Tuesday 25 December 2012

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!!!!!


Saturday 22 December 2012

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


Tuesday 18 December 2012

People & Sport: The Respected Cristiano Ronaldo


Image from visual.ly

It seems like all of a sudden, my students start asking me how to train accent, what to watch to learn good accent, so as usual, I recommend them to all the TV shows I love.

Then came a documentary I immediately fell in love with. The British program talks about Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo, one of the best players in the world, undergoing a series of tests in order to discover how he becomes such a tremendously exceptional football player.

Honestly speaking, I have always liked Lionel Messi more than Ronaldo, because Messi plays simple yet practical football without the fancy moves of Cristiano Ronaldo, but the following video completely changed my stubborn mind.



Ronaldo is the a well-deserved worldclass player, I have a lot of respect for him. It doesn't matter so much whether Messi scores more than Ronaldo, because football is a team game, given different team mates, their performance will be different. What matters is that they are both footballers from other planets and we are all lucky enough to witness such amazing skills by the players.
Description of Knuckleball in Baseball
Image from washingtonpost

After watching the above video, I immediately want to start practising! I'll start with the video below, being able to kick the Ronaldo's knuckleball will be an excellent Christmas present for myself!



Vocabulary:

knuckleball -- (n)[C] or knuckler is a baseball pitch thrown so as to minimize the spin of the ball in flight, causing an erratic, unpredictable motion. The lack of spin causes vortices over the stitched seams of the baseball during its trajectory, which in turn can cause the pitch to change direction – and even corkscrew – in mid-flight.
seam -- (n)[C] a line where two things join, especially a line of sewing joining two pieces of cloth or leather
trajectory -- (n)[U]specialized the curved path that an object follows after it has been thrown or shot into the air


Resources:

Cristiano Ronaldo tested to the limit HD 720p (Full preview) @ YouTube

Friday 14 December 2012

Food: Festive (or Anytime) Local Food In Hong Kong


Stone-fried chestnuts and smoked sweet potatoes, inevitable!
Image from Locky's English Playground
Haven't got the time to change the English Playground's logo to a more Christmas-looking one, hopefully I will have the time to do it this week.

I took the above photo a week ago and this man's stone-fried chestnuts and smoked sweet potatoes gave me inspiration to write this article.

Hong Kong food and snacks
Image from 259dog
Last time I mentioned that my Singapore friend came to visit me in Hong Kong, and because she sent me a Word document of the restaurants and food in Hong Kong, I thought she had it all figured out, until the day I met her and her husband that she told me that was her friend's plan and she had no idea what food to try in Hong Kong. Unprepared I was, I tried to run my brain in hyper speed and came up with a number of very Hong Kong style items.

Scramble-egg on toast
Image from CNN Travel
How can anyone say they have had Hong Kong breakfast without ever trying some scrambled eggs on toasts, Hong Kong milk tea and macaroni with ham / roasted pork slices? Most Cha Chaan Teng offers this dish but Hongkongers will surely say Australia Dairy Company in Jordan is the best. The restaurant is infamous for their rude attitude but famous for their speed and quality. Be warned, do not expect you can sit for too long or eat a little slower, but do expect you can experience the rush-hour-like Hong Kong even when eating.

honey-glossy baked BBQ Pork Buns
Image from foodgps
Baked Cha Siu Bao, or baked roasted pork buns, is my favourite dim sum. It comes in roughly 3 different versions, honey-glossy, white-rocky and pineapple-bun-like.

White-rocky baked BBQ pork buns
Image from goodfoodgoodlife
I love them all, as long as they are served hot. Tim Ho Wan, the Dim-Sum Specialists is named as one of the best, but I also like Tai Koo's West Villa Restaurant's, hot and sweet with a hint of Chinese wine, really addictive!

Baked pineapple BBQ pork buns
Image 
Baked pineapple BBQ pork buns isn't bad at all either! Fulfilling two wishes in one go!

Eggette with Chocolate filling
Image from Locky's English Playground

Hot instant made eggette is another must-have! If you remember my recommendation, you know that I think Mammy Pancake at Hung Hom has some filling, chewy ones.

