Day 4 ( And last date that i am watching) 斬龍孫 - 18/7/09

Jennifer say:

When mum first watched the beginning of this show, she told me that we had already watched this show before. After some thinking, i realised that i had watched the same storyline but by another taiwan opera troupe in Feb this year before. But nevertheless, i still love watching the performance by a different troupe again.

During the performance, the xiao sheng, Chen shao xiang went down the stage selling pear at 1 for $5 for charity.I managed to take some photos for the xiao sheng

Mum and I were sitting at Row T so the front rows got the attention first.

At last, had come to our row - did a close up

斬 龍 孫
大清三刺，『刺熊、刺馬、刺龍』「刺龍」即為斬龍孫，大清朝十五阿哥愛新覺羅－永成，乃乾隆皇帝之子，奉乾隆皇帝之命，到交趾國催收貢品，竟遇交趾國內亂，女皇兵敗如山倒，同為邦交之國，永成王爺出手援助，幫忙交趾國平定內亂，女皇感念恩情，將獨生女－范阿春，下嫁永成王爺為妾，一回到中原，范阿春竟爭風吃醋，亦殺元配－劉靜如，因而鬧上慈甯宮，在太后做主，平息家變，並由乾隆皇帝為首，上三寶佛寺上香，就在太后為永成王爺之子，愛新覺羅－龍孫，身上刺金龍時，乾隆與范阿春竟犯下違逆五倫之事，為止眾人指責乾隆逼殺親兒、追殺媳婦，在老和尚－圓真幫忙下，愛新覺羅－龍孫倖免于難，圓真和尚帶著龍孫，逃到鎮江金山寺，一躲七年，但紙包不住火，龍孫得知自己身份，亦認祖歸宗，而此時傳來，乾隆皇帝最後一次下江南…

The storyline:

During the Qing dynasty, 乾隆 - 爱新觉罗·弘历 Qian Long sent his second son, Yong Cheng to go to visit the border nation.

Yong Cheng, the second son of Qian Long was asked to visit the border nation - the first sight of trouble for Yong Cheng - Yong Cheng casted by Chen Shao Xiang - dressed in red clothing

Han soldier informed their king that Yong Cheng had arrived. The lady in white is Han only daughter, Ah Chun. Ah Chun is casted by Sun Si Wen.

The emperor of the border nation was a guy surname, Han. Han emperor had a daughter named Han Ah-Chun. In order to save Han nation, Han emperor asked his daughter to marry Yong Cheng as his concubine (妃嬪). Ah Chun agreed reluctantly as she being the only daughter of Han emperor was spolit from tender age.

Han emperor (The one is green) Begged his own daughter to marry Yong Cheng to save his nation

Ah Chun performing a dance to entertain Yong Cheng.

There is a Powerpoint slide showing the word of the songs that the cast were singing. Here the words are showing Ah Chun feeling toward the dance

Yong Cheng had a wife named Liu JinRu (刘静如) whom had born the Qing family a son. When Yong Cheng went home with Ah Chun, Jingru was furious initally. But Kind by heart, jingru forgave yongcheng.

Yong Cheng explaining to Jingru his difficulties as he had to take Ah Chun as his wife

The words that Yong Cheng singing to JingRu. It said that he is explaining to his wife how he had to accept the Han daugher with little choice.

However Ah Chun had no respect for jingru and even tried to murder jingru. Fortunatly, Yong Cheng came back and stopped Ah Chun.

Yong Cheng took Ah chun to see his father, QianLong. When Qianlong learnt that Ah Chun tried to kill her older sister(jingru), he was angry and asked Ah Chun to lift her head to look at him. Qing Long loved Ah Chun at first sight and that was the beginning of trouble for Yong Cheng and his wife.

Yong Cheng took Ah Chun to see his father, Qianlong

Qian long then asked Yong Cheng to bring Ah Chun to Empress Dowager for decision of how to deal with Ah Chun. Empress Dowager upon seeing Ah Chun beauty requested her to live in harmony with JingRu. Empress Dowager then asked YongCheng to bring his newborn son to 三寶佛寺 to tattoo the dragon on the chest of the baby boy. This is a indication that the child was a son of the imperial family. At the temple, the whole imperial family were there - Empress Dowager , Qianlong, his first son, cheng, yong cheng, jingru and Ah Chun. While Empress Dowager was taboo the baby boy whom now had a offical name known as 爱新觉罗龍孫, Ah Chun and Qianlong left the room quietly. Cheng and YongCheng upon seeing this found it strange and follow them into the temple's garden. Ah Chun declared her love for Qian long. The wrong was done - grandfather taking over his own son's wife. They declared their love for each other in the garden. Yong cheng found them in the garden and cannot take the blow, vommitting blood on the spot. Yongcheng left in disgrace. Cheng found out his father wrong deed but when qianlong appeared with Ah Chun, Cheng was warned not to mention anything.

Back in the palace with Ah Chun, Qianlong declared Ah Chun as his new concubine. Ah Chun asked Qianlong to kill YongCheng whole family as she said that if yongcheng saw her as the new concubine, what must he call her - mum or wife? Qianlong initally have hestiated as he told Ah Chun that Yongcheng was his own son. However Ah Chun informed that she can only gave Qianlong sons. Qianlong agreed and sent his officer, He Kun to surround YongCheng whole family. Qianlong and Ah Chun then visit YongCheng whom was very ill due to the heavy blow he received when he found about the incest of his own father and his wife.

