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I made the trek out to Sha Tin in the New Territories to check out the Haute Couture from the 1940s to 1950s exhibit.
I haven't been to the Heritage Museum since it first opened almost ten years ago, and so I got a bit lost on the way. I took a wrong turn and ended up at some Christian hiking society. Check out the pictures I took.
I climbed all the way up there in a bandeau dress and four-inch heels, heifers! When I got to the top, some expat minister-type came out the door and asked me if I was looking for Jesus.
Me: Er...the only Christian I'm interested in is Dior.
Anyway, it was quite an exciting side trip because I stumbled upon one of the old Sha Tin villages and saw a bunch of delectable, shirtless village hoodlums. I would've taken a picture but I was feeling very unglamourous what with all the sweat covering me, so I decided to just ogle and take pictures of other things, like...leaves.
This is the Heritage Museum. There's some kind of water fowl that live there, they're the white specks in the picture. There's a bike path that made me nostalgic for Taiwan.
They didn't allow people to take pictures at the Haute Couture exhibit, but I was perfectly happy to photograph the stuff in the permanent exhibits. The following are from the cultural relics exhibit.
Check it out, this is a representation of a nomadic tribesman from, I guess, what is called Mongolia now. Look at his headdress! That ninja is wearing a fucking tiger! I want one.
This is why there are more than one billion Chinese people. I mean, Jesus, if our cooking tools look like this...
This is a tomb guard that has the claws of an eagle, legs of a tiger, horns of a deer, face of a dragon and wings of a bat. I took a lot of pictures of tomb guards for future reference for tattoo ideas.
Sorry for the dim picture, they didn't allow flash photography. I love those room dividers. Back when my family had money, we had these giant ones that were carved out of jade. They were so fucking heavy, my dad had to have the floors reinforced. Ah, the good old days when we were rich!
This is a close-up of a Tibetan outfit.
This is a detail of a Tibetan statue of a god either eating or sexing someone.
If I ever get married again, I'd love to have my wedding pics look like this.
I also got to check out the Cantonese opera exhibit. It's one of the permanent exhibits, and really amazing. Worth going to the museum for this alone. This is the entrance from the inside. By the way, my pictures start to get pretty shitty from here on because I'd been walking around for a couple of hours already and my feet were beginning to hurt.
The banners next to the stage.
A typical outdoor Cantonese opera stage. I felt so nostalgic.
Tableaux.
The wax figure in the back looks confused, doesn't it? Like he suddenly forgot his lines?
They had a scale model of the bamboo structure that is erected to form the theatre. Isn't it amazing how much work is put into something that is torn down in a couple of weeks? Very Buddhist, like making a mandala. Just because the results of something are only temporary, it doesn't mean that you don't put in all your effort. It's the process that's the most important thing.
And, of course, there was a real one inside the exhibition hall, too.
We got to see backstage stuff.
I couldn't resist taking a picture of this mahjong auntie because she looks like a power diva. Look at the sheer bitchiness of her face! I need to perfect that look: part smile, part sneer and the side-eye of doom. My God! And seriously, I need to have a qi pao with a heart-shaped cutout like that. GORGEOUS. This is such an inspirational photo for me, seriously.
They had an interactive computer thing where you get photographed and have Chinese opera masks overlaid on your face.
This is me as a general.
This is me as Guan Gong (of course, I had to get him, he's my favourite god!). Not very successful since you can't see my face.
This me as Sun Wu Kong (also known as the Monkey King).
This is me as that little kid who's a god, as well. I forget his name, but he usually prances around in diapers and with little hair buns on his head.
All in all a very tiring and satisfactory day.
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If you have the time to head over to Sha Tin, I really do suggest visiting the Heritage Museum. You can check out the current exhibitions at their Web site here. To get to the museum, take the MTR to Che Kung Temple Station. It's to your left when you exit. Don't cross the street!
And while you're in Sha Tin, you might want to check out Che Kung Temple, as well, too. I guess I should write an entry about it some day. The site has been around since the Ming Dynasty, and people visit Che Kung to pray for good health and good luck. I know that it's the destination for a lot of hardcore gamblers.
