Message: Merging 2 PCs Into 1 and Glass Recycling (Pre-2013 Task)

The good PC (left), the bad PC (centre) and the being merged (right)
Image from Locky's English Playground

One of the many many tasks I had to accomplish before 2013 was to merge two PCs into one. I had to do that because the cheap RAM I bought from Taobao was later found not so compatible with my PC and it freezes often so often that I couldn't bear with it any more. It happens that another high performance well-functioning but inexpandable mini-case PC was available, so the best solution is, get a bigger case and combine the two PCs together.

Inside the good PC, P5QL SE
Image from Locky's English Playground

I know my bad PC super well as I have upgraded and fixed it tens of times, but the good PC one was new to me. One thing that I realised was that my own PC's motherboard was using a 8.9 inch X 9.6 inch XFX's nForce 630i GeForce 7100 micro ATX motherboard whereas the good PC was the Standard ATX motherboard (ASUS P5QL SE) with a dimension of 12 inch X 7.6 inch, and because I have decided to keep the good PC's motherboard and discard the bad PC's one, the new case that I had to buy must fit the Standard ATX Form Factor (which shouldn't be too difficult) and take future upgrades into the account.

After getting the case, stripping down the motherboards was the main deal.

Can you see the word "Chassis"?
Image from Locky's English Playground

I was careful enough to have taken a few photos of the internal wirings before removing them. There I learnt a word, CHASSIS, which actually means the computer case (as seen in the photo above) and it supplies the power to the computer case. Directly above the word chassis is actually the speaker's power, then  Besides that is the F_PANEL, the front panel, which supplies power to parts such as the LEDs and lights of the case.

The motherboard layout
Image from ASUS

It does come with very small pins and I had to be very careful when inserting them into the slot. A wrong pin in the wrong slot might end up breaking the fragile parts.

USB connection to the motherboard, 9 pins but the connector looks as if there are 10.
Image from Locky's English Playground

The 9-pin USB connectors are supposed to be easy provided you have a good eye.

Inside the new case
(Clockwise)  2 DVD drives (1 o'clock position), card reader (3 o'clock position), 3 hard disks(5 o'clock position),
power supply unit (7 o'clock position), display card (9 o'clock position), CPU fan (10 o'clock position)
Image from Locky's English Playground

After removing all the parts, the next challenge was to assemble the parts from 2 PCs back into one in a new case. This part of the operation was pretty smooth and straight forward and it was all so fun to do.

Image from Locky's English Playground

And this is how the end product looks like. 

Brand New Computer (left), bad PC (centre), good PC (right)
Image from Locky's English Playground

And what is left behind un-added is an old display card and a not-so-good GTR PSU. The PSU is kept for future testing, but the display card, together with extra mouse and wires, are NOT going to the bin to pollute the environment.

Forsa and GTR
Image from Locky's English Playground

Some of you might have noticed that there are several ways to recycle your computer parts and other stuff in Hong Kong.

The easiest way is go to Mobile WEEE  to check out which collection centre is nearest to you, then you just have to bring along all the recyclable goods such as used computers, electrical appliances, fluorescent lamps and rechargeable batteries to the collection centre.

Upcoming schedules
Image from wastereduction.gov.hk

Because I have missed the chance on that date, so my next choice is to find the non-mobile collection points, and this is the one I found in Wan Chai.

One of the 4 computer products collection point in Wan Chai
Image from wastereduction.gov.hk

Of course, the extra computer parts are taken to the collection point for recycling, which will either be reassembled with other donated parts into good PCs and given freely to the children in need, or properly dealt with in order not to prevent dangerous metals such as mercury from polluting the environment.

Image from wastereduction.gov.hk

From the same website, I also found the collection point for glass bottles. I have always wanted to recycle glass bottles but in the past, I could only painfully see them end up in the trash can, this time, it is different.

Hong Kong is well-known at the international level for its lack of effort in glass recycling. You see recycling bins everywhere for paper, metal and plastic, but not for glass and milk carton. People in Hong Kong who want to recycle glass, must at least do some homework and Google their answers.