Last but not least of my recommendation today, is the calories-sky high Hong Kong-style French toast, a snack of love-hate. Love because of the irresistible taste and colour, the peanut-butter / apricot jam in the middle, hate ...you already know.

Hong Kong-style French toast
Image from thefoodnomads
CNN Travel has an article titled 40 Hong Kong foods we can't live without and Discover Hong Kong by the Hong Kong Tourism Board has Local Snacks talking about the very unique food of Hong Kong. After reading them, I will have to admit that those recommendations are honestly very truly Hong Kong, but you may not need to go to those specific ones to get a bite if location proves a little too far for your travel.

If you are an internet user / visitor from overseas, Openrice.com is the website you should visit when you're planning your trip to Hong Kong. It is one of the all-time favourite food search engines for the local Hongkongers, and if you have a smart phone, you can download an Android or an iOS app for your convenience. Simply enter the choice of food or snacks and check the ratings of the shops and restaurants which offer the dish of your dream. You will definitely find more results than that from the CNN Travel page.

Image from Discover Hong Kong
The Michelin Guide has also taken a position in Hongkong-diners' heart. Blessing or Curse, this guide book has helped the shops and restaurants' businesses so much that the landlords of the location often use the very same book as a guide to up the rent, forcing some low profit-making or historical food sources to close down.

It is a sad reality, so before these lovely places disappear completely, you should give these restaurants a once-in-a-lifetime chance to serve you and create good memories for you and your stomach (if stomach has memory).

A great news for those of you from Singapore, Tim Ho Wan, the Dim-Sum Specialists will open their first shop in Singapore early next year! Get your stomach ready!



Vocabulary:
glossy -- (adj) smooth and shiny
hint -- (n) [C usually singular] a very small amount of something
eggette -- (n)[U] 
love-hate -- (adj) (of a  relationship) in which you have feelings of love and hate for someone or something
irresistible -- (adj) impossible to refuse, oppose or avoid because too pleasant, attractive or strong

Resources:

Locky's English Playground @ Digitalrev
http://www.digitalrev.com/photo_detail?id=13363302

Hong Kong's best cheap eat @ CNN Travel
http://travel.cnn.com/hong-kong/eat/best-cheap-eat-801898

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

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

Cha Siu Bao @ Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cha_siu_bao

West Villa Restaurant -- Tai Koo @ Openrice
http://www.openrice.com/english/restaurant/sr2.htm?shopid=3981

Food: Eggette @ Mammy Pancake @ Locky's English Playground
http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/2010/04/food-eggette-mammy-pancake.html

40 Hong Kong foods we can't live without @ CNN Travel
http://travel.cnn.com/hong-kong/none/40-things-eat-hong-kong-coronary-arrest-820489

Local Snacks @ Hong Kong Tourism Board
http://www.discoverhongkong.com/eng/dine-drink/what-to-eat/local-flavours/local-snacks.jsp

Openrice English
http://www.openrice.com/english?tc=ornav

Michelin Guide @ Hong Kong Tourism Board
http://www.discoverhongkong.com/nz/dine-drink/dining-events-awards/michelin-guide.jsp

Sweet Potatoe @ Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweet_potato

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/glossy_1?q=glossy
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/hint_3
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/relationship_2?q=love-hate#relationship_2__3
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/irresistible?q=irresistible+


Monday 10 December 2012

Travelling and Living: Free Wi-Fi in Hong Kong


Air pollution in Hong Kong never seems to improve
Image from SCMP

Hong Kong may not be the best city on the planet (a point that is disagreed by CNN Travel and The Economists) due to its sky-high air-pollution and a government's inability to deliver promises, it still has the charm to attract tourists, whether the number is rising or falling is another story.

I'm not going to repeat the points mentioned in the CNN Travel article, but I do want to add one point to it -- Hong Kong does have a really good internet coverage both wired and wireless.

Recently a friend-cum-classmate of mine, Huiying, came to visit me from Singapore with her husband and probably their main concern is how they could reach me without making insanely expensive roaming calls.

