Monday 21 March 2011

Vocabulary: @ Hong Kong Flower Show 2011




I know it is a little too many songs in 2 weeks, but that is because I'm feeling particularly down and I need some time to recover, so a few nice songs can definitely "soothe the burn, ease the pain" a little. 

I went to the Hong Kong Flower Show 2011 alone yesterday and took some pictures, hoping that will cheer myself up a little. Did it work? Of course not, but I could use a little distraction.

Apart from that, like I always say, as long as you pay attention, there is always something to learn. To be easy on myself and easy on you, I'm just going to introduce a few flower names.

First, something edible, the cabbages, located near the main entrance.
A close-up of Cabbage, I like the water droplets on the leaves

Cabbages in groups. Yummy!


Then comes the orchids,  reminds me of a restaurant name in Hong Kong every time I go to watch movies at the UA Cinema. Never tried that restaurant though.

Don't have enough zoom, need a new lens
Then another plant reminds me of Chinese dessert, the Green Bean Soup, called Rue, They have beautiful little small flowers. They smell SO SO good!
Rue
There were more herbs, such as Parsley, Peppermint and Basil,
Parsley
Peppermint

Basil

Another flower which we have talked about is the Chrysanthemum, or simply, mum. Mum's tea anyone?

Chrysanthemum

The sunflowers are not looking that good already, and it was hard to pick one that still looked all right.
One in-good-shape Sunflower
The others were just wilting.
Wilting Sunflowers
There was something new to see, like the King Protea, the National Flower of South Africa. 
King Protea
And the Dancing Grass /  Telegraph PlantCodariocalyx motorius, "a tropical Asian shrub...is widely distributed throughout Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam... It produces small purple flowers. "

"Dancing Grass" / Telegraph Plant 

How does it dance? Let's take a look!


The tulips were definitely the plant of the show and it was packed with photographers with lenses longer than my leg.
Tulips
The orange ones had gradient colours.

And the red ones were so red that they looked almost fake,

The yellow ones were warm,

The pink ones were gentle.

Anyway, the one flower that I was chasing for, was my favourite flower, the Sweet Osmanthus, Osmanthus fragrans. Like the name, they smell so sweet! And the most exciting of all, they actually bear fruits!!! I couldn't resist and took one home to plant! Shhhh!!! Don't tell anyone!

Osmanthus with fruits
The last one, is a picture of my dinner last night, it is beanstalk and Chinese kale,
Beanstalk and Kale
Many of these flowers have actually been mentioned before, so please refer to the links below for more revisions, and if you want to see all the pictures, you can visit my Facebook album.

Vocabulary:
distraction -- (n) [C or U] something that prevents someone from concentrating on what they are doing
edible -- (adj) suitable or safe for eating
wilt --(vb)[I] (of a plant) to become weak and begin to bend towards the ground, or (of a person) to become weaker, tired or less confident

Resources:
 Hong Kong Flower Show 2011

Vocabulary: Chinese New Year Flowers and Plants @ Locky's English Playground

Herbs: Rue / Ruta in Green Bean Sweet Soup @ Locky's English Playground

Spice: Thai Basils @ Locky's English Playground

King Protea @ Wikipedia

Dancing Grass @ YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mVBTqh37TGM&feature=related

Dancing Grass @ Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Codariocalyx_motorius

Osmanthus @ Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osmanthus_fragrans

Chinese Kale @ Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kai-lan

All pictures on my Facebook