After leaving Hong Kong in mid-September, I’ve spent almost two months in Europe and the trip is coming to an end in the next few days. It has been a busy time but also fun and memorable.
九月中離開香港後，不經不覺在歐洲度過了差不多兩個月，還有幾天便要結束這個旅程了，玩了、忙了這麼久，印象當然深刻。
My first week in Europe was spent on a short holiday through Switzerland and London. Afterwards I returned to my old outpost and third home of Munich, back to my previous work place to finish off my old project and to initiate a new collaboration with other former colleagues on my current project in Australia. The first two weeks weren’t too hectic, and the timing couldn’t have been better since the 200th anniversary of the Oktoberfest beer festival was taking place at the same time. It was a good time to meet up with old friends in Munich, and for one reason or another I ended up going to the Oktoberfest 5 times in total! It has surely made up for my future absences at this festival. But into the third week after starting on my old project, I took on a 19-day stretch at work without any day off. On a few days I would find myself stuck in the dark in the basement laboratories apart from a brief break for lunch and dinner. Experiments were not the only challenge when I had to stay up for long nights; it was also quite a fight to stay awake and concentrate. A couple of people even compared me to the Chilean miners who were trapped underground!
來到歐洲，先在瑞士和倫敦玩了一週，然後回到老地方慕尼黑「再續前緣」，在以前的實驗室要把舊的工作做妥，兼且從澳洲帶了新的項目過來跟另外的舊同事合作，首兩週還不是太忙，剛好碰上啤酒節第二百週年，正好可以跟舊相識重聚，我也因為不同理由，前後到啤酒節總共五次，足以彌補將來不能前往的遺憾了。但踏入第三週，一開展舊工作時，便一口氣忙了19天也沒有休假，有好幾天是在地庫的暗黑實驗室孤軍作戰，除了午飯和晚飯前後外都得緊守工作崗位，有時做得晚，到了深夜還要跟睡魔搏鬥，正如身邊有人形容，我就是那些困在地底的智利礦工了！
Fortunately my long hours of struggle were not wasted. I finished what I needed to do for my old project, and the new project has exceeded everyone’s expectations. It was definitely worthwhile coming over to my old lab! After the six and a bit weeks in Munich, my boss came all the way from Australia and we left for Switzerland yesterday to do some other experiments. Afterwards we would return to Munich for a day to discuss how to carry the new project forward before flying out. Considering that I have just been back from a weekend in the Netherlands at the end of October and that my trip back to Melbourne includes a 3-day stop in Hong Kong, this is pretty intense travelling!
幸好我的長時間奮戰並沒有白費，舊的工作應做的都做妥，新項目成果也遠超預期，這回總算不枉此行了。在慕尼黑六星期多的工幹後，澳洲老闆遠渡重洋，昨天帶我到瑞士做些其他實驗，然後順道再返回慕尼黑一天，跟我的舊同事商討未來大計。連同十月底到荷蘭過了一個週末，和離開德國後在香港逗留三天後再飛往墨爾本，這兩個星期真的馬不停蹄。
My days in Europe have seen early autumn slipping gradually into late autumn, and the landscape stayed colourful while the flowers slowly gave way to bright autumn leaves in technicolour. This autumn has been longer than the European norm. Even at the start of November the weather is still on the warm side and many trees were still holding onto their leaves with a good variety of colours. I used to say that autumn in Europe is generally short, and that November is my least favourite month because of the grey skies, cold days and nothing to do before Christmas, Chinese New Year and the snow sports season. But this long autumn is going to change my view with its pleasant weather and beautiful sceneries. I’m sure that you’ll like them too after seeing a small sampler of my photos – more will be on the way!
我在歐洲，看著日子從初秋慢慢踏入深秋，四周斑斕依然，祇不過花卉鮮豔的色彩，漸次由斑駁的秋葉取代。今年歐洲的秋天似乎比正常的長，到了十一月初，天氣仍然和暖，樹葉不少仍未掉下，而且色彩鮮明，我以往常跟人說歐洲秋天短促，而十一月天氣一般又灰又冷，又未到聖誕、農曆新年和滑雪季節，是我最不喜歡的月份，這個又長又暖的秋天，四周風景又美不勝收，實在令我大喜過望，現在先拿幾張照片讓大家先睹為快！
11/9/2010: Rigi Kulm, near Lucerne, Switzerland 瑞士盧塞因附近的Rigi Kulm
13/9/2010: Holland Park, London 倫敦荷蘭公園
2/10/2010 The streets near my lab in Munich 慕尼黑實驗室附近的街道
3/10/2010: The mountains near Lenggries, south of Munich 慕尼黑以南Lenggries一帶的高山
24/10/2010: Weltenburg - home to the oldest monastery brewery in the world! 德國Weltenburg——全世界歷史最悠久的修道院釀酒廠
30-31/10/2010: The Netherlands 荷蘭
4-8/11/2010: Brugg and Villigen, Switzerland 瑞士Brugg及Villigen
九月中離開香港後，不經不覺在歐洲度過了差不多兩個月，還有幾天便要結束這個旅程了，玩了、忙了這麼久，印象當然深刻。
My first week in Europe was spent on a short holiday through Switzerland and London. Afterwards I returned to my old outpost and third home of Munich, back to my previous work place to finish off my old project and to initiate a new collaboration with other former colleagues on my current project in Australia. The first two weeks weren’t too hectic, and the timing couldn’t have been better since the 200th anniversary of the Oktoberfest beer festival was taking place at the same time. It was a good time to meet up with old friends in Munich, and for one reason or another I ended up going to the Oktoberfest 5 times in total! It has surely made up for my future absences at this festival. But into the third week after starting on my old project, I took on a 19-day stretch at work without any day off. On a few days I would find myself stuck in the dark in the basement laboratories apart from a brief break for lunch and dinner. Experiments were not the only challenge when I had to stay up for long nights; it was also quite a fight to stay awake and concentrate. A couple of people even compared me to the Chilean miners who were trapped underground!
