Memories of Everyday

考試節期終於結束，我也可以回到日常寫文章的生活了。先來繼續命紹我在日本所推薦的地方。
下北沢　東京都
下北沢著名的鐵路交叉，目前已被地下線路取代
若我在東京時有一天半天的閒餘，那我第一件會做的事，便是從新宿（或是渋谷）坐火車，到下北沢去。

Continuing on from last week, my top ten off-the-beaten-track destinations in Japan:
trains no longer stop on this platform
Shimokitazawa 下北沢 , Tokyo
Every time I have a spare afternoon in Japan, the first thing I do is the take the train from Shinjuku or Shibuya, and alight in the junction of Shimokitazawa.

Japan has been a country that I have always liked. A family favourite, I used to visit the land of the rising sun at least once a year. Instead of visiting as many countries as possible, I much prefer visiting a country extensively before moving on: only then one can really experience the true beauty of the land.
Before those thousands of steps on the up to Yamadera
As a result though, I have been to quite a lot of places in Japan, in fact perhaps more so than most Japanese people. Looking through the 'Places I have been to' map I have created on Google Map, (Facebook offers a similar app, but it just wasn't precise enough for me),  the pins on Japanese territory actually disguised most of the country from the eye, yet still formed the outline of the country...
When I was struggling to think of things to write about in this exam season, I thought to myself, why not create a list of places that I like in Japan? So here we have it, the top ten off the beaten track destinations for me in Japan, roughly from the North to the South of the Country:

先前有空的時候，用Google Map弄了個「Places I've been to」的東西（其實Facebook也有相類似的功能，不過我嫌它不夠精細，所以還是自己弄了一個）看了看才發現，原來我真的很幸運，已經有機會到過很多地方，看看世界不同的一面。
用圖書館的電腦看這張圖（果然有夠不專心）,電腦慢得連底下的地圖也無法載入，只看到圖上一個一個的pin。然而，某處的pin居然足夠勾畫出國家的形狀。我去日本的次數果然比較多...日本是一個我和我家也十分喜歡的地方，多年來的重遊讓我在它的國境內累積了為數不少的pin。很可惜的是，要像以往一般的重遊，看來可能性是不大的了。
在溫習之間研究blog中應該要寫什麼的我忽發奇想， 那不如就介紹一下日本之中我最喜歡的， 特別是在香港人圈子中不太著名地方好了。這樣的「遊記」既沒有限期，便肯定不會脫期了吧。（笑）以下的是我到日本多次下來的精選：這些雖然都不能全用日語「秘境」一詞來形容，但不是東京鐵塔、大阪城之流就是了。 （排名大約為北方到南方，北海道到九洲的順序）
禮文﹣北海道

上一篇在阿姆斯特丹。在運河之間的橋上忽忽走過之時，我真正的感覺到，荷蘭擁有的當然不止是風車。
正如你不能夠從一本書的封面去推斷這本書好不好看，我們又怎可以以我們對一件事情或一個人刻板的印象（stereotype這詞遠比其中文翻譯的「老套/陳規」要精闢）去推斷一整個國家之中千千萬萬人的生活都是如此呢？
作為生活習慣不怎麼Asian，但生活在英國的Asian，我早就應該明白這個道理。
然而，一件事情能成為Stereotype，自然有它的過人之處，否則它也不會被其他人認為這就能代表一整類人。正如西方社會認為香港人都是武林高手，不就是因為我們的功夫電影聞名世界嗎？

說起荷蘭，你會想起什麼？
（給大家幾秒鐘想想...）
我大可跟大家打賭，你的答案裡包含「風車」兩字。
似乎我們這群孤陋寡聞的人，都只會想到這個最公式化的老套答案。

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that random rants on living in Britain must involve randoms rants on the Weather.
The above line pretty much applies for every year, at least the ones I have been here to witness. But this year, it has gone out. of. hand.
It's just been a crazy year.
Spending most of the year in Durham, I was convinced (or tried to convince myself) that the big freeze was merely an issue being 'Up North'. While 2013 has been a particularly chilly year, I only felt that way because 2012 was then a particularly warm year.

繼續談談吃的。（畢竟食最令人心情變好嘛）
上一次談過Fish and Chips。在星期五，它是全國最常見的一道菜。
但除了這個以外，英國還有另一樣，主要只是星期的其中一天裡吃的菜式。
這就是星期日必會出現的Sunday Roast了。
根據維基百科，Sunday Roast的出現有好幾個解釋。首先有說，在中世紀的時候，逢星期日都是村民們上教會和練習戰鬥的日子。（中世紀的人們果然只對神和打仗有興趣）在練習完畢後，當然要吃吃飯補充一下體力。而又有什麼比烤牛肉更適合呢？

There was never much going on for this holiday. Not that I am complaining.
The only event that I had it planned was to go to the wedding of my guardian's son. Must admit I was pretty excited and honoured that I got to go, to the extent that I have been singing to all you jealous people 'I am going to the wedding..' (lol)
It took us quite a while just to get there, and we literally arrived at the church just before the bride's car. (Like, we walked in right in front of it) (Similarly, imagined how freaked out we were at the prospect of missing the wedding...) Fortunately, everything did go according to plan and in an lhour, we stepped out of the church to congratulate the lovely newly-weds! 
It's the first time I have been to a wedding in England, and I can tell you, in a pleasant way, that I really enjoyed going, far more so than the ones I have been to in Hong Kong when I was young. Despite the freezing weather. While the church service wasn't much different, the wedding reception certainly was.There wasn't a massive crowd just to gain face. Didn't have to go though a eight-course meal there took forever to start and even longer to finish. There was no need to drink the couple to the death.
In general, there was just that feelgood factor shining through, not those boring and embarrassing moments that I sometimes endure through in Chinese weddings.

（承上集，繼續在漢堡的一個舊倉庫裡環遊世界）
上回說到漢堡為藍圖的Knuffingen市。除了市中心的繁華，展館也把整個市郊搬到檯上。看看這個遊樂場和演唱會，真實得讓我也想坐坐摩天輪，聽聽歌（不過台上的那個大佛是什麼的一回事...）。
但還是讓我直接帶大家看重點吧：Knuffingen機場。這是展館最新的部分，是一個完完全全，由飛機維修庫到停車場也有的機場，比一個普通的班房還要大的機場。不過，這不代表模型並不精細，你連停車場的閘門也能找得到。