Glass Collection Point in hotels
Image from EPD

There are a number of collection points in hotels, but whether they accept foreign donation of glass bottles, I am not sure.

Image from EPD

Luckily, I did manage to find one collection point in Wan Chai, right at the Refuse Collection Point at Southern Playground in Wan Chai, and so I took all the glass bottles there for recycling.

Glass bottles after parties
Image from Locky's English Playground

It was a little heavy, but knowing that I am doing the world a lot of good, my heart felt warm and I will continue with the glass recycling.

A basket and a stand indicating the spot of the collection point
Image from Locky's English Playground

What surprised me was how the collection "spot" literally is a spot. Readers of this post, I hope you can share this page to all your friends so that they can support this glass recycling program, otherwise, the government wouldn't care much about this topic, and we won't know where to recycle our glass waste.

Let's protect our environment starting from 2013!!!

If you wan to find out more about glass recycling, do read Hong Kong's Glass Recycling System.

Vocabulary:
chassis -- (n) computer case

Resources:
Technology: How To Speed Up Your PC @ Locky's English Playground
http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/2012/10/technology-how-to-speed-up-your-pc.html

ATX @ Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ATX

ASUS P5QL SE @ ASUS
http://www.asus.com.au/Motherboards/Intel_Socket_775/P5QL_SE/#download

XFX nForce 630i / GeForce 7100 @ CNET
http://reviews.cnet.com/motherboards/xfx-nforce-630i-geforce/4505-3049_7-32810416.html

Mobile WEEE Collection Centre
https://www.wastereduction.gov.hk/en/workplace/mwcc_detail.htm

EPD Waste Reduction Collection Points
https://www.wastereduction.gov.hk/apps/vicinity_result.jsp?collection_type=outlet&material_type=col_computers&district_id=2&view=Go&textonly=0

In Hong Kong, a Wasted Chance to Recycle Glass @ The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/30/business/global/in-hong-kong-a-wasted-chance-to-recycle-glass.html

Environment: Tetra Pak Carton Recycling @  Locky's English Playground
http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/2010/11/environment-tetra-pak-carton-recycling.html

Glass Container Recycling Programme @ EPD
http://www.epd.gov.hk/epd/english/environmentinhk/waste/eco_responsibility/n_gcrp.html

Glass Collection Spots @ EPD
https://www.wastereduction.gov.hk/apps/vicinity_result.jsp?collection_type=collector&material_type=glass&district_id=0&view=Go&textonly=0

Hong Kong's Glass Recycling System @ Hk-Asia City
http://hk.asia-city.com/city-living/article/hong-kongs-glass-recycling-system

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_case

Message: 2012 Roundup -- Top 44 Posts Of 2012

This is how I learn
Image from directory.ac

Every websites and news programs like to do roundups, and they are very popular among viewers, so I will do just that.

This year I have written 156 posts, 13 less than last year and 7 less than the year before, a pity because I have been too overloaded with tasks. I hope I can make up to it this year with better and more detailed researches and sharing.

Here's my Locky's English Playground Top 10 Posts Of 2012!

Spirals of Sunflower has the best arrangement for solar energy absorption
Image from Wikipedia

In January, I read an article on solar plant and discovered the secret of the sunflower pattern in assisting solar energy capturing. Then Bobsled Winter Olympics Champion Steven Holcomb followed my blog's Twitter which allowed me to write a post introducing his game.

Welding Glass Photography. Do you remember?
Image from Electric Arc

I began writing for the Student Page of The Standard in February and the first one was about Valentine's Day as I talked about the slang and the sweet words, offered challenging tasks and discussion questions for the secondary school students of Hong Kong. Then the next Student Page article talked about the words which have to do with "sugar and sweets". Then I learnt about the benefits of an ND filter in photography but challenged the pricey technology with a HK$4 welding glass with surprising results! Lastly, I shared my own story of learning before I bid The Standard goodbye for my short-lived column.

