思前想後，猶豫了一會，巴士仍然停滯不前，還是決定問巴士上的乘客借手機發短訊給沙發主。剛在法國有對香港夫婦上車，以為香港人去那裡旅行也會買電話咭，怎料他們說電話咭只能在法國用，其他國家不通用。車上乘客不多，在倫敦連我在内只有13人，停法國時走了幾個，可以選擇的乘客不多。這時我看到一位伊斯蘭式打扮的婦女拿出手機，心裡大叫：有救啦！然後想好台詞走向她的坐位，先以英式禮多人不怪擁長語句說：Excuse me,
Madam! Im sorry to disturb you. I have a situation and wondering if
you could give a hand. 之後I would love to....It would be great.... 婦女一直留心聽我說，我便一直說：我沒有電話，想借電話通知朋友會遲到，我可以付錢給妳 。話別她說：對不起，我聽不懂。哎呀！！原來她是居於荷蘭，現在回家，手機也是荷蘭號碼。我嘗試撥打比利時號碼但未能接通，問她可以發短訊嗎，她說應該沒有漫遊，所以也行不通，心情又沉下來。回到坐位等待巴士再次前進，任由時間流逝，不時翻著手機，希望搜尋到wifi。
A thorough consideration and
hesitation, while the bus was still stuck in the middle of the
road, I decided to borrow a phone from someone. A Hongkong couple got on
the bus at the France stop, I was actually expecting HKers will buy sim
everywhere they travel, but they just have a local France sim without
roaming. There were not many passengers, including me, only 13 passengers
in London on board. I noticed an Islam dressed up lady who was holding a phone.
I yelled loudly inside my heart: YES!!! Thought of the open line and went
to her seat, starting with the British cliche: Excuse me, Madam! Im sorry
to disturb you. I have a situation and wondering if you could give a hand, then
"I would love to" ..."It would be great" in the following.
The lady listened to me patiently so that I kept talking. It was unexpected
that she will respond "Sorry, I don't understand." Aiya~~Later I
learnt that she is from the Nertherlands and was heading back home. Her mobile
is the Nertherlands' number. I tried to dail the Belgium number but it was not
working. Therefore I asked if text is fine, she said there is no roaming, as a
result that is not working neither. Again, feeling down and upset. I went back
to my seat to wait the bus will go faster, let the time passed at a higher
speed than the bus should have moved. Checking my phone occasionally to see if
it could connect to wifi.
一陣手機聆聲響起把我從絕望中拉回來，搜尋聆聲的位置，正是剛才那伊斯蘭打扮婦女，見她居然在講電話，我内心不停想為什麼她說沒有漫遊？然後她突然回頭看著我招手，示意我過去然後把手機遞給我。可能她剛剛問過朋友她的手機能在荷蘭以外國家使用，所以讓我再次使用她手機。我趕緊輸入短訊内容並從自已手機找到沙發主電話號碼發送短訊，連番向婦女道謝並拿出英鎊希望她收下，但她一再拒絕，可能她在想英鎊不是荷蘭貨幣，得物無所用。當我以為了結心事後，細心回想我剛剛不是從手機找到號碼嗎？我一向只把沙發主的聯絡方法寫進記事簿不會儲存在手機，那我是向誰發短訊？原來我把短訊發給一個幾年前認識的比利時人，相信她收到短訊應該會一頭霧水，而我要通知的人仍在呆等，心情第二次沉下來，我已經不好意思再問那荷蘭婦女借手機。巴士一路緩緩前進，終於到第一個站，是假日酒店！假•日•酒•店就是有wifi，果然有幾個可用網絡。趕緊在巴士離站前通知沙發主，原來他半個小時前給我留言說已經在車站等著我。天啊！我什麼時候到達呀？
A ringtone from mobile pull me back
from the desperate, I searched for the source and that was from the Islamic
dressing lady. She was talking on the phone which made me wonder why she told
me there is no roaming. All of a sudden, she looked back to me and waved at me,
asking me to come over and passed me her phone again. Maybe her friend she just
talked to tell her the phone function out of the Nertherlands, thus, she asked
me to text. I immediately text my host about my situation and sent it to the
number I saved in my phone. It was a great help and I thanks the lady a few
time and hope she could take my pounds. She rejected me a few times, it could
be because pound is not the currency of Europe. She doesn't have chance to
spend pound in the Nertherlands. When I laid back on my seat and thought about
the message I sent, I realized I retrieved the phone number from my phone.
