Apr 29, 2007

上表! 上表呀!

I finally found it, albeit it's only mp3 and not a movie file, the seventh act in the Chinese opera 帝女花 - 上表. I remembered seeing this act (probably on TV from one of its re-runs) when I was small. However, in recent years, the 帝女花 that I've seen didn't include this act (even in the DVD that I got from someone, this scene's been cut). I am suspecting maybe it doesn't fit the 2-hr slot if the full version is broadcast? Or all 8 acts won't fit on a single DVD? If something has to go, I have to agree that 上表 is the only act that can be cut without affecting the story line (In case you are curious, the acts are 樹盟, 香劫, 乞屍, 庵遇, 相認, 迎鳳, 上表 and 香夭). I mean, you really can't jump from getting married in 樹盟 to finding the princess's dead body in 乞屍. =P

Although it's not as well known as 香夭, in my opinion, it's still a very fun act to watch and contains a feisty act between 周世顯/長平 and 清帝.

上表

(周鍾,寶倫「著明裝」分邊上相對顧盼自豪介)

(周鍾台口詩白)彩鳳門前新面目。

(寶倫詩白)眾官齊集御酒房。

(周鍾寶倫白)有請皇上。

(御扇宮燈伴清帝上介中板下句)開基創業話興亡,北望煤山微有哭聲響。不悼崇禎悼海棠,安民未掛招賢榜,懷柔先借個一朵帝花香。(滾花)筵開百酌買人心,好待新官舊爵同觀看。(埋位介)

(眾白)萬歲萬萬歲。

(清帝白)平身。

(眾白)謝。

(清帝口古)周老卿家,何以不見宮主與駙馬還朝,有累百官在御階盼望。

(周鍾口古)皇上,駙馬持有宮主嘅親筆表章,候旨在午朝門外,至於長平宮主,而家仲住響紫玉山房。

(清帝不歡介口古)唏,我叫你去請鸞鳳還巢,並不是叫你去請宮主寫表,今日鸞鳳和鳴,重有什麼表章可上呢。

(寶倫口古)嘻嘻...皇上,我想宮主上表,無非係拜謝皇上再生之德,此乃先朝 嘅沿例,宮主對宮規儀範都未敢稍忘。

(清帝轉怒為善介白)內侍臣,傳前朝駙馬周世顯上殿。

(內侍臣白)皇上有旨,傳前朝駙馬周世顯上殿。

(世顯「駙馬身」捧表章上白)來呀。(滾花下句唱)藺相如能保連城璧,周駙馬能保帝花香。拼教頸血濺龍庭,衝冠壯志凌霄漢。(入並不跪半揖白)前朝駙馬周世顯向皇上請安。

(清帝見世顯不跪怒介望群臣轉回笑容介白)平身。

(世顯白)謝。

(清帝口古)周駙馬,試問歷代興亡有幾多個新君能夠體恤前朝帝女呢,我好想知道如果你地宮主見到香車迎接 嘅時候,相信佢一定喜從天降啦卦。

(世顯冷笑口古)皇上,歷史上雖無體恤前朝帝女之君,卻有假意賣弄慈悲之主,難怪宮主見香車驚喜交集。

(清帝起身問白)下,此話怎解。

(世顯續口古)無錯,宮主所喜者,乃是福從天降,所驚者,乃是驚皇上借帝女花沽名釣譽,騙取民安。

(周鍾寶倫大矛介)

(清帝冷笑口古)周駙馬,孤王有覆滅一朝之力,豈無安民之策,小小一個前朝帝女,重不過百,試問能有幾多力量。

(世顯口古)皇上,所謂取一杯之水,不能分潤天下萬民,借帝女之花,可以把全國遺民收服,宮主雖然弱質纖纖,年方十六,若果論佢權衡輕重,可以抵得十萬師干。

(清帝不能言介白)哎呀...

(周鍾插白)你說話要小心呀...