Ah Chun encourage Qianlong to kill Yong Cheng whole family

Qianlong gave Yongcheng a sword, hinting yongcheng to end his own life. Qianlong then hugged Ah Chun saying that he will not waste time talking to dead people. When Qianlong left, yongcheng told jingru to leave the house with longsun. Jingru and Longsun left the house in tears. Yongcheng then killed with the sword. When HeKun arrived, he found Yongcheng had died but jingru and longsun were both missing. Hekun informed Qianlong but Ah Chun demanded that all people whom knew about their relationship must be killed as they may revealed this incest deed to the qing citizens. So Hekun gave chase. When the first son of qianlong, Cheng knew about this, he left the palace to try to save jingru and her son.

Jingru ran to the temple and informed the head monk of her own misfortunate. The monk asked jingru to stay at his temple. Hekun arrived and knocked open the temple door. Hekun stabbed jingru. Cheng arrived and managed to stop hekun from killing longsun. Cheng slapped Hekun and chased him away. Dying, jingru asked cheng to take care of her son before she died. The monk promised cheng to take care of longsun and asked cheng to return to the palace. The monk decided to bring longsun to jingshan temple.

7 years later, Longsun and a group of children played but the children laughed at longshun for having a monk as his father. Upset, longsun fought and his monk father managed to stop the fight. The monk informed longsun of his true identifty. Just then, there was public announcement that the emperor, qianlong was in street. The monk took longsun wishing for his grandfather to acknowledge his own grandson. Hekun stopped them and qianlong ordered both to be taken away.

In the street, Qianlong met His grandson, Longsun and the old monk

In the court, Longsun announced to Hekun that his real name was 爱新觉罗龍孫. 爱新觉罗 was a imperial name that only the loyal family had so hekun ordered his guy to slap longsun for telling lies. Cheng arrived at the court and stopped Hekun to investiage this case. Cheng ordered Hekun to step down and he himself will investigate if longsun was the grandson of qianlong. Cheng asked longsun to strip as the child should have a dragon tattoo on his chest. Longsun did have the tattoo of a dragon but hekun declared that anyone could have tatto on his own chest.

Just then, qianlong and ah chun arrived.

Qian long and Ah Chun arrived at the court hearing

Under ah chun influence, qianlong wanted to silence longsun and the monk. Qianlong qustioned the monk whom insisted that longsun was his grandson. Hekun tortured the monk by using a item to clip on his fingers. The monk fainted and longsun decided that he would not want to have anything to do with qianlong. The monk woke up and scolded qianlong and announced that he will told the world of the emperor deed. The angry qianlong ordered his guards to beat the old monk to death. Longsun upon seeing his monk father dead, told qianlong that he will also informed the world that his grandfather had sleep with his aunt(Ah Chun).

Qianlong took a sword and tried to stab longsun. Just then, the spirt of Yongcheng and Jingru appeared. They reminded qianlong not to do a wrong deed again. Qianlong asked Ah Chun if she had seen the spirit of cheng and jingru. Ah Chun kept inisted qianlong to kill longsu and in the end, she herself was killed by Qianlong. Qianlong then realised his own wrong and woke up.

He acknowleged longsun as his grandson and announced cheng to be the new emperor.

Qianlong let his first son become the new emperor

Goodbye time

Day 3 - Ming hua yuan - 17/7/09呂洞賓(二鬥-斜頭風)

Jennifer say:

Today performance was very good. I loved the story plot very much.

The storyline was as follow:

Lu Dongbin, the head of 8 immoral received instuction from Jade Eemperor to go to moral world to do good deed.

Meanwhile in the moral world, wu was a rascal whom do nothing all days but create trouble. He loved a lady from the chow family, named chow yuxian.

The chow family, head, chow wenhao was a very nice person whom often do good deeds. However, Wenhao had a son, chow xiaolui( whom was very ill at a young age with illness commonly known as 斜頭風. The chow tried all means but cannot cure their son.

Chow Wenhao and his wife are both kind hearted by nature and had done many good deeds for their town poor

In the street, Chow Yuxian was out to buy herb for xiaolui when she meet wu. Wu tried to force yuxian to become his wife. Yuxian ran and met their local servant, shuangyi. Shuangyi saved Yuxian. Yuxian then expresed her love for yi

Wu(The guy in centre position) tried to force Yuxian to become his wife


Yi, the Chow servant was also in the street and managed to save Yuxian. Yi is casted by MingHuaYuan Xiao Sheng, Chen Shao Xiang.

Meanwhile, Lu dongbin heard about wenhao good deed. Dongbin decided to test Wenhao by disguisting as a begger. Wenhao and Yi was out in street issuing free food for the poor.

At the street, Chow instructed Yi to issue free rice for the poor

When the begger whom was dongbin arrived, yi informed the begger that food were all issued out. Wenhao on hearing that the begger had not eaten for 3 days invited the begger to his house for free food. In his house, the begger tested Wenhao patience by commeting that the food was not good enough. Wenhao gave the begger money and asked the begger to buy himself food that he liked.

