Public Lion Dance Performance

Hello readers,

Our lion dance troupe has managed to secure the permit for a public performance in Cambridge. I've seen the routine and it's going to be the most difficult one that we've attempted so far with two lions and several stunts. It should take about 15 minutes to run through.

The details are:
Date : 10 February 2008 (Sunday)
Time : 2.00pm
Venue : Right outside the Guild Hall (market square).

I'll be drumming for the performance. So, if you're around, please come watch it!

My Graduation Gift!

I think that this is a little premature, but I'm not complaining. The lion dance troupe has given the finishing students, a graduating gift. This year, they had a calendar made with pictures of the members in it.

This is so cool. The lion dance troupe are the best group of people that I've had the pleasure of working with. It's the best-est student society that I've ever been part of. The people are fun and friendly. I like the picture for March 2008. It is a picture of our AGM in March this year.

I look forward to doing a little bit more drumming next year. With Katie and XiYen gone, while Gordon is busy with his job, I'm the only person left with the knowledge and experience on all the instruments. So, I guess that I'll have to pass on the knowledge as soon as possible, next year.

I'm looking forward to Chinese New Year already. That's when we have the most number of bookings, from all over. We are really quite good. Although we don't do many stunts, we try to make the lions as interesting and cute as possible.

PS. I'm not graduating this year, I'm planning to finish in the coming Michaelmas or latest by Lent. So, the earliest that I could graduate would be in July next year. Keeping my fingers crossed!

Darwin Event Performance

Today, we had a performance at Darwin College, for their June Event. We hadn't had much practice for this performance. But we did quite okay anyway, as we have become quite good at improvising.

We had 3 performances for this event. We started off by entertaining the guests in the queue. The queue for people getting in, was on Silver Street. We walked down the queue and back again. We had to perform on the road and some cars had drive around to avoid us. At one point, a police car actually slowed down and looked at us. I thought that they would shoo us off. But, they were just curious and continued on their way. I doubt that they'd want to spoil the evening for the crowd by locking us up.

Then, we had a second act, which we screwed up a lot. However, I doubt that many people noticed. It was difficult to get the signals right as the drum was located on the first floor while the two lions performed on the ground. So, most of the time, both sides were waiting for each other. The male lion was unable to do stunts either as the grass was too slippery and wet. They managed to do some rolls to make up for it. I was involved in this act as we didn't have enough cymbalists. So, I didn't take any photos.

Finally, we had the third act, which turned out fine (most of it did anyway). The only problem was at the end, when the lion had problems while unfurling the scroll. So, the ending was lamer than it should have been. I managed to get a few good photos though! We had moved the drum down onto the ground for this act.

This is the only MayBall/Event performance that we have this year. We have another performance on Sunday, for a charity event. I will be doing the drumming for that performance. So, there will be no photos. We've not had much practice for that performance either. Hopefully, there won't be any major screw ups. Unlike this Darwin Event, we will not be paid for the charity event. So, I guess it's okay to screw up a bit.

More pics here:

Cambridge University Loony/Lovely Dudes/Dudettes Troupe

Hehe. We had our lion dance troupe AGM today. It was such an interesting and funny AGM. I don't think that I'd ever experienced a funnier AGM than this one. It was an extremely unique experience.

Someone ran for all the posts and lost every single one, but one! We even had a revote and postponed voting, when the votes were too close to call. There were even 'ties' for the positions. So much excitement and fun. I do believe that this is the nicest club/society that I had ever been in. Everyone is just so passionate, cool and fun without any serious politics creeping in.

Sam is a great cook. She whipped up a wonderful eight course meal for us. There was all kinds of wonderful food. Those of you who missed it, it's your loss. We were glutons as we consumed all the food without shame and ate up every last morsel. She even refused our offers of help. I do believe that we would have fouled up the meal if we had stuck our stupid thumbs into the pie. So, kudos to Sam! Anyone who disagrees, you suck!

