又中又英｜Spoiled for choice

Taipei, where I now am, has many different types of restaurants. The shopping mall below my serviced apartment has a basement food court that sells all types of dishes. The mall’s upper floors have restaurants that serve Japanese, Taiwanese, Thai, Italian, American, and vegetarian food. It also has a buffet restaurant. There are restaurants that serve Hong Kong-style food, including dim sum, near my apartment. It feels like a choice overload. People are spoiled for choice.

The expressions “choice overload” and “spoiled for choice” are similar, but not the same. Choice overload describes how people get overloaded with so many choices that it’s hard for them to choose and they sometimes give up. Spoiled for choice means having many good things to choose from. Hong Kong has so many types of restaurants that people are also spoiled for choice. A dish I love that Hong Kong has but Taipei does not is fishball noodles. I have searched high and low but could not find fishball noodles in the area where I live. To search high and low means to search everywhere.

I was in Hong Kong for five days last week for a work project. I rushed to a fishball noodle shop for lunch the day after I arrived! I will eat more fishball noodles when I return to Hong Kong soon. Cathay’s Hong Kong business class lounge has a noodles bar with several choices but not fishball noodles. I went to the noodles bar on my way back to Taipei last week hoping Cathay had finally added fishball noodles, but it has not. Cathay should include the dish in its lounges. It is a popular dish.

台北，即我现在身处的地方，有许多不同类型的餐厅。我那服务式住宅下的商场就有个地库美食广场，售卖各式各样的菜式。商场较高的楼层亦有日、台、泰、意、美式及素食餐厅，也有一间是吃自助餐的。我住宅单位附近亦有供应港式食物的餐厅，包括点心。那感觉有点「选择超载」（choice overload），人们都因为选择过多而无从下手（spoiled for choice）。

习语 choice overload和spoiled for choice 有点接近，但不尽相同。Choice overload是形容人们有着太多的选择，难以作出抉择，有时甚至会放弃。Spoiled for choice是指有太多好东西可供选择。香港有那么多五花八门的餐厅，人们也是眼花缭乱，不知从何下手（spoiled for choice）。我喜爱的一样香港有但台北没有的食物就是鱼蛋面。我已经在我住的那区searched high and low，却遍寻不获——to search high and low是指到处找寻。

我上星期为一个工作项目，在香港待了五天。我抵埗后的那天，便急不及待冲往一间鱼蛋面店吃午餐！我过不多久便再回到香港，届时会吃更多的鱼蛋面。国泰的香港商务贵宾室有一个面档，有好几款选择，却没有鱼蛋面。我上星期回台北时去了那个面档，希望国泰终于能加入鱼蛋面，可惜并没有。国泰好应在它的贵宾室里加入这一道，它是个非常受欢迎的菜式。

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Michael Chugani褚简宁
中译：七刻