又中又英 | To be out of kilter | 褚簡寧

　　Long flights across time zones are not enjoyable. They always give me jetlag and throw my sleep pattern out of kilter. Even short flights within the same time zone sometimes throw me out of kilter, but I recover quickly. The word “kilter” means balance or working well. To be “out of kilter” means to be out of balance or harmony. I will soon be packing for the short flight from Taipei to Hong Kong. I hope I will not be out of kilter because there are many things I want to do in Hong Kong.

　　First and foremost, I want to see relatives and old classmates. I also want to see the journalist friends I worked with for many years.  The expression “first and foremost” means more than anything else or the most important thing. I am already salivating at the thought of eating fishball noodles and Hong Kong-style Cantonese food.  If you are salivating, it means you have an excessive flow of saliva. This happens to many people when they think of or eat delicious food. Cathay has different types of noodles at some of its airport lounges, but not fishball noodles. I hope Cathay has accepted my suggestion in a previous column to include fishball noodles.

　　Recent media reports said the government has extended the Hong Kong side harbour-front walk. It now connects the harbour-front walk from Kennedy Town to North Point. Hong Kong has one of the world’s most beautiful harbours. I hope there will be good weather in Hong Kong while I am there because I want to see if I can walk from Kennedy Town to North Point!

　　跨越時區的長途機程並不愉快，往往會令我有時差反應和令我的睡眠模式亂套（out of kilter）。即使在同一時區內的短途機，有時也會令我亂了套（out of kilter），不過我能很快恢復正常。Kilter是指平衡或良好的狀態；to be out of kilter則是失去平衡、失常、失靈。我很快便會執拾行裝，搭短途機從台北飛往香港。我希望我不會亂了套（out of kilter），因為在香港我有許多事情想做。

　　First and foremost，我想見見親戚和舊同學。我也想見一些從前共事多年的傳媒朋友。習語“first and foremost”是指首要的、比其他任何事都重要的事。我光是想到可以吃魚蛋麵以及港式粵菜，便已salivating了——若你正salivating，意即你口水直流。許多人一想到或是進食美味的食物，也會垂涎三尺。國泰在它的一些機場貴賓室有備不同類型的麵，就是沒有魚蛋麵。希望國泰已經接納我在之前專欄中提及的意見，將魚蛋麵納入其中。

　　最近一些傳媒報道指，政府延長了港島的海濱步道。現在它連結了從堅尼地城到北角的海濱步道。香港擁有全球最美的海港之一，希望我在那兒的時候有好的天氣，因為我想看看我能否從堅尼地城步行至北角！

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Michael Chugani褚簡寧
中譯：七刻