I thought I heard the brush of a shower when I woke up yesterday morning. Just to ensure I heard the right sound, I looked outside the window and the pavements and the roads indeed looked wet.
It wouldn’t have been anything remarkable to write about if not for the fact that it was the first decent rainfall that I came across in my two months in Melbourne!
Before this rain, Melbourne has received a meagre 2 mm of precipitation since the start of the year. One could be forgiven to think that Melbourne lies in a desert, except the amount of vegetation does still suggest the otherwise. The dry conditions are one of the contributing factors to the ferocity and number of forest fires this summer, and thankfully this rain is supposed to linger for another couple of days yet. Hopefully this will finally rein in the remaining fires that are still burning.
Something ho-hum in many parts of the world, rain has become a much treasured rarity in Melbourne and brought back some much needed joie de vivre – in the form of constantly checking the rainfall radar map of the Australian Bureau of Meteorology!
昨天一覺醒來，好像聽到沙沙雨聲，望望窗外，路面也的確濕了。
這種情景也值得寫，無他的，因為實在是我回到墨爾本兩個月來第一次看到！
直至這場雨來臨前，墨爾本自年初以來祇錄得2毫米的雨量，要不是四週仍種滿植物的話，根本就跟沙漠無異！如此乾燥的環境，是引起連場山林大火的原因之一，可喜的是，這場雨應還會持續幾天，希望至今仍未撲滅的火頭，終於可被收服了吧！
在世界不少地方，下雨是稀疏平常事，來到墨爾本便如獲至寶！我也可因此重拾一種樂趣——就是不停查看澳洲氣象局的雷達降雨圖！
Something else that I treasure is my mobile phone.
The phone caught the attention of one of my cousins’ wife as I made a phone call after having lunch with a few relatives on Sunday. She commented how she hadn’t seen a phone like mine for ages. Of course she was merely showing her surprise and wasn’t implying how out of mode I was.
This phone was probably something à la mode back when I got it in 2001, and these days it should re-qualify much better as an antique because there are probably not many of this type around. The biggest surprise, by far, is that the phone still works after eight years of running save the need to recharge the battery every second day (which a low-volume user like I can cope with) and possibly higher emission of radiation compared to the newer types.
There were times when I thought of changing a new phone, but this trusty old phone has been proving its worth and kept me from any concrete action yet. Plus I really can’t be bothered of thinking how to transfer the stored phone numbers from this phone to any of its successor. Maybe I should just let it run its course and fulfil its mission while it still can.
另一樣寶，就是我的手機。
星期日跟親戚吃飯後，拿出手機用，給表弟婦看見，她說很久也沒見到這型號的手機了。她當然不是取笑我落伍，祇是覺得好奇（驚奇？）而已。
有何值得好奇？我這部機是2001年的貨色，相信今時今日並不易找到，可登「古董」之列了吧！我想最令人意想不到的是，八個年頭了，這部機仍運作如常，祇是每兩天就要充電一次（當然我用量少才可這樣了！）還得留意這部舊機輻射量可能比新款手機高。
其實久不久也想過換換新手機，不過見其老而不衰就罷了，而且也懶得想辦法把機上儲存的電話號碼轉到新手機，算了算了，就讓其繼續其使命吧！
One of my good friends in Hong Kong gave me a mission to look for some old CDs and vinyls. I willingly put myself in although I’m a complete stranger to these collectibles.
I didn’t volunteer myself for no reason. The best place to hunt for these collectibles is Brunswick Street which is right next to where I used to work before moving to Germany. Lunch time saunters and shopping in Brunswick Street were always an important part of my memories of those days, and I’ve been looking for a reason to re-visit the place.
Some things have changed in the last three years, yet more stayed the same. The street has seen the addition of new shops, but its vibe and relaxed pace still remain. It has won my heart for the variety of restaurants and shops selling everything imaginable – and very often unique, while fortunately it’s not overly chic or too expensive to my liking. Every time I go there, I can’t help getting dazzled!