來到歐洲，先在瑞士和倫敦玩了一週，然後回到老地方慕尼黑「再續前緣」，在以前的實驗室要把舊的工作做妥，兼且從澳洲帶了新的項目過來跟另外的舊同事合作，首兩週還不是太忙，剛好碰上啤酒節第二百週年，正好可以跟舊相識重聚，我也因為不同理由，前後到啤酒節總共五次，足以彌補將來不能前往的遺憾了。但踏入第三週，一開展舊工作時，便一口氣忙了19天也沒有休假，有好幾天是在地庫的暗黑實驗室孤軍作戰，除了午飯和晚飯前後外都得緊守工作崗位，有時做得晚，到了深夜還要跟睡魔搏鬥，正如身邊有人形容，我就是那些困在地底的智利礦工了！
Fortunately my long hours of struggle were not wasted. I finished what I needed to do for my old project, and the new project has exceeded everyone’s expectations. It was definitely worthwhile coming over to my old lab! After the six and a bit weeks in Munich, my boss came all the way from Australia and we left for Switzerland yesterday to do some other experiments. Afterwards we would return to Munich for a day to discuss how to carry the new project forward before flying out. Considering that I have just been back from a weekend in the Netherlands at the end of October and that my trip back to Melbourne includes a 3-day stop in Hong Kong, this is pretty intense travelling!
幸好我的長時間奮戰並沒有白費，舊的工作應做的都做妥，新項目成果也遠超預期，這回總算不枉此行了。在慕尼黑六星期多的工幹後，澳洲老闆遠渡重洋，昨天帶我到瑞士做些其他實驗，然後順道再返回慕尼黑一天，跟我的舊同事商討未來大計。連同十月底到荷蘭過了一個週末，和離開德國後在香港逗留三天後再飛往墨爾本，這兩個星期真的馬不停蹄。
My days in Europe have seen early autumn slipping gradually into late autumn, and the landscape stayed colourful while the flowers slowly gave way to bright autumn leaves in technicolour. This autumn has been longer than the European norm. Even at the start of November the weather is still on the warm side and many trees were still holding onto their leaves with a good variety of colours. I used to say that autumn in Europe is generally short, and that November is my least favourite month because of the grey skies, cold days and nothing to do before Christmas, Chinese New Year and the snow sports season. But this long autumn is going to change my view with its pleasant weather and beautiful sceneries. I’m sure that you’ll like them too after seeing a small sampler of my photos – more will be on the way!
我在歐洲，看著日子從初秋慢慢踏入深秋，四周斑斕依然，祇不過花卉鮮豔的色彩，漸次由斑駁的秋葉取代。今年歐洲的秋天似乎比正常的長，到了十一月初，天氣仍然和暖，樹葉不少仍未掉下，而且色彩鮮明，我以往常跟人說歐洲秋天短促，而十一月天氣一般又灰又冷，又未到聖誕、農曆新年和滑雪季節，是我最不喜歡的月份，這個又長又暖的秋天，四周風景又美不勝收，實在令我大喜過望，現在先拿幾張照片讓大家先睹為快！
11/9/2010: Rigi Kulm, near Lucerne, Switzerland 瑞士盧塞因附近的Rigi Kulm
13/9/2010: Holland Park, London 倫敦荷蘭公園
2/10/2010 The streets near my lab in Munich 慕尼黑實驗室附近的街道
3/10/2010: The mountains near Lenggries, south of Munich 慕尼黑以南Lenggries一帶的高山
24/10/2010: Weltenburg - home to the oldest monastery brewery in the world! 德國Weltenburg——全世界歷史最悠久的修道院釀酒廠
30-31/10/2010: The Netherlands 荷蘭
4-8/11/2010: Brugg and Villigen, Switzerland 瑞士Brugg及Villigen
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