To find me, the easiest way is through Naver LINE. Although Whatsapp is still most of my friend's first choice of communication, it doesn't have the free internet call that Naver Line offers, so personally, I use Whatsapp with acquaintances (eg. property agents, smartphone vendors, computer shop owners, people I don't usually contact with) due to its dull interface and limited functions and use LINE with relatives and close friends with whom I send cute and funny stickers. This is the main reason I think Whatsapp should really be sold to Facebook before it turns into the next MSN or ICQ.

Then again, whether you use LINE, Whatsapp or Facebook, you will need to have internet access, so how can a tourist get internet access in Hong Kong? Hong Kong Extras has a nice article titled Internet Access For Visitors which I sent to my friend as reference.

iCentre at MTR
Image from See-ming Lee SML
Thanks to the great Free Wi-Fi coverage, especially at the iCentres of MTR and various shopping malls, my friend could contact me without much difficulty (a minor setback was that the free Wi-fi on the buses generally is a waste of time and my friend's iPhone 4S never got the PCCW's SMS activation code for 60-day free Wi-Fi).

Ricky Wong
Image from SCMP
The reason Hong Kong has such magnificent internet coverage infrastructure, as you probably can guess, isn't because of the government, but one entrepreneur who aimed to make a difference all his life, and that man is Ricky Wong Wai Kay. His Hong Kong Broadband provided high-quality, high-speed internet services at a low price forcing the competitors to lower their charges and upping their standards, thus rocketing the speed of internet wiring across the city and eventually creating a lovely environment for the local Hongkongers to have access to the internet as well as to have the choice to choose their internet service providers (ISP).

Nowadays even normal households can have 1000M LAN connections and 4G LTE in Hong Kong and the price is SO affordable!! Hongkongers are really blessed to have access to internet information so easily and so quickly. In Ireland, where my parents live, this is what they are getting and shared among 5 people,

Image from Eircom
Which is not bad, but not many years behind the kind of speed that Hong Kong netizens enjoy.

So be thankful, Hongkongers, we are all very lucky.

PS: For more free Wi-Fi information in Hong Kong, do read Hong Kong's best Wifi cafes by Time Out HK


Vocabulary:

infrastructure -- (n) [C]  the basic structure of an organization or system which is necessary for its operation, esp. public water, energy, and systems for communication and transport
rocketing -- (adj) rise, increase, or move very quickly:
netizen -- (n)[C] a portmanteau of the English words Internet and citizen.


Resources:

50 reasons Hong Kong is the world's greatest city @ CNN Travel
http://travel.cnn.com/hong-kong/none/worlds-greatest-city-hong-kong-576599

Hong Kong's best @ The Economists
http://www.economist.com.hk/blogs/gulliver/2012/07/city-rankings

It's official: Hong Kong has poor air quality @ SCMP
http://www.scmp.com/business/article/1082552/its-official-hong-kong-has-poor-air-quality

Hong Kong hosting Better Air Quality Conference - with a red face @ SCMP
http://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1094001/hong-kong-hosting-better-air-quality-conference-red-face

Technology & News: Free Apps To Recommend Part 1 @ Locky's English Playground
http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/2011/11/technology-news-free-apps-to-recommend.html

Facebook rumored to be interested in buying WhatsApp – but does WhatsApp want to be bought @ digitaltrendsftw
http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/whatsapp-may-be-acquired-by-facebook/

INTERNET ACCESS FOR VISITORS @ Hong Kong Extras
http://www.hongkongextras.com/internet_access.html

PCCW
http://www.pccwwifi.com/wifi_2months/eng/index.html

Ricky Wong (Hong Kong businessman) @ Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ricky_Wong_(Hong_Kong_businessman)

Eircom
https://secure.eircom.net/talktime/talktime-evolution-flow;jsessionid=7B18BE51FC27AD6ECB86B8983AA88CD6.jvm1?execution=e1s1


Your Essential Guide to Eating at Hong Kong | Hong Kong's best Wifi cafes @ Time Out HK
http://www.timeout.com.hk/restaurants-bars/features/21183/hong-kongs-best-wifi-cafes.html


http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/american-english/infrastructure?q=infrastructure+
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/american-english/rocket_2?q=rocketing+
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Netizen

Sunday 9 December 2012

Technology: Galaxy Note II Q & A -- Part 2


Unlimited apps Multi-Windows
Image from Locky's English Playground

Hi there, sorry for the absence of posts this week. After many entries on idioms and vocabulary, it is time to return to messing around with my Galaxy Note II and towards the end, I will have an extra surprise note on Galaxy S2 as well!

