The Grand Central Monalisa 中央車站的蒙娜麗莎

After my last min bachelorette improvisation at Residence Inn last night, I still had an order of untouched soup dumplings, an order of beef broth mai fun, 7 icecream mochis, and a box of cheese and crackers. I was counting on my guests to bring the left over home last night, but we had too much fun and forgot about all that. People who know me well understand my attitudes to food waste. I hate to waste anything, and I end up having boxes of untouched good stuff. (Joe's Shanghai or Joe's Ginger... I can't remember now.) I felt so bad while packing this morning. All of a sudden, I came up with an idea. I wrapped everything from the fridge. When I checked out, I asked the lady at the reception about the closest soup kitchen. She suggested me to check out grand central since it's only a few blocks away.

昨晚, 我在Residence Inn辦了個很隨意的小型告別單身聚會. 訂了太多食物, 玩得太開心, 結果沒人記得把剩下完全沒動過的幾道菜帶回家(小籠湯包, 牛肉米粉湯, 麻糬冰淇淋, 起士塊與餅乾...). 夠認識我的人會理解我對於浪費食物有多麼痛恨, 結果我在吃不完又帶不走的狀況下剩下這麼多好料(鹿鳴春的好料!) 睡醒後仍覺得心煩, 突然想到個辦法. 我打包冰箱裡所有好料, 到旅館大廳, 問服務人員最近的Soup Kitchen在哪. 服務小姐查詢後說最近的Soup Kitchen有點遠, 但幾條街近的中央車站常有可能用得上這些食物的人們.

So, I walked with a bag of food into Grand Central. I saw no signs of people in need on the ground level and went to the lower level around the food court. It was a little embarrassing because I couldn't really tell if that is someone who would appreciate left-overs. I was afraid that I may offend someone by the stereotyped judgement from the way he/she looked. After standing in the middle of the food court with my bag of food for 30 more seconds, I walked to a very nice gentleman who was working there by cleaning the tables. I said, "Excuse me, I know this question may sound strange, but by any chance you know anyone here who would appreciate untouched leftovers from a pretty good restaurant?" He looked a little bit puzzled, but he did point at a lady and told me that she would know if anyone around here could use some food.

於是, 我提著一袋食物走進中央車站. 在大廳晃晃, 卻找不著可能用得上這些食物的人. 到了地下樓的飲食區看看, 又怕自己因為穿著典型先入為主卻可能問錯人而讓人覺得侮辱丟臉. 躊躇了三十秒後, 走向一個看起來還挺友善的清潔人員, 開口問他：「抱歉打擾了! 我的問題可能有點奇怪, 但我想請問你知不知道這裡可能有誰會需要我點太多而吃不完的好料?」他看來有點狐疑, 但仍指著牆邊一位女士, 跟我說她會知道誰有需要食物.

Slowly, I approached her table. Her ensemble was actually very colorful. She wore a greyish coat with a matching hat that were accented with tiny pinkish threads. Next to her seemed to be her bags of goods. (Now I think of this, I can't recollect what exactly was next to her.) On her table were a few cookies. "Excuse me!" She buried herself in a book without raising her head. I must have said "Excuse me" over three times with some crescendo, and she finally noticed me. There was her look of question and hesitation. Maybe she was afraid that she could be asked to leave or anything.

緩緩地, 我向那位女士靠近. 她的穿著其實還蠻鮮豔的, 大衣與帽子皆為灰色系加上粉紅線條點綴. 她身旁似乎堆疊一些袋子, (說到這, 我對於她身旁那疊東西到底是甚麼毫無印象) 她的桌上有一些小餅乾. 「打擾了!」 她仍然專注於手中的書, 但我也記不得她當時正讀何物! 配合漸強的音量, 大概說了至少三次"打擾了", 她才抬頭看我一眼. 她看來面帶疑問與防備, 也許她擔心被趕走或驅離.

Before she said anything, I continued, "Excuse me for interrupting. I have some untouched leftover food. It's Chinese! There are some dumplings, noodles... I asked the gentleman over there if he knew anyone here would appreciate these, and he told me that I should come talk to you!" Her face softened, and she told me that she had not had real food for a while. Just like that, I felt the warmth in my eyes, and I had to do something to ease myself. I started to take the goodies out from the bag and said, "sorry that they're cold because I had to put them in the fridge". And then I said, "Oh! But this one will be perfect. This is a box of mochis. There is icecream inside! Definitely, start with this first!" She saw the excitement in my face introducing icecream. (Well, who doesn't get excited about icecream?) She gave me a big smile and told me that she appreciated the effort very much. We shook hands, and I learned about her name as Monalisa. ;) Beautiful! We hugged, and I said "Thank you for taking care of the food, and feel free to share it!". "Sure! I can't finish all these on my own. I was only counting on cheese and crackers..." There was no stopping of my tears. I excused myself quickly and started to sob on the way out. All kinds of emotions hit me.

