醉人牛肉湯

Audrey,

牛肉湯有好多好多種。妳最喜歡的是那一種？醉人的妳喜歡嗎？

告訴妳，最不喜歡是台北的牛肉湯。還記得嗎？當年剛到台北，想妳也有這經驗，在麵攤點一碗牛肉湯面，盛來的真的就是湯麵一碗，牛肉嘛，妳得再添十來廿塊才有那麼幾片。

也告訴妳，最喜歡是韓國的牛肉湯。還記得嗎？當年首次到首爾（漢城），想妳也有這經驗，阿麗或是祥玉有領妳到明洞一家牛肉湯名店，來一碗 Kum Tang （牛肉清湯或是 Kalbib Tang（牛小排骨湯），外加一碗熱呼呼的米飯，和在一起，一舀一舀的喝，很道地，很草根，很平民，很在地。其實，這是夜宵第一首選，也是酒過三巡三巡再三巡之後解醉最佳之物。

我愛喝，不是它解了我的宿酒。我愛喝，是因為它是我的第一碗，帶給我一股抹不掉擦不乾的高麗香。廿年來，每一回上韓國餐館，每一趟點Kum Tang、Kalbib Tang，總有微醺的感覺，總有醉的回憶。

喝韓式牛肉湯，不是解酒，是要醉。

大覺寺

Audrey，

There is so much about my trips to Beijing I haven't told you yet. Talking about romantic ones, perhaps you might wish to join me in this: On the day before I came back from Peking this last trip, I went with a friend to a Ming-era temple ( 大覺寺 ) which is about one and a half hour drive from town. Off the beaten track, the temple, sitting at the foot of 香 山, is tugged alone in a deep valley on the western outskirt of Beijing. Visitors are scarce.

大覺寺 is like a grand Xiheyuan ( 四合院 ) with a few rings of old traditional houses encircling the two main shrines in the centre. Unlike almost all other temples I have visited in China. it is plain, modest and unostentatious. Every where around it, there is no commercial activity in sight. No shop. No souvenir kiosk. No food stalls. No hawker. And even the joss-stick urns are almost empty with only a few extinguished incense sticks left from the very few worshipers who did bother to make the gruesome journey here. In other words, it is quiet, simple and straight-forward. To be more flowery in description, there is a rich sense of tranquility, calmness and placidity in the air.It is very ZEN.

Having said so, I must admit that there IS some sort of civilized activities here within. One chic restaurant and one elegant tea house are tastefully and discreetly hidden in buildings scattered on the outer perimeters.

My visit fell on a grey cold cloudy day. Temperature was low and the air was dry. Both elements signaled the imminent fall of snow. We walked around the empty compound, holding our breath, gasping at the serenity of the ambience. En-route, we paused, only to enjoy the solitary of being on our own. For a long while, our feeling was as though we were in an alien territory. It was also as though we did not belong to this materialized world.

After lunch, we retreated to the tea -house. A small one with one table on each end sealed off from the serving station in the center with traditional slide partition. Over the the wooden-framed glass window lied a small courtyard extending to another tea house on the opposite end. On both other two sides, there were more small tea-houses like the one in here.

Inside the room, it was warm, homey and comfortable. We sipped tea, we tasted Chinese snacks ( preserved plumes) and we played Chinese chess( 五子棋 to be exact ). We chatted and we exchanged views on life.

Outside, it was cold and getting colder. Lights dimmed, lanterns lit and snow flakes began to fall. The only noise besides our whispering sound was our breath. Unnoticed of time, we soaked in this calmness, serenity and romantic moment for hours until nightfall.

The passing of that particular afternoon was perhaps simple but we sure did leave the snow-puffed大覺寺with our spirit and mind rich and full.

Audrey, isn't this a perfect scene for anyone romantic or romantic in mind?

