又中又英｜Pizza Expo

A newspaper article I read on April 1 caught my attention. I thought it was an April Fools'  joke after reading a few paragraphs. It was about a Pizza Expo where attendees can binge on pizzas. The writer said she spent seven hours at the expo eating so many different pizzas that the next morning she had a swollen face and a mush brain. After reading more paragraphs I realized the article was not an April Fools'  joke. There really is an annual Pizza Expo in Las Vegas. The one held on March 28-30 was the 39th expo.

An expo is short for exposition, which means a large international exhibition. If you go on a binge, it means you do too much of something, such as eating or drinking. If you binge on pizzas, it means you eat too much pizza. If you have a mush brain, it means you are unable to think clearly. The annual three-day Pizza Expo at the 3.2 million square-foot Las Vegas Convention Centre attracts people from all over the world. Only those in the pizza business can attend, such as pizza restaurant owners, managers, and buyers. They pay between US$200 to $279 depending on how early they register.

Pizza restaurants from all over the world make freshly baked pizzas at the expo. Attendees can eat as much as they want for free. There are pizza competitions and demonstrations on how to make pizzas. Hong Kong's many expos have become blasé, which means no longer new or exciting. It should start a cha chaan teng expo where restaurant owners compete and cook cha chaan teng food for attendees.

我在4月1日讀到的一篇新聞報道引起我的注意，讀了幾段過後，我還以為是個愚人節的笑話。它是關於一個薄餅博覽會（Expo），出席者可以盡情大吃薄餅（binge on pizzas）。那位作者說，她在博覽會（expo）花了7小時，吃了許多不同種類的薄餅，多得翌日早上她滿臉浮腫、頭腦不清（mush brain）。再多讀幾段，我終於發現那篇文章並不是甚麼愚人節笑話，在拉斯維加斯，真的有一個一年一度的薄餅博覽會（Expo）。而於3月28至30日舉行的，是第39屆博覽會（expo）。
 An expo是exposition的簡稱，意即大型國際展覽。若你 go on a binge，意即你無節制地做某件事，例如暴飲暴食；若你 binge on pizzas，意即你大吃特吃薄餅。若你有個 mush brain，意思就是你頭腦不清晰，未能好好思考。這個一年一度、為期3天，在佔地320萬平方尺的拉斯維加斯會議中心舉行的薄餅博覽會（Expo），吸引全球各地的人前去。只有從事薄餅生意的業界人士可以出席，例如薄餅店老闆、經理和採購員。他們要付200至279美元不等，視乎他們有多早報名參加。
 來自世界各地的薄餅餐廳，會在博覽會（expo）會場新鮮烤製薄餅。與會者可以免費任吃薄餅。博覽設有薄餅大賽，以及如何做薄餅的現場示範。香港的許多博覽會（expos）都變得 blasé，即不再新穎有趣、司空見慣了的。它好應開一個茶餐廳博覽（expo），餐廳老闆可以比賽，以為為與會者煮茶餐廳食物。

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Michael Chugani褚簡寧
中譯：七刻