While the mission for my friend didn’t turn out to be fruitful, my own mission was more or less achieved, especially as I’ve uncovered a brand new beer hall which had a feel of (and was indeed converted from) a warehouse. I was pleasantly surprised when I saw that it was owned by the Little Creatures brewery, hailing all the way from Perth to establish this outpost in Melbourne. How could I not remember Little Creatures when I had a dinner at its brewery-cum-restaurant by the sea at Fremantle during a conference in Perth in October 2004. Now I don’t have to travel far to have a taste of it again – and hopefully it won’t just bring back some fond memories but will also bring on some new sensations!
香港某友人給了我一個「使命」，就是為他找些舊CD和唱碟，我雖然對這門玩意完全不懂，但也欣然接受了。
從前上班的地方，附近的Brunswick Street正好是發掘這些「寶物」的好地方，我有三年沒踏足了，在德國時也常常想念從前午飯時間在那條街散步逛商店的日子，如今終於有個上佳理由，到那裡緬懷一番了。
三年了，商店當然換了好幾家，不過那種悠閒又活潑的氣氛依舊。我最喜歡那條街夾雜了各式各樣的食肆和無奇不有的商店，貨色又往往獨一無二，每次都令人目不暇給，而且消費一般很都大眾化，所以甚得我心。
雖然沒有為友人找到甚麼，我卻為自己發掘了一家新開張的啤酒室，驟眼一望室內有點像貨倉，看看門牌，原來是來自澳洲西部城市珀斯的Little Creatures釀酒廠，遠渡來墨爾本開新據地。尤記得2004年10月初在珀斯開會議時，便曾光顧其建在Fremantle海濱的啤酒室兼餐廳，很是喜歡，不知Brunswick Street這一家會不會可以勾起美好回憶之餘帶來新風味？
Brunswick Street (left) and the new Little Creatures Dining Hall (right)
Brunswick Street （左）及Little Creatures啤酒室（右）
It wouldn’t have been anything remarkable to write about if not for the fact that it was the first decent rainfall that I came across in my two months in Melbourne!
Before this rain, Melbourne has received a meagre 2 mm of precipitation since the start of the year. One could be forgiven to think that Melbourne lies in a desert, except the amount of vegetation does still suggest the otherwise. The dry conditions are one of the contributing factors to the ferocity and number of forest fires this summer, and thankfully this rain is supposed to linger for another couple of days yet. Hopefully this will finally rein in the remaining fires that are still burning.
Something ho-hum in many parts of the world, rain has become a much treasured rarity in Melbourne and brought back some much needed joie de vivre – in the form of constantly checking the rainfall radar map of the Australian Bureau of Meteorology!
昨天一覺醒來，好像聽到沙沙雨聲，望望窗外，路面也的確濕了。
這種情景也值得寫，無他的，因為實在是我回到墨爾本兩個月來第一次看到！
直至這場雨來臨前，墨爾本自年初以來祇錄得2毫米的雨量，要不是四週仍種滿植物的話，根本就跟沙漠無異！如此乾燥的環境，是引起連場山林大火的原因之一，可喜的是，這場雨應還會持續幾天，希望至今仍未撲滅的火頭，終於可被收服了吧！
在世界不少地方，下雨是稀疏平常事，來到墨爾本便如獲至寶！我也可因此重拾一種樂趣——就是不停查看澳洲氣象局的雷達降雨圖！
* * *
Something else that I treasure is my mobile phone.
The phone caught the attention of one of my cousins’ wife as I made a phone call after having lunch with a few relatives on Sunday. She commented how she hadn’t seen a phone like mine for ages. Of course she was merely showing her surprise and wasn’t implying how out of mode I was.