They were also nice enough to have gotten me a cake. Yes, my dear readers, I'm now no longer a 'youth', following the UN definition. They got me a nice chocolate hedgehog cake. Katie said that it looked a lot like me. Bless her. This gave them the perfect excuse to stick so very many candles on it. Zen also gave me a pack of chocolate coffee beans, in lieu of a depressing Nazi book. It's the thought that counts!

I have a full markup session later this morning. This is then, followed by an appointment for a blood donor session. I finally got to make an appointment for it. The British blood donor system is so troublesome. It is totally donor unfriendly. However, I thought that my birthday would be a good day to do my annual blood donation. So, I made an appointment anyway.

I love the lion dance troupe. Anyone who isn't a member, should join. It's the most fun that you'll ever have here. Plus, you get a lot of good food too. Imagine dining in some of the finest Chinese restaurants in England, getting entry into MayBalls and meeting some of the nicest people around here. I can say that we are like one big (well fed) happy family. I'm happy!

*** image of some of the members and I ***

Sick again. Retarded.

Last night, I fell ill again. For some reason, my tonsils hurt like mad and I had a fever again. This is retarded. Seems like mother nature has a score to settle with me. I've cheated on her by not falling ill for several years and now she's just out to get me! Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned!

I woke up at 4.30am this morning due to my fever and I was unable to go back to sleep again. However, things are under control as I've been taking paracetamol every 6 hours again. The effects should wear off at around 11am later. My medic friend told me that it was my fault that I fell ill again as I went around with the lion dance before recovering completely.

Well, that was the only way I was getting any good food for Chinese New Year okay! And seeing that I had not been back home to taste good food for 1.5 years already, I was desperate for some! English food is tasteless, and most Chinese restaurants here are nothing but MSG. Most of my friends cannot cook and so, I'm left with little choice but to resort to lion dance for good food!

I've got teaching work to do later this morning. I hope that I'm up to it. If not, I should email Mick to tell him that I'm not coming in today and he should try to get Roland to replace me. But seeing that it's all under control at the moment, I don't see why I cannot go teach later. I'll just get more rest later this evening.

A nice friend was nice enough to offer to get me groceries, but I'm good for another couple of days or so [I'd have appreciated a massage though! haha!]. I hope to get well soon cause I've got a whole bunch of things scheduled for the weekend. I'd even paid for tickets to watch CUMTS sing this Sunday!

*** image of us having our CNY dinner. Allan pouring tea for everyone ***

Why is my mood bad today?

I don't know why but I'm not in a very good mood today. Chinese New Year is supposed to be a happy day. I thought that I had started out the day happy, but it hasn't turned out to be that way. I kept asking myself why, and I may have come up with a plausible reason why.

My regression into a younger person has done me in. I'm beginning to feel the stress of befriending undergraduates. In particular, they are accustomed to taking me for granted. A lot of things have happened for me to think this way. And it's not a nice feeling to be taken for granted. Well, I cannot blame them for behaving that way since they're just kids anyway.

Anyway, we had our performance in front of Charlie Chan's earlier this evening. It was a decent performance. Certainly not one of our best, but good enough I guess. It was rather impromptu, made up on the spot as we weren't quite sure what the owner wanted beforehand. However, we did manage to accomplish the act and that made veryone really happy. The mayor was there, along with other prominent members of the Chinese community in and around Cambridge.

I managed to get a few decent shots. Most of the shots were quite blur as the lions kept shaking all the time. After the show outside, we put on a small 'blessing' show inside as well. All chinese businessmen seem to be quite superstitious in a way. Well, these are all age old adages, and who's to say that none of it is correct. Then, we had a good 10 course dinner.

I hope that a good night's rest will put me in a better mood tomorrow. Else, I pity whoever has signed up for mark-ups with me tomorrow. I wish them all the best. Happy New Year everyone.....

*** image is our lion jumping off the table outside Charlie Chan's ***

How I got some free chocolates today.

Sam got me some nice chocolates today. What did I do to earn it?? Actually nothing much. She gave it to me to apologise for the practice blunder that we had yesterday. I went to the venue at 5pm, and waited till 6pm. When no one showed up, I decided to go home.