The begger whom was Dongbin in disguise tested Wenhao

The begger then revealed that actually he was a immoral in disguise, he asked the chow family to guess his real identity. Yuxian guessed that the begger was "Zhu ba jie - piggy", Wenhao wife guessed he was "Da Mo". The begger then gave a hint by using his necklace to create a '8', saying that this was his surname. Clever yi guess the word to be lu as there was two 'mouth'. and yi guess the begger was Lu DongBin.

Lu DongBin(The one wearing orange clothing) revealed his true look and Wenhao and his family were very happy to see an immoral

Wenhao then requested Dongbin to cure his son, xiaolui. Dongbin upon seeing xiaolui relised that he was processed by a spirit. Dongbin requested the spirit to show the real identity. The female ghost appeared and revealed that she was in chow's son for revenge because of three generation's bad deed. The female ghost then revealed how the past 3 generation had murdered her. The first generation chow was a pirate whom murdered her husband and her. The second generation was a cruel magistrate whom take upon seeing the woman's beauty wanted to have her as his wife. The woman rejected him whom later murdered her. The third generation, chow was a loanshark. The woman known as Lin Yueqiu was a poor farmer. Her dad borrowed money from chow whom demanded a higher rate of money in return. When the dad cannot paid, chow asked the dad to give him his daughter. Chow's guy forced yueqiu to come with him. When the dad tried to save her daughter, chow stabbed him and killed him. Yueqiu upon seeing this scene, knocked her head on the wall and died.

Dongbin then informed yueqiu that she could come to claim xiaolui life on the seven day. Dongbin informd Wenhao that the ghost would come on the 7 day. Yi then scolded Dongbin that only jigong can save his master and dongbin was very heartless. Dongbing then left in fury. Yi informed Wenhao that only Jigong can save the young master. Yi left the house to look for Jigong.

Outside the street, a begger wanted Yi to give him more money. When yi pushed the begger, the begger knocked against a stone and fall and died. Evil Wu saw and informed the magistrate whom said that only if the begger had family to sue, he will arrested Yi. Wu informed the mastistare that the begger was his long lost uncle. Jigong appeared suddenly and returend teh begger to life. The magistrate then instructed the begger to return to Wu House as wu claimed he was his uncle. Jigong helped teh poor begger to look for a rich relative to live his after life.

Yi thanked jigong for help but did not known Jigong was the man he was looking for. Meanwhile Dongbin want to Jigong temple and asked the greedy monk to give jigong dog meat and wine for 3 days. Jigong arrived at his temple. When Yi arrived 3 days later, he realised the man he saw on the street was Jigong. Yi asked jigong to save his master. Jigong said that only Yi himself can saved his young master. Jigong gave Yi his own clothing and asked Yi to wear. Yi wore the clothing and left the temple.

Arriving at Chow house, Yueqiu had already wanted to claim xiaolui life when Yi arrived. Yueqiu thought that yi was jigong and left. Jigong arrived and went to find yueqiu. Jigong asked Yueqiu to go for her afterlife and promised to help Yueqiu be reborn. Yueqiu then agreed. Jigong then cured Xiaolui of his illness.

Dongbin upon hearing that xiaolui was cured was furious. He fought with Jigong. Both fought in heaven when the heavenly soldiers also hide from them. They fought in hell where the 10 lords were also beaten.

The chow family were in happy ending. Yi married Yuxian and Yi become a court officer. Chow family live in peace even after.

Yi and Yuxian marriage

Yi become a court officer and married Yixian

Happy Ending

The Whole cast giving audience a final bow for attending this performance.

大道公法鬥媽祖婆 - second day 11.07.2009

Jennifer say:

Today performance was rather disappointing as i had expected a good storyline. Almost sleep esp toward the ending where the two characters were busily fighting. I had expected a more happlier ending instead of pure fighting with no ending.

大道公法鬥媽祖婆

混沌生陰陽，陰陽化乾坤，乾坤成男女，話說三十三天之外，至尊－玉皇大帝與西昆侖無極太上－王母乃為夫妻，一年一會在夫妻同游四大部洲之時，竟為男為尊、女為重之議題爭吵，一怒之下改成三千年一會，故稱－蟠桃會。
但為將男女區別，玉皇大帝將寶物－九龍玉佩，轉化成泉州百石村－吳本字華基(大道公)，王母娘娘將其－七彩寶珠，降凡成湄洲－林默娘(媽祖婆)，亦分高下，神農大帝為求和平，下凡當起月老牽線，應成兩人姻緣，但人算豈能勝天算，在玉皇和王母阻止之下，大道公三會媽祖婆…是否有緣無份？

Jade emperor and empress two jewels were given to two moral, 七彩寶珠 Jade Empress jewel were given to Lin family daugher and 九龍玉佩 with Jade Emperor jewel were given to Wu family. Wu’s son was born on 15 march while lin daughter was born 23 march. Jade emperor send his guy,Y down to earth to connect the two family together. The lin daughter, lin moniang did not cried at her birth. Y hinted to lin dad that if he can find his 5th daughter a husband, she will be able to cry and speak. Y told the lin to find someone in a certain town whom was born on 15 of march. Soon Wu dad came to Lin family. He wanted to find his son a bride. Lin dad sent all his 4 eldest daughter, the 4th daughter was only 2-3 years old but Wu rejected all the oldest daughters. Lin then show lin moniang to wu whom proclaimed the daughter to be a good candidate as his daughter-in-law.

