又中又英 | To be out of kilter | 褚简宁

　　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!

　　跨越时区的长途机程并不愉快，往往会令我有时差反应和令我的睡眠模式乱套（out of kilter）。即使在同一时区内的短途机，有时也会令我乱了套（out of kilter），不过我能很快恢复正常。Kilter是指平衡或良好的状态；to be out of kilter则是失去平衡、失常、失灵。我很快便会执拾行装，搭短途机从台北飞往香港。我希望我不会乱了套（out of kilter），因为在香港我有许多事情想做。

　　First and foremost，我想见见亲戚和旧同学。我也想见一些从前共事多年的传媒朋友。习语“first and foremost”是指首要的、比其他任何事都重要的事。我光是想到可以吃鱼蛋面以及港式粤菜，便已salivating了——若你正salivating，意即你口水直流。许多人一想到或是进食美味的食物，也会垂涎三尺。国泰在它的一些机场贵宾室有备不同类型的面，就是没有鱼蛋面。希望国泰已经接纳我在之前专栏中提及的意见，将鱼蛋面纳入其中。

　　最近一些传媒报道指，政府延长了港岛的海滨步道。现在它连结了从坚尼地城到北角的海滨步道。香港拥有全球最美的海港之一，希望我在那儿的时候有好的天气，因为我想看看我能否从坚尼地城步行至北角！

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Michael Chugani褚简宁
中译：七刻