When I got home the phone was ringing and they told me that they were there. I told them that I wasn't going to return to Robinson for the practice. They must have assumed that the reason I wasn't returning is because I was angry. Little do the people here know that it's actually not that easy to make me angry. My anger graph looks like a unity step graph. It takes a lot to trigger it.

Normally, I would have gone back because I know that it was an important practice as we had a massive performance today. However, I was on drinks duty last nite. I was in charge of pre-dinner drinks for BA dinner. It's one of the things we do as members of the MCR committee. So, I had to get there at 6.45 to mix G&T and pour cherry, white wine and juice. So, there wasn't really a point for me to return at 6.15.

They didn't ask me for the reason why I wasn't returning and, I didn't bother to correct them or let them know the *real* reason why I didn't go back. Well, I didn't see the harm in letting them believe that I was a little angry. Maybe, some of the kids would learn to be on time in the future. Malaysian time is one thing, but yesterday was a little overboard.

So, I was fairly surprised when Sam gave me some chocolates today! But who am I to complain when a nice young lady gives me chocolates! Happy! Good way to start the New Year! Thank you!

*** image of us ***

How our first external lion dance engagement went.

Today, we had our first ever external lion dance engagement. We were hired by a hotel outside of Cambridge to perform for them. The hotel was about an hour's drive out. To put it simply, it started with dark grey storm clouds and icy snow, but ended with bright yellow, warm sunny blue skies.

Initially, there was some problems with the transportation arrangements. This caused us to wait from 1.30pm till 5.00pm for our transport. Needless to say, we were not very happy. When we got to the hotel, the hotel management did not seem very welcoming either. They didn't like the fact that we did not visit the site in advance and we had to make a bunch of last minute changes to our acts. This was even reflected in the type of food that they served us for dinner (some 'tauge', 'kiam chai' and pork). Well, we finished up the food anyway.

However, after our first act, they were suitably impressed. They kept saying that we were like professionals. All I could do was smile and say thank you. But hey, we *are* professionals! I guess that the guests liked us as well. After our main performance, they even got us to bless the rest of the hotel and their kitchens as well. I guess that the staff liked the idea. By the end of the evening, for supper, they were serving us with peking duck, king prawns, dumplings, and a whole bunch of other good food. Well, what could I say except thank you again. We were also each given an 'angpow', which we're all greatful for. It's the first one i've received in several years. I'm keeping it for now.

So, all in all, it was a good outing. We may not have started on the right foot but things all turned out well in the end. The management was happy with us and will probably hire us again in the future. We will probably accept it as well, seeing that we've been treated well at the end. I guess that the hotel is probably thinking of other traditional celebrations and possibly even for wedding receptions.

Happy Chinese New Year everyone!!!

PS. One funny thing that Chris Yijin asked me was: "Are we that good?" I told him that I've of course seen some better, but I've seen many that are a lot worse. We may not be super good, but we are certainly not amateurs either.

*** image is of us glutons with our post performance supper. ***

Happy Chinese New Year Everyone!

Seeing that I won't be in for most of the day tomorrow, I thought that I'd wish everyone a very Happy Chinese New Year. May everyone get stinking rich, fat with prosperity and live the good life this coming year! Okay, now that the formalities are out of the way, on with my blog.

Our lion dance troupe is going to have a busy day tomorrow. We're leaving cambridge at 1.30pm to perform in a hotel outside of Cambridge. The hotel has provided us with transportation to get there and back. However, we are unlikely to arrive back in Cambridge before midnight. I'll be bringing my camera with me tomorrow. Hopefully, the hotel has some nice scenery to shoot.

Although we'd usually have a CNY eve makan in college, we're not having one this year seeing that our little YiJin is playing the lion's ass tomorrow.

As for the actual CNY day, we're also performing at Charlie Chan's. I recently found out that CC had once been voted one of the Top 6 Chinese restaurants in the UK. We will be getting a free meal there as per usual. They are our main benefactors/sponsors. I have no idea if the food is any good, but I do know that they're expensive. So, we're hoping to give them a good show on Sunday!

