Written by Photos were supplied by Lee Shin and Adrian Hung.
Posts tagged CTSS
A Weekend Trip in San Francisco Beach Front
Written by It started with a little drive from a water front house which belonged to my sister-in-law. The drive took around twenty minutes because a lot of streets in San Francisco were closed for the cyclists. After arriving Presidio lodge, we took a walk around the perimeter of the facility, the old infantry training camp for the military during the World War II. Now, it is a hotel and not sure who owns it. The rental varies from three hundred dollars and up. That was where I took all the pictures including the decorations. From there, we drove to the nearby Golden Gatepark which was under the bridge. There were a few people did the wind surfing right under the columns support. After another walk, we then went to a Chinese restaurant for our dinner. The total steps we walked, if recorded, were around ten thousands. So, it was a good exercise plus outing for a short trip in the weekend.
 |
 |
| 在舊金山的Presidio Lodge 拍。這是公共椅子。 |
舊金山 |
 |
 |
| 這隻海豹要求更多雞肉 | 金門橋 |
 |
 |
| 這wind surf 像放kite | 從未見過這種植物會有花 |
 |
 |
| 這玩具是古董 | 大概Mary可以教他們種 |
 |
 |
| 在灣區中的一個海島以前是監獄 | Water color picture in the Lodge |
 |
 |
| Another water color picture | Another picture which shows the Lodge was an original military camp |
 |
 |
| Yellow jacket in the bush | Decoration in the Lodge |
 |
|
| Another real plant in the Lodge |
花藝的創作技巧
Written by 多謝孔教學院大成中學1971年畢業同學的鼓勵，使我有機會寫下一些關於花藝的創作技巧，所謂「學到老，做到老。」令我獲益良多，現寫下我的感想及從這些課程學到的一些技巧。
- 古典同心圓捧花
製作花束前，花材應充份吸水。然後，確定花體部份的長度。長度應要是長春籐圓圈為度量依據。首先完成長春籐框框。然後開始做長春籐框裏的花束。把花枝順一方向傾斜順序排列成螺旋狀手綁式花束，花腳方向呈一致。花枝相交在一交义點，排列時花體向外仲展，花材位置適度調整。然後，綁扎花束。長春籐在做花束時已定位在花支叢中。綁扎花束要求一手拿花，另一手用麻繩綁扎，由一人獨立完成。
古典傳統同心圓花球花材緊密結構，象徵圓滿、團圓意思。
- 花藝設計之元素是線條，空間、質感，色彩，外形。
- 宴會桌面花飾佈置的技巧
桌面佈置以精緻簡約，選擇低式桌花，以淺色為主，用玫瑰花，象徴純潔愛情。百合花象徵百年好合。天堂鳥象徵比翼雙飛，洋桔梗(紫色)，紫色表示愛的神秘。
表現形式上，由於就餐需要，因此，婚宴桌多探用高架型作花器，在花器上部插作半球形花飾， 共以常春籘或其他下垂式葉材，從花器上垂下來，增加線條美。桌面花不佔用太多平面空間，不會遮擋賓客視線，以直立形豎向造型為主，節省空間，滿足就餐空間需要。
4. 婚禮拱門
5. 新娘捧花
劉素清 2020年7月17日
My watercolor painting
Written by Many of my paintings were inspired by Mr. Shibasaki’s watercolors channel on YouTube. I am interested in learning how to use colors for a vibrant drawing. Watercolor painting is a hobby that was started as something to do when I retired and it is both a challenging and rewarding medium. For me, a good painting can be done maybe one in five attempts. I am still learning to paint and like to share a few paintings that were done in the last five years with you. Hope you will enjoy them too. Thanks!
