Xat…

Most phone calls K and I ever made were centered on his star-crossed career. He moved around the world so frequently that every little success he achieved at one place was overwhelmed by the frustration of having to start all over again at another. I once met him in a Parisian café where he proudly gave me his address on the back of a napkin. “This is my first house. It will be my last.” He was grinning with confidence. I sent him a postcard from Madrid a week later, only to be informed that he had sold his house in a hurry, and that my post card was forwarded to his new residence: he was driving well on his way to Kathmandu.

K quit a while ago following my advice, though he would not admit it. “It’s more of a cultural consideration than a medical condition,” he explained to me in his Soucal mansion during one of our afternoon sessions. It was just like an old friends’ chat. Continue Reading »

最近的感觉是时间不够用。半中午一起来，手忙脚乱洗澡吃饭赶去办公室，程序修修改改，两杯茶一下来就是6点半。进办公室门还大太阳的，出了门往回骑就变成了披星戴月⋯⋯健身房一圈，将近8点。晚饭懒得做，于是就着半集电视剧啃三明治了事。饭后继续工作到近半夜，才算结束一天。

工作是勉强完成了。但是书单上长长的一列名字呢？洗漱完毕，坐在床上翻个四五页就哈欠连天。从家里带来的二十来本小说还整整齐齐排在书架上。订的纽约客，每次看到一半就不得不扔了换新一期。借来的DVD要是哪次能一口气看完，就是天大的新闻。最近新发现的NPR，podcast节目单拉了大半页，都是半小时一小时的。每天晚上就看自己叹着气：删了下，下了删。

现在提问。我也没有爬梯呀？也没有谈恋爱呀？那么我的时间，都到哪里去了呢？

近日于大华超市觅得“南洋奶茶”一罐，英文曰trà thái，橙色铁罐点缀黄色斑点，颇具热带艳丽风情。再看成分，曰：水，茶，糖，葡萄糖，奶茶粉 。脸不红心不跳，大字响当当站在那里。

感想：泰国人民真纯朴，还在这旮儿有一罐没一罐地卖。应该抓紧机会马上出口到中国去，肯定年年免检，成为人民喜闻乐喝的外国产品之一。

周末打了一个排球赛，也没睡好。周一是公休日，按道理应该正常上班。 不过N远道而来，正好名正言顺陪看环加州自行车赛。SC小镇一会儿下雨一会儿天晴，人山人海。我俩在终点挤出一个位置，直挺挺站了一个半小时。忽一会儿，大家开始又喊又跳又摇铃的，我挤在人堆里什么也看不见，只好把照相机举过头顶，摆出狗仔队偷袭张曼玉的架势胡按一气。最后回来发现是一堆观众写真。车手冲刺飞快，全都从镜头里溜掉了。

Hotmail改版之后，下面多了Space的更新。今晚就忽然看到camel和hush的名字。许久不曾联系，几乎都要忘记。忽地又想起3小姐。正月快要过去，不知不觉，走了已两年。我与这三位未谋面的朋友天各一方，如今性情上重叠的，恐怕也少了？点过去看她们的博，一人有一人的生活，可那语气却是熟悉的——还好，稍稍宽慰一些。 Continue Reading »

There are certain cities I visited but never wrote about because something tragic happened there. I wish I could turn back time, just to remove them from my memories. There are also cities that I failed to mention, not because I didn’t want to but because I couldn’t: I tried, but never managed to get there.

KWn falls into the second category. As we drove down the bridge that connected the chain of islands on the southern sea I had a hunch, or nightmare, that we could never go back to where we were before… KWn was like the last pearl on this necklace, but the necklace itself, seemed end-less from the beginning. “The meaningless plunging of water and the wind”, monotonic, deep blue, memorizing with its curves and soft gestures. Scenery was changing at an unnoticeable pace: only some occasional cumuli or entrapped surfers proved our progress. They were obviously the unwelcome intruders in this perfect periodical seascape. Continue Reading »

The plane landed ahead of schedule. Rare case. I checked my cellphone signal before walking into the concourse where only a few people were waiting. Early arrivers were greeted with flowers, keen hugs and kisses; each careful enough not to spill the coffee in his hand. I took a couple of quick steps to break from those friendly but enquiring stares, soon found myself standing alone at the center of the hall, my thin T-shirt stuck to my back, gushes of chilly air rushing from the door onto my face. I shivered a little.

I suddenly became curious. How did people conduct this ritual in the old days? Plans must have been made several months ahead. Then there was the mailman on horseback traveling thousands of miles for a single piece of message. Huge mission. And then there was the anxiety. Flipping calendars, counting fingers. When would he arrive? Did anything happen on the way? What would be the first thing he said? It must have been a torture, sitting in your room, smoking and sipping beer, looking through the window, watching the sun paced across the sky till you could wait no longer… Then there was this van pulling into the lot, finally, after so many years! You tossed your cigarette butt and jumped to your feet and… Oh wait wait. That seemed to be the movie. Continue Reading »

最近是诸事不顺，先是硬盘坏掉，紧接着手机掉了后盖，只好统统换掉。一回到学校就开始失眠，电话来电邮去，白天昏天黑地，晚上头晕脑胀。好不容易调理顺当，又来崴了脚，还要费神费力考虑上山问题。

工作没心思，只好做饭消遣，螃蟹豆腐煲，五香牛肉干。做前兴致勃勃，做来大动干戈，等做完了⋯⋯身心具疲胃口全无。

说是牛年要转运，结果门上连个“福”字也贴不住。硬纸壳背后，四角各贴一条双面胶，贴好了三天两头往下掉。狠命用手砸，砸了一手的金粉，洗都洗不掉。火起来老子往四角上各追加两条胶带，想想万无一失，心里还得意好一阵子。结果今天下班⋯⋯得！好心邮递员把掉的福，从门底下塞回来了⋯⋯哼，你先得意着，等老子明天搞来大头钉，看你还往哪里逃。