So, for our makan, we'll be having our Magdalene CNY makan on Monday instead. It will be in my room. However, no one (other than YiJin, YianNee and I) seems to be bringing anything. I seriously wonder if the three of us are going to have to cook for everyone. I don't really mind cooking a big meal as I've not cooked anything for quite a few months already. Would be nice to do some real cooking for once.

*** image from the CNY performance last year at Grafton ***

How our 2nd major lion dance performance went.

Last sunday, our troupe had the second major lion dance performance. It was the opening performance to the Chinese New Year gala show. This show is held anually by the Chinese Students and Scholars Association in Cambridge, which happens to be the official Chinese student body here.

If you watch any Chinese television, you will notice that they have annual CNY galas as well. I guess it's just a very Chinese thing to do a variety show as part of CNY activities. Our own little CNY gala here has a similar objective. It's meant as a reminder of home to those who are away from home. It's open to the public at a very cheap ticket price of just a couple of quid.

Before the performance, we were all rather worried as we did not have enough on-site rehearsal time. We were making changes to our act right up to the start of the show to accommodate minor on-stage details. We didn't have a single run without errors. However, everything held together simply because of the amount of regular practice time that we've had all this while. We didn't make any noticeable screw-ups.

Immediately after the performance, the crowd was wowed. I got complimented on my drumming by various people. Both people I knew and people I didn't would walk up to me and tell me that my drumming was good. Well, this has certainly made me a little happier, considering that I was a little under the weather at the time.

Personally, I wanted to know what they meant by "my drumming was good". After analysing some short video clips of my drumming, I've come to realise that I drum quite fast. Sort of at a presto rather than an allegro. However, seeing that I lack practice, I would quite often miss out on hitting a few beats but these are all covered up by the cymbals and gong. In conclusion, I would say that my drumming can be better still, with a little more practice.

Since we didn't manage to get a video of our performance, I'll leave this blog with a video of another performance on the same night. My friend sent me the link She's the one dacing in the centre. Her mum was very complimentary of my drumming too. Bless her!

Lion Dance Update

This is a short clip of our first major performance.

First major lion dance performance!

Our lion dance troupe, made it's first major public performance of the year, last night. We performed at the CNY Ball organised annually by the CNY Trust, which is a charity. The money from the ball will go into education funds for school kids in China. However, for us, it only meant one thing. This is our first major performance of the year. Don't screw it up!

The performance went well. For most of us, it was our first time doing it. Although it was not my first time in a performance, it was certainly my first time drumming. It was our lion's first outing and for many of the cymbalists, it was also their first time performing in public. I hoped that I didn't drop my drum sticks.

The performance went quite well. We didn't make any major screw-ups. Heck, I even managed to catch the signal for the bit of the 'qi shi' that we were having trouble with earlier. So, it was all good. I made several drumming blunders. However, unless the audience knew what to listen for, or were looking at my hands drumming, they shouldn't have noticed it. And man was it all very tiring.

The coolest bit of the act was the 'dan jiao', where the lion stands on only it's hind legs. They had so much trouble with it during the practice that when they managed to accomplish it the first time, we were all quite happy. The audience was estatic as well. They kept cheering us on during the act. I was told that the lion was particularly cute. But seeing that I was busy watching out for signals, I didn't really catch much of the show myself! Boo. But I'm fairly certain that we were quite impressive if not excellent!

We had many friends among the audience as well. And they were all fairly supportive. I heard some people call my name but couldn't really see anyone seeing that the stage lights were on. Apologies to my friends who didn't get any response from me. Since I didn't even know who/where you were! And thanks for the grand applause anyway!

Okay, now I've got to look forward to the other half a dozen or so performances that we have left for this month. I hope that I won't screw-up so much in the future. As a former music teacher and piano performer, I know what needs to be done to work out the kinks. It just takes a little more practice and a little more getting used to.

** image from wikipedia **