Let's kick off with some updates on the Q & A about GT-N7105.

For your information (FYI), I have been updating my XDA forum thread, currently titled [FAQ] Galaxy Note II GT-N7105 FAQ Compilation (7th Dec 2012), so for the detailed FAQ, you may want to follow that page. Here in this entry, I will select the most important updates I have.


Question 5:

What is the best custom ROM for GT-N7105 you will recommend?

Definitely, deadman12’s N7105XXDLK7 deodexed Rom V1.1 [4.1.2][Aroma][Rooted]. I have installed that on my N7105 today and it works flawlessly and the battery life is great! The phone only ran out of battery after one complete day of intensive use. It has unlimited apps for its Multi-Window feature and now I can split the screen with ANY two apps.

Split screen view of Cambridge Dictionary App
with HKO weather app, impossible with stock ROM
Image from Locky's English Playground

Question 6:

How should I install it? Is there anything I need to know before the installation?

CWM Recovery for GT-N7100 and N7105
Image from technologyandroid

First, you need a rooted phone of course, preferably with CWM Recovery installed. Then you don't need to wipe the data and reset to factory setting, simply install the N7105XXDLK7 deodexed Rom V1.1 over to your existing stock ROM. No data will be lost, so don't worry.


Question 7:

Did you have any problems with the custom ROM? How can I solve them?

Well, a tiny one, a couple of apps cannot be run. The solution was to use a file explorer such as ROM Toolbox Lite and then go to /data/app and delete those unusable app and then reinstall again from the Play Store.


Question S2:

You seem to have forgotten about your Galaxy S2, glad to hear about S2 again, what's the surprising news?

Now, how surprising is the Galaxy S2 surprise note? At least I was shocked when I heard it! And that is, Galaxy S2 is getting almost a clone stock ROM of the Galaxy Note 2!! And yes, it even has the Multi-Window feature for all apps such that your S2 is essentially a mini-Note 2 without a pen!!! True freaking awesomeness!!!



Question S3:

How about the same thing in S3?

If you want something stock looking with unlimited app Multi-Window, I recommend you first install wanam's [LKC V5.1][Aroma][23 Toggles] WanamLite Smooth & Rock Stable, then install bala_gamer's [MOD][4.1.2] Enable Multiview for all available apps v3. I have installed them personally on an International Galaxy S3 (GT-I9300) and it works perfectly!


So if you own an S2, S3 or Note 2, you are going to have a lot of fun this Christmas!!


Resources:

Technology: Galaxy Note II Q & A -- Part 1 @ Locky's English Playground
http://lockyep.blogspot.com/2012/11/technology-galaxy-note-ii-q-part-1.html

Technology: (Extended) Advanced Samsung Galaxy Note II Mess Around @ Locky's English Playground
http://lockyep.blogspot.com/2012/11/technology-extended-advanced-samsung.html

Technology: Advanced Samsung Galaxy Note II Mess Around  @ Locky's English Playground
http://lockyep.blogspot.com/2012/11/technology-advanced-samsung-galaxy-note.html

[FAQ] Galaxy Note II GT-N7105 FAQ Compilation (7th Dec 2012) @ XDA-Developers
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=34303434#post34303434

ROM Toolbox Lite @ Play Store
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.jrummy.liberty.toolbox&hl=en

Rainbox ROM for Galaxy S2 GT-i9100! [Multi-Window] @ YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WSVBWywdX8I

Rainbox ROM for Galaxy S2 GT-i9100! [Multi-Window] @ Galaxy S2 Root
http://galaxys2root.com/galaxy-s2-roms/rainbox-rom-for-galaxy-s2-gt-i9100-multi-window/

[LKC V5.1][Aroma][23 Toggles] WanamLite Smooth & Rock Stable @ XDA-Developers
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1705866

Enable Multiview for all available apps v3 @ XDA-Developers
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1995697

Tuesday 4 December 2012

Vocabulary: Do You Wordplay? -- Portmanteau


A poster at Facebook Headquarter
Image from TC and Facebook
Some time ago, my student Raymond asked me the ways to attract his customers using English, and immediately I replied, "Word Play".