情

Hlin，

妳跟老大那對話，使我想到『情』這事兒。我自家的感覺是這樣：那管什麼情，親情、友情，愛情…有情的人都是可愛的人。

不過，可愛的人都是可憐人，負擔重吧！就像妳那朋友。
再哩，情也真要會用。錯用情會抱恨，會哀傷，縱不是終身，也痛的夠你瞧的。

情也患盈。過多了，授受兩家都難過。

情也患濫，我不說到處留情，祇是說感情太容易釋放出去，結果呢，就像在放回力鏢一樣，受傷痛的最終就是自己。

話是這麼說，可性格天生，後天難改，有情的總是有情，也終為有情累（身、心疲累）。可我還是願意做個有情郎，不願做個冷血沒情的機械人。

妳呢，算是個有情人，也是個可愛的人。

桂花

桂花小姐，

請原諒我無禮，可妳是那一位？這一回好像是頭一遭在版上跟妳見面。新年好。

桂花這名字，既既熟悉又陌生，妳教我想到上海。那裡有好一些桂花樹，在衡山路烏魯木齊路一帶就有不少，桂花開時香的很。

桂花這名字，也教我想到北京。大陸去年那賀年電影是馮小剛的 "手機"，我在北京看，故事內容也在那兒發生。。它裡頭開場有一般由近年火紅歌手楊坤清唱的一首主題曲，內容是：
牛三斤、牛三斤，你的媳婦呂桂花，呂桂花讓問一問，你最近還回家嗎？

桂花這名字，也教我想到僑大。那一年是我在台灣的頭一年，同班有很多不同地方來的僑生，其中韓國有一位，她名字跟桂花也很相近，她也就像桂花一樣，香的教我醉了好一回兒。

桂花、桂花，雖還不知道妳是那一位，可名字就像那花一般，教我花不醉人自醉。歡迎妳！

春聯

春節對聯一副

上聯： 做愛做的事，每日快樂
下聯：交配交的人，彼此舒服
橫批：節日欲快

我是誰

最近有人談〔我是誰〕。其實，我才該問問〔我是誰〕。

我是中國人、華人，我也是香港人、加拿大入。喜歡的話也可以說自已是英國人，當然，差一點也變了新加坡人。像我這種什麼都是，什麼也不是的怪人，香港多的很。你呢，你是什麼人？

當然，在香港這兒，不管你是誰，也不管你把自己當作誰，可誰也不管你是誰，也不把你當作誰，祇有這樣，我才可以隨便的說我是誰，不過，自由度大了，我又得問〔我是誰〕？

Cycling 、Great Legs

Audrey,

The male patron has a point, a valid point.

Indeed, I made similar comment to a Japanese friend of mine many years back. I told her exactly what you were told;" You've great legs." But I didn't ask her if she was a biker. Instead, I gave compliments to her parents. Know what she said in return?

She said, “I owed my pair of legs to my grandfather. I owe this pair of "great legs" to biking."

She continued, "When I was small, my grandfather put me through years and years of hardship of cycling. I would go anywhere and everywhere biking and I would do everything and almost anything biking."

"Biking itself was no chore. The tough part was that grandfather would always raised the saddle to the highest so that the tip of my toes could barely touch the peddles.

When I rode, I needed to stretch my legs and my feet to the utmost to step on them. It was like tip-toeing. It was tough.”

And, Grandfather would always say, “Bear with it. God gave a beautiful you to me; I vow to give you a pair of legs no less no more.”

Audrey, do you know the secret of it? Do you know why the old man made his grand-daughter go cycling in such an uncomfortable way?

It was the stretching of legs and the tip-toeing. It was the repetitious movement of stretching the legs and the toes that turn a pair of legs into a pair of “great legs”.

Audrey, the guy is not a phony. The guy is one who knows the secret to a pair of great legs

藤、树、人生

候子

你說人生到底在追求什么? 每一個人給你的答案都會不一樣的吧！我也許有我的想法，不過，也許不是什麼想法，也許我自己也不知道是啥個想法。

想跟你分享是一份感覺。昨天夜裡看電視，聽到一首老老的歌，叫『山歌』，電影『不了情』的插曲，由顧媚主唱，調子輕快柔和，可歌詞是這樣的：

山南有棵樹，樹邊有枝藤，藤兒彎彎纏著樹，藤纏樹來樹纏藤，風風雨雨兩相伴，朝朝暮暮兩相纏.....藤纏樹死纏到死，藤死樹生死也纏......日日夜夜兩相伴，生生死死兩相纏.........

在澳洲渡假時候，曾經到了一熱帶雨林，那藤纏樹，樹枯藤榮，那宿命，那無奈，那悲哀，聽了這老歌，感受特別深。也許，人生就是這樣的萬般無奈！

人生要真的每天抓幾尾魚，撐飽摟著老婆睡一覺，那會有多好。