Image from Google Books

March came and in the first article I agreed that Android will easily beat iOS in terms of market share and popularity and so the inevitable loss of Whatsapp's market share, which we now know this is all true as Apple's share dropped 30% from the highest while Samsung's continuously heads for new height, and Whatsapp rumoured to be selling the company to Facebook. Students always ask which phrasal verbs to learn and I emphasized the importance of Corpus Linguistics in English learning in answering similar questions.

Dr. House has the best quotes of life in English
Image from FOX

In April, I offered answers to a number of mysteries including whether hasmas is really from snow leopard geckos, how cultural differences affect the definition of gestures such as the OK, Hang Ten and the Loser signs as well as the names of several other Hong Kong wet market fish. Then I spared no time and effect in compiling one of the best House M.D. quotes collection on the internet, gaining a hit-rate of 3384 views for this particular article.

The Most Popular Smartphone Ever!
Image from Reuters

May was the month that Samsung become the new Apple by releasing the super duper awesome Galaxy SIII, which we now know has outsold all smartphones ever existed including the iPhone 4, 4S and 5 to date.  Apple, then, disgustingly responded by breaking away from Steve Jobs' personal hatred towards larger smartphones and upping their iPhone's size while claiming that Jobs had the idea in it before he left for heaven. Jobs' legacy? Not! Money makes the mare go. The Bee Gees took the scene as I discovered that their disco song Stayin' Alive actually saves lives! Then Robin Gibbs soon after left our world leaving behind his voice in his greatest songs. This year has been a huge improvement on the level of details in researches, thanks to all my homework from my Master's degree course, and there was my corpus-based analysis of a Whatsapp Group Chat, interesting findings unveiled the common mistakes made by a group of English learners who use Whatsapp to communicate.

The Beginning of My Tutorial Writing Journey
Image from Locky's English Playground

In June, I become a senior member of the XDA-developers forum and released the one and only [TUTORIAL][S3 Imitation] Turning your GS2 to GS2.5 (Updated on 27th August 2012), marking the highest hit rate at 32,924 on the XDA-developers forum to date!!! (Not even including the 977 views of that page on Locky's English Playground) The month ended with another bang when the topic on cuts of pork, beef and lamb got meaty, earning a 5th place in the all-time highest views of 5467 in the English Playground and the highest-viewing Locky's English Playground article of this year.

Family Tree
Image from Wikipedia

When July came, I got to learnt the relations between members of a family tree better, later I shared the techniques of cooking real good-looking scrambled eggs and discussed which oil is better for this dish, and finally, I shared my views on how Galaxyography has helped me become a better photographer as a whole.

Wanna cook really nice steak with a sticky wok?
Image from Locky's English Playground

August was a highly productive month, and mostly focused on topics around medicine and the environment. Personally, I think that learning to use an EpiPen is crucial to saving someone's life, while knowing more about ticks and lyme disease let us maintain good health. The Olympic Games brought back the memory of Nadia Comăneci and her perfect 10.0 videos. Student's request got me to search for easier ways to pronounce wine names in their native languages. Cooking continued and this time on cooking steaks without having a hard time washing up, really cool physics involved in this and so was the post on Fujiwhara Effect VS Li's Force Field. Whale hunts got bloody and I reckon it is my job to speak for the whales. I want to know the names of the giant trees along the streets of Hong Kong so I went searching for them.

Ice Cap Shrinking Horribly Quick
Image from BBC

September continued the science fair and I asked why the sky is blue to discover what Tyndall & Rayleigh Effects are. News on extra-small Arctic ice went viral on the internet and I discovered the shocking truth. Students' questions triggered my intention to write a Q & A post answering their questions on English learning.

Image from JAWS

October was once again science month and in Technology & Opinions: My Views on Android VS iOS, I learnt the difference between various smartphone display technology. Grammar regained my focus when another student asked me about In / At / Of / On / For / From ... Which. Shark Week from Discovery Channel brought me back my best memories of the movie JAWS and I shared how I fell in love with sharks.

Image from The Pepper Seed

Then Mythbusters and Man v. Food programs aroused my interests on finding the types of chili peppers and the best cure in November. In terms of learning new words, there is a post on words which describe body shape, idioms are also abundant in the Mythbusters show and portmanteau is also one of the must-learn items.

