Was sagst du? 樣樣都德

30 November was a momentous day in Melbourne's railway history, as the public opening of the Metro Tunnel made for the most significant project since 1981. 11月30日是墨爾本新鐵路隧道Metro Tunnel首次正式營運，據說是1981年以來最重要的鐵路工程，我家自然想見證歷史。 The first east- and west-bound passenger services through the tunnel departed at rather friendly times. My wife and I took out little one on the first west-bound service which was scheduled at 09:48 at our local station. (Until 1 February next year, the train services on  our line will be a mix of existing routeing and through the Metro Tunnel. Then from 2 February all services will switch to the Metro Tunnel.) 不論東西行的頭班車，時間都很親民，我們乘搭第一班西行入隧道的列車，在我家附近那站是09:48出發，可當當火車迷趁熱鬧。 （由當天至2月1日，行經隧道的班次安排於指定時間在行駛現有路線的班次之間運行，到2月2日全面改行隧道。） I was already touched when I saw the new information display at the entrance of our local station. There were more new displays aboard the train. 在火車站但見全新路線資訊顯示，那刻已經有點感動，上車後，車廂也有新的顯示。 Obviously we were not the only ones who wanted to wi...

A restaurant chain well-known in Hong Kong called Tamjai specialising in mixian (a type of rice noodles) has been talking about expanding to Australia for several years. The vision has finally materialised when the first Australian branch was open in Melbourne CBD in 28th November. Wife, baby and I were already keen to try it out on its second day of opening. 說了多年的譚仔米線往澳洲擴張，到11月28日譚仔在澳洲的首家分店終於在墨爾本市區，一家三口在開張第二天便貪新鮮試了。 We waited for 1 1/2 hours since 19:00 before we got a table. Many passers-by were amazed by this queue and a lady even asked what the queue was about and whether it was indeed worth the wait. She said that the length of the queue had not changed since she last walked by 4 hours earlier! 由黃昏7點排隊等了一個半小時才可內進，其間不少行人對人龍嘖嘖稱奇，甚至有西人婦人說人龍跟4小時前一樣長，問我排隊的目的和米線值不值得吃。 Customers can customise their own mixian noodles by choosing the soup base and ingredients. At the base price, 2 ingredients excluding the more expensive, special ones are included. The special ones...

In preparation for our visit to Hong Kong possibly at the end of the year, our baby needs to apply for an Australian passport. 為準備年底可能到香港一遊（大人要跟寶寶，不可以說回港），寶寶要申領澳洲護照。 After we the parents filled in the application form, we needed to have the baby's photo taken and went to a camera shop. The biggest problem was that our baby smiled at the staff's camera by habit, like looking at our phones, but passport photos supposedly only allow a neutral facial expression. The staff decided to turn to the next customer before returning to us, but right at that moment our baby stopped smiling and my wife told the staff to snap a shot quickly. The staff guaranteed that the last shot would definitely meet the passport requirement, so we've passed the photo step. 填申請表後，先要為寶寶拍護照相片，為求專業，我們光顧一家攝影店，寶寶最大的「問題」，是見到店員拿相機時笑容流露，就像我們平時拍照般，但護照相片是不容展露笑容的啊。店員因為不想耽誤下個顧客，正開始招待其時，寶寶有一刻歛起笑臉，太太趕緊着店員捕捉那一剎，結果是連店員也說這幀相片保證合規，算是過了第一關。 The next customer 下一個顧客 Then we needed a witness for a couple of requirements in t...