Lim eldest daughter

The Lims daughters, the 4th daughter is the child in the photo whom is only like 2-3 years old.

Moniang and Wu grow up soon. Moniang had a teacher that daughter her magical power. Wu was grown to have good medical skills. In order to see her future husband, moniang sent to a letter to Wu. Wu went to moniang house. Wu asked lin dad to give a red thread to moniang. In order to test Wu, moniang tied the thread to first her eldest sister, her hair pin and her own dad, wu are able to predict correctly all three. when moniang tie to her own finger, wu informed moniang that she was not ill. wu and moniang agreed to marry at a date.

Later Moniang saved a peocock spirit from a tiger spirit. The peacock and Moniang become sister. Wu also save the tiger spirit toothache problem whom the tiger spirit was very grateful to Wu.

The grown up 5 daughter,Moniang the one wearing yellow clothing. The peacock spirt was also staying with the Liim family. The woman is also the lead actress, sun si wen.

Meanwhile, jade emperor and empress fighted because both were debating whether man or woman are more capable. As a result, both agreed to give two magical item to two moral, a male and a female. Male was born on 15 of march while female was born on 23 march. Jade emperor and empress will allow the two moral to fight to determine the winner. The angry emperor then announced that their annual peach eating session would be eaten only 3000 years a time.

Jade Emperor and Empress debating whether woman or man are more capable

Because of their dispute, the Peace Eating was delayed to be hosted only once every 3000 years

When jade empress knew that lin and wu were about to marry, she decided to stop the marriage. The empress dressed as a moral and find lin, hinting about how marriage was not good. lin belived her word and decided to run away.

Wu went to find lin and a fight occured with the tiger and peacock sprits helping their own master. In the end, wu wins.

明华园天字歌仔戏

Jennifer say:




Tonight was my first night watching minghuayuan. I quite enjoyed the performance. quite surprised that there do not have any clown role today but nevertheless, it was a excellent performance. 陳昭香 as zhou is very good as xiaosheng, she had quite a powerful voice. 孙诗雯 as princess wenling is also very good but somehow, does not leave any deep impression on me, her voice is equally good.

The below poster is from this website- http://blog.xuite.net/hsianghsiang/mhytian?st=c&p=1&w=1488461

The first performance fenghuangtaizhu 鳳凰珠胎 is on tuesday, 7/7/09 but i did not get to watch. in fact, i only watched on fri and sats only.


万古流芳 - 10/7/09

Today performance is quite interesting. storyline happen in a palace.

Zhou married emperor sister, wenling. wenling was pregant with zhou kid. meanwhile zhou servant, bao ahd wenling maid whom had married each other also had a child due to be born. zhou and his family are all loyal subject of the tang emperor. on zhou's dad birthday, evil minister, jia send the dad incense papar and 2 candles at zhou doorstep. jia refused to enter the house and asked the servant to inform zhou. When zhou servants informed zhou, zhou was furious and asked his servant to hit jia away. Zhou servant hit jia away.

Tang emperor had a strange dream about a stone saying 万古流芳. The emperor asked jia to help him to solve the mystery of his dream. jia ask the emperor to give a 圣旨 to ask zhou to help to solve the mystery of his dream. evil jia went to find zhou. at the doorstep, zhou servant recognized jia as the previous guest whom tried to create trouble and was beat away. the servant informed zhou and under zhou instruction, jia was beat again. before jia left, jia laughted aloud and warned the zhou they had fallen into a trick.

When jia left, the servant immediately informed zhou. zhou and his family knew that they had fallen into a evil plot that would killed the whole family. Princess wenling upon hearing this, said that she will entered the palace to inform her brother emperor about the plot. wenling left with zhou two servant, bao and old su.

True to zhou word, evil jia informed emperor that zhou and family refused to recive the sengzhi and chased him out. emperor was very angry and ordered jia to take a army to capture the zhou family. shortly after wenling left, jia arrived with the army. zhou tried to fight back but was hold back by his dad. evil jia captured the zhou family and killed the whole family on the spot.

meanwhile, bao informed wenling that the zhou family had been wiped out. jia was looking for the princess and her unborn child. wenling shortly gave birth to a son in su house.old su though of a plot that required a newborn baby.bao asked his wife that was formly wenling maid to bring their son to su. su told bao that in order to save the princess and zhou only offspring, boa had to let his son died in replace of wenling son. the plot was su wife would need to die and bao will bring his own son to jia claiming that the son was that of princess wenling. wenling refused the plot but bao and su insisted princess that she must live.su begged wenling to take care of his own son, chengzai. so su set fire on his own house killing his wife. this is to make jia believe that wenling had died in the fire. bao carried his son to jia whom murdered the newborn by throwing the child on the ground. jia also killed su when su cried that his son master had died.

