緣起/ Preface

我們家喜歡吃牛肉麵，而且只愛桃源街牛肉麵，從小習慣了的口味成了我們的一部分，若幾個月沒嚐到，人生彷彿少了點什麼，離開台灣一陣子，鄉愁便以牛肉麵的味道日日夜夜地縈繞著，「牛肉麵的故事」寫於1999年，當時我生平第一次離開家，負笈美國唸書，因為知道爸爸媽媽會想念我，便寫了這個小小的故事，希望爸媽知道我會把回憶和滿滿的愛放在心裡。

Our family love to eat beef noodles, and we eat only beef noodles from the restaurant Tao-yuan Street near Taipei Train Station. I've eaten them all my life and the taste becomes part of me. Life without beef noodles seems sorta of empty. When I am away from home, nostalgia obsesses me in the form of beef noodles.

The Beef Noodle Story was written in 1999. I was about to leave home for the first time. I knew that my parents would miss me terribly, so I put all my memories and love in this little book. Hope you love the story too!