After a week of settling in, it’s time to be out and about again, although it’s only a trip with my parents to Melbourne city to see how much has changed over the last three years.
星期日（1月19日）跟家父、家母到市中心逛逛，看看墨爾本過去三年有何變化。
The view by the Yarra River is arguably still one of the best that Melbourne can offer. A lot of water has flowed under the many bridges crossing the Yarra since I last left, but rather unfortunately it still had this ugly brown colour that spoiled the otherwise picture-perfect scenery.
雅拉河畔（Yarra River）兩岸的景色仍是全墨爾本最美，不過河水仍舊啡黃，乃一大美中不足也。
We took our time sauntering by the river and making frequent stops for photos, on a track shared by pedestrians and cyclists. We know we must have been a pain to the cyclists, but surprisingly there were neither incessantly ringing bells nor angry yelling, just patient cyclists who slowed down and made way for us. What a nice change from Germany where cyclists are only too happy to ‘ding ding’ their way through at high speed even when they’re sharing the path with pedestrians!
在行人和腳踏車共用的小徑上，邊散步邊頻頻停下拍照，期間路過的腳踏車和其他行人也不少，但究然一聲腳踏車響鈴聲也沒有，騎車者都很我們這三個「行動遲緩」者都很忍讓，換了在德國，早就給一眾不減速、不讓路的騎車者「叮叮叮」到暈了！（查實全世界的交通規則，行人總有優先權啊！）
Lunch at a food court in a shopping centre afterwards was a plastic affair, as metal utensils and porcelain plates have given way to disposable plastic (apart from my sizzling hot plate meal) like the US, much to my chagrin! But this is probably the lesser of two evils when Melbourne is still suffering a prolonged drought and washing the utensils and plates would consume a lot of precious water. It’s not an easy choice.
在某商場吃午飯，驀然發覺美食廣場內全都用了塑膠餐具（除了我的鐵板），跟美國一樣！即用即棄委實不環保，不過墨爾本鬧水荒多年，普通餐具要用大量清水清洗，兩害取較輕者，實不容易。
A disused factory under the dome of the shopping centre
商場的玻璃屋頂下一座前工廠
Speaking of the sizzling hot plate meal, it was meant to come with a complimentary soft drink, but the shop had the audacity to say that they had run out of soft drinks and even to decline my request for some water. This place is now on my permanent black list …
說到我的鐵板餐，明明寫着奉送的飲料，但出菜時竟欠奉，問店員要杯水也竟然說沒有，更遑論減回飲料的價錢了，以後真的逢人都得唱衰此店！
My parents are probably too pleased to have a son to help them navigate their way, whether to lunch or a visit to Port Melbourne afterwards. They didn’t seem to mind that my knowledge of city streets and public transport was still stuck at February 2006. Neither was another woman who overslept her stop on our train home and came to ask me for her way back.
不論是去吃午飯，或是飯後往墨爾本港（Port Melbourne）一逛，都是靠我帶路，我對街道和坐車的認識，都停留在三年前，難道仍值得信任？（後來回家的火車上有過女人睡過了站，也來問我該怎樣坐車，看來我也應對自己有點信心才是。）
I’ve almost forgotten how the sea looks like until I came to Port Melbourne (notwithstanding a rushed trip to Hong Kong at the end of last month). If one divides the shore line by the pier there (including the pier for the ferry to Tasmania), one side is a residential area facing a jetty with a couple of restaurants, not too unlike some parts of the Californian coast. A stroll to the other side took us to the coast of Mediterranean France in no time with the beach and the style of buildings along it.
在墨爾本港終於可以與久違了的大海重遇了（誇張了，上月底才在香江匆匆一行），海濱若以碼頭作劃分（碼頭有汽車渡輪前往塔斯馬尼亞島，即Tasmania），碼頭的一邊是住宅區，有三兩家餐室圍繞着一個小小帆船港，有點美國加州風情，另一邊的海灘和建築群，又彷彿把我們瞬間帶到法國地中海沿岸。
La mer, tu me manques!
與海闊別三年了！
The pier and the residential area 碼頭及住宅區
Life's a beach ... 悠閒的海濱
It was actually the first time I went to Port Melbourne, so it was pretty new to me. The Southern Cross railway station where we took the train home was another eye-opener which has transformed itself from its nondescript former self. Its fancy wavy roof and meshwork of struts apart, the station also had functionality in mind, with a spacious interior that was bathed in generous sunshine. The whole place has certainly stunned me and left me with a lasting impression.