12 years later, 武子 son of wenling was in the jungle looking for tiger. a young guy was about to be killed by the tiger when wuzhi saved him. the young guy was in fact the son of emperor. to thank wuzhi, the young prince agreed to be with blood brother with wuzhi. the young prince also informed wuzhi his true identify and informed wuzhi that when the old emperor died, the prince will take over the throne.the young prince gave wuzhi his own fan. soon, wuzhi recieved news that the old emperor had died and the new emperor was in the street to introduce his own subjects that he was now the new dragon. wuzhi stopped the new emperor. jia tried to stop wuzhi. after some agruement, the angry new emperor gave wuzhi a sword and gave wuzhi a offical role. when wuzhi returned home, wenling was stocked. bao then told wuzhi his true background. a anger wuzhi went to find jia. now jia was actually plotting with the enemy before wuzhi came. jia guy was supposed to come out when jia shouted'大胆'. Whose know when wuzhi came, jia acidentally shouted the word and the guy came out. wuzhi and chengzai killed the guy and grabbed the revolt letter. wuzhi then killed jia. Wuzhi went to find the emperor and told him everything. upon knowing that his aunt was still alive, the emperor went to find his aunt and gave his aunt new clothes. bao wife upon seeing that the wuzhi had seek revenge, she killed herself as she was still unable to accept that her son had died 12 years ago. her husband also killed himself. When wenling whom had changed into new clothes and the emperor came out of the house, they found the couple bodies. the emperor build a stone tablet to let his subjects know about what the two couple done to save the lives of wenling and wuzhi.

details from this website in chinese;;

萬 古 流 芳（原趙氏孤兒）

相爺杜欒賈與趙頓父子，忠奸不合，適逢趙頓王爺壽長，皇上命百官前去賀壽，杜欒賈相爺百般不願，但聖命難違，故在壽宴上百般刁難而遭郡馬－趙束命人毆打，杜欒賈懷恨在心。

皇上夜夢，魁星下凡，命百官解夢，杜欒賈解釋，需建魁星廟，極力推薦趙家父子，擔任重職，並請命宣讀聖旨，但卻封鎖消息，致使再與趙束郡馬起衝突。回宮奏明趙氏父子欺君罔上，皇上命杜欒賈為欽差抓拿詢問。杜欒賈改稱趙氏抗旨，將其滅九族。忠僕－程嬰以其子代死，換趙氏遺孤，含辛茹苦養育十六年。

十六年後，太子遊山玩水，遇猛虎命危，趙武子救駕，並與太子結義。在趙武子得知結義兄弟已榮登皇帝，即進宮面聖，受封親王，而此時趙武子亦得知其家仇血恨，怒而持劍斬殺杜欒賈……

Ge Zai Xi at 韭菜芭城隍庙

Jennifer say:





I had not updated what i had watched at 韭菜芭城隍庙 this year.

At new year, Taiwan 台北飛鳳儀歌劇團 came to 韭菜芭城隍庙 for performance. We had watched 6 days of performance mainly on the first day of cny and friday and sats performance.


In march, 韭菜芭城隍庙 had 131 days of chinese opera - noted that this is the longest opera performance in aisa and the temple is set to have this record on world record. performance will invite singapore, taiwan and china operas troupes- overseas opera troups include the following -

1. 中國福建漳州薌劇團

2. 台灣小飛霞(聯合新加坡福建筱麒麟劇團)

3. 台灣台北宏聲歌劇團

4. 台灣明華園天字團

Details from the chinese newspaper - source

宋佳佳


　　韭菜芭城隍庙今年庆祝城隍诞，一连上演131天酬神大戏，创下新加坡纪录大全连演酬神戏最多天数纪录。


16个国内外剧团参与
　　在这次于昨晚开锣演出的131天酬神大戏中，除了6月20日（农历五月廿八日）城隍爷圣诞那场戏是由城隍庙自行出资上演之外，其余130天都是由信众赞助，总共筹集约50万元，聘请16个国内外剧团演出。


　　对于今年的酬神戏，非但不受经济低迷影响，反而一举打破了多年来演酬神戏天数纪录，城隍庙的总务陈添来受访时说：“这一方面是因为今年农历闰五月，能有多一个月的时间演出，另一方面也是答谢神恩信众热烈支持所致。”


　　韭菜芭城隍庙每年都从农历三月十五日开始，根据信众的赞助多寡，一连多日聘请戏班上演酬神戏。不过，酬神戏最迟必需在进入农历七月前一天，停止演出。


　　今年农历闰五月，城隍爷“清溪显佑伯主”，今年有两天可庆祝寿辰。陈添来说：“闰五月要隔12年才会有一次，非常难得，而为了表示虔诚，酬神戏的天数一定要比往年多。演出天数‘131’也谐音‘一生一’，是一个好兆头。”



　　他也透露，韭菜芭城隍庙已经向新加坡纪录大全申请演酬神戏最多天数纪录，纪录大全负责人会在酬神戏演出的最后一天，也即8月18日（农历六月廿八日）晚上，在台上将纪录证书发给城隍庙。



　　韭菜芭城隍庙从1992年开始，每年举办连续多日的酬神戏，而在过去17年中，有6年演出的酬神戏在100天以上，其中以1998年演出的天数最多，总共109天。当年，恰巧也是闰五月。



　　从事物流业商人林水金（52岁），今年独自出资10万元赞助15场由台湾明华园戏剧团演出的歌仔戏。




　林水金也是韭菜芭城隍庙的信托人兼名誉主席。他说：“我在1992年开创物流公司前，曾来城隍庙求签，结果求到好签，办了公司，一切果然很顺利，今年的酬神戏又刚好做得很大，所以就捐得比往年来得多，算是还愿。”




　　社会发展、青年及体育部政务部长符喜泉，昨晚应邀主持敲锣开演仪式。首晚由中国福建漳州芗剧团呈献《梁山伯与祝英台》，全场600多个座位，座无虚席，部分戏迷甚至站在过道旁看戏。

The first performance troup is from 中國福建漳州薌劇團.



