[歐洲 比利時安特衛普 Europe Antwerp Belgium] Day 17 In touch with a celebrity 和明星的接觸

昨晚在睡房，突然有一個黑影在露台外閃過，然後有兩點圓點在外面，而且還是會反光。仔細看真，還有五官，外面太黑未能看清楚，但應該是一隻貓，一隻很詭異的貓，因為整夜牠都在外徘徊，看著我睡覺，不得已要把窗簾拉下。早上向Noemi提起，她說是鄰居的家貓，不時喜歡在露台走來走去，有時更隨處便溺，所以Olivier 不喜歡牠，露台窗永遠不會打開，防止牠走進來。

Last night, a shadow flashed outside the balcony. Then I saw two dots glistened. When I had a closer look, it happened to have the facial features. Although it was dark outside, I can still recognize it is a cat, a weird one. The cat was hovering outside the balcony the whole night and looked at me while I was sleeping. I have to pull down the blind to feel more secure. I talked to Noemi about that in the morning, she said it is the neigbour's cat. It likes to stay in the balcony at all the day and sometimes it will pee or poo everywhere. That's why Olivier doesn't like it and never open the window of the balcony to avoid it in.

 

當初留在安特衛普只打算留在這裡兩天，純粹過境停留，然後往德國漢堡玩個周未再到柏林，但Olivier極力游說我留下，他周未可以帶我到附近市鎮玩，我一定不會後悔不能到漢堡拍一張在吃漢堡包的照片，他可以電腦合成十張給我。盛情難卻我最後決定留下，星期日夜車到柏林，還差點因小風波不能上車。

My original plan was just staying in Antwerp for two days as a layover, then I will head to Hamburg for the weekend before going to Berlin. However, Olivier tried hard to persuade me to stay over the weekend to prolong my stay. He will show me around the city and I would never feel regret for not able to take a picture while I have a hamburger in Hamburg. He said he could photoshop me 10 pictures of me eating hamburger in Hamburg.

 

今天Noemi 帶我到市中心走走，安特衛普遊覽可以很多也可以沒有，例如安特衛普最古老扶手梯、超過500米長的地底隧道、海港旁的城堡、中央車站、猶太人集中地鑽石街、Middleheim公園、唐人街，喜歡藝術油畫可到Ruben House看他真跡。

Noemi showed me around the city today. In Antwerp, it could have a lot or nothing to explore, for example the oldest escalator in Antwerp, a tunnel over 500m long, castle next to the port, central station, diamond district in Jewish area, Middleheim Park, China town or the Ruben House if you like his arts and painting.



安特衛普最古老扶手梯，運作時發出＂格格＂聲
The oldest escalator in Antwerp made the "cluck cluck" sound while running.





下降深深處  Deep down to the core





說說那最古老的扶手梯，扶手梯是通往St Anna Tunnel。「格格格．格格格」這就是扶手梯運作中發出的聲音，仿似底下有人在用人手攪動著控制棒使扶手梯運行。扶手梯一條接一條，好像無止境下降到地底深處。終於到達最底層，又是另一個無止境，因為我眼前是一條圓管形隧度，長達512米的直路，我邊走邊拍照，就花了20分鐘才回到地面。

For the oldest escalator, it connected to the St Anna Tunnel. "Cluck cluck cluck..." There is some sound while the escalator is operating. It seems that an operator is working underneath, controlling the controller by hand. The escalators are connected with one after one, it is a never end descending. When I finally arrived at the bottom, it was another never end situation. Because I was in front of a long tube with 512m straight. I spent almost 20 minutes to back to the ground as I was taking picture every minutes.



又直又長的地底隧度
A long and straight tunnel - St Anna Tunnel



關於隧道的資料   Details about the tunnel

不停在拍照  Keep taking pictures



這座噴水雕像的水直接灑在地下
The water from the sculpture splashed directly on the ground







市中心廣場   Town Hall





在市中心隨便逛逛，去了教堂、城堡、中央車站、鑽石街。說到鑽石街，其實也是個猶太人小社區，賣珠寶的都是長鬍鬚著伸士服戴高帽的猶太人，聽說如果女人嫁給了猶太丈夫，就要剃光所有頭髮，所以我跟Noemi 不停留意身邊那位女士戴假髮，當找到疑似目標時，我就很興奮跟Noemi 說：是她是她！手指情不自禁指著目標，哈哈！

 Wandering around the city centre randomly, we visited the church, the castle, central station and diamond district. The diamond district is also a some community for Jewish. A lot of Jewish work for the Jewellery business. They are all with long white beard and dressed with suit and a high black hat. I was told that the women will shave their hair to be bald if they married to a Jewish husband. That's why Noemi and I kept looking around to see who wear a wig. When i spotted someone, I will be very excited to tell Noemi: That's her!! That's her!! and I would point to them at the same time.



猶太人經常在鑽石街出現
Jewish are commonly found in Diamond District





城堡  Castle



有趣的雕像   Fun Sculpture

累了就休息吧  Take a rest when tired



中央車站   Central Station

  Noemi 曾在香港打工。有天她問我：Do you know Hins?  我以為張敬軒Hins 是她偶像，怎料她說：I worked for him. 喔！她的僱主居然是張敬軒！之後我當然問她張敬軒是否跟關智斌是『好朋友』的關係，我不方便在這公開我們的對話，但Noemi 跟張敬軒相處得很好，張敬軒是個很好的僱主。閒時他喜歡留在家，家裡收藏了他在世界各地的古董，突然覺得自已和明星拉近了距離。張敬軒應該也很喜歡Noemi,  因為她很會造飯，我常聽說許多傭人都會自創驚喜菜色，如蠔油蒸鹹魚、草莓炒白菜仔或羊扒肉骨茶，充滿創意給僱主驚喜。

Noemi worked in Hong Kong before. One day she asked me "Do you know Hins?" I thought the signer Hins Cheung is her idol. But she said "I worked for him." Her employer is Hins Cheung!! I certainly asked her if Hins and Benny Kwan are "good friend", what is their relationships. I would not disclose our conversation, but Noemi got along well with Hins, I believed Hins is a good employer. He likes staying home in leisure time, collecting Vintage and antique around the world. I suddenly feel so close to a celebrity. Hins should like Noemi very much because she is a good cook. I always heard that some helpers made weird dishes full of unexpected, for example steamed salty fish with oyster sauce ( it made the salty fish extra salty), fried little cabbages with strawberry and Bak kut teh with lamb chop. These are all dishes surprised the employers.  

 

 

每天都和Sienna 玩   Play with Sienna everyday

 終於有機會可以洗衣服，旅程差不多三星期，第一次洗衣服。也許你會問我是否帶了許多衣服足夠三星期穿著，事實並沒有，我一件外衣穿了幾天，算一算，大概3-4天左右。幸好英國天氣冷，不會經常出汗，否則衣服真的會有汗味。我由今天起可以做一隻乾淨豬啦！

Finally I could wash my clothes. It was the first time I can do laundry since I started my trip. Would you wonder if I have brought lots of clothes which is sufficient for 3 weeks? The truth is nope because I wore the same clothes for several days. I believe it was at least 3-4 days. Luckily, the weather in UK was cold so I didn't sweat a lot, otherwise I will be stink. Now, Im a clear little rabbit!!

古舊的電車到站牌  A very old tram arrival notice board



偷竊其他乘客  Peeking at other passengers