This phone was probably something à la mode back when I got it in 2001, and these days it should re-qualify much better as an antique because there are probably not many of this type around. The biggest surprise, by far, is that the phone still works after eight years of running save the need to recharge the battery every second day (which a low-volume user like I can cope with) and possibly higher emission of radiation compared to the newer types.
There were times when I thought of changing a new phone, but this trusty old phone has been proving its worth and kept me from any concrete action yet. Plus I really can’t be bothered of thinking how to transfer the stored phone numbers from this phone to any of its successor. Maybe I should just let it run its course and fulfil its mission while it still can.
另一樣寶，就是我的手機。
星期日跟親戚吃飯後，拿出手機用，給表弟婦看見，她說很久也沒見到這型號的手機了。她當然不是取笑我落伍，祇是覺得好奇（驚奇？）而已。
有何值得好奇？我這部機是2001年的貨色，相信今時今日並不易找到，可登「古董」之列了吧！我想最令人意想不到的是，八個年頭了，這部機仍運作如常，祇是每兩天就要充電一次（當然我用量少才可這樣了！）還得留意這部舊機輻射量可能比新款手機高。
其實久不久也想過換換新手機，不過見其老而不衰就罷了，而且也懶得想辦法把機上儲存的電話號碼轉到新手機，算了算了，就讓其繼續其使命吧！
* * *
One of my good friends in Hong Kong gave me a mission to look for some old CDs and vinyls. I willingly put myself in although I’m a complete stranger to these collectibles.
I didn’t volunteer myself for no reason. The best place to hunt for these collectibles is Brunswick Street which is right next to where I used to work before moving to Germany. Lunch time saunters and shopping in Brunswick Street were always an important part of my memories of those days, and I’ve been looking for a reason to re-visit the place.
Some things have changed in the last three years, yet more stayed the same. The street has seen the addition of new shops, but its vibe and relaxed pace still remain. It has won my heart for the variety of restaurants and shops selling everything imaginable – and very often unique, while fortunately it’s not overly chic or too expensive to my liking. Every time I go there, I can’t help getting dazzled!
While the mission for my friend didn’t turn out to be fruitful, my own mission was more or less achieved, especially as I’ve uncovered a brand new beer hall which had a feel of (and was indeed converted from) a warehouse. I was pleasantly surprised when I saw that it was owned by the Little Creatures brewery, hailing all the way from Perth to establish this outpost in Melbourne. How could I not remember Little Creatures when I had a dinner at its brewery-cum-restaurant by the sea at Fremantle during a conference in Perth in October 2004. Now I don’t have to travel far to have a taste of it again – and hopefully it won’t just bring back some fond memories but will also bring on some new sensations!
香港某友人給了我一個「使命」，就是為他找些舊CD和唱碟，我雖然對這門玩意完全不懂，但也欣然接受了。
從前上班的地方，附近的Brunswick Street正好是發掘這些「寶物」的好地方，我有三年沒踏足了，在德國時也常常想念從前午飯時間在那條街散步逛商店的日子，如今終於有個上佳理由，到那裡緬懷一番了。
三年了，商店當然換了好幾家，不過那種悠閒又活潑的氣氛依舊。我最喜歡那條街夾雜了各式各樣的食肆和無奇不有的商店，貨色又往往獨一無二，每次都令人目不暇給，而且消費一般很都大眾化，所以甚得我心。
雖然沒有為友人找到甚麼，我卻為自己發掘了一家新開張的啤酒室，驟眼一望室內有點像貨倉，看看門牌，原來是來自澳洲西部城市珀斯的Little Creatures釀酒廠，遠渡來墨爾本開新據地。尤記得2004年10月初在珀斯開會議時，便曾光顧其建在Fremantle海濱的啤酒室兼餐廳，很是喜歡，不知Brunswick Street這一家會不會可以勾起美好回憶之餘帶來新風味？
Brunswick Street (left) and the new Little Creatures Dining Hall (right)
Brunswick Street （左）及Little Creatures啤酒室（右）
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