(清帝喝白)周駙馬。(開拉大滾花下句)你出言縱有千斤重,好在我有容人海量都未能量。你見否殿前百酌鳳凰筵,後有刀槍和斧杖。

(世顯大滾花下句)唏,你殺人不在金鸞殿,可以一張蘆蓆把屍藏。倘若殺身恰在鳳凰台,銀廓金棺難慰民怨暢。

(周鍾眾人白)皇上開恩...皇上仁慈...

(清帝不敢發作埋位口古)周駙馬,你既然持有長平宮主嘅表章,內侍臣,你快些要他速呈龍書案。

(太監上前跪向世顯欲接表章介)

(世顯捧住表章退後一步口古)且慢,皇上,我想宮主表章究竟都是女兒文墨,恐怕有污龍目,佢再三囑咐,要我遞表之時,為佢朗誦於朝房。

(清帝怒介口古)嘿,我雖身為清帝,未懂漢例,唯是翻開漢史,又幾曾聽聞過表章用口朗誦得咁怪狀。

(世顯口古)皇上,你睇你朝中嘅大臣,多半是宮主舊臣,皇上以仁慈取天下,佢所寫者,不過都係感恩之語唧,皇上既無虧德處,那怕遺臣誦表章。(內場起暗湧聲)

(清帝怒至手震震指住世顯白)周駙馬...你...你...你一字一字你要謹慎的念來。

(世顯白)好呀...

(周鍾一路震長滾花下句)一字繫安危,禍福憑汝降,勸君莫惹下泉台浪,莫向陰司叫無常,我一心欲把紅鸞傍,哎呀誰知傍錯你個少年亡。

(寶倫長滾花)一字重千斤,人命輕三兩,縱使你有心毀碎齊眉案,須防寶殿有刀藏,一命難銷故國讎,恐怕累到三百遺臣同落網。

(世顯冷笑詩白)六代繁華三日散,一杯心血字七行。(反線中板唸表章下句唱)臣不可佔君先,父不能居女後,此乃倫理綱常。既念帝女花,何不念先帝遺骸,尚寄在茶庵,未入皇陵葬。帝女縱堪憐,太子是前朝骨肉,問清帝何以重女薄兒郎。我欲受皇恩,哭君父流浪泉台,憎見舊宮廷,掛上鴛鴦榜。我欲謝隆情,痛骨肉仍歸臣虜,羞牽鸞鳳帶,怕對合歡床。(催快)新帝慈悲人間罕,劈開金鎖放弟郎。(滾花)佢話先安泉台父,後釋在囚人,然後百拜入朝共舉齊眉案。

(清帝震怒介)

(周鍾寶倫級低紗帽一味震介)

(清帝開位搶表章欲撕介「內場食住暗湧」連聲收埋表章滾花下句)孤都未作捕蛇人,點知雙蛇蟠棍上,休說女兒筆墨無斤兩,內有千軍萬馬藏,鳳未來儀先作浪,帝女機謀還比我強。強顏騙取鳳還巢,重新再露慈悲相,哈哈...

(周鍾白)皇上仁慈...

(清帝奸悲白)孤有主意。周駙馬,好啦,孤皇惟有准宮主所奏,佢縱使要取天邊月,為皇都替她摘下來,我從宮主所求就是。

(世顯口古)皇上,你何不速頒下詔書,先把先帝安葬皇陵,再把太子在宮主婚前釋放。

(清帝口古)唏,你請宮主先入朝,再行下詔,庶民都尚可以一言九鼎,何況我是一國 嘅君王呢。(白)駙馬,你代傳口諭,快傳宮主上殿。

(世顯白)領命。(台口傳旨)呔,皇上有旨,長平宮主衣冠朝見。

(長平「鳳冠霞珮」上介台口引白)珠冠猶似殮時妝,萬春亭畔病海棠,怕到乾清尋血跡,風雨經年尚帶黃。(拉腔入拜白)前朝帝女長平宮主向皇上請安。

(清帝重一才仄才關目白)平身。

(長平白)謝。(用目一掃前朝舊臣,舊臣俱俯首自愧介)(長平放寬面口突然露齒一笑介)