I had watched 'liang sanbo and zhu yingtai', 'bao ying ji', 'lu meng zhen', 'guo wenying', 'yuan yang xiang bao' and ' lee san siang'. I had actually watched lee san siang on year 2006 but mum said that lee san siang was a rather sad show and suggested us to watch. upon watching, i realised that i had watched the same performance before but cannot remember when i watched the performance.

That is also the same reason i decided to blog about my opera watching on my blog again so that i get to know what troupe i had get to know from watching opera here.

My favourite performance by this china is the one on bao ying ji - story of protecting a baby --

The story was about a woman whose son was dying. Before dying, he informed his mum to get care of his future wife whom was pregnant. The mum went to find the woman. after giving birth, the woman realised that the mum son was not her own husband. Her husband was supposed to be killed and the mum's son was a good friend of her husband. The woman tried to hide the truth as she was very thankful of the mum whom saved her. In the past, woman cannot be pregant without a husband or the woman will need to be drowned. The woman real husband managed to find his wife.The story ended happily with the woman and her husband acknowleding the mum as their foster mother.


Second performance troup was from 台灣小飛霞(聯合新加坡福建筱麒麟劇團).
I heard from mum that 小飛霞 and 小龍女 are both godchildren of the singapore troup 筱麒麟劇團. that is the reason why both taiwanese returned to singapore yearly for performance too. i am amazed that the 筱麒麟劇團 boss -- a pair of elderly couple - husband already in his 80s and wife in her 60s are still performing. In fact, the wife whom is most commonly known as 'xiao jing kee' still have a powerful singing voice despite her old age. this is admirable in the opera industry. The husband Lau Hor Xin only perfomed a small role due to his age but he had a major role in holding the whole troupe to survive in singapore.

'xiao jing kee already in her 60s

Lau Hor Xin already in his early 80s

Combined performance with their godchildren had such a great effect that the troupe received many generous donation for their wonderful performance. Mum counted at least $500 plus for one night performance. A blogger had set a website for this troupe - http://tw.myblog.yahoo.com/w3688sg-opera/article?mid=7&sc=1#61.

I am not too sure what performance i had watched already as i cannot find the performance schedule online. I realised one thing about the net - there are many ppl whom know about this performance at our local temple but almost all sites i managed to find are from our fellow singaporeans or taiwanese.


小飛霞


小瓏女


Third performance troup is from 台灣台北宏聲歌劇團 .

Dad boss had 赞助 the day performance on the first day on performanc - du wen long. My parents and i get to sit right at the first row for the performance. There was quite a small drama over sitting issue before we got to sit in the front rows.

I really love the troupe xiao sheng - lan yajun. She is very good as xiao sheng. At crying show, i can see her tears really dropping. You can never see this from the behind rows and so that is why i thought yajun was real good. She is quite beautiful despite her thick makeup with deep dimples on both side of her face.

xiao sheng - lan yajun 藍雅君

Actually i love all the xiao sheng role in most opera troupes. it is not easy to be cast as xiao sheng where u need to have deep voice, wear thick shoes and behave like a real man. the last time i had any real 'feel' for xiao sheng is the troup from the china troupe. Btw, the xiao sheng 'lan yalan' in yang li hua troupe is also very handsome as her role as a guy.

I only watched the first day of their performance on 21 june, 4 and 5 of july. i liked yesterday performance, 错爱。The story involved love between human and foxes. The story of coures ended as expected as moral and demons can never be together. What i loved abt this performance is the 'clown' roles are real funny, it lighthen the whole atmosphere and made the whole story seem more interesting. Yesterday, the actors came down the stage selling buns for chartiy. It was a pity that my SE phone is unable to take good photos at night or i would had take some photos of yajun. Yajun had went right to the end of the audience row to ask them to donate by selling them buns. But one thing abt taiwanese performance is the words they used in hokkein can be quite vulgar. anyway hokkein words can be quite vulgar at times.yesterday donation by selling buns got the temple $1726 for charity.

the last performance troupe is from 台灣明華園天字團. Mum and i had already plan to watch on fridays and sats where at most we will only get to watch for two more weeks.

Lohang Cat Tong Tong

Jennifer say:




Can anyone spotted the lucky number on Tong Tong tiny body?

Xmas party at campany function

The log cake look nice right?

Lazy me using Mobile blogging

Jennifer say:




Hi Realised that the last few pictures i took only got a sentence. I had used my SE phone to take picture and blog after photo taking.