在她開口前, 我緊接：「不好意思打擾了! 我有一些完全沒碰過的食物, 中國菜! 包括湯包, 麵啊有的沒的. 我問了那個好心的先生, 他說你可能知道誰會樂意享用這些食物!」 她的表請軟化了些, 告訴我她好些時候沒有正餐果腹了. 聽她一說我馬上眼紅, 為了轉移注意力, 我打開袋子一樣一樣介紹餐點：「抱歉因為怕食物壞掉只好放冰箱, 所以菜有點冷...」馬上接著又說：「喔! 不過麻糬這時候吃剛剛好! 裡面有冰淇淋!」她目睹我描述冰淇淋的興奮, (有誰聽到冰淇淋不會興奮!?)她的臉上浮現了笑容, 跟我說她非常感謝我費心思. 我們握手, 自我介紹, 那時我才知道原來她自稱蒙娜麗莎!? 多美的名字! 我們擁抱, 我接著說：「感謝你幫我處理這些食物, 歡迎你自由分享!」
她說：「那當然! 我一個人吃不了這麼多, 我原本只打算靠餅乾起士而已...」 她的話逼出了我的眼淚, 我很快地向她道別. 離開車站的路上, 我忍不住抽蓄著哭, 百感交集.

We don't need a government, a politician, an organization, or a law to stop food waste. We ourselves can do a lot by paying a little bit attention to the surroundings or just by simply asking someone who knows the place very well. It's shocking and saddening to learn that things we throw out could become someone else's treasure. Individuals seem little and insignificant, but one is enough to start the change for a better outcome.

我們不需要政府, 不需要政治人物, 不需要機構, 也不需要法律才能解決浪費食物的行為. 我們自己就能辦到很多, 比如說多觀察周遭環境, 或是開口問周遭可能更認識環境的人. 知道自己要丟棄的任何東西可能會成為某個人的寶藏, 常讓我感到驚訝又痛心. 我們常常覺得一個人的力量很渺小, 但"一"已經足夠成為任何不凡的起源了!

Brunch at Tiffany's

A few weeks ago, J and I went to several jewelry shops in NYC. That was educational, overwhelming, and somewhat stressful, due to the the weekend/holiday madness in Manhattan in December. We checked out quite a few places like Georg Jensen, Tiffany, Cartier, Piaget, Montblanc, and even Chanel. For the sake of fun, we also visited Mikimoto, Van Cleef, and Harry Winston. If you like to know my thoughts about every single one of them, talk to me and I'll give a full speech! Now, let's fast forward to two days ago, when J and I went down to Tiffany again.

幾周前, J跟我逛了紐約市內幾間珠寶店。由於年底節假日曼哈頓內洶湧人潮，我們學了不少，也費神傷神不少。其中，逛了Georg Jensen、Tiffany、Cartier、Piaget、萬寶龍，還有香奈兒。為滿足好奇心，也晃了Mikimoto、Van Cleef，以及傳說中的鑽石之王Harry Winston。如果您想知道我對上述各家觀感，我很樂意特別詳述。現在，請容我快轉至兩天前，J跟我再度拜訪了Tiffany。

J and I live in the middle of nowhere, and the closest Tiffany is still the one in New York City. This time, we decided to go in early on a work day. After getting on the bus at 6:10AM, we got to Tiffany right after it opened for business. The atmosphere was completely different because of the lack of early customers. Right after entering, a gentleman handed us the guide of the building, and we realized that Tiffany meant a lot more than just the ground floor... Our specialist Margo welcomed us right after we exited the elevator on the second floor. We told her what we were looking for, and she brought us to her desk. While waiting for her to bring a few rings, we were treated with tea served in the pretty Tiffany cups. Margo came back with the classic Tiffany design and the Harmony design for my curiosity. The real fun and tricky part started after settling with the design. We got to decide which stone we wanted to go with the design. Before Margo brought us more rings, we had more tea...

我們住在鬼地方，最近的Tiffany就是紐約市那間。搭了早上六點十分出發的巴士，我們在Tiffany剛開門營業時拜訪。由於非假日加上早上客人稀少，氣氛大不同（前一次簡直是菜市場）。一踏進店裡，馬上有服務人員遞給我們店內介紹，我們才發現原來Tiffany的服務有六層樓之分。一出二樓電梯門，來自波蘭的Margo馬上熱情歡迎我們。一得知我們來訪目的，她帶著我們到她的介紹區先坐會。在我們等她拿戒指的同時，還有服務人員招呼我們用Tiffany杯組呈獻的烏龍茶。Margo帶來Tiffany的經典設計與我好奇的Harmony設計，在比較一番後我說還是比較喜歡Harmony，接著就是最有趣又最讓人頭痛的部分，選石頭！Margo起身去準備更多戒指，我們喝了更多烏龍茶...

