About The Author
I was born in Hong Kong and spent my childhood and most of my teenage years in Hong Kong. At the age of 15, my family moved to Canada and starts a new life here. I finished my high school and university degree in Canada.
By growing up in Hong Kong, I was influenced by Japanese culture, for example, Japanese cartoons, food, toys and so on. There was always a Japanese cartoon right after school time, and around supper time. I remember, there was also a TV show which talked about the Japanese culture; I could not remember the name of the show. Yet, I remember couple episodes, for instance, Cherry Blossom Festival, Japanese New Year, Children's Day, and Doll's Festival.
Last Summer (June, 2002), I was fortunate and I had a chance to visit Japan, mainly Honshu for 7 days. It was my first foreign trip ever, can't you believe it. I always wanted to go to Japan since I was a little, I remember I had an English oral examination at Grade 7 in Hong Kong, my English teacher Miss Tong asked: "Where do you want to visit?" and I replied: "...probably Japan, cause I am fascinated by the Japanese culture and its technology...". So, many years later I finally have a chance to visit Japan. I joined a tour group in Hong Kong and started my journey to Japan on the June 17, 2002.
I don't like travel much because I don't want to leave the people I love (especially Charlene), my friends and things I love behind. If I could, I would invite her to come along with me. What I did, I sent her post cards and wrote her the things that I've seen and I felt, I wanted to share every moment with her.
I also interest in classical music, especially oboe. I am playing oboe for one of the professional orchestra in Canada. What music teaches me is to open my heart and express myself through music. If you listen closely to the music, you can feel the happiness, Anger, fear and sadness. What a musician doing is to express the emotions and using music as a media.
- WLS
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Children's Day
Children's Day (Kodomo no hi) falls on May 5th, this is also the same date as Boys' Festival (Tango no sekku). The Boys' Festival teaches boys to be strong and brave. each family hang a colourful carp (koi) kite for each boy in the family. The oldest boy's carp kite is at the top and it is the largest. The kites are facing the wind, representing the strength and determination that the fish shows when it swims against the current of the stream.
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Doll's Festival
Doll's Festival also know as Girls' Day (Hina matsuri) is celebrated on March 3rd. This holiday celebrates the value of loyalty, devotion and good health to girls. Most families with girls will display a set of doll (Hina matsuri) dressed in ancient costumes. The dolls are usually arranged on a five or seven-tiered stand covered with a red carpet. At the top are the Emperor and Empress. The next step contains three court ladies (sannin-kanjo), followed by five musicians (gonin-bayashi), two ministers (udaijin and sadaijin), and three servants ending the bottom row in a five-tiered display. There are also small pieces of furniture, small meal dishes, and other things.
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