Image from Locky's English Playground

December arrived as I answered more questions about the Galaxy Note II in the English Playground as well as on XDA-developers forum. A good friend's visit to Hong Kong allowed me to think through the types of signature local food available in Hong Kong, and begin my journey to search for the best Hong Kong-style French Toast in the city.


I think either the 32,924 or the 5467 views record is really hard to break in 2013, but I hope the quality of the future posts can improve further such that the viewers can learn more knowledge and better English at the same time.



Vocabulary:
legacy -- (n)[C] money or property that you receive from someone after they die
Money makes the mare go -- (proverb) if you are prepared to pay enough, most people will be willing to do something that at first they said they wouldn't or couldn't do


Resources:
1. Technology: New Solar Tech 2011-12 @ Locky's English Playground
http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/2012/01/technology-new-solar-tech-2011-12.html

2. Sport & People: Bobsleigh & Steven Holcomb @ Locky's English Playground
http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/2012/01/sport-people-bobsleigh-steven-holcomb.html

3. Slang & Speaking: Speaking Valentine's @ Locky's English Playground
http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/2012/02/slang-speaking-speaking-valentines.html

4. Learning Method & Vocabulary: Post-Valentine's Sugar & Sweet @ Locky's English Playground
http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/2012/02/learning-method-vocabulary-post.html

5. Photography: ND Filters & Photography @ Locky's English Playground
http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/2012/02/photography-nd-filters-photography.html

6. Speaking: A Story Of My Learning @ Locky's English Playground
http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/2012/02/speaking-story-of-my-learning.html

7. Technology & Economics: Nothing Is Too Big To Fail  @ Locky's English Playground
http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/2012/03/technology-economics-nothing-is-too-big.html

8. Academic Research: What are the top phrasal verbs to learn? @ Locky's English Playground
http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/2012/03/academic-research-what-are-top-phrasal.html

9. Food & Animal: Hasma & Common House Gecko @ Locky's English Playground
http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/2012/04/food-animal-hasma-common-house-gecko.html

10. Culture: Gestures -- The OK, Hang Ten & Loser Signs @ Locky's English Playground
http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/2012/04/culture-gestures-ok-hang-ten-loser.html

11. Food: More x2 Fish@Hong Kong Wet Market  @ Locky's English Playground
http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/2012/04/food-more-x2-fishhong-kong-wet-market.html

12. TV & Quotes: House M.D. Season 8 Finale & The End (With Cool Quotes)  @ Locky's English Playground
http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/2012/04/tv-quotes-house-md-season-8-finale-end.html

13. Technology & News: Samsung Galaxy S3 Has Finally Arrived!!!! @ Locky's English Playground
http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/2012/05/technology-news-samsung-galaxy-s3-has.html

14. News & Opinions: Bothering Steve Jobs Again, Knocking At Heaven's Door! @ Locky's English Playground
http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/2012/05/news-opinions-bothering-steve-jobs.html

15. Song & Medical: Stayin' Alive -- Bee Gees & CPR @ Locky's English Playground
http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/2012/05/song-medical-stayin-alive-bee-gees-cpr.html

16. People: Thank You, Robin Gibb!!! R.I.P. @ Locky's English Playground
http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/2012/05/people-thank-you-robin-gibb-rip.html

17. Academic Research: Corpus-based Analysis of Whatsapp Group Chat @ Locky's English Playground
http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/2012/05/academic-research-corpus-based-analysis.html

18. Message: Becoming Senior Members of XDA-developers!!!@ Locky's English Playground
http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/2012/06/message-becoming-senior-members-of-xda.html

19. Technology: Turning your Galaxy S2 to Galaxy S2.5!!! @ Locky's English Playground
http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/2012/06/technology-turning-your-galaxy-s2-to.html

20. Food: Cuts of Pork, Beef & Lamb@ Locky's English Playground
http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/2012/06/food-cuts-of-pork-beef-lamb.html

21. Vocabulary: Grandma's Sister? -- The Family Tree
http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/2012/07/vocabulary-grandmas-sister-family-tree.html