There are many types of word play but the one I personally like because of popularity and simplicity in today's English is portmanteau.

Humpty Dumpty and Alice
Image from Wikia
According to Wikipedia,

A portmanteau or portmanteau word is a combination of two (or more) words or morphemes, and their definitions, into one new word.

(FYI, A morpheme is the smallest semantic unit in a language).

One classic example is of course, brunch, which is

breakfast + lunch = brunch

then the urban (non-standard English) version of lunch and dinner came along as dinch,

dinner + lunch = dinch


Wikipedia writes that the word 'portmanteau' was first described by the prominent Lewis Carroll, the author of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865), in its sequel Through the Looking-Glass (1872) when Humpty Dumpty explained to Alice the formation of strange words in the nonsense verse poem Jabberwocky.

'You see it's like a portmanteau—there are two meanings packed up into one word.'

For example,
slimy + lithe = slithy,
miserable +  flimsy = mimsy

And here's the poem Jabberwocky,

"Jabberwocky"

'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.

"Beware the Jabberwock, my son!
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun
The frumious Bandersnatch!"

He took his vorpal sword in hand:
Long time the manxome foe he sought—
So rested he by the Tumtum tree,
And stood awhile in thought.

And as in uffish thought he stood,
The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame,
Came whiffling through the tulgey wood,
And burbled as it came!

One, two! One, two! and through and through
The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!
He left it dead, and with its head
He went galumphing back.

"And hast thou slain the Jabberwock?
Come to my arms, my beamish boy!
O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!"
He chortled in his joy.

'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.

(Possible interpretations of the poem can be found on Wikipedia.)

That said, portmanteau is at its 140 anniversary this year!!! How remarkable!!

As time past, creative beings has expanded this joyful technique of wordplay to infinity and beyond!

First, there is fabulicious,

fabulicious = fabulious + delicious

then on YouTube, Kai Wong of Digitalrev threw out the word Bokehlicious in several Digitalrev TV videos and successfully turned this word into an indispensable adjective in the field of photography.

bokehlicious = bokeh + delicious

Here's a video playlist of Kai Wong himself promoting the word,


Facebook staff droidfood because Android is winning
the race in popularity.
Image from TC and Facebook

Facebook began their app development based on the iPhones, but the reality is that Android phones have long overtaken the iPhones and so Facebook is putting up posters to start switching to Android and hence test their own Facebook products.

droidfooding = Android + dogfooding


Taiwanese NBA player Jeremy Lin stunned the world with his skills and stories about him flooded the internet, which led to the creation of the word, Linsanity, which literally means that Jeremy Lin is insanely good basketball player!

Linsanity = Lin + insanity

I remember that somebody has trademarked this word but I can't recall who.
Image from deathandtaxesmag
On TV, portmanteau can be easily found as the name of a program. Take dramedy Californication as an example,

Image from Showtime

dramedy = drama + comedy

 Californication = California + Fornication

we can easily see that the storyline must be related to sexual relationships of a married man.

In House M.D., season 3 episode 2, Cane & Able, House was looking at the huge theatre screen for an oddity in a patient's heart, and he found it,

Image from FOX

House: There.

Foreman: Where?

House: Right there. Left side, no movement. [Cameron freezes the shot.] Well, don’t freeze it! Something’s not moving, how do you see something not move if nothing’s moving? [She restarts it.] I need the laser pointer.

Cameron: We don’t have a laser pointer.

House: Well, why not? Who’s going to take us seriously if we don’t have a laser pointer? Right here! [He jumps to point at the spot on the screen; as he lands he grimaces and clutches at his leg.] A few thousand myocytes not beating with the rest.

