Michael Chugani 褚簡寧 - Spring is in the air｜又中又英

Spring is in the air. The coronavirus is under control with vaccines. That’s why, with spring in the air, many people are being bitten by the travel bug, including me. If spring is in the air, it means you feel spring is coming. If love is in the air, it means you feel love is everywhere, like on Valentine’s Day. A bug is an American slang for insect. To be bitten by a travel bug doesn’t mean you have been bitten by an insect. It means you have a strong desire to travel. Like me, many people want to travel now that borders have reopened.

I’ve enjoyed my five months in Taiwan. The people have a shared culture and ethnicity with mainland China and Hong Kong, but they behave differently in many ways. Taipei has many old buildings, but the main streets have modern skyscrapers and shopping malls. The side streets have many small food stalls that offer Japanese, Korean, and local dishes. I am very particular about what I eat. I had dinner with friends in a small restaurant where the chef suggested pig’s lung soup! I was disgusted but my friends enjoyed it. At another dinner I thought a friend had ordered ordinary steamed tofu to share.

I didn’t realize she had ordered stinky (smelly) tofu with a foul-smelling gravy. I liked fried stinky tofu during my childhood in Hong Kong but the stinky tofu with gravy my friend ordered smelled so foul (stinky) I had to cover my nose. I will leave Taiwan soon for Hong Kong, my birthplace. Visiting my birthplace after two years will make me feel very emotional.
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春天要來了（spring is in the air）。有了疫苗，新冠病毒現已受控，因此，當春意盎然（spring is in the air）之時，許多人包括我，想去旅行的心都會蠢蠢欲動，像被蟻咬一般（bitten by the travel bug）。若spring is in the air，意即你感到空氣中瀰漫着春天的氣息；若love is in the air，即你感到愛意無處不在，例如在情人節當天。A bug是美式俚語，解昆蟲；to be bitten by a travel bug不是說你真的給一隻昆蟲咬到了，它的意思是你有強烈的慾望去旅行。現在許多國家已重開邊境，許多人也跟我一樣，很想去旅行。

我享受在台灣的這5個月。這裏的人跟中國內地和香港有着共同的文化和種族，但他們在許多方面的行為舉止亦很不一樣。台北有許多舊樓宇，但大街上都有現代摩天大樓和商場。旁街與巷弄則有許多細小的食檔，提供日式、韓式和本地的菜餚。我非常講究自己在吃甚麼東西。曾經有次跟朋友們在一間小餐廳裏共進晚餐，那位廚師居然提議點豬肺湯！我感到噁心，但我的朋友們倒喝得津津有味。在另一次的晚膳中，我以為我一個朋友點了一碟普通的蒸豆腐給大家分着吃。

我卻不知道，她點的是臭（stinky）豆腐，伴着難聞（foul-smelling）的肉汁。我兒時在香港很喜歡臭（stinky）豆腐，但朋友點的那碟肉汁臭（stinky）豆腐真的臭氣熏天（foul，即stinky），令我不得不掩着口鼻。我很快便會離開台灣回到香港，我出生的地方。在經過兩年後重遊我出生的地方，將會令我情緒激動。
中譯：七刻
Michael Chugani 褚簡寧