22. Cooking & Health: How To Cook Perfect Scrambled Eggs with Healthy Oil and Good Wok
http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/2012/07/cooking-health-how-to-cook-perfect.html

23. Photography: Galaxyography VS iPhoneography
http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/2012/07/photography-galaxyography-vs.html

24. Medical: How To Use an EpiPen
http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/2012/08/medical-how-to-use-epipen.html

25. Sport & People: The 1st Perfect TEN -- Nadia Comăneci
http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/2012/08/sport-people-1st-perfect-ten-nadia.html

26. Drinks: How To Pronounce Wine Names?
http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/2012/08/drinks-how-to-pronounce-wine-names.html

27. Cooking: How To Cook Steaks with Sticky Wok and Clean Easily
http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/2012/08/cooking-how-to-cook-steaks-with-stick.html

28. Animals & TV: Saving the Cetaceans & Whale Wars -- Animal Planets
http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/2012/08/animals-tv-saving-cetaceans-whale-wars.html

29. Environment: What Giant Trees Are These?
http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/2012/08/environment-what-giant-trees-are-these.html

30. Science & Environment: The Fujiwhara Effect VS Li's Force Field
http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/2012/08/science-environment-fujiwhara-effect-vs.html

31. Medical & News: Tick & Lyme Disease
http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/2012/08/medical-news-tick-lyme-disease.html

32. Science: Why Is The Sky Blue? Tyndall & Rayleigh Effect
http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/2012/09/science-why-is-sky-blue-tyndall.html

33. Science & Environment: How Bad Is The Melting?
http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/2012/09/science-environment-how-bad-is-melting.html

34. Learning Psychology & Methods: Learning Q & A
http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/2012/10/learning-psychology-methods-learning-q-a.html

35. Technology & Opinions: My Views on Android VS iOS
http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/2012/10/technology-opinions-my-views-on-android.html

36. Grammar: In / At / Of / On / For / From ... Which (Active Voice)
http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/2012/10/grammar-in-at-of-on-for-from-which.html

37. Movie & TV: JAWS and I
http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/2012/10/movie-tv-jaws-and-i.html

38. TV & Food: Spicy Hot Chili @ Man V. Food
http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/2012/11/tv-food-spicy-hot-chili-man-vs-food.html

39. Vocabulary: Words That Describe Body Shapes
http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/2012/11/vocabulary-words-that-describe-body.html

40. TV & Vocabulary: Mythbusters & English Idioms
http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/2012/11/tv-vocabulary-mythbusters-english-idioms.html

41. Vocabulary: Do You Wordplay? -- Portmanteau
http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/2012/12/vocabulary-do-you-wordplay-portmanteau.html

42. Technology: Galaxy Note II Q & A -- Part 2
http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/2012/12/technology-galaxy-note-ii-q-part-2.html

[FAQ] Galaxy Note II GT-N7105 FAQ Compilation (7th Dec 2012) @ XDA-developers
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1999656

43. Food: Festive (or Anytime) Local Food In Hong Kong
http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/2012/12/food-festive-or-anytime-local-food-in.html

44. Food: The Search For Great Hong Kong-style French Toast -- Part 1
http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/2012/12/food-search-for-great-french-toast-part.html

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/legacy?q=legacy
http://www.phrases.org.uk/bulletin_board/58/messages/1197.html

Message: Happy 2013 To You All!!!

Image from NationNews

Dear friends and viewers,

I hereby wish you all the very best of health and wishes this year and many more years to come! May you and I together with Locky's English Playground grow high and wide in knowledge and wisdom!

Cheers,
Locky

Message: My Christmas Holidays 2012

My days have never been busier! Even my beloved English Playground has almost become stagnant. In the past Christmases, I could still find time to post an entry or two, this year's is almost impossible. Updating the title logo was the best I could do, and it wasn't one of my best design, by the way.

Clearing and cleaning have been my top priority, and when one does dig up the hidden, one rediscovers his past and his lost memories.