Chase: So you found an arrhythmia.

House: That’s not an arrhythmia, that’s a no-rhythmia. Myocytes contract, these aren’t moving at all. Go get me those myocytes; I want to talk to them in my office.



And so the word no-rhythmia was born!

no-rhythmia = no + arrhythmia

A more practical example is spork or foon

A spork
Image from Wikipedia
spork = spoon + fork
foon = fork + spoon

And the list goes on and on as long as creativity allows!

Oh, and let's not forget the one I created, typhoo-liday / typhooliday!

English is just so much fun to play with!!! Let's see if you can make up some good ones!


Vocabulary:
portmanteau -- (n) [C] or portmanteau word is a combination of two (or more) words or morphemes, and their definitions, into one new word. A portmanteau word typically combines both sounds and meanings
morpheme -- (n)[C] In linguistics, a morpheme is the smallest semantic unit in a language.
semantic -- (adj) (of words and language) connected with meaning:
prominent -- (adj) very well known and important
sequel -- (n)[C] a book, movie, or play that continues the story of a previous work
brunch -- (n)[C]  a meal sometimes eaten in the late morning that combines breakfast and lunch
dinch -- (n)[C] the abbreviation for the consumption of meals during the hours after lunch but before dinner
fabulicious -- (adj) fabulous and delicious
indispensable -- (adj) too important not to have; necessary:
bokehlicious -- (adj) delicious bohek / blurring effect of an image
droidfooding -- (n) testing products on Android platform
dogfooding -- Eating your own dog food, also called dogfooding, is a slang term used to reference a scenario in which a company (usually, a software company) uses its own product to demonstrate the quality and capabilities of the product.
insanity -- (n) [U] mental illness
Linsanity -- (n) [U] Lin + insanity
dramedy -- (n) [C] Comedy-drama (dramedy, comedrama, comedic drama, or seriocomedy) is a genre of theatre, film, and television that combines elements of comedy and drama, having both humourous and sometimes serious content
fornication -- (n)[U] formal disapproving sex with someone who you are not married to 
no-rhythmia -- (n)[U] not having any forms of rhythmic movements
arrhythmia -- (n) [U] Cardiac dysrhythmia (also known as arrhythmia or irregular heartbeat) is any of a large and heterogeneous group of conditions in which there is abnormal electrical activity in the heart. The heartbeat may be too fast or too slow, and may be regular or irregular. A heart beat that is too fast is called tachycardia and a heart beat that is too slow is called bradycardia.
spork -- (n)[C] or a foon is a hybrid form of cutlery taking the form of a spoon-like shallow scoop with three or four fork tines.
typhooliday / typhoo-liday -- (n)[C] A word created by Locky, meaning a holiday brought about by the issue of high intensity Typhoon signals


Resources:
Jason Mraz - Wordplay (Video) @ YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABFtbYKW-QY

Word Play @ Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Word_play

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

Morpheme @ Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morphemes

Dinch @ Urbandictionary
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=dinch

Lewis Carroll @ Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewis_Carroll

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

Digitalrev Bokehlicious T-shirt
http://www.digitalrev.com/product/bokehlicious-t-shirt/MTAwMDYzMw_A_A

Droidfooding: After Years Of Giving Employees iPhones, Posters At Facebook HQ Beg Them To Test Android @ TC
http://techcrunch.com/2012/11/24/facebook-droidfooding/

Californication @ Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Californication_(TV_series)

House, M.D. | Episode 3-02 Transcript | Cane & Able @ zg85
http://zg85.com/uploads/HouseMD/transcripts/s3/house-302.htm

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

Types of Wordplay @ Education.com
http://www.education.com/reference/article/types-wordplay/

List of Forms of Word Play @ Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_forms_of_word_play

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portmanteau
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morphemes
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/american-english/semantic?q=semantic+
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/prominent_1?q=prominent
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/american-english/sequel?q=sequel+
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/american-english/brunch?q=brunch
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=dinch
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/american-english/indispensable?q=indispensable+
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eating_your_own_dog_food
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/american-english/insanity?q=insanity
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dramedy
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/fornicate?q=fornication
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arrhythmia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spork
http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/2011/06/culture-typhoo-lidays-britons-and.html

Saturday 1 December 2012

Movie & TV: Casablanca X House M.D. - Meester X Laurie

Meester and Laurie in House M.D. Season 3 -- Lines in the Sand
Image from FOX
Once of the most itching episodes of House M.D. is the one in which Meester tries to seduce Laurie in season 3 episode 3 Informed Consent.

