September marks the beginning of the academic year in Hong Kong – as well as the beginning of many new things.
九月是新學年開始，有一番新「氣象」。
At the start of the month a new Mainland student came to join the lab. He originates from Shanxi province and has studied in Tsinghua University before. It was his first few days in Hong Kong, and he was already greeted by some typical local weather: continuous rainfall for days with heavy downpours from time to time. He asked me how there could be so much rain in Hong Kong, and honestly I haven’t experienced this for a long time myself either!
月初實驗室有個新來的國內學生，山西人但在清華唸過書，他剛到港，又遇上連續幾天連綿下雨，偶然還傾盆而下，叫他納悶，問香港怎麼會有下不完的雨？說實話，這樣大雨我也好久沒經歷過了！
One day another colleague of mine and I took him to lunch,. The colleague suggested to him a dish of beef briskets and shrimp wontons with dry noodles (specifically for mixing the noodles with the sauces of the accompanying food) so that he could try a few typical examples of Cantonese cooking all at once. The student was curious about how to eat the noodles and was also pleasant surprised that there were actually real shrimps in the wontons! I asked him why he found it special, and he replied that the ‘fresh shrimp wontons’ that he had ever tried in his life in the Mainland contained no shrimp but rather only shrimp flavouring. I wouldn’t know whether it was because shrimp was such an expensive commodity in inland areas, or because fake things were so common in China that people might not be aware of what the original making or the reality, but I was at the same time glad that Hong Kong has still by and large maintained its integrity and credibility in its cuisine and goods. No wonder the Mainland people keep flocking to Hong Kong for their shopping sprees and occasionally culinary indulgences!
有天我和另一個同事帶他吃午飯，同事著他點一道牛腩鮮蝦餛飩（雲吞）撈麵，那便一次過可以嚐到不同的道地廣東食物了。新同學先是對撈麵很好奇，問我該怎樣吃，然後叫餛飩時，他驚訝裡面原來真的有蝦！我問他那有甚麼出奇時，他說他從未在國內吃過有蝦的「鮮蝦餛飩」，祇有吃過有「鮮蝦味」的餛飩，究竟是因為在內陸地方，蝦物以罕為貴，還是國內弄虛作假之風太甚，令人對本來的真事物（或真相）懵然不知，我沒有深究，但此刻我倒想到，香港至今還有貨真價實的東西，保留到自己的聲譽，真的不應自毀長城！
The narrow winding roads of Hong Kong (compared to the Mainland), crowds of people that flow like torrents and the hilly terrain have also left the student from Shanxi with an indelible first impression. Although Hong Kong may not be a huge place, there’s still plenty for him to discover in the years to come!
香港相比國內狹窄的道路、川流不息的人潮和山巒起伏的地勢，都令這個山西同學留下深刻的第一印象，香港地方雖小，但未來幾年讓他發掘的東西可多呢。
While the student from Shanxi needs to adjust to his new life in Hong Kong, I have surprisingly gone on to a re-adjustment phase thanks to disruption of my commute pattern after university classes resumed.
山西同學要適應香港的新生活，而我上班個多月了，總算大致適應新的作息規律，但開課就打亂了我上班的乘車路線了。
Last month I have figured out that the fastest and most direct way to work is to take the West Rail line to Austin station then change for a bus there. But horror set in come September, because the buses started dropping out in droves and a large student population was competing for the same bus route. It was all too common to wait until the 4th or even the 5th bus before I had a chance to board, which meant wasting some 20 minutes in the streets waiting and arriving at work late. I had enough of this after 3 days and decided to give alternative routes a try. Thankfully there were a few options, and as a scientist I decided to undertake some ‘experimentations’. So far I found that taking the MTR train all the way to Central before changing for an express bus route was reliable enough, so the problem of getting to work is solved for now. But lately going home is starting to give me headaches too. Traffic congestion and disappeared services have only added agony on days when I really needed to rush home or wanted to meet friends after work. Now I need to do some research on alternative routes home too.