Take for example, Gameboy and Game Gear, two of the most popular game consoles in the 80s, were placed not so deep inside the covered shelf next to my bed, but it was only recently that I realised that there were AA batteries inside the Gameboy and immediately I knew, the Gameboy, once belonged to my deceased little brother's, should be a goner. The screen turned yellow partially and blue crystals formed at the tips of the batteries. My bet is that the acid leaked out and damaged the screen. 

The Game Gears (I have two), one was dead almost after a year but I kept it. The second one no longer works with the adaptor, it might still work with 6 AA batteries, or at least I am hoping that it might.

I miss those times with my little brother.

Gameboy and Game Gear
Image from Locky's English Playground

I have never done much Christmas shopping, same for this year, but Christmas window-shopping I did a lot and I happened to find a really cool underground street at the Mira, Tsim Sha Tsui, where the flagship Collect Point is.

Red Bricks with pattern
Image from Locky's English Playground

The design of the shops is pretty amazing, using red bricks to create that raw look and feel. Notice the pattern of the bricks on the floor, it's not just boring rectangles.

Tired shoppers
Image from Locky's English Playground

Shoppers instantly took a liking to the seats. I myself liked the view more.

Lamp post, signs or flags?
Image from Locky's English Playground

Tired and hungry shoppers can find a restaurant offering a range of western food and wine if they want to stay indoor for a quick bite before they dash off to their clothes hunt once again.

Different musicians performing every day
Image from Locky's English Playground

Happened to walked pass Jordan and discovered a pretty long human queue not waiting for iPhone 6 but Hong Kong-style all-day breakfast at the Australia Dairy Company. 

Long queue waiting for seats @ Australia Dairy Company
Image from Locky's English Playground

I have more than thrice remembered that I have never EVER tried a dust of breadcrumb from this place having worked so closed to this shop for more than 2 years in Jordan, and I never knew where this eatery is until then. How's that even possible?

Still, I did not go in to try. The end of the queue was just too far from my sight and my reach. Guess I will have to leave it to my fate to decide when is the best time.

Magic Show @ Cityplaza
Image from Locky's English Playground

The ever-so-popular Cityplaza in Tai Koo never lacks free shows for shoppers to watch. Performance wise, pretty good, but what always impresses me is the top-notch quality of the stages built.

A performer taking photos with shoppers
Image from Locky's English Playground

As for performers, they are always shoppers' "hottest" target for a photo or two, literally.

Bacon in burger @ SimplyLife
Image from Locky's English Playground

My Christmas dinner was too shabby to even be mentioned, so my Boxing Day dinner had to be a handsome compensation to my stomach. A nice American burger meal from Simplylife did me good, despite the lack of football trainings recently.


Vocabulary:
stagnant -- (adj) not growing or developing
deceased -- (adj) formal dead
goner -- (n)[C usually singular] informal a person or thing that has no chance of continuing to live
eatery -- (n)[C] informal a restaurant
top-notch -- (adj) informal excellent
literally -- (adv) having the real or original meaning of a word or phrase
too shabby -- (slang) from not so / not too shabby -- looking old and in bad condition because of being used for a long time or not being cared for


Resources:
Australia Dairy Company @ Openrice
http://www.openrice.com/english/restaurant/sr2.htm?shopid=90

Simplylife @ Openrice
http://www.openrice.com/english/restaurant/sr2.htm?shopid=19155&tc=bc

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/stagnant_2
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/deceased_1?q=deceased+
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/goner?q=goner
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/eatery?q=eatery+
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/top-notch?q=top+notch
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/literally?q=literally
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/not-so-shabby-not-too-shabby#not-so-shabby-not-too-shabby__1

Message: Merry Christmas To Everyone!!!

Hysan Place
Image from Locky's English Playground

Merry Christmas to all readers!

Wish you all an excellent year ahead and great health to you and your family!

I'm busying with all sorts of things recently so I beg your forgiveness if I can only keep up with 2 entries a week right now.

It is hopeful that my usual schedule will return to normal after 10th January.

Have a really BIG BLAST!!!!!

