A Trip to Chitou

I took my family to Chitou(溪頭) for a trip last weekend. Chitou, meaning "creek head" in Chinese, is a beautiful plantation forest in central Taiwan, not very far from a famous tea town, Luku(鹿谷), or the deer valley. I've been to Chitou a couple of times, and I like it so much that I even spent a few days of my honeymoon over there. I recall that I purchased an orchid, Cym. ensifolium on that particular trip. It is still in my garden, and it spikes every year.

Well, I must say that Chitou has a lot of changes since some twenty years ago when I first went there. But the changes are delightful. As I can see, my daughter loves it much the same way I loved it twenty years ago.

The trees are tall, green, and beautiful, though wild orchids are not as much as they were. But I still found some, to my surprise.

Nowadays, it is very easy to go to Chitou from Taipei. It takes only three hours or so by car. I left Taipei 8:30 in the morning and got there before noon. That's something impossible before. I shall go there every so often.

Cym. dayanum

Bulbophyllum pectinatum

Liparis elliptica

Phaius tankervilleae

Beautiful Phalaenopsis

I like Phalaenopsis. With butterfly-like flowers hanging sweetly on the spikes, the Phalaenopsis always exuberates a sense of joy. I grow a lot of Phalaenopsis. Every time they spike, I can not help but take a lot of pictures for them and for other orchids.

These flowers are not mine, of course.

Please enjoy.









I also have some pictures of other orchids.

四季蘭無菌播種後續３

播種至今九個月左右。龍根發展成龍根群。我猜測龍根之間有共生關係存在。

在大自然狀況下，龍根與蘭菌形共生關係，但偶爾在野外會發現一大族的龍根，可能剛好是種莢同一批種子聚在一起掉落土壤中一起長出來的。

我試管裡這批就是一團種子長出來的，而且明顯長得比「落單」的種子快。快了數倍之多。而且，很神奇，有的種子根本就沒碰觸到培養基，竟可以快速發芽成長？

我猜測龍根之間會行養分和荷爾蒙之交換。換言之，當要發葉芽時，會一起發出來。

那麼，一群試管中的龍根，如果不用傳統的BA誘導，是否可以放進一株正在長芽中的龍根，然後整瓶發芽？

我還有其他猜測，但先寫到這裡，繼續觀察再說吧。

因為也有可能是我看錯了，根本是同一條龍根（雖然不太可能）。

四季蘭無菌播種ＤＩＹ

四季蘭無菌播種後續１

四季蘭無菌播種後續２－－長龍根

四季蘭無菌播種後續３

四季蘭無菌播種後續４

Mais où sont les neiges d'antan!

Mais où sont les neiges d'antan?

Where are the snows of yesteryear?

Ballade des Dames du Temps Jadis

Catching a Falling Knife

It is a common sense in the Wall Street that never catch a falling knife. However, I have just caught one. The stock I bought is a health equipment company that has just fallen out of favor: The Johnson Health Technology (喬山). Its share price falls form 290 to currently 57, because of earning surprise. The company had encountered a net lost last Q2.

I have no doubt that it was a good company, and I hope it still is. It is not my purpose to write all its merits here, but the company has an international brand name, and a strong earning record. People consider the U.S. recession had made it difficult to sustain a good earning level. Yes, due to the sub-prime problem.

The P/E ratio now is about 19 and EPS is 3. Why don't I wait until its EPS drops below 15? Or wait until P/B ratio is less than 1.5? Isn't it risky to buy at a 19 P/E?

That's right, I shall wait until the price goes down to a comfortable level. I have made a mistake to risk on this price simply because I think it has already dropped quite a lot. The price may go down further until its earning recovery. Until then, I shall wait. Somehow, I have taken a unnecessary risk.

I think over this problem again and again these days. And I get the point finally. Fortunately, I have bought the stock with only one third of my target amount. The other two third shall wait strictly until a proper price comes out.