We got our hands on the tickets at last. Spent the entire night trying to figure out the passwords that the site required us to key in and I thought Premier Advantage means HSBC credit card. These were the best seats that we could get. No more choice as it was the last show. Anyway, I can finally watch The Swan Lake!
The synopsis taken from their official website
Act One
It is the day before Prince Siegfried’s 21st birthday, and the Prince and his friend Benno are having an impromptu party in the Palace courtyard. The Queen arrives and tells Prince Siegfried that he must choose his future wife, marry and inherit the Kingdom. The Queen informs her son that she has organised a Grand Ball to be held in the Palace tomorrow evening to celebrate his birthday, and that he must choose his future bride from the invited female guests.
Count Von Rothbart is an evil sorcerer who is half-man, half-bird. He lives in human form amongst the mortals of the Palace and acts as a mentor to the youthful Prince. Rothbart has made a promise to his daughter Odile that he will secure the hand of the Prince in marriage to her.
Amidst the impromptu party, Rothbart introduces the Prince to Odile. His eye is caught by her striking beauty, but although Odile dances like no other girl at the party, she fails to impress the Prince, who feels ill at ease in her company.
Prince Siegfried becomes tired of the proceedings and protests to the Queen that he is unhappy at being forced to choose a bride and asks to be excused from the party. The Queen is upset at her son’s distress and asks his loyal companion Benno to takehim hunting to ease his troubles. She hands Prince Siegfried the family ring and tells him that he must place it upon the finger of his true love.
The young group set off for the woods to go hunting, although Benno can see that the Prince is troubled. Benno takes Prince Siegfried to the enchanted lake, where the Prince asks to be left alone to contemplate his future and the decision that lies before him.
The hunting party sees a flock of swans fly overhead and moves towards them as they land. The Swan Princess, Odette, assumes human form and attempts to protect her swans from the hunting party. Prince Siegfried arrives and is mesmerised by her delicate beauty and moves towards her. As the Prince’s eyes meet Odette’s, he sees inside her the love he has been searching for. She in turn sees that her fate to live as part human, part swan may be changed forever by the love of the Prince. His lovemay break her cursed existence.
The other swans join Odette and dance for the Prince, who confesses his love to Odette and begs that she attend the Grand Ball at the Palace the following evening, where he will introduce her to the Queen as his future bride. Odette tells of the curse placed upon her, which may only be broken by the true love of a faithful man, who may not confess his love to another woman. The Prince places the family ring upon a chain and places it around the neck of Odette, telling her that the ring may rest upon her finger if she will join him at the Ball, and promises his undying love. Odette agrees to attend the Ball. As dawn breaks Prince Siegfried leaves Odette to return to the Palace.
The events of the night have been viewed by Rothbart, who moves towards Odette as the Prince departs. Odette, afraid of the evil Rothbart, moves back in shock. Rothbart grabs the ring from her neck as she flees.
Act Two
The court is celebrating the 21st birthday of Prince Siegfried at a Grand Ball at the Palace. The Prince sits with the Queen, who is accompanied by Rothbart.
Benno introduces the Princesses who arrive from Italy, Spain, Hungary, Russia and Ireland. The visiting Princesses are all keen to win Prince Siegfried’s hand in marriage, but he awaits the arrival of just one person. As the evening progresses, the Prince becomes disappointed at the failure of Odette to appear.
The court is then surprised by the arrival of Odile, dressed not in her usual dark clothes, but in those of eminent beauty. Her appearance takes the Prince’s breath away and he moves to the floor to dance with Odile. The Prince is intoxicated by her beauty and forgets Odette as he dances with Odile. Odette then arrives at the Palace just as the Prince declares his love to Odile. Rothbart produces the Prince’s family ring from his jacket pocket. Prince Siegfried places the ring on the finger of Odile, thereby dooming Odette to live her life forever as a swan. As he does this, he sees Odette crying and fleeing from the Palace, and realises his terrible mistake. Odile and Rothbart are jubilant, whilst Benno consoles the distraught Prince.
Odette is deeply upset at her betrayal by the Prince , but more so by the interferance of Rothbart in her life. Odette decides to confront Rothbart and seeks to understand the reasons behind his evil treatment of her.
At the enchanted lake, the swans (in human form) console a heartbroken Odette. Prince Siegfried arrives and asks forgiveness for his folly. Odette embraces the Prince, and tells him that she will love him forever, although her curse may never be broken. Odile arrives at the lake in search of Prince Siegfried and sees the love he has for Odette, and Odette for the Prince.
Odile listens to their story and understands that her father, Rothbart, has played an evil trick, and refuses to be part of her father’s terrible plan. Odile hands the ring back to Odette. Prince Siegfried now realises that he was stupidly tricked by the evil Rothbart and his own faint heart.
Arrogantly, Rothbart challenges Prince Siegfried to a duel, telling the Prince that if he has the courage to kill him, he may release Odette from her curse.
This show of true love by Prince Siegfried and the death of Rothbart, release Odette from her curse, so that she can live in human form with her beloved Prince.
A wish fulfilled, hoping to watch Phantom Of The Opera next...
I've been missing this Teochew style Bak Kut Teh ever since I first had it as a kid. It's distintive taste differenciate it from the Bak Kut Teh that we usually had here. Where most of my friends and family prefer the latter, I really loved the former. Sis brought us to Ng Ah Sio Pork Rib Eating House for this famous Singaporean dish.
This famous pork rib soup restaurant made headlines after it turned down Hong Kong Chief Executive Donald Tsang’s request to dine after its opening hours. Thaksin Shinawatra, the ex-Prime Minister of Thailand, also made his way here for lunch in 2007.
As one of the pioneers of this now-famous dish, Mr Ng Siak Hai’s(Nickname: Ng Ah Sio’s) father – Mr Ng Mui Song, began plying the pork-based, peppery herbal soup cooked in a distinct Teochew style in the 1950s at he current River Valley and Hill Street vicinity. These early servings of the Bak Kut Teh was accompanied by Chinese doughnuts (You Tiao) and a strong brew of Chinese tea and there was no chilli and soya sauce dips. One of the common beliefs of the origins of Bak Kut Teh is rooted in the early days of the Republic’s founding where large numbers of young men migrated from China to works as coolies at the godowns by the historic Singapore River. As their jobs involved much physical hardship and their meagre salaries could ill-afford the luxury of meat then, they used the bones of pork to brew their soups as a form of nourishment.