Margo came back with three Harmony rings with different sizes and qualities of stones. Without any professional guidance, she asked us to rank the brightness of the stones. Unfortunately or fortunately, J and I both got them perfectly in order with our naked eye. Margo was very thorough and helpful. She also took us next to the window to see how different ranks of stones shine under the sun light. From my experience, I couldn't see any difference under that circumstance. Since the differences seemed to be very subtle, we brought up another variable, wedding band, which could help us nail the final choice. Margo got up for more rings and we got asked to have more tea...

於是，Margo帶著不同等級不同大小的石頭回來。在不知情又未受任何訓練的狀況下，她讓我們為這三顆石頭排等級。很幸運或是很不幸地，J跟我竟然能用肉眼為這三顆差距不大的石頭排出正確等級！Margo相當周慮地提供我們各種欣賞角度，她帶著我們到窗邊看這三顆石頭在一般日光下的差異。根據我自身經驗，在一般光線下，我完全看不出任何顏色與亮度差異... 由於等級造成的實際差別其實相當細微，我們建議配合婚戒一起看，也許能幫助我們下決定。Margo再度起身，我們喝了更多烏龍茶...

She brought us a few different designs of wedding bands, and that was extremely helpful. Putting on the rings next to each other completed the picture. Some of the stones lost their beauty in certain combination. Once I caught that, it couldn't be unseen. In a few minutes, I knew what combination I love the most. I told Margo what I wanted, and Margo requested some champagne for J and some sparkling water for me. She was very sweet to take a few pictures for us. After J got out from a Grounded Vindaloop (South Park Season 7) to process the payment, Margo asked me if I liked to wear it right away. We were convinced to take a moment at the Tiffany private area. They brought us cute blue cakes, more champagne, and more sparkling water. Just like that, J knelt and gave a little speech, I got to say yes, and we got to walk out with the ring on my finger! Mwahahahahaha...We believed that Tiffany had everything recorded...

她帶來三款不同設計的婚戒，相當有幫助！一旦同時戴上兩個戒指後，某些缺陷馬上浮上檯面。而這些缺陷都是一旦被發現，就無法被忽略的那種。於是，幾分鐘後我就告訴Margo我的喜好與決定。這次，Margo請我們香檳與氣泡水（我酒精過敏），還幫我們照了幾張相片！在J順利通過Grounded Vindaloop考驗（請參考南方公園第七季）成功付款後，Margo問我是否想馬上戴著戒指。看著我無法再等的表情，Margo帶我們到Tiffany二樓某個安靜無人的角落，請人準備更多香檳、氣泡水，與Tiffany招牌藍盒子樣的小點心。就這樣，J下跪發表感言，我說好，然後我們戴上戒指離開Tiffany！Mwahahahahahaha... 相信Tiffany有整個過程影音檔案...

At the end, I would love to point out things I love about this shopping trip especially
1. Margo was thorough, patient, pleasant, and humorous
 Margo did a fantastic job covering things we should take into our consideration in terms of choosing the best fit for us/me. In the mean time, we didn't feel pressured or rushed. Because of her sense of humor, the purchase became more personal, intimate, and fun.
2. International and lifetime services
 According to Tiffany customer services, I could walk into any Tiffany in the world and get the Tiffany rings clean any time with no charge. They also fix the prongs for free if needed. After the purchase, customers could exchange and pay the price difference for an upgrade(only one time). After the purchase, I could choose to remount the stone from one setting to another (e.g. Harmony to Tiffany) for free(also one time only).

這次旅程，有幾個特別讓我想闡述的部分
1. Margo很周慮、很有耐心、很有幽默感，讓我們覺得很愉快
 Margo除了點出數據上的不同點外，也讓我們有機會用很實際（非專業）角度考慮所有面向。她相當有耐性，讓我們在過程中沒有壓力又從容不迫，而她的幽默讓這次經驗變得更特別，更親密有人性，且更有趣。
2. 跨國且終身服務
 根據Tiffany售後服務，我能隨時拜訪世界任何一間Tiffany，終身免費清理戒指（與免費修理戒指金屬的服務）。購買後，若我某天覺得戒指不夠高檔想要升等，Tiffany允許更換補差價一次。購買後，若我某天突然覺得看Harmony底座膩了想換成經典Tiffany，Tiffany也會免費為我換底座一次（這個次數其實我不太記得了）。

We couldn't think of anything else that could make this trip even more perfect... Okay! If Tiffany also has certified official that could marry couples right there to complete the Tiffany experience, we would totally sign up for that...
我們實在想不出還有甚麼其他服務能讓Tiffany旅程更完美了... 好！如果Tiffany同時雇專業人士能提供我們機會就地合法結婚，那我們勢必會馬上報到...

 

2nd floor is the way to go!

二樓才是王道！

 Speaking of a whole package deal, Tiffany made our trip sweet and memorable!!
完整服務的極致表現，Tiffany讓這一次旅途倍感甜蜜且難忘！

So glad that I didn't get judged by how casual I looked... Thx!
 我這麼平常的打扮還能獲得這般禮遇實在是太開心了... 謝啦！