Mid-Autumn lanterns on balcony doors

These were my favorite lanterns, hanging on my favorite balcony. We bought them from a small shop in Kennedy Town, Hong Kong. It was several years ago, we moved out of the apartment about two years ago. I wanted to include this photo of (balcony) door because it was an exit door. It was the last year that K was still excited about lanterns. It was also the year that he made his own lantern. Now he looked at them as something childish. He has stopped being the child. It's going to be Mid-Autumn next week, I still have the lanterns in my room...I'll find another balcony door to put my rabbit and parrot lanterns up!

Favourite diner in Bangkok

This is the most amazing diner in Bangkok. It serves great Muslim food. They serve the best samosa and curry. If you want a samosa, you have to come before 2 p.m., everything is gone after the rush hour.

We first visited it in 2003 and then this summer. Actually I am quite surprised that it is still there. I didn't check it out last September, mostly because I couldn't remember where it was...I can't remember why we decided to go to a Muslim restaurant in Bangkok, it doesn't seem to make a lot of sense. But then, you never know.

The blueness of the place is just unbelievable. The color just radiates a certain calmness and quietness. The doors and gate are also blue. I never found out why the whole place is in blue...even the fans are blue.

From Teng Xian, Guangxi

We visited Teng Xian, Guangxi, China, in August. It was a different experience when visiting different primary schools in remote villages. The buildings were simple (and some were built in the 60s), with one light bulb in each classroom. The schools that we visited only provided the most basic learning environment: desks, chairs and blackboard.

This was a primary school. It was not a pretty sight. The bricks in front of the building were savaged from a collapsed school wing. The primary school is currently not in use, and students will have to study in tents this school year. The principal was very worried that this part of the school building may also collapse in the near future.

It was sad to see that the classroom doors were shut, where will the children go? The red bits on the doors were actually blessing that the school put up before examinations and/or Chinese New Year. Cheering words, like 'Work Hard', 'You Can Do It', seem so remote now.

If you would like to help, you can contact China Care Fund for further information.

A very small door in a big church...

We found a very small door in a cathedral in Essen, Germany. It doesn't look like it in the picture, but the door is lower than 5 foot. It feels very small in the vast space of the cathedral. Where does it lead to? This door is located in a corner, next to the confession rooms.

The mysterious (and fascinating) thing about churches are the doors and gates. Why is that small door there? Perhaps if I look up the history of the cathedral, I may find the answer. Yet for some reasons, there is usually no label for a small (or unimpressive) door.

Alice found some doors...

I have always wanted to write something about doors. That fascination came a couple years ago. What is a door? When is a door a door? When were 'interior doors' invented? Why do we need them?
When do we start fussing about doors? What has this got to do with our conception of space?