R ecently at the Hung Hom railway station I saw a young female mainlander boarding the through-train to Guangzhou with such a ginormous suitcase that my eyes nearly popped out of my head. Mainlanders love to shop in Hong Kong but her suitcase was big enough for dozens of Louis Vuitton bags, Chanel perfumes and iPhones. It was almost big enough to fit her whole body. I knew she was not a parallel goods trader because she didn't look like one and they don't use the through-train anyway. She was not travelling light!
The expression "travel light" means to take very little luggage when you go on a trip. People who travel light usually have just a carry-on. A carry-on is a suitcase small enough that you can carry it with you to the plane instead of checking it in. Cologne is a nice-smelling liquid, like perfume. The "g" is silent, so don't pronounce it. Suitcases have wheels (noun) so you can wheel (verb) them instead of carrying them. Hong Kong's streets are full of mainlanders wheeling suitcases. The slang word ginormous means very big. It is a combination of the words gigantic and enormous, which both mean very big. The expression "my eyes popped out of my head" means I was very surprised. My eyes would pop out of my head if I saw Tang Wei with a ginormous suitcase knocking on my door!
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我旅行時，總是輕裝上路（travel light），即使是去美國探望親友。我只需要一個隨身攜帶的（carry-on）小型手提行李箱。我要是去內地見朋友，就連小手提行李箱都不用，只帶一個小包，裝着內衣、襪、一件乾淨襯衫、剃鬚用品、古龍水（cologne）和一支送給朋友的紅酒。所以，每當我見人拿着很大的行李，我總是很好奇裏面到底載着些甚麼。最近我就見到許多遊客挽着很大的行李，特別在尖沙咀一帶。大部份都是內地人。那些行李大得他們難以拖運（wheeling）。
我近日在紅磡港鐵站，見到一位內地年輕女遊客，帶着一個極大（ginormous）的行李，搭上往廣州的直通車，我驚訝得兩眼直瞪（my eyes nearly popped out of my head）。內地人喜歡在香港購物，但她的行李大得足夠裝下一打打的LV手袋、香奈兒香水和iPhone了。那箱甚至大得夠裝下她整個身軀。我知道她不是水貨客，因為她不像運水貨的，而且他們不多搭直通車，但她可不是輕裝旅行（travelling light）！
習語travel light是指你外遊時拿很少行李。輕裝上路（travel light）的人通常只會帶carry-on，就是小得可以手攜上機而毋須寄倉的。Cologne即是古龍水，中間的"g"是不發聲的，所以別發出"g"音。行李箱有輪子（名詞wheels），那你只需要滾動（動詞wheel）行李而不必挽着它。香港的街道滿是拖動（wheeling）行李的內地人。俚語ginormous是指非常龐大，它是gigantic和enormous的結合，兩個字都有龐大的意思。習語my eyes popped out of my head的意思是我很訝異。要是湯唯帶着個大（ginormous）行李來叩我的門，我準會驚訝得眼睛都要掉出來（my eyes would pop out of my head）！mickchug@gmail.com
中譯:七刻
Michael Chugani 褚簡寧