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 the Midtown Manhattan seemed as crazy as ever. Mom and I, with full stomachs, got in with the current of the crowd. The next stop she had planned was the famous Rockefeller Center, which was just around the corner. It sounded great to me because my stomach was three times heavier than normal. As we turned at 5th Ave., the first thing I saw was a gigantic Christmas tree that coincidentally came from my home state of PA. This Norway spruce sparkled and twinkled in the sun light with shiny ornaments and 45,000 LED lights. It would probably become the tallest Christmas tree I had ever seen in my life and perched on the very top of the leafy decoration set a silver star that shined brighter than a light bulb. The second thing I noticed was a huge gilded gold Prometheus statue at the skating rink. He was in a kneeling position to bring fire to mankind. Only then did I see one of the most obvious things. Just in front of my face was the Channel Gardens with statues playing trumpets in the air to celebrate Christmas and New Year.

        Right across the street from the Rockefeller Center was St. Patrick Cathedral under renovation. Its facade looked great with a tall and pointy tower, but 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 in the center of the church sat a gleaming golden altar. Most of the parts were either wrapped in a fail or supported by steel scaffold, and the workers were still busy cleaning it. I really do hope it will get over soon, because I think this will look amazing once it's done.

        Every year around Christmas time, 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 windows for enjoyment. 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 all also had a short sentence or two in the center on 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 personal favorite would probably be “Once upon a Time in NYC”. Sleeping Beauty was getting used to in the city that never sleeps. That was a really praise and got a tiny laugh out of me. I guess the New Yorkers certainly have humor.

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

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

【紅霞譯文】

        當我走出華館五糧液酒家時，外面寒氣襲人，只見曼哈頓中城依然人聲鼎沸，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聖帕特里克大教堂，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。