 * |
Simple object showing light and dark effects A still life apple copied from YouTube |
| An European Bee-Eater bird with colorful feathers copied from a calendar |  |
 |
A river flowing in a grassland from imagination |
| Sunrise over the bay with glowing sunbeams |  |
 |
Winter sunset in the meadow with dark forest silhouettes Copied from YouTube |
| Lake view near the coast based on a magazine photo |  |
 |
From a photo of Lake Tahoe in California with snow mountains |
| Changed an autumn scene to a green summer landscape Based on a YouTube painting tutorial |
 |
 |
A pumpkin painting from YouTube with contrasting shadows |
| A colorful sketch of a beach sunset from YouTube |  |
 |
A forest in the twilight with stars overhead from YouTube |
| A painting class exercise on mixing colors |  |
 |
A botanical illustration for a painting class project |
| A Chinese painting class exercise for a peony flower |  |
 |
A cold snowy morning in a village from YouTube |
| Cherry blossoms in a Japanese town from YouTube |  |
 |
A horse in a colorful forest from YouTube |
| Driving home in early evening from a photo |  |
 |
An acrylic painting for an imaginary moon rise over the horizon at sea |
| A grandmother and grandson walking home from YouTube |  |
 |
A marshland in a national park from YouTube |
深圳一天旅遊 2016年11月3日
今日天朗氣清，風和日麗，早上氣溫20 度，午後23 度，極度適合郊遊。十四位團友準時在關口集
合。食brunch 的金皇廷酒樓裝修豪華，地方寬闊，點心尚算精美。
東門是深圳最早的市集，有第一間的深圳戲院，更是全國第一間的McDonald 所在地。鄰近的京基100大廈，狀似鬚刨，樓高100層，現為深圳最高的樓宇。東門步行街現在是購物熱點，更是港人做窗簾及衣服的首選。亞Paul 在地下商場以驚喜價 ￥115買了支「容祖兒金咪」，值得慶賀。
到蓮花山公園時，兵分兩路，一支上山觀看鄧少平銅像及俯望深圳地標之市政府大樓，另一組沿平路到蓮花湖看錦鯉及水上單車。上山組員以驚人速度，不消半小時便匯合山下隊友。
下午茶時間，快餐店的雲呑麵不合格，雲吞不是用鮮蝦，麵身不夠爽，燒雞亦稍為過燶，唯送餐服務值得讚賞。到了大出血的Sams Club 時間，以團購方式買雲南雲耳，亦不忘參加各種試食。
晚飯在皇軒酒店的福鼎軒酒樓食海鮮，有茶葉蝦，薑蔥蟹，椒鹽九肚魚，片皮鴨，石頭窩海鮮豆腐等，又有啤酒及汽水，算是過得去。
全程坐了三次地鐵及兩次巴士。不計個人消費，三餐共用了約二千元（人仔）。沈正成同學其實亦已探明下次聚會之K場高歌，其中唱K 的消費和環境對比香港更具吸引力。我們隨意選了加卅紅作瞭解，它們在平日由中午12 時至晚上七時會員價豪華大房(可容10-12人）收費是￥90。食品和飲料自理。這￥90不是按小時計算而是整個時段，房間寛敞又有衛生間。因此我們願意進行實地驗證，稍後高國芬會在群組發出通知何時擇吉出發，歡迎大家踴躍參加。
網誌由蕭sir及沈正成提供，洪耀光插圖
Reunion dinner for Ms Helen Ho on 12th Dec 2014
Written by 
Ms Helen Ho, our History teacher in Form One and Form Two paid her second visit to Hong Kong after emigrating to Canada for more than a quarter of a century (in 1988). A reunion dinner was organized with the joint efforts of coordinators of the graduates between 1968 and 1971 on 12th Dec 2014. Ms Ho’s husband, Mr Lee Fen Nyan, Ms Chan Chun Kum, our English, Mathematics and Needlework teacher, and about thirty students showed up and recaptured the memories of the good old days in Tai Shing.
Before the dinner began, Ms Ho spoke to all and shared her life experiences in Toronto 
over the past 26 years. She taught ESL (English as a Second Language) to emigrants from countries in the Middle-East and the Far East. Their interest was sustained and met regularly at Ms Ho’s place even after her retirement in 2007. Apart from teaching, Ms Ho also volunteers in the Church services, including Fountain of Love and Life; organizes Satir Model workshops and follow-up sessions for participants to ensure their continuous growth. She has been engaged in a wide variety of activities making her golden age rich and colourful.
Ms Ho was particularly pleased to meet students she had been thinking of but had not seen for decades (more than 46 years, like Lam Bing Fong who graduated in 1968, Leung Koon Kwan in 1970).
Reunion with classmate Maureen Lai
“Are you Mrs. Chan, a teacher at Confucian Tai Shing Secondary School?” asked Maureen Lai. Mrs. Chan replied positively to her question. Luckily, Maureen could recognize Mrs. Chan at an occasion although she left school forty-three years ago. Mrs. Chan hasn’t 
changed much even though she is now an elderly. Mrs. Chan’s voice was deeply implanted into Maureen’s mind from her teaching.
Mrs. Chan met Adrian Hung the following week and she passed Maureen’s information to him. Adrian sent Maureen an email to welcome her. He also invited Cannie Tong to give Maureen a personal call. They were very excited and happy to talk to each other again.
Robert Chu visited Hong Kong from United States. We organized a welcome dinner for him on 10th Feb 2015. It was really a coincident that we also reunited with Maureen at the same time. We then invited Maureen to the welcome dinner too!
There were 16 of us attending the dinner which included our 
teachers Mr. & Mrs. Chan and Mr. & Mrs. Siu. We were too happy to meet Maureen again since our graduation. Robert came to visit us quite often but this time he brought his wife with him to the dinner. Adrian presented our 40th Graduation Anniversary DVD to Maureen.
We chatted and enjoyed the dinner and didn’t want to leave. We wonder who will be the next classmate that will rejoin us.
