2014-12-17

【Aiden in English】

        The air was cold and crisp when I walked out of Wu Liang Ye Chinese Restaurant. The busy streets in Midtown Manhattan seemed as crazy as ever. Mom and I, with full stomachs, got in with the crowd's current. The next stop she had planned was the famous Rockefeller Center, just around the corner. It sounded great because my stomach was three times heavier than usual. As we turned onto 5^th Ave., I first saw a gigantic Christmas tree that coincidentally came from my home state of PA. The Norway spruce sparkled and twinkled in the sunlight, adorned with shiny ornaments and 45,000 LED lights. It would probably become the tallest Christmas tree I had ever seen, and a silver star shone brighter than a light bulb perched on the very top of the leafy decoration set. The second thing I noticed was a vast gilded gold Prometheus statue at the skating rink. He was in a kneeling position, bringing fire to humanity. Only then did I see one of the most obvious things just before my face, the Channel Gardens, with statues playing trumpets in the air to celebrate Christmas and New Year.

        St. Patrick's Cathedral, under renovation, was located across the street from Rockefeller Center. Its facade looked great with a tall and pointy tower, but on the inside, I could tell that it was a long way from being finished. Polished stone columns supported a grand arch ceiling. Bright, colorful glass pictures dotted the roof, and a gleaming golden altar sat in the center of the church. Most parts were wrapped in a fail or supported by a steel scaffold, and the workers were still busy cleaning it. I hope it will be over soon, because I think it will look amazing once it's done.

        Every year around Christmas, Saks 5^th Avenue, a top-notch department store, sets up a spectacular window show. Each window tells a different story, and people line up in front of the windows to enjoy the view. By the looks of it, this year's theme would be fairy tales. There were scenes of Cinderella with a shoe, Sleeping Beauty with the poison apple, and many more. They also had a short sentence or two in the center of the window to introduce the background. They told a piece of the story... just changing the beginning to "Once upon a Time in NYC"… My favorite would probably be "Once Upon a Time in NYC". Sleeping Beauty was getting used to the city that never sleeps. That was absolute praise, eliciting a tiny laugh from me. I suppose New Yorkers certainly have a sense of humor.

        Macy always puts up a window showing every year, too. Both stores are kicking the bar high for each other. Macy's theme displayed a boy looking through a telescope at each planet. The Planets all had something Christmassy on them. Venus appeared as bright as the sun, while Neptune sat quietly with a dark blue color. Mars was as red as ever, yet Mercury couldn't get hotter. Uranus was as cool as ice cream, and Jupiter, a massive ball of fiery colors, loomed over all the other planets.

        NYC is a vacation hotspot for sights, sounds, and tastes. It is a unique, one-of-a-kind city that can't be disrespected.

【紅霞譯】

        當我走出華館五糧液酒家時，外面寒氣襲人，只見曼哈頓“弓島”中城依然人聲鼎沸，我和媽媽酒足飯飽，巴不得走上街頭投身到滾滾洪流中消肥減瘦。下一站媽媽帶我去的地方是舉世聞名的洛克菲勒“黑麥田”中心，實際上五糧液酒家與洛克菲勒中心相距甚近，出門拐個彎沒幾步路遠，聽起來正合我意，更何況咱眼下肚子脹得要命，比從前差不多又肥出了三圈。我們轉到第五大道，巨大無比的聖誕樹搶先進入視線，說來真巧，今年這棵挪威雲杉來自賓州老家，此時早已披上了節日盛裝，四萬五千隻華燈齊放，無愧為我有生以來親眼所見最高的聖誕樹。樹的頂端一顆光芒四射的銀星分外奪目，讓電燈泡黯然失色。洛克菲勒中心溜冰場內，大型鍍金雕像普羅米修斯“先見”斜跪在地，將聖火帶給人間。接下來再往前看，街心花園裡有不少人物造型正手握小號仰天齊鳴，共同歡慶聖誕節與陽曆新年的到來。

        洛克菲勒中心正對面為尊貴聖徒大教堂，目前仍處於維修狀態。其外觀尖塔高聳、內部結構尚未重整完畢，新打磨出來的尖肋石柱支撐着龐大拱頂，花窗玻璃明亮通天, 教堂中央的祭壇金光閃閃，但絕大部分建築不是被裹得嚴嚴實實，就是上了金屬腳手架，工人們正緊張地進行清理工作。我期盼能早日修復原樣，到時定會面目一新。

        每年聖誕節期間, 美國高檔百貨商場薩克斯“剪刀”第五大道設有令人交口稱道的櫥窗展覽，而各個櫥窗都向觀眾講述不同的故事，人們可以排隊依次走到窗前盡飽眼福。從外觀布局上不難發現，今年的主題與童話傳說相關，譬如：灰姑娘與一隻鞋、睡美人與毒蘋果等等。玻璃上標有一兩句字幕，為大家提供背景知識。每個童話故事的開頭全被改成“從前在紐約”。我個人比較喜歡這種形式，“睡美人”用來讚譽紐約這座不夜城確實恰如其分，我覺得蠻有意思，紐約人挺有幽默感的。

        梅西“武器”百貨商場也有類似的展覽，兩家各顯神通，其水平越來越高。今年梅西藉助一位男孩用望遠鏡觀摩天體行星來揭示聖誕節無處不在。金星像太陽那麼明亮，而海王星帶有暗藍色的深沉；火星一向紅彤彤的，而水星總是熱乎乎的；天王星像冰淇淋一樣涼爽，而木星宛若火熱的彩球映照其它所有行星。

        紐約本身堪稱旅遊勝地，無論從視覺、聽覺還是味覺上都能滿足各路群英。它獨具特色，令人難以忘卻。

Today in History(歷史上的今天):

2014: A Wandering Life in Rochefeller Ctr NYC(浪跡紐約洛克菲勒中心)

2013: Hindu in Mangalore, India(印度黎明城印度教寺廟)

2012: Easter Island—Navel of the World, CHL(智利復活節島—地球的肚臍)

2009: 新西蘭天籟之聲(Sounds of Heaven, NZ)

Starbucks Cafe @ Barnes & Noble 

(巴諾“穀倉—高貴”書店·星巴克“大杯”咖啡廳 12-17-2014)

Columbus Day Parade on 5^th Ave 

(第五大道哥倫布“鴿子”日遊行 10-11-1993)

Times Square, the Center of the Universe 

(時代廣場·宇宙中心 12-17-2014)

Times Square, the Crossroads of the World

(時代廣場·世界十字路口 12-17-2014)

Times Square, the Heart of the World (時代廣場·地球之心)

East 43^rd Street w/ Chrysler Bldg in the Background

(東43街·背景為克萊斯勒“陀螺” 12-17-2014)

Chrysler Bldg in the 20^th-Century Art Deco 

(克萊斯勒大廈·20世紀裝飾藝術風格)

Empire State Building in the 20^th-Century Art Deco

(帝國大廈·20世紀裝飾藝術風格)

The Lobby of the Empire State Bldg

(帝國大廈·大廳 09-18-1993)

4 Times Square, a Postmodernist Skyscraper

(時代廣場四號·後現代主義摩天大樓)

Crosslinks(相關博文):

USA(出遊美國)

6th Grade(初中一年級)