It was one very very good scene! It is not easy for a girl to act seductive in front of a man almost double your age and still look perfectly nature and real!

But what is even more filmographically intriguing are the dialogues between House and Ali in episode 4 Lines in the Sand.

Image from FOX


House: Listen to me. Do you have any idea what you’d have to look forward to if you stayed with me? Nine chances out of ten, we’d both wind up in a jail.
Ali: You’re only saying that to make me go.
House: I’m saying it because it’s true. Inside of us, we both know you belong with Victor – Is there a Victor in your class? If you’re not with someone your age, you’ll regret it. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but soon and for the rest of your life.
Ali: What about us?
House: We’ll always have Fresno. I’m no good at being noble, but it doesn’t take much to see that the problems of two little people don’t amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world. Someday you’ll understand that. Now, now – Here’s looking at you– damn.


Now, you may not find this special at all but if you are a movie buff and you are familiar with the movie Casablanca (1942), then you will know the House-Ali dialogues are from this movie (Thanks to a person named TH who left this note in Polite Dissent)!!

Image from IMDb

Rick: Now, you’ve got to listen to me! You have any idea what you’d have to look forward to if you stayed here? Nine chances out of ten, we’d both wind up in a concentration camp. Isn’t that true, Louie?
Renault: I’m afraid Major Strasser would insist.
Ilsa: You’re saying this only to make me go.
Rick: I’m saying it because it’s true. Inside of us, we both know you belong with Victor. You’re part of his work, the thing that keeps him going. If that plane leaves the ground and you’re not with him, you’ll regret it. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but soon and for the rest of your life.
Ilsa: But what about us?
Rick: We’ll always have Paris. We didn’t have…we’d…we’d lost it until you came to Casablanca. We got it back last night.
Ilsa: When I said I would never leave you…
Rick: And you never will. But I’ve got a job to do, too. Where I’m going, you can’t follow. What I’ve got to do, you can’t be any part of. Girl, I’m no good at being noble, but it doesn’t take much to see that the problems of three little people don’t amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world. Someday you’ll understand that. Here’s looking at you, kid.


The House fans might feel a little lost after the series came to an end, but there is always a second chance for House and Ali to reunite once more.

image from Crushable
6 years after their first rendezvous, Ali and House are back together for another encounter in the movie The Oranges, this time as Nina and David, the daughter of the Ostroff and father of Walling, two very close families living in the Orange drive.

The movie has come to Hong Kong on the 25th October, according to IMDb, this movie scored a disappointing low in the point scale, just 5.7, still I would like to watch this movie and see how their romance continues.





Vocabulary:
seduce -- (vb) [T] to persuade someone to have sex with you, often someone younger than you, who has little experience of sex
filmographically -- (adv) about films
rendezvous -- (n) an arrangement to meet someone, especially secretly, at a particular place and time, or the place itself


Resources:
Polite Dissent » House – Episode 4 (Season Three): “Lines in the Sand”
http://www.politedissent.com/archives/1392

In The Oranges, Leighton Meester Lives Out My Fantasy Of Sleeping With Hugh Laurie @ Crushable
http://crushable.com/entertainment/the-oranges-review-leighton-meester-hugh-laurie-affair-house-crush-fantasy-193/

The Oranges Official Trailer #1 (2012) Hugh Laurie Movie HD @ YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEBknhHTe_I

The Oranges @ IMDb
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1313139/

The Oranges Trailer 2012 Leighton Meester Movie - Official [HD]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8j22sdFo_DM

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/seduce_1?q=seduce
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filmography
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/rendezvous?q=rendezvous

Thursday 29 November 2012

TV & Vocabulary: Mythbusters & English Idioms


Mythbusters
Image from Discovery Channel

Some of you might remember that I have actually recommended Mythbusters in Website & TV: Tudou & Mythbusters and TV: Mythbusters as the science program to watch if you want to improve your English vocabulary, and so I created a YouTube playlist in TV: Mythbusters on Youtube and collected a number of short video clips for your learning.