(清帝覺奇介口古)宮主,駙馬入朝之時,面帶愁容,眼中有淚,何以宮主入朝,反會一笑嫣然,未有些微 嘅悲創。

(長平口古)皇上,我在未入朝之前,曾與駙馬相約,我話若不能先安泉台父,釋放在囚人,帝女今生都永無還朝之日,適才聞駙馬代傳口諭,可見皇上你都有憐惜之心,帝女亦寧無感激之意呢,想今日在五百群臣之中,屬於哀家舊臣,都總在三百以上,如果佢地見到哀家笑,就會對皇上你心悅誠服,但如果見到哀家喊呢,就會對皇上心懷怨對,想長平一生善解人意,寧敢不以笑面報君王。(向群臣露齒而笑介)(舊臣俱強笑介)

(清帝暗驚長平之詞令奸笑介口古)宮主,你聰明即是聰明,你與呢個憨駙馬都大有天淵之別,難怪崇禎在生對你痛愛。好啦,孤王願替崇禎將你終身撫養。

(長平強笑白)謝皇上。(故意關目口古)噯,皇上,我都經已拜上金階,何以未見你頒下詔書,更未見你劈開金鎖呢,哎呀皇上,我而家不禁悲從中起,我的眼淚都忍唔住咯,我一喊親,怕只怕會震朝房。(欲哭介)

(清帝愕然略驚向長平搖手介)

(周鍾口古)皇上,係呀...係呀...我地宮主真係笑緊都可以喊架,你何不頒下詔書,以慰的遺臣所望呢。

(寶倫口古)係囉,皇上,想太子年方十二,縱使潛龍出海,亦未必會騰達飛翔。

(清帝快滾花下句)今朝莫說前朝事,只求撮合鳳諧凰。

(世顯大滾花下句)先皇未葬弟霸囚,宮主呀你何妨悲聲放。

(長平哭白)罷了先王,君父,母后呀。(快中板分邊向群臣哭著下句唱)哀聲放,帝女哭朝房,血淚如潮腮邊降,且向乾清再悼亡,憶舊讎翻血賬,遺臣三百聽端詳,當日賜紅羅擲在金階上,母后與袁妃痛懸樑,劍橫揮,血濺黃金帳,殺得個昭仁宮主怨父王。(滾花)你地莫戀新朝棄舊朝,我再哭鳳台聲響亮。(執世顯哭叫白)罷了先王,母后,駙馬。(當長平唱時,內場有沉痛反應暗湧介)

(世顯白)宮主...

(清帝向向周鍾寶茅介白)拉開佢地...(周鍾寶倫分邊拉開長平世顯介)

(清帝白)好啦。(滾花下句)我忙忙寫下安陵詔。(交太監,太監即下)我怕你哭聲向外揚,宮主一哭撼帝城,我忙把前朝世子放。

(太監帶上太子上介長平世顯分邊跪擁太子,太子亦居中跪下快哭相思)

(長平痛哭滾花下句)弟郎你投懷莫聚倫常愛,且去杭州會福王,自有香魂一縷暗追隨,你在離懷莫向宮庭望。

(清帝白)沈卿家,你帶前朝世子去上駟院吩咐兵部派人馬,護送此子杭州便了。

(昌齡攜太子什邊下,太子下時一路哭叫王姊) 

(清帝口古)嘻嘻...長平宮主,你所要求嘅事我都同你做完叻,你應該與駙馬立刻成婚,免負兩旁 嘅儀杖。

(長平口古)唉,長平仲焉敢再逆皇上諭旨呢,難得你答允我,將花燭筵設在月華宮外,個處雖是花無並蒂,但係樹有含樟。

(清帝點頭答應白)孤皇自當准奏,吩咐動樂。


P.S. I think Google just gave me the answer! The one I saw when I was young probably was the 76 version by 龍劍笙 and 梅雪詩. And the ones I saw in recent years were the 59 version by 任白.

Apr 16, 2007

The DS game you should get in May

Oops - totally forgot that I was talking about the BEST DS game in my last post. Its sequel is coming on May 17th. MUST...IMPORT...GAME...