從前從沒去過墨爾本港，所以對我來說很是新鮮，回家時坐火車的南十字星車站（Southern Cross），也是個新地標，波浪形的屋頂，以錯縱的鐵支條承托着，陽光從四分八面照進車站，更能展亮車站的動感和寬廣的空間，令我眼前一亮！
The ultra-modern Southern Cross station 極具時代感的南十字星車站
星期日（1月19日）跟家父、家母到市中心逛逛，看看墨爾本過去三年有何變化。
The view by the Yarra River is arguably still one of the best that Melbourne can offer. A lot of water has flowed under the many bridges crossing the Yarra since I last left, but rather unfortunately it still had this ugly brown colour that spoiled the otherwise picture-perfect scenery.
雅拉河畔（Yarra River）兩岸的景色仍是全墨爾本最美，不過河水仍舊啡黃，乃一大美中不足也。
We took our time sauntering by the river and making frequent stops for photos, on a track shared by pedestrians and cyclists. We know we must have been a pain to the cyclists, but surprisingly there were neither incessantly ringing bells nor angry yelling, just patient cyclists who slowed down and made way for us. What a nice change from Germany where cyclists are only too happy to ‘ding ding’ their way through at high speed even when they’re sharing the path with pedestrians!
在行人和腳踏車共用的小徑上，邊散步邊頻頻停下拍照，期間路過的腳踏車和其他行人也不少，但究然一聲腳踏車響鈴聲也沒有，騎車者都很我們這三個「行動遲緩」者都很忍讓，換了在德國，早就給一眾不減速、不讓路的騎車者「叮叮叮」到暈了！（查實全世界的交通規則，行人總有優先權啊！）
Lunch at a food court in a shopping centre afterwards was a plastic affair, as metal utensils and porcelain plates have given way to disposable plastic (apart from my sizzling hot plate meal) like the US, much to my chagrin! But this is probably the lesser of two evils when Melbourne is still suffering a prolonged drought and washing the utensils and plates would consume a lot of precious water. It’s not an easy choice.
在某商場吃午飯，驀然發覺美食廣場內全都用了塑膠餐具（除了我的鐵板），跟美國一樣！即用即棄委實不環保，不過墨爾本鬧水荒多年，普通餐具要用大量清水清洗，兩害取較輕者，實不容易。
A disused factory under the dome of the shopping centre
商場的玻璃屋頂下一座前工廠
Speaking of the sizzling hot plate meal, it was meant to come with a complimentary soft drink, but the shop had the audacity to say that they had run out of soft drinks and even to decline my request for some water. This place is now on my permanent black list …
說到我的鐵板餐，明明寫着奉送的飲料，但出菜時竟欠奉，問店員要杯水也竟然說沒有，更遑論減回飲料的價錢了，以後真的逢人都得唱衰此店！
My parents are probably too pleased to have a son to help them navigate their way, whether to lunch or a visit to Port Melbourne afterwards. They didn’t seem to mind that my knowledge of city streets and public transport was still stuck at February 2006. Neither was another woman who overslept her stop on our train home and came to ask me for her way back.
不論是去吃午飯，或是飯後往墨爾本港（Port Melbourne）一逛，都是靠我帶路，我對街道和坐車的認識，都停留在三年前，難道仍值得信任？（後來回家的火車上有過女人睡過了站，也來問我該怎樣坐車，看來我也應對自己有點信心才是。）
I’ve almost forgotten how the sea looks like until I came to Port Melbourne (notwithstanding a rushed trip to Hong Kong at the end of last month). If one divides the shore line by the pier there (including the pier for the ferry to Tasmania), one side is a residential area facing a jetty with a couple of restaurants, not too unlike some parts of the Californian coast. A stroll to the other side took us to the coast of Mediterranean France in no time with the beach and the style of buildings along it.
在墨爾本港終於可以與久違了的大海重遇了（誇張了，上月底才在香江匆匆一行），海濱若以碼頭作劃分（碼頭有汽車渡輪前往塔斯馬尼亞島，即Tasmania），碼頭的一邊是住宅區，有三兩家餐室圍繞着一個小小帆船港，有點美國加州風情，另一邊的海灘和建築群，又彷彿把我們瞬間帶到法國地中海沿岸。
La mer, tu me manques!
與海闊別三年了！
The pier and the residential area 碼頭及住宅區
Life's a beach ... 悠閒的海濱
It was actually the first time I went to Port Melbourne, so it was pretty new to me. The Southern Cross railway station where we took the train home was another eye-opener which has transformed itself from its nondescript former self. Its fancy wavy roof and meshwork of struts apart, the station also had functionality in mind, with a spacious interior that was bathed in generous sunshine. The whole place has certainly stunned me and left me with a lasting impression.
從前從沒去過墨爾本港，所以對我來說很是新鮮，回家時坐火車的南十字星車站（Southern Cross），也是個新地標，波浪形的屋頂，以錯縱的鐵支條承托着，陽光從四分八面照進車站，更能展亮車站的動感和寬廣的空間，令我眼前一亮！
The ultra-modern Southern Cross station 極具時代感的南十字星車站
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