本來八月時，一直都是乘西鐵線到柯士甸換乘巴士，最方便和快捷，怎對一開課那些巴士便嚴重脫班，而且因為突然多了一大批大學生爭坐車，往往要待第四或五輛巴士才有位上車，害得我在街苦等20多分鐘兼遲上班。吃了三天苦頭後，忍夠了，得試一下其他路線，可幸方案倒有幾個，我便當是做實驗般，先試從西鐵再轉乘一程港鐵到中環，然後換乘特快巴士路線，至今總算可靠。但解決了上班的問題後，下班的煩惱旋即而至，堵車和脫班，為趕回家和見朋友徒添煩惱，我也得制定一些下班後備路線作不時之需了。
Maybe I don’t need to be so frustrated with buses. When there is a will (especially on the government’s part) there’s a way! Everyday at work I walk past this hole that gives me a glimmer of hope – it is an MTR construction site where, if I’m not mistaken, a lift is to be installed to connect to a new station. When this is supposedly completed in about a year’s time, I can stop stressing over buses that will never come, the long queues waiting hopelessly and helplessly for those, and the traffic jams holding up the buses!
其實我也不用對脫班巴士這麼怒的，正所謂天無絕人之「路」，每天上下班都看到這個洞，給我一絲絲希望——那個是港鐵工地，應該正在建一道升降機至新車站，落成後每天經那裡進出乘港鐵上下班，屆時便不用為巴士脫班、等車的人龍和路面的車龍煩惱，而根據工程進度我祇要再等一年左右便願望成真了！
Preparing for alternative transport routes is a sign that living (and working) in Hong Kong is not necessarily straightforward. Sticking to the same route or formula all the time will only lead to a dead end, and it’s important to be adaptable and flexible – only that the environment in Hong Kong may not give you much time to adjust your plans! On the other hand, having a variety of back-up transport plans are only possible in a place where the transport network is extensive. Unless you live in a really remote corner of Hong Kong or on one of the outlying islands, the route choices can be bewilderingly many and will be sure to take you to your destination. Going on one of these back-up plans from time to time can also bring a bit of variety to an otherwise monotonous routine, and even give your brain some new stimulation as you have to adjust to a new way of doing things. So those disappeared buses could be a blessing in disguise!
坐車要策劃後備路線，一方面反映香港生活（和做事）不簡單容易，老是遵從同一方法往往是死路一條，要隨機應變，而且要應變得快，另一方面則反映香港交通網絡四達八達，除非住得份外偏遠或住在離島，不然乘車路線五花八門，總有方法帶你到目的地，而且偶爾改變一下乘車路線，也可為單調的生活規律帶來一點變化，可算是樂趣之一吧，甚至可以刺激一下思維，把自己訓練得更靈活，或許這是在香港坐車的額外得着吧！
九月是新學年開始，有一番新「氣象」。
At the start of the month a new Mainland student came to join the lab. He originates from Shanxi province and has studied in Tsinghua University before. It was his first few days in Hong Kong, and he was already greeted by some typical local weather: continuous rainfall for days with heavy downpours from time to time. He asked me how there could be so much rain in Hong Kong, and honestly I haven’t experienced this for a long time myself either!
月初實驗室有個新來的國內學生，山西人但在清華唸過書，他剛到港，又遇上連續幾天連綿下雨，偶然還傾盆而下，叫他納悶，問香港怎麼會有下不完的雨？說實話，這樣大雨我也好久沒經歷過了！
One day another colleague of mine and I took him to lunch,. The colleague suggested to him a dish of beef briskets and shrimp wontons with dry noodles (specifically for mixing the noodles with the sauces of the accompanying food) so that he could try a few typical examples of Cantonese cooking all at once. The student was curious about how to eat the noodles and was also pleasant surprised that there were actually real shrimps in the wontons! I asked him why he found it special, and he replied that the ‘fresh shrimp wontons’ that he had ever tried in his life in the Mainland contained no shrimp but rather only shrimp flavouring. I wouldn’t know whether it was because shrimp was such an expensive commodity in inland areas, or because fake things were so common in China that people might not be aware of what the original making or the reality, but I was at the same time glad that Hong Kong has still by and large maintained its integrity and credibility in its cuisine and goods. No wonder the Mainland people keep flocking to Hong Kong for their shopping sprees and occasionally culinary indulgences!
有天我和另一個同事帶他吃午飯，同事著他點一道牛腩鮮蝦餛飩（雲吞）撈麵，那便一次過可以嚐到不同的道地廣東食物了。新同學先是對撈麵很好奇，問我該怎樣吃，然後叫餛飩時，他驚訝裡面原來真的有蝦！我問他那有甚麼出奇時，他說他從未在國內吃過有蝦的「鮮蝦餛飩」，祇有吃過有「鮮蝦味」的餛飩，究竟是因為在內陸地方，蝦物以罕為貴，還是國內弄虛作假之風太甚，令人對本來的真事物（或真相）懵然不知，我沒有深究，但此刻我倒想到，香港至今還有貨真價實的東西，保留到自己的聲譽，真的不應自毀長城！
The narrow winding roads of Hong Kong (compared to the Mainland), crowds of people that flow like torrents and the hilly terrain have also left the student from Shanxi with an indelible first impression. Although Hong Kong may not be a huge place, there’s still plenty for him to discover in the years to come!