Stick Stick Chicken

*I giggle every time I say this in my head*

In preparation of the TRUE sequel to one of the best DS games (if not THE best), I was surfing YouTube for various Japanese MTVs. One of the songs is Tentai Kansoku (天体観測) by the JRock band Bump of Chicken. It is a nice song and you can find its MTV here: Bump Of Chicken - Tentai Kansoku



I was looking for more info about the band and such. It was then when I came across the creative translation by our Taiwanese friends: 棒棒雞 (stick stick chicken)!? I got this when I follow up with a search:

棒棒雞

介紹
“棒棒雞”原為四川樂山地區的傳統風味小吃﹐二十年代傳入成都﹐已入名饌冷碟之列。因樂山古稱“嘉定” 故此菜多以“嘉定棒棒雞”聞名于世。

原料
1. 嫩雞一只﹐
2. 蔥白絲適量。
3. 芝麻醬﹑紅油辣椒﹑糖﹑麻醬油﹑花椒粉等各適量。

烹飪方法
1. 將淨雞以繩纏住腿翅﹐肉厚處以竹扦打眼﹐下湯鍋中煮熟﹐撈起晾涼。
2. 用特制的小木棒將雞脯肉﹑雞腿肉輕輕拍松﹐撕成絲入盤﹐外圍以蔥白絲。
3. 將調料和勻調成味汁﹐澆在雞絲上即成。

棒棒雞的烹制技巧
  棒棒雞美味的烹制確別有技巧。
1. 首先妙在煮雞。煮前要用麻繩纏上腿翅厚處用竹扦打眼﹐使湯水充分滲透﹐以文火徐徐煮沸﹔
2. 二是以特制的木棒將煮熟的雞肉拍松﹐撕成粗絲入盤﹐利于調料入味﹔
3. 三是以眾多調料調成的味 汁﹐澆于雞絲上﹐使雞絲分外鮮美香嫩﹐有濃郁的香甜﹑麻辣味。

Food & JRock? I didn't think combining those would be possible... =.=
Anyway, the song really is good and for those interested in knowing the lyrics, the following's from LyricsWiki.org. Chinese lyrics from a random blog I searched up:

淩晨兩點 平交道前 我扛著望遠鏡
緊在皮帶上的收音機 看來不會下雨
兩分鐘後你來了 背著誇張的一堆行李
開始吧 天體觀測 來尋找慧星

努力不讓自已被吞噬進 深深的黑暗

那一天 我想要握你 顫抖的手
為了看見看不到的東西 窺向望遠鏡裏
撕開寂靜 產生了好多聲音 縱使明日呼喚著我們
也不曾認真回應 我和你兩人在追逐著

那顆名叫”現在”的慧星 不知不覺裏

總是在一心尋覓著某些東西 它或許是幸福的定義
或許是存放傷心的地方 從誕生的一該到死亡
始終在尋覓 來 開始吧 天體觀測 來尋找慧星
至今曾經找到過的東西 我全都沒忘記
包括沒能握到 你那顫抖的手的痛心

為了看見看不到的東西 窺向望遠鏡裏

尋找著微弱的光芒 彷佛可以把黑暗照亮

當時因此認識的痛 至今我依舊記得
如今我依然在獨自追逐 那顆名叫”現在”的慧星

隨著個子長高 有更多事情想要傳達給你知道
沒有收信人的信 感覺也有如崩潰般的 沈重

我現在過得很好 需要擔心的事情也少 只是有件事
至今依然會想起 在天氣預報沒有預測到的雨中

你那泫然欲泣 一雙顫抖的手 那一天 我沒能握到
看漏了 看得見的事情 再次扛起了望遠鏡 穿過了

寂靜與黑暗的歸途 當時所認識的痛

至今依舊是我的支柱 如今我依然在獨自追逐

那顆名叫”現在”的慧星 想要再次見到你
再次扛起了望遠鏡 和以前一樣 淩晨兩點
來到平交道前 開始吧 天體觀測 即使兩分鐘後你沒來
那顆叫”現在”的慧星 我也要和你兩人一起追逐

Trip to Indy

Just got back from a weekend get away to Indy - wasn't for any special occasion or anything, but I haven't been there for a while (since I graduated) and since my brother is working in Indy, I figured I'd pay him a visit.