There are quite a few happenenings anyway since my last long post. Mum had helped to sterilize the cats(with sister's help) near her workplace. There are the ShaSha family. Daughters and Mum are being taken care of, now is only left with ShaSha blood, the white ginger male cat.

Heard from my mum that Shasha mum had given birth 2 times or more. ShaSha is the first batch, shasha. of all 3 siblings, only Shasha remained in the street but now ShaSha is hee...... somewhere safe in princess bed. Then Shasha mum given birth to ShaSha mei and her brother. Used to have 2 more siblings that had since i assumed died.

Mum will try to trap shasha blood next week. Hopefully we will have shasha blood next week.

Toa payoh temple cat

Taken at tp central at the temple under the tree

Tong tong and his mummy pig

Welcome to the house of cats

dd

Cat in fruit basket

Cat

I had managed to blog using my mobile. This is taken this morning of sweetie on blood table. (I am typing this text via computer as i had just transfer the blog name given automatically by my handphone to this current blog, animal kingdom so from now onward, all my mobile photos can be uploaded directly to this blog)

Cats in the News Today

Jennifer say:

I got this article from wobao. A summary of this article is how this cat was saved by Vegan & Meowies by putting the cat for adoption after sterilizing the female cat. What i do not liked about this article is the reply made by AVA head: “It would be good if those who feed stray cats could find homes for them.”

This misconcept is the same made by both cat lovers and cat haters.

Cat Lover Misconcept:If you want to love the cats, do not feed them, take them home with you.

I had read one particular cat lover blogger whom i shall not named her, her thinking is that if you love the cat, take the cats home, do not feed it (There are a whole lot of her own explanation as to why we should not feed outside cat that i will not list down as it make my blood boil too to think of that). Anyway i had boycotted her blog after reading this distasteful topic. Given that her blog had quite a number of hits daily, i wonder how many of her readers would also have this misconcept. If given the choice, which animal want to be wandering in the street trying to survive, trying to find shelter or food? Those animals previously do have homes but were abandoned, i do not understand why would a cat lover said this in her blog. Cats increased bacause they were not sterilized so it just added on the the number of so called stray cats in the street. Without food, they will try to find means and way to survive. We can only do little as to help by sterilizing them and feeding them responsiblity as in to clear whatever paper after we feed them.

Cat Hater Misconcept: Take all the cats that you feed home

I think every cat feeders had this words being said to them but for me, i had not encountered anyone saying this hurtful words.

Hmm.. except for Two encounter - Once was when a young lady asked us to take the cats we feed to SPCA because someone will adopt all cats that is send there. I think this young lady is not familiar with the statistic as to how cats are put to sleep daily in both SPCA and AVA.

The second encounter happen only recently when a woman staying in the 2nd storey warned us not to leave the food in the drain and reminded us that there are security camera around us. Nothing much to say to this idiotic woman whom is staying at the area closer to the central rubbish area and where security camera only face the lift area, not on the rubbish area. I was telling sister that i will change a new carrier that i used to carry the cat food so that ppl will not remember us going around to feed the cats. I think i should not use a red carrier.

With limited space, it is impossible to take every cats you see on the street home. The reply in the above mentioned article by AVA head had mentioned we find home for the cats we feed. Of course, we wish we can do that but how? We are actually doing sh** job for those irresponsible ppl whom are abandoing their home cats in the street. How is it possible to find home for each cat that ppl throw in the street. It is like a never ending cycle - you try to find home for one cat, another cat is abandone in the street. And finding a home for cat is not a matter of days, it can delay into months. I find that most female cats are abandoned into the street - a act when the cat is on heat and the stupid owner refused to sterilize the cat.

Ok. I had made enough review on today news. Sister is feeding mimi and friends today so i am quite free to blog..Happy meows..

Notty Sweetie

Jennifer say:

Recently Sweetie had this notty habit of 'stealing' food from my community cats. Sister had bought a big pack of food for our outside friends and repacked them into smaller portion. Sweetie had claw her way into the plastic bag to create a tiny hole for free buffet.

As a result, mum had placed the food inside the cat trap. This did not stopped sweetie from trying to get some freebie. She actually put her fat paw into the tiny hole and managed to create yet another hole in the plastic bag. As a last resort, i had used cardboard and magazine to cover all the four sides of the cat trap. No more free food for this notty cat. The best part is when i scolded her for being greedy, she actually talk back to me.

Cat Tin Tin

Jennifer say:

Think people whom visited sister blog would have saw Ting Ting. I am still not sure whether to call him : Garlic, Ding Ding or Tin Tin or Xiao Tin Dang.

Mum had called this little fellow Xiao Tin Dang while blood call him Garlic after Blood childhood softtoy from Nestle.

We had found him sitting beside the road around 3 week ago. So we decided to 'kidnap' him home. He is quite smart despite his small size. He had now learnt how to use Xiami litterbox whenever we allow him to come out of his carrier to play. On his first day in our house, funny blood had taken dozens of this tiny fellow with his camera. It is a pity that blood did not get to see HeHe and XianXian when they were still kittens as blood was at Germany at that time.

Tin Tin favourite activity meanwhile is kneading. he loves to knead on everyone open hands and can do this for hours. This morning, blood allow Tin Tin to knead on his hand for one hour while blood was reading the newspapar.