However, I never save my host contact but write it down on notebook
instead. It means I didn't text my host but someone else. This
"someone" is the Belgian lady I met 4 years ago. I believed she will
wonder what is the message about while the one I would like to inform will wait
till the end of the dawn. Again, I am feeling down and upset. I don't want to
borrow the phone from the Nertherlands lady again. The bus finally had the
next stop at Holiday Inn!! H O L I D A Y I N N means wifi.I tried
to connect to one of the wifi before the bus departed. I received a message
from my host, received 30 minutes ago, saying he already arrived at
the stop and waiting for me. Gosh!! When will I arriave???
路面開始暢通，我開始提起警覺隨時下車，心情開始緊張。我認識的巴士站應該是有車站牌，在大路旁，四周會有路人的影子。但我的車站沒有車站牌，不是在大路旁也沒有很多路人的影子。巴士駛進一片大空地，旁邊是運河有大貨船停泊，司機不發一聲打開車門下車然後幫忙把行李拿出，我問他這樣是安特衛普嗎，可能我發音不準，他好像不明白。這時我見到一個身形高大的外國人向我走近，我相信他就是沙發主Olivier。他說看到巴士駛來就知道我到了，因為沒有其他巴士會選擇在這裡停站，事實在他等待期間這是唯一一架。時間差不多8時，他原來打算邀請我到他父母家吃晚飯，嚐試傳統比利時菜，所以立刻回家放下背包，順便一并接載在家等待的太太出發到距離10分鐘的父母家。
The road is getting smoother and I
stayed alert to get off anytime. I started feeling tense too. Bus stop to me is
having a bus stand, next to the main road and you can see people around. But
the bus stop at Antwerp was in a quite remote area without a bus stand for
recognition and not many people were around. The bus headed to a spacious space
and stopped next to a cargo and canal. The driver got off the bus without
saying a word and started unloading some of the luggage of the passengers. I
tried to confirm with him if here is Antwerp, but failed. Maybe I didn't
pronounce "Antwerp" correctly. At the same time when I was asking, I
noticed a tall western guy walked toward me. I believed he is my host Olivier.
He told me he knew I was on the bus when the bus came. It was also because
there were no other bus arrived while he was waiting. Ours is the only one. It
was almost 8pm when I arrived. He planned to invite me to have dinner at his
parents' house. They have prepared traditional Belgian cuisine as a welcoming.
We first headed back to his place to put my backpack and also pick up his wife.
The parents's house is just 10 minutes away.
 |
| 傳統比利時菜: 燉牛肉配自製炸薯條 Traditional Belgian Cuisine: Stewed Beef with Homemade French Fries |
在家等著的有沙發主的父母和3歲的小女兒，因為幼稚園近父母家，所以他們下午會接放學待Olivier下班接小女孩回家。他們準備了傳統燉牛肉配自製炸薯條。經過長時間烹煮，牛的肉質很軟，很入味。但我最喜歡的都是自製薯條，用原隻薯仔隨意削出長條形放進油鑊炸到金黃香脆，神奇的是吃多小也沒有覺得油膩，現在也在回味。他父母很友善，爸爸特別風趣，媽媽也因為他的調皮經常開懷大笑。整頓晚餐吃得十分愉快，我覺得爸爸很有謝言的魅力修哥的鬼馬。
Olivier's daughter was already waiting there. Since
her kindergarten is closed to the parents' place, they will pick her up after
school and Olivier will drive her home after work. They prepared the stewed
beef with homemade french fries. A few hours stewing made the meat because
tender and juicy. It was so soft. But my favor is the side dish - homemade
french fries, it was cut into strip with a whole piece of potato. Then the
stripped potatoes are fried into golden and crispy. I didn't feel stuffy or
oily even I had so many fries. It was just delicious. Olivier's parents are
very friendly too. His dad has a great sense of humor and his mom always laugh
because of her funny husband. The entire dinner was great and joyful. I feel
like Olivier's dad has the charisma of George Clooney and the humor of Adam
Sandler.