Food: The Search For Great Hong Kong-style French Toast -- Part 1

Image from Locky's English Playground

Congratulations! This is not the end of the world! Shouldn't be a surprise as I have in two articles, namely News & Vocabulary: Mayan says December 2012 NOT the End of the World and Living: Master So VS Mayans' Doomsday Prediction , mentioned that this is all just a make-believe.

Well, since it is not the end of the world, what's better to celebrate this day then to eat something real nice?

Few days ago, I was reading my own post Food: Festive (or Anytime) Local Food In Hong Kong when that golden Hong Kong-style French Toast image triggered my desire and determination to re-experience the long-lost taste.

And on Openrice, I found two Cha Chaan Tengs near Mongkok, ranked highest is Kam Wah Cafe, and second is Man Wah Restaurant, both were very close to where I was at that moment, and my choice was to go for the less reputable one, such that I can keep tasting better toasts the next time.

Man Wah Restaurant is a very special restaurant, they serve all-day Hong Kong breakfast, that is macaroni, toast with ham and eggs and milk tea, as well as Chinese dim sum. People actually go there to buy takeaway dim sum at night! As for me, dim sum wasn't my thing that night. My target was the Hong Kong-style French toast that is served with golden syrup and I was disappointed to know that Man Wah only offers the one with condensed milk,

Image from Locky's English Playground

but when I put the first pre-cut cube of toast inside my mouth, I was struck dumb, because I knew I was very wrong about my prejudice! It was crispy outside and unbelievably mellow in the middle! The butter and the condensed milk actually worked so nicely with the 1.5" thick toast. I couldn't stop after the first piece. One after another, I devoured the seemingly huge, mouth-size, golden cubes.

Image from Locky's English Playground

I have even forgotten that I have also ordered one all-day-breakfast set, but at that very satisfying moment, the clock seemed to have stopped, my stomach seemed to have become hollow, and down went the entire toast in about 5 minutes. I shouldn't have added sugar into my milk tea before the French toast, because it proved too sweet afterwards, but I will remember this next time round. What followed after, meaning the egg, the ham, the macaroni were all great, but all that was visible to my naked eyes by then was that once on-my-plate golden delicacy.

Now I am in a dilemma over trying the toast from Kam Wah Cafe next time or returning to Man Wah for an encore.

Can you help?

Scores:

Look:            ★★★★★ 5/5

Taste:            ★★★★★ 5/5

Smell:            ★★★★★ 5/5

Textures:       ★★★★★ 5/5

Temperature: ★★★★★ 5/5

Overall:         ★★★★★ 25/25

Vocabulary:
Cha Chaan Teng -- (n)[C] (lit.: tea food hall) meaning tea restaurant, is commonly found in Greater China, including particularly Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan and parts of Guangdong.
prejudice -- (n)[C or U] an unfair and unreasonable opinion or feeling, especially when formed without enough thought or knowledge
mellow -- (adj) smooth, soft or developed; not too sharp, bright, new or rough
delicacy -- (n) [C] something especially rare or expensive that is good to eat
dilemma -- (n)[C] a situation in which a difficult choice has to be made between two different things you could do
encore -- (n) [C] an extra song or piece of music that is performed at the end of a show because the audience shout for it


Resources:

News & Vocabulary: Mayan says December 2012 NOT the End of the World @ Locky's English Playground
http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/2012/05/news-vocabulary-mayan-says-december.html

Living: Master So VS Mayans' Doomsday Prediction @ Locky's English Playground
http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/2012/04/living-master-so-vs-mayans-doomsday.html

Food: Festive (or Anytime) Local Food In Hong Kong @ Locky's English Playground
http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/2012/12/food-festive-or-anytime-local-food-in.html\

Cha Chaan Teng @ Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cha_chaan_teng

Kam Wah Cafe @ Openrice
http://www.openrice.com/english/restaurant/sr2.htm?shopid=11293&tc=bc

Man Wah Restaurant @ Openrice
http://www.openrice.com/english/restaurant/sr2.htm?shopid=49749&tc=bc

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/prejudice_1?q=prejudice+

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/mellow_1?q=mellow

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/delicacy_1?q=delicacy

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/dilemma?q=dilemma

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/encore_1?q=encore