香港相比國內狹窄的道路、川流不息的人潮和山巒起伏的地勢，都令這個山西同學留下深刻的第一印象，香港地方雖小，但未來幾年讓他發掘的東西可多呢。
* * *
While the student from Shanxi needs to adjust to his new life in Hong Kong, I have surprisingly gone on to a re-adjustment phase thanks to disruption of my commute pattern after university classes resumed.
山西同學要適應香港的新生活，而我上班個多月了，總算大致適應新的作息規律，但開課就打亂了我上班的乘車路線了。
Last month I have figured out that the fastest and most direct way to work is to take the West Rail line to Austin station then change for a bus there. But horror set in come September, because the buses started dropping out in droves and a large student population was competing for the same bus route. It was all too common to wait until the 4th or even the 5th bus before I had a chance to board, which meant wasting some 20 minutes in the streets waiting and arriving at work late. I had enough of this after 3 days and decided to give alternative routes a try. Thankfully there were a few options, and as a scientist I decided to undertake some ‘experimentations’. So far I found that taking the MTR train all the way to Central before changing for an express bus route was reliable enough, so the problem of getting to work is solved for now. But lately going home is starting to give me headaches too. Traffic congestion and disappeared services have only added agony on days when I really needed to rush home or wanted to meet friends after work. Now I need to do some research on alternative routes home too.
本來八月時，一直都是乘西鐵線到柯士甸換乘巴士，最方便和快捷，怎對一開課那些巴士便嚴重脫班，而且因為突然多了一大批大學生爭坐車，往往要待第四或五輛巴士才有位上車，害得我在街苦等20多分鐘兼遲上班。吃了三天苦頭後，忍夠了，得試一下其他路線，可幸方案倒有幾個，我便當是做實驗般，先試從西鐵再轉乘一程港鐵到中環，然後換乘特快巴士路線，至今總算可靠。但解決了上班的問題後，下班的煩惱旋即而至，堵車和脫班，為趕回家和見朋友徒添煩惱，我也得制定一些下班後備路線作不時之需了。
Maybe I don’t need to be so frustrated with buses. When there is a will (especially on the government’s part) there’s a way! Everyday at work I walk past this hole that gives me a glimmer of hope – it is an MTR construction site where, if I’m not mistaken, a lift is to be installed to connect to a new station. When this is supposedly completed in about a year’s time, I can stop stressing over buses that will never come, the long queues waiting hopelessly and helplessly for those, and the traffic jams holding up the buses!
其實我也不用對脫班巴士這麼怒的，正所謂天無絕人之「路」，每天上下班都看到這個洞，給我一絲絲希望——那個是港鐵工地，應該正在建一道升降機至新車站，落成後每天經那裡進出乘港鐵上下班，屆時便不用為巴士脫班、等車的人龍和路面的車龍煩惱，而根據工程進度我祇要再等一年左右便願望成真了！
Preparing for alternative transport routes is a sign that living (and working) in Hong Kong is not necessarily straightforward. Sticking to the same route or formula all the time will only lead to a dead end, and it’s important to be adaptable and flexible – only that the environment in Hong Kong may not give you much time to adjust your plans! On the other hand, having a variety of back-up transport plans are only possible in a place where the transport network is extensive. Unless you live in a really remote corner of Hong Kong or on one of the outlying islands, the route choices can be bewilderingly many and will be sure to take you to your destination. Going on one of these back-up plans from time to time can also bring a bit of variety to an otherwise monotonous routine, and even give your brain some new stimulation as you have to adjust to a new way of doing things. So those disappeared buses could be a blessing in disguise!
坐車要策劃後備路線，一方面反映香港生活（和做事）不簡單容易，老是遵從同一方法往往是死路一條，要隨機應變，而且要應變得快，另一方面則反映香港交通網絡四達八達，除非住得份外偏遠或住在離島，不然乘車路線五花八門，總有方法帶你到目的地，而且偶爾改變一下乘車路線，也可為單調的生活規律帶來一點變化，可算是樂趣之一吧，甚至可以刺激一下思維，把自己訓練得更靈活，或許這是在香港坐車的額外得着吧！
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