1967 Teacher & Student Signature Document for Dr. Irene Cheng’s Retirement
Written by I am delighted to share this signature document to all who visit the CTSS Alumni blog. The page was signed by the teachers and students as a gift to our principal Dr. Irene Cheng for her retirement in summer of 1967. It was forwarded to me after my visit to the new 
campus at Tai Po, NT in 1998. As I read every name, image of young faces gleamed with childhood innocence comes to life. What happened to our classmates after 1967, 1968 and beyond? It recaptures the moment of our youth and reminds me the lyrics of a song by the Carpenters in the early 70’s Yesterday Once More: … Those were such happy times, And not so long ago, How I wondered where they’d gone …
We drifted apart after graduation took paths of our choice, embarked on journeys that brought us where we are today. Whatever we have done, wherever we have gone, we have lived our life in our own way, a life that makes us happy and satisfied. A full circle back after some 45 years, I realize now that we have more in common than ever before. Our careers are coming to an end (or have ended) with the next generation taking over. We all belong to the group called senior citizens, entitled to Medicare, pension and senior discounts. We thought the stress level will ease off upon retirement not knowing that acquiring skills to navigate the digital world of iPhone, iPad, iCloud becomes our new challenge. The more we try to compare, measure up to our classmates, the more we found we all will ultimately arrive at the same destination. So if you feel the emotion and/or the burden of mid-life crisis or old age helplessness, you are not alone.
With utmost admiration to our teachers who had the passion and patience in educating young minds, with gratitude to my classmates who supported, antagonized, competed, embarrassed and challenged me in the past; may this document bring back the comfort, rekindle our love and friendship, laughter and fond memories of the times we were together. Let’s savor the experience and re-connect.
I would like to also remember our dear classmate Lanying Lau (1968) who passed away on 24 August 2013. As much as we grieve, we must value every moment of our lives.
Let me end with this quote: Some people come into our lives and quickly go. Some stay for a while, leave footprints on our hearts, and we are never, ever the same. Be of good cheer.
楊杏霖 (Teresa Kuan)(Year of 68)
kuan.teresa@gmail.com
1967 Teacher & Student Signature Document
Search for MO Hui
Based on the information given by the classmates, Cannie Tong and Adrian Hung searched for MO Hui in all the bamboo and furniture shops in Queen’s Road East, Wanchai on 23rd May 2012. However, no one recognized him. We obtained further information from William So and Irene Ko that he resided in Hang Hau, Junk Bay about forty years ago. His home was close to a circular road junction and next to a church. Based on the information, his home was likely at Hang Hau Road. Irene also gave us a forty-something-year-old photo taken near his home. Adrian used Google Earth to check on every house in Hang Hau Road. He found one of the houses looked similar to Irene’s photo. See Below:
Back: 沈正成, 張運來, 蘇榮坤, 區彭深, 黎鉝榮
Front: 葉金榮, 許文安, 范榮洲, 黄念本, 陳建輝, 楊來發
We formed a team to search for MO on 18th July 2012. Team members included William, 
Irene, Clara, Cannie and Adrian. Although Hang Hau changed tremendously in these forty years, we found the place easily using advanced technology. We knocked on the doors of some of the houses, however, none of them knew MO. We were lucky to meet the Chairlady of the Incorporated Owners of the Village. She told us that there was a resident with a similar name. We exchanged our phone numbers hoping that she could give us good news.
We dropped notes and letters to some of the houses hoping MO would catch us up. We drove to visit Hang Hau Village and had our late lunch at East Point City. We talked about our old days.
William told us that a classmate of ours, S Chiang, married a pretty wife soon after his graduation. He worked very hard as a taxi driver in the day time and as a house caretaker at night. He bought a flat at Mei Foo Sun Chuen and enjoyed his romantic life with his beautiful wife. However, good days did not last long and life didn’t work out as smoothly as he planned. Chiang got kidney failure and died soon after.
In the evening Clara received a call from the elder sister of MO. We were too sorry to hear that MO passed away in February, 2011 due to gas poisoning while taking a bath at his home at Huanggang, China. Clara wanted to pay tribute to MO at his graveyard with a few classmates. However we could not have access to the graveyard without valid document. Unfortunately we couldn’t contact his wife up to this moment.
Clara wrote:
亞蘇：
你還記得這個稱呼嗎?
許xx姐姐告訴我， 她感覺你是他口中的亞蘇， 和其他的同學。
他的家人有太太， 2個女兒； 8歲和 1歲半
現在她們返鄉—雲南探親，將在八月尾返回深圳近機場居住。
許xx靈位安放在： 深圳市布吉 ……..
如要探訪一定要由其家人同往， 因為她持有效証件(該館發証)
所以我提議在九月初才再與他姐姐聯絡！
….
