼玩紙袋的：

我又來到了烏來。
Wu-lai, I'm back.
這次不一樣的是，我是一個人單獨來的。雖然獨自一人，但有著大自然的陪伴，當然就不寂寞。這次的經驗與初次造訪的體會全然不同。因為一個人，腳步的速度可以自己決定。停留的時間可以自行決定。雖然結伴同行也是不錯的，但偶爾獨行，也是不錯的選擇。
The difference this time, is that I'm alone.  With the company of Mother Nature, however, I feel anything but lonely.  The good thing about traveling alone is that I get to decide the pace of my steps, where I should stop, and how long I should remain there.  Of course, having a friend or two wouldn't be such a bad idea, but being alone give you the opportunity to spend some quality time with your inner self.
[聖地 Holy Ground]
也許是經過幾次颱風侵襲，這次在大老遠的地方就已經能聽見瀑布聲。瞧，這次上次被我們誤認為瀑布的排水口。其實這樣看起來，也能算是個小瀑布！？
After the invasion of a few typhoons, the waterfall could be heard while still far away.  See, that's the outlet that we had mistaken as THE waterfall.  From the look of it, perhaps it is a mini-waterall?
[烏來瀑布 Wu-lai Waterfall]
瀑布變大了。水流聲更清脆了！
The waterfall has grown bigger!  The flowing water has also gotten louder and crispier!
到了瀑布面前往下一看，因為光線還看得到彩虹！不過一轉眼，就又不見了。
When you look down below, you could even catch the sight of a rainbow.  But within a blink of an eye, it would vanish.
[勇士廣場 ]
來到上次說適合野餐的觀賞瀑布的平台，決定在這休息。要記得，來到這可是要先挑戰一段階梯的呦！
I came to the waterfall viewing platform, and decided to take a little rest here.  This is, of course, after a long flight of ascending stairs.
[圖片以刪除]
瞧我一身利物浦裝，就知道我是帶著夢想來這。
Wearing my Liverpool shirt, it's almost as if I've brought my dream with me.
就連鴨舌帽也是 Liverpool FC的～  [還有我兒子的毛在上面耶～ @.@]
Even the cap. [That's my Prince Angelino's fur you see stuck on the cap...]
到這邊一定得先聊聊那件衣服。話說，那是2000[?]在清邁渡假時碰巧看到的。當時其實自己都還沒決定要去哪所學校。但現在回想起來，也許冥冥之中早就註定好了？
I found that shirt while doing some random shopping that summer back in year 2000.  I was on vacation in Chiangmai visiting my folks.  At the time, I hadn't decided yet where I'd go for my master's degree.  Now, looking back, perhaps everything had already been planned.
於是我坐在那啃我的全麥麵包。目不轉睛盯著瀑布看。大自然可真是威力無比呀！
So as I sat there chewing on my whole wheat bread, staring at the waterfall, I experienced a revelation.
嘿！毫無藝術天分的我，竟然也會畫出五分像的瀑布水彩畫！真是太神奇了！
Without any innate artistic skill, I was actually able to paint something that looked rather similar to the waterfall!  The power of Mother Nature, simply cannot be underestimated.
誰說一定要是藝術家才能動筆畫畫？記得某人曾跟我說過：『畫畫不是攝影，一定得畫的一模一樣。』每次拿起水彩筆，心裡就回想著這句話。只要自己畫的開心就好。何必一定要成為大師呢？
Whoever said only artists could paint?  I recall the words of a very wise person:  It's not photography.  And so whenever I'm holding a paintbrush, I'd remind myself that.  I'm painting because it makes me happy to do so.  There is no need to become a maestro.  We have plenty already.
未完待續...
To be continued very soon...

[This article is about the mistranslation of 'Knights Templar' in Chinese, found in the subtitles of the movie National Treasure.]
出門前看到正好電視在播放國家寶藏。
一直以來只要能盡量避免翻譯的時候，我都會看原文。除非真的是我不懂的語言。翻譯讓世界變得更小。這是無法否認的事實。不過常常在看電影台時看到令人吐血的翻譯時，我心裡想：這算哪們子的翻譯。比較深奧的句子與字彙不談，我就曾經看過竟然把Tuesday翻成星期四的電影字幕翻譯。
我會選擇直接看原文書的原因，除了因為效率能比較快之外，另外一個原因也是因為很多辭彙，看到原文我認得。可是看到翻譯成中文，我還得下一翻工夫去查原文。這就跟正在學英文的學生，無時無刻都要依賴字典才能理解原文小說的內容一樣吃力。
國家寶藏中提到的共濟會，我一直以為是原文的Illuminati。可是演員們說出口的卻是Knights Templar。

當我看到Febie家貼出這篇文章時，我問我自己：你平時都說愛動物、愛貓咪。對自己的貓愛的跟什麼一樣，如果今天是自己的兒子遇到這樣的事情，你會怎麼做？
我承認我剛開始有點猶豫。畢竟之前因為告知要去英國了，如今有幾堂課已經取消了。物價在漲，我還得繼續存錢，可是荷包卻縮的緊緊的。可是與其偶爾買個貓罐頭餵餵說不定平時就有覓食能力的街貓，不如實際行動。這比去當義工能做的更直接的幫助。
所以如果你們也願意的話，可否幫忙這隻跟我兒子長得好像的貓朋友，讓他能夠順利動手術？！

各位叔叔阿姨：拜託你們囉！！

[For your enjoyment of the book, no plot is revealed in the following article.]
[The cover shown here is different from the cover of the book I possess.]
The most interesting stories are those that revolve around plausible, or even existing facts.  The Da Vinci Code became an instant best-seller because Dan Brown built his story using evidence from his extensive research on real, historical events.  But the content of this fictitious work is nothing compared to what The Second Messiah sets out to reveal.
In this book, everything that started out as mere assumptions are later supported and proven by meticulously oriented experiments and research.  However, it may not be popular among Christians I would presume.
This is one of the many instances when I can reconfirm my decision never to be baptized and claim to be any ONE religion.  For if I do that, then I would forfeit the ability to view all religion objectively.  Thus, I believe my reflections on the book to be quite objective.