Chinese Clogs

These are chinese clogs. People used to wear these clogs, as they have thick wooden soles, so that their pants will not get dirtied on muddy water. These clogs are favourite in the bathroom too. My mom in law still has a pair in her bathroom.

Clog making is a dying trade. I used to wear them when I was young. You can view JC post, she has more colourful clogs in her photo.

The Majestic

Majestic Theatre was a Cantonese opera house built by philanthropist Eu Tong Sen for his wife who was a Cantonese opera fan. The theatre had been converted to a shopping mall and now being converted to a hotel called New Majestic Hotel but they would be keeping much of the exterior untouched to keep the heritage building image.

Each time I passed by the theatre (hotel now), I would looked at the beautiful craftsmanship of these opera figures. It has a long history, been built in 1928. During World War II, the Japanese took control of it (1942) and was used to screen Japanese propaganda films. The Japanese Occupation ended in 1945.

So the next time you passed by Majestic, please stop and admire the beautiful craftsmanship.

Lion Dance

I am back blogging after many days of merry making and celebrating Chinese New Year. I hope you all have a good time too.

These Lion Dance Mascots are part of Chinese New Year decorations of some shops.

Do you know that there are two types of Lion Dances? They are the Northern and Southern lion dance which differs in the appearance of the lion and the performance style.

Northern Lion Dance practised in Beijing, is more acrobatic with the lion balancing on balls and on see-saws whilst being enticed by a pugilist dressed as a 'warrior'. The pugilist teasing the lion uses a fan or a ball and the interplay between him and the lion is the focus of the dance. The Northern Lion evolved from a Mongolian animal puppet placed on a post and paraded during festivals. The Northern Lion is furry with an orange and yellow, woollen coat.

Southern Lion Dance is more popularly performed in Singapore, originated in Guangdong. It involves a less hairy Lion which is taunted by a big-headed clown. They traditionally perform outdoors, the cai qing or literally "plucking the green", referring to the acrobatic act of picking up a sprig of lettuce from as high as three storeys, achieved only by using a pole or forming a human pyramid. The Southern lion has a 'skin' of white/yellow and brown/ black patterns. Whilst the Northern Lion is reputedly fierce, with a serious temperament, the Southern Lion is tame and playful. (Source: http://infopedia.nlb.gov.sg/articles/SIP_57_2004-12-27.html)

GONG XI FA CAI

HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR TO ALL THOSE WHO CELEBRATE CHINESE NEW YEAR.
As the year of the rat begins, here wishing all Good Luck, Good Health and Good Fortune for the years to come.

I will be absent from blogging but will be back blogging after Chinese New Year.

I have been tagged

I have been tagged by Clarice, CC of lacenribbonroses ,JC of Subang Jaya and Lara of Romania and have to provide five or six facts about myself and then tag five others who will all link back to the person who tagged them.

Not an easy job but I think I do the easy way out and tag all those who are on my link on the right hand side of the blog and those who wish to be tag to write five facts about themselves in their blog. I think it will be interesting to reveal a little of yourself.

Five facts about me:

1. I love travelling and taking lots of photos.

2. Love collecting unique things like this cocktail stirrer from Jarkata. This is my favourite collection of cocktail stirrers (hmmm...maybe I can write a post on these stirrers)

3. I am slightly older than my country..hahaha....(Clue: My country is 43 this year.)

4. I loved durians .....the king of fruit.

5. A very curious, fun loving and friendly person.

Now , that is hard to write about myself and hard to decide who to tag...hehehe....now over to those who wish to be tag, please write 5 facts about yourself.

P.S. Here is my post on cocktail stirrers.