 |
| 私人電影館 Private Flimary |
回家後，Olivier說如果我不感到疲倦可以到他的私人電影館參觀，說是電影館其實只是他女兒房間一個放滿影碟的小角落，一個3-4米高的入牆櫃收藏著世界各地的電影，連香港的電影也能找到，他除了熱愛電影，也很喜歡音樂，所以在他房間就有另一個櫃放著大大小小的演唱會或唱片，全都是blue ray。他也很清楚每一隻碟的位置，跟他說你想要的，不用兩秒他就能在成千上萬的影碟找出來。最後他推薦我看一隊比利時樂隊的演唱會，特別之處是全程是黑白播放，連樂隊都穿上黑白色晚裝，未聽歌聲已被視覺效果吸引。原來當時他們都有買票看現場，然後又買了演唱會影碟看了三四遍，可見他們真的很喜歡他們。由於Olivier家的音響設備超專業，四處放環迴立體聲的喇叭，我聽得十分享受。
We drove back home after dinner. Olivier would like
to invite me to his private filmary ( Film Library). It is a corner at his
daughter's bedroom which has lots of different movies on the 3-4 meter high
shelf. He collected various types of movie around the world, I could found some
HK movies as well. Other than movies, he love music so much. There is another
shelf at his bedroom with load of Blue ray concert DVD, VCD and CD. He is very
clear about the location of each disc, and could give what you need or ask in 2
seconds. Finally he recommended me to watch the concert DVD of a band. The
special of this is the whole performance was film in black & white. The
band themselves also wear only black & white. I was already attracted by
the visual effect. They also watched the concert in live and then they bought
the DVD to review it for 3 times already. I can say they really love this band.
Olivier used high quality and professional Hi-Fi. The sound is just amazing
which made me enjoy the concert so much.
 |
| 就是這隧樂隊令我聽得著迷 This is the live concert I watched - Hooverphonic |
 |
| 桃姐 A Simple Life |
 |
| 專業高品質Hi-Fi Professional & High Quality Hi-Fi |
說說今次的沙發主Olivier 一家，早在兩個月前我已經收到Olivier的邀請願意接待我。他太太Noemi是菲律賓人，Noemi 在香港打工時遇上到香港旅行的Olivier 。奇妙的事發生了，Olivier 當時正打算回國，但雙方都喜歡對方，Olivier 決定留在香港半年，之後更和Noemi 一起到菲律賓，Noemi 懷孕辭職回菲律賓，終於三年前一家定居比利時。由於香港對他們來說很有意義，所以當知道我來比利時，想都沒想就邀請我到訪。他們的女兒叫Sienna，打後幾天我都會睡在她房間，而她會搬到Olivier 房睡。之後我更和她做了好朋友，每天回家第一件事就是個人fashion show 時間，眼前穿著公主裙的她，轉眼居然穿上卡通人物戰衣變成女版超人，當她消失於眼前，你會知道她將會以不同造形亮相。
Speaking of my host family, they
wrote me 2 months ago for the invitation. The wife is Noemi from Philippine and
she worked in Hong Kong when she met Olivier. The magic happened. Olivier was
planning to go home after Hong Kong, but they both love each other and Olivier
decided to stay in Hong Kong for half a year. Later they went to Philippine for
travel. Noemi resigned after pregnancy and stayed in Philippine until moved to
Belgium 3 years ago. Since the beautiful thing happened in Hong Kong, it is a
meaningful place for them. It is also a reason to invite me to their place.
Their daughter is Sienna, I will stayed at her room the coming days and she
will sleep with her parents. We became friends with each other. Every day she
came home from school, she will have her fashion show and catwalk time. She
will change from a princess to be a cat woman in the cartoon. Whenever she
disappeared for a while, you could expect to see her in another style.
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| 我也變做貓女 Im cat woman too |
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| 小女孩睡房 Sienna's bedroom |
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