紫禁城(故宮)/ Forbidden City (Palace Museum)

上星期六去了紫禁城，當天雖無下雪，但天氣仍十分寒冷，間中有寒風吹來，涷得手也硬了。事後跟J&T說起，他們都問：「這麼冷你還去故宮？」
紫禁城這三個字，對我來說，很有吸引力。我可以不去長城，但不可以不去紫禁城。
紫禁城，從前凡人不得進，裡面的人不得出來，違者處死。現在，只要付40至60元，就可以入內參觀。
原本打算清早入宮，但起床時已是十時，快快在家附近的麥記吃早餐後，便趕上公車。入宮時已是十二時。
紫禁城真的很大，很容易迷路，行了半天都沒有行完。

Went to the Forbidden City last Saturday. It was not snowing that day, but the weather was still very cold. There were gusts of bleak wind and my fingers were nearly frozen. My friends, J&T asked when I was telling them about my trip, “Why did you go to the Palace under such cold weather?”
Forbidden City is attractive to me. I can skip the Great Wall, but I cannot not go to the Forbidden City.
Ordinary citizens could not enter the palace, and those inside were prohibited from leaving. The price for violating the rule is instant death. Now, you can visit the palace by paying between 40 and 60 yuan.
I planned to visit the palace early morning. But it was already 10am when I woke up. I rushed to the bus stop after eating at MacDonald’s. It was 12pm when I entered the palace.
The palace is really magnificent. I always got lost, and I still missed some spots even though I had already spent half a day there.


紫禁城內有不同的展覽，包括介紹末代皇帝溥儀的西化生活。 Various exhibitions are held in the Forbidden City. This one showcases the westernized lifestyle of the last emperor Puyi.

/
我最喜歡的展覽：鐘錶展，當中包括各國進貢清朝的鐘錶。棕色的是滴漏。The exhibition I like most, the watch and clock gallery. Many of the exhibits are gifts presented by overseas countries to the Qing Dynasty. The brown color one is an hourglass.




參觀當日，雪未完全溶化。The snow was not melted.

關於工作 About Work

真的與上一份工很不同，但我不知如何表達出來。這些事情，稍後再說。

Really very different from my last job. I don’t know how to tell the difference. I will talk about it later.

終於找到房子

10月9日，簽租約，房子600呎左右，月租3,200元。

本地同事說租貴，而且地方又不太近公司，老闆同樣說了這些話，並指公司其中一個外國人，租的房子比較近，價錢又比較便宜。

我一早已預了本地人的房租會較便宜。但，老闆呀，我當初問你有無好AGENT好地方介紹，你又唔話我知，仲話北京D租房唔會好貴，大約4,000左右，你依家又話我貴，想點呀？

住房

初來幾天，住在J&T的房子，房子1,000呎，很舒服。但離市中心十分遠，所以J&T買了這房子7年，一天也沒有住過，寧可住在他們公司的宿舍。

我有考慮過租這個單位，但我天天都上夜班，工作至凌晨一時，北京又不像香港，沒有通宵行走的公共交通，下班唯有坐計程車回家，車資每晚80元。

一星期就400元，令人感到心痛。我也很急找房子租。一天未租到房子，感覺也不太安定。而且每天花80元坐計程車，在香港也不會發生，何況在北京。

而這幾天，剛巧是黃金週假期，地產經紀與業主都放假，找房子的事也就一直未解決。

J&T知道我每天花80元的苦況，容許我在找到房子前，寄居在他們的工作宿舍，計程車費用可以大幅減少至30元左右。

希望盡快找到房子安定下來。

(2009年10月5日)

新開始

自從2007年去印度後，幾乎沒有再放大假。因為我計劃辭職，去一次長旅行，或者專注學阿拉伯文。

在計劃的時候，在北京工作的L來電說她公司招募人手，於是我就發電郵應徵。結果，我就來到北京，就當參加了working holiday。

工作的環境，我只可以用「很新」來形容。

(2009年10月5日)

Snow雪

I was stunned when waking up yesterday morning. There was snow. This is the first snow in Beijing 2009 winter, and also the first snow in my life. Photos taken 12pm, November 01, 2009, Sunday.

昨早睡醒時，感到驚訝。我看見雪。這是北京2009年冬天第一場雪，也是我人生首次看見雪。照片在2009年11月1日星期日中午12時拍。