台北縣平溪鄉 Pin Xi, Taipei. What a lovely place!

Pin Xi is so beautiful. It takes about 40 minutes on the bus from Mu Za (木柵) Taipei. If you take the train from Taipei, it takes about 1.5 hour. Though bus ride is faster, I recommend train ride. Pin Xi Line has the best scenery to offer. When I was on the train going into Ching Tung Village (菁桐村), which is the last stop on Pin Xi Line, I was so impressed by the mountain views!

In fact, besides the scenery, there's basically nothing to do. All you do is walking! I quite like walking there because the train tracks are right in the middle of the village, and if you are lucky enough, you get to see Formosan Blue Magpie (台灣藍鵲)! I was really excited when I saw them flying in the sky. By the way, the air is so fresh and the water is so clean. It is a paradise. However, being a city boy, I guess I can only handle 2 nights there! I probably will go mad if I live there.

I was so amazed to see dogs sleeping like that (like corpse!) on the train track! I guess they know exactly when the train will come.




Wong Ku Station (望古站), what a tiny stop!








Waterfall! A pretty interesting one, which looks like eyes!


Mountains there are so pretty, especially when clouds start to swamp around them. Lovely scene, which is like a Chinese painting.




Palace Restaurant. I believe this is the most famous restaurant in that area. It is a traditional Japanese house with a lovely Japanese garden. The house is very clean and beautiful. The food they serve is amazingly tasty. I tried the steamed taro with ribs. Yummy!

I stayed in Tokyo Guesthouse, which is right behind Ching Tung Station. It is very small but very clean. The owner of the guesthouse is so nice. My friend wanted to fly the sky lantern (天燈), and she taught us how to do it. Comparing to other guesthouses around, Tokyo Guesthouse is really the best option in Pin Xi. She told us the best time to visit is around the 15th of lunar January, which is around the Lantern Festival. During that period of time, we can see tons of sky lanterns flying on the sky at night. I am thinking of re-visiting the area on that time. It will definitely be a wonderful experience.

眼跳法 (The reading of twitching eyelids)

You don't need to believe in what I said here. Take it as a precaution since we can never predict what we will experience. If you happen to receive a bad omen, all you need to do is to be more careful of and cautious about your everyday living. If you are lucky to receive a good one, then just be happy. However, we should always remember "Extreme joy begets sorrow!"（樂極生悲）I don't think our ancestors developed this to teach us to be superstitious. It is only a guide that helps us to avoid bad things that probably will destroy what we have built up in our life. In other words, these omens should not be taken too seriously, nor be ignored completely! We always need to use our knowledge and experience to carefully decide what we should do in our life.

眼跳法 (The reading of twitching eyelids)

子時 (23:00~01:00)   左有貴人 右有飲食
Left: Will receive help from other people     Right: Will have the chance for a good meal

丑時 (01:00~03:00) 左有憂心 右有人思
Left: Will worry about something     Right: Someone is missing you

寅時 (03:00~05:00) 左有人來 右喜事至
Left: Someone you expect will come     Right: Good fortune is on its way

卯時 (05:00~07:00) 左貴客來 右平安吉
Left: Someone who will help you is coming     Right: Will be safe and good

辰時 (07:00~09:00) 左遠客來 右主損害
Left: Friends from far away will visit you     Right: Will receive damages

巳時 (09:00~11:00) 左有飲食 右主凶惡
Left: Will have the chance for a good meal     Right: Will receive bad fortunes

午時 (11:00~13:00) 左主飲食 右有凶事
Left: Will have the chance for a good meal     Right: Will hear about something bad

未時 (13:00~15:00) 左主吉昌 右有小喜
Left: Good fortunes     Right: Small nice things will happen

申時 (15:00~17:00) 左有損財 右有女思
Left: Will lose money     Right: Your partner is missing you

酉時 (17:00~19:00) 左有客來 右遠客至
Left: Will have guests visit you     Right: Will accommodate friends from far away

戌時 (19:00~21:00) 左有客至 右主聚會
Left: Will accommodate guests     Right: Will have the chance to attend a gathering

亥時 (21:00~23:00) 左主客至 右主官非
Left: Will accommodate guests     Right: Will have legal issues

Burtal Murder of Jamie Bulger, the petition

The following message describes a brutal murder happened to a 3 year old boy in 1993 in England. I was so shocked when I read this message. At first, I thought this is a joke, but sadly I found this news was published on BBC in 2001. This story is horrendous. What made these two 10 year old boys do such a horrible thing? What turned them to be such a monster? However, the most difficult question is on "Should we keep them in custody forever because what they had done is unforgivable?" or "Do they deserve the right for a new life after spending so many years being good in custody?" I have a hard time thinking on these questions. If they have really shown their regret for what they have done, then, thinking on the notion of "Everyone deserves a second chance", they should be granted the right to a new life. However, their brutal actions to Jamie Bulger is such a evil crime which gives us no reason to grant them any new chance. If you have read down here, please read the following message.

Do you remember February 1993 in England , when a young boy of 3 was taken from a Liverpool shopping centre by two 10-year-old boys? Jamie Bulger walked away from his mother for only a second, Jon Venables took his hand and led him out of the mall with his friend Robert Thompson. They took Jamie on a walk for over 2 and a half miles, along the way stopping every now and again to torture the poor little boy who was crying constantly for his mummy. Finally they stopped at a railway track where they brutally kicked him, threw stones at him, rubbed paint in his eyes, pushed batteries up his anus and cut his fingers off with scissors. Other mutilations were inflicted but not reported in the press.

N.B. :- Remember, a 3year old cannot possibly defend themselves against a 10 year old, let alone of 2 them.

What these two boys did was so horrendous that Jamie's mother was forbidden to identify his body. They then left his beaten small body on railway tracks so a train could run him over to hide the mess they had created. These two boys, even being boys, understood what they did was wrong, hence trying to make it look like an accident.

This week Lady Justice Butler-Sloss has awarded the two boys ( now men ), anonymity for the rest of their lives when they leave custody with new identities. They will also leave custody early only serving just over half of their sentence. They are being relocated to Australia to live out the rest of their lives. They disgustingly and violently took Jamie's life away and in return they each get a new life!

Please.... . If you feel as strongly as we do, ( and if you haven't already signed this petition ) that this is a grave Miscarriage of justice - Hit the forward button and add your name at the end, and send it to everyone you can !

If you are the 700th person to sign, please forward this e-mail to: cust.ser.cs@gtnet.gov.uk and mark it for the attention it to Lady Justice Butler-Sloss.