Although the drive is considered manageable for many, a 6-hr drive is definitely not in my book. Instead, I chose to fly - I tried Midwest Airlines this time and I think my impression is mixed. I think I'll try flying to Kansas City with them next time to get a better idea. Kansas City is another Midwest hub - so the flight from Milwaukee to Kansas City is one of their Signature flights. I've heard good things so I will be looking forward.

Back to this trip.

It didn't start out too well when my flight leaving Madison departs at 525p Friday afternoon and I didn't get to the airport until like 455p. Fortunately/unfortunately (depending on how you see it), my flight from Milwaukee to Indy got canceled and they have to re-book me to NWA which departs at 630p. I also got "selected" by the airline to do additional screening (also my first time to get selected). I didn't have much carry-on luggage with me (just a couple set of clothes since I didn't want to check my bag) so the experience wasn't too bad. Strangely speaking, if I were going to HK, I wouldn't even have any carry-on luggage. Um...

Nothing exciting happened while in Indy beside hanging out with my brother and DNA. So I'll fast forward...XDD

DNA and I were meeting up for lunch Sunday afternoon at Circle Center. Just as my brother and I arrived at Circle, I got a call from Midwest asking if I can postpone my flight to Monday morning instead. Apparently they got a plane "downgrade" and the new plane can't accommodate all the bookings. They were willing to offer a free round-trip ticket in return. I have to admit it was pretty tempting (hey, the ticket to Indy cost me $300; I wouldn't mind using the free ticket for places like San Fran). Unfortunately the Monday flight departs at 730a, which means by the time I get back to Madison, it'll probably be 9:30 or 10:00. Since I don't feel like taking half a day off, I turned down the offer. If the flight was something later the day, I'd probably take the offer.

Next he asked me if I could check in online because the available seats will be on a first-come-first-serve basis. Well, let see, I probably could check in online, if you call me AN HOUR earlier! Bad! He finally advised me to get to the airport at 4 (when the counter opens for check-in) to make sure I get my seat. At that point, I did ask myself maybe it's better to stick with United :P (Note to self: Need to get a 3G plan so at least I can surf with my phone)

Eventually I gave in and called Konphused back in Madison to help me check in. When I got to the airport, the couple who checked in after me took the last two spots. The ground staff was saying that there were probably 8 or 9 people who can't make it. Lucky me! ;)

Oh one last note, I flew in a non-jet plane - which was also my first time. An interesting experience indeed. My brother is thinking about moving back to Chicago and DNA will be leaving Indy as well, this might be my last trip to Indy? Time will tell. :P

Apr 1, 2007

Dinner at Ginza

The name should be obvious enough what kind of restaurant it is, but just in case, it's Japanese restaurant in Madison (with 3 different branches!). It's pretty much the only Japanese restaurant that King Snort and MyEvilInsideYou will go to. And that's only because they have hibachi dinners which to them don't look/taste like other Japanese food.

Having dined there for a couple times, I would say that I didn't enjoy tonight's dinner at all. The food is okay, but the service pretty much was non-existent. It took the waiter forever to take our orders, Sahana's orders were mixed/messed up, he didn't check with us often enough during our meal, we didn't get our steam rice until all the hibachi food were served up (though the other group whom we sat with got their rice right away), etc. In short, nothing felt right. If the tip was not split between the waiter and the cook, I don't know if I would leave a tip at all.

Hopefully the next time we eat there, the service would be better.

Oh - before and after dinner we played Mahjong. I think they are much better at how to score points now (King Snort did erred once and thought he had enough point to win. He had two but unfortunately our minimum is at 3). Soon enough I'll have them playing the Taiwanese style... Bwa ha ha ha ha ha...