Recently, I have revisited this fantastic TV program focusing on the idiom myths. Sometimes we use idioms the way it is and never really try to prove or disprove their correctness. For example, when poop shits the fan, does it make the situation worse? Do your feet actually get colder when you get scared?

The Mythbusters team explore idioms such as cold feetshit / poop hits the fan,


hit the ground runningyou can't polish turd / poop,



end with a banggoing down like a lead balloon...




As well as similes such as know sth like the back of your hand,


like shooting fish in the barrelclear as daylike a bull in a china shop.




All of these idioms are worth learning from the vocabulary section below and all the videos I put up is worth watching. Confirmed or Busted? Be surprised!!!

Love science!!!


Vocabulary:

(get) cold feet -- to suddenly become too frightened to do something you had planned to do, especially something important such as getting married
(the) shit / poop hits the fan -- (also the shit fliesoffensive When the shit hits the fan or when the shit flies, a situation suddenly causes a lot of trouble for someone
hit the ground running -- to immediately work hard and successfully at a new activity
you can't polish turd / poop -- despite your best efforts, there are some things you just can't fix/improve.
end with a bang -- from the final stanza of the poem The Hollow Men, This is the way the world ends - Not with a bang but a whimper
go down like a lead balloon -- humorous If something that you say or show to people goes down like a lead balloon, they do not like it at all
know sth like the back of your hand -- informal to have very good and detailed knowledge of something
like shooting fish in the barrel -- describing an effortless or simple action, with guaranteed success.
clear as day -- very easy to understand; certain
like a bull in a china shop -- If someone is like a bull in a china shop, they are very careless in the way that they move or behave


Resources:
http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/know+like+the+back+of+hand
http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/Like+Shooting+Fish+in+A+Barrel
http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/hit+the+ground+running
http://mythbustersresults.com/cold-feet
http://mythbustersresults.com/end-with-a-bang
http://mythbustersresults.com/episode96

Mythbusters - Shooting Fish in A Barrel @ YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BOz1vinNXZg

Mythbusters Polishing a Turd @ YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yiJ9fy1qSFI

Mini Myth Medley Aftershow | MythBusters @ YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysU2IpV7rz0

Над селом херня летала серебристого металла... @ YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTGFj7gT0OU

Mythbusters: Are elephants afraid of mice? @ YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WpTSA_25wGE

Mythbusters @ Discovery Channel
http://dsc.discovery.com/tv-shows/mythbusters

Website & TV: Tudou & Mythbusters @ Locky's English Playground
http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/2009/04/website-tv-tudou-mythbusters.html

TV: Mythbusters on Youtube
http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/2009/03/tv-mythbusters-on-youtube.html

TV: Mythbusters @ Locky's English Playground
http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/2009/03/tv-mythbusters.html


http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/get-cold-feet?q=cold+feet#get-cold-feet__1
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/the-shit-hits-the-fan?q=%28the%29+shit+hits+the+fan#the-shit-hits-the-fan__1
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/hit-the-ground-running?q=hit+the+running+ground#hit-the-ground-running__1
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=you%20can't%20polish%20a%20turd
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=can't%20polish%20a%20turd
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hollow_Men
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/go-down-like-a-lead-balloon?q=go+down+like+a+lead+balloon#go-down-like-a-lead-balloon__1
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/like-a-bull-in-a-china-shop?q=a+bull+in+a+china+shop#like-a-bull-in-a-china-shop__1
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/know-sth-like-the-back-of-your-hand?q=know+sth+like+the+back+of+your+hand#know-sth-like-the-back-of-your-hand__1
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting_fish_in_a_barrel
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/as-clear-as-day?q=clear+as+day#as-clear-as-day__1