I will soon be able to blog more as i now had bought a more decent camera phone. I will introduce the rest of the cat family once i get used to my new phone.

My Blog is still alive

Jennifer say:




Hi everyone, i am back. I had not post any new topic since May.

wow, i am damn lazy. But I am back with more meowing news.

News 1: Auntie Thiru is unwell!!!

Last Friday, dad and I sent Auntie Thiru (The little black cat u see on my sidebar). She had been passing droplet of blood on thursday night and passing little urine. I am worried that there may be a blockage that is said to be very toxic to a cat and can killed it within 24 hour. I also suspected Thiru had urinary tract infection.

Thiru cried all the way to the vet. Kind Uncle Vet touched Thiru and mentioned that she did not have any blockage, only bladder infection. Vet said that most males had blockage while the odds are against female cats. I am quite relieved after hearing that. Thiru got a jet of antibodies and a week supply of antibodies that i need to feed her.

But then, stupid me feed her 1 whole antibioties tablet when it is only meant for 1/2 tablet.i only realised my mistake on day 2 night but by then 2 days of supply were gone. Anyway, the antibioties did work, no more bleeding and normal urining. My only concern is that thiru seem not to be pooing for 3 days. Will monitor on her and see what to do with her. i heard from san that pumpkin work for constipation cats.

Update: -- 27 July (9.35pm) Auntie Thiru had normal poo poo on Friday and today. That is quite a relief.

I will update more on all my cats when i got hold of sister camera.

Japan Cat Cafe - Calico

Jennifer say:



Dad was watching Channel New Asia when he announced that he saw cats news in CNA. So We watched the news. it is interesting to find that japan have this kind of cat cafe. the concept is quite interesting in fact. For JP$5, japanese can enter the cafe and play with the cats. I love the L-size ginger cat sitting on the sofa with both legs wide open accompanying a lady.

Here is videos of this site: (I am not sure if the video is in Japanese or English as my computer is mute currently)





The cafe did have an website but unfortunately, i did not understand any japanese: http://cafecalico.com/

Website news:
From this link: http://archive.japantoday.com/jp/feature/1328

TOKYO — People cuddle and play with cats as if they were at home. But it's not home: Welcome to the cat cafe Calico where 17 cats are always waiting for customers. Since it opened in Kichijoji last March, Calico has attracted a lot of media attention.

Takafumi Fukui, the 35-year-old manager, has mixed feelings about all the hoopla over his business from both media and cat lovers. Fukui and a classmate at a vocational school opened the cafe after he quit his job at a video game company. At Calico, customers can freely cuddle and play with cats, paying 800 yen admission fee for the first hour and 120 yen for an additional 10 minutes.

“I love cats very much. But one of the reasons why I opened the cafe is actually that I wanted to work with my toy poodle. When I was working for a video company before, she got stressed out because I couldn't take care of her. So I decided to open a cafe where she can be with me all the time,” says Fukui.

Calico has never advertised with any media. After a local cable TV reported on it, major TV stations and entertainment magazines did stories on Calico. The unexpected media attention left Fukui feeling confused. “Last year, several similar types of cafe opened in Tokyo, so some media say there is a cat boom. But it's just a coincidence really. Ever since Reuters did a story on us, we sometimes have foreign customers. An American from Texas said he visited us just to see one of our cats he likes.”

It's not only mainstream media but word of mouth on the Internet has played a huge role in spreading publicity. Fukui explains: “Many customers come to Calico to take photos of our cats and post them on their blogs and online social network communities. More people are finding out about Calico through the Internet.”

“I thought Calico would be something like just an ordinary cafe with cats. But it has a more comfortable and peaceful atmosphere like at home,” said Marie Fuchi, 19, who came to Calico for the first time.

A 39-year-old man, who has been to Calico three times in the past month, says: “I love cats but I can't have pets at my apartment. I wouldn't even be able to take care of them because I live alone. So I like to come here where I can touch and play with them.”

The demand for cat cafes like Calico partly stems from the fact that most of the apartments in Tokyo ban pets. Fukui says 70% of his customers cannot have cats at home even though they wish to. Calico answers their needs, he says.

While Calico is now well-known both nationwide and overseas, Fukui recalls it was hard launching his business. “Since nobody knew the concept of a cat cafe, many building owners were reluctant to rent space to me, so I had a hard time finding a location.”

Sanitation at the cafe is also a big issue because sanitation rules for restaurants vary according to individual local governments. “Some cat cafes separate the room for cats and eating space for customers. But at Calico, only the kitchen is completely separated from other rooms,” Fukui says.

After managing the cafe for almost a year, Fukui says: “I don't think I'm doing anything special. Rather, I'm just lucky because the media reported there is a cat boom. I still feel there are many things to improve at Calico. But I get a lot of help. Our official website, for example, was created by one of our regular customers.”

Fukui is already thinking of what to do next after the cat boom created by the media ends. But one thing he's certain of — he wants to provide even more places where people can interact with cats.

Calico's address: 7th Fl, Yuki Bldg, Minami-machi, Kichijoji, Musashino City, Tokyo 180-0001. Tel/Fax: 81-(0)422-29-8353

For further information, visit: http://homepage3.nifty.com/calico/


January 17, 2008