Sepang Retreat

We did not reach Sepang Gold Coast by sunset as intended, as our car was somehow infested with ants in Singapore and we had to stop by to get rid of those pesky creatures. I think a nest must have dropped off from the tree the car was parked under. I take it that the car must have been cozy for living creatures.

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It was already dark when we reached the resort. This time we were greeted by the illuminated Christmas archway.

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This is the sea villa that the girls stayed in for the evening. I took the one-room villa opposite.

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This is a single room villa. I love the steep pitched attap roof. It reminded me of my grandmother's house in the old days in Singapore - back then when we still had kampungs.

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We stayed up chatting for a while, but I went to bed earlier to catch sunrise in the morning.

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Where the villas are, it is possible to watch sunrise in the morning at one side and sunset in the evening from the other.

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The entire resort, other than the restaurants and offices are built in the sea on stilts. This allows the water underneath to flow without disturbing the ecology. In fact, the villas offer a good shelter for marine life, such that local fishermen have said that there are more fishes along the coast since the resort was constructed. Oysters also grow on the stumps underneath the villas.

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The chairman and owner of the resort has planned it all along that the construction do not disrupt the ecology of the surroundings. "We must have the resort in harmony with nature. That way nature will help us, because man is also part of nature," he said. This philosophy goes well with Tao, that man exists in balance with nature in respect to the Natural Laws, and all in nature circulates and transforms in harmony.

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This half completed building in the background will be a multi-purpose hall, which the girls are planning to organise an International Latin and Ballroom Dance Competition in August 2010. I suggested that they make Sepang Gold Coast the Blackpool of Asia (Blackpool has hosted such international dance competitions for 80 years!).

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This is the villa balcony. In the distance, are other huts.

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They look like this close-up.

.This is the dining area, but we did not have time to have breakfast here, as we have meetings at Shah Alam at 12noon.

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A flower dish in the showroom. Isn't it lovely?

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This is the model plan of the resort - a palm tree stretching out to the sea.

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We managed to reach Sepang Gold Coast's Shah Alam's office at 12noon, in time for a lunch treat! By then we were hungry, having skipped breakfast so that we had more time to find our way around.

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After Shah Alam and our meetings done, we headed for Malacca, with yours truly as the driver. However, the idea of a Peranakan dinner at Malacca soon petered out as it got dark and we felt that it will be too much of a detour. It was prudent that we get back to Singapore not too late as one of us had a morning flight the next day to Macau to judge a dance competition! Otherwise, a sumptous Peranakan dinner at Malacca would have been nice.

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We opted instead for a Teochew porridge dinner along our route at Seremban. The Teochew porridge restaurant was said to be near the town's Teochew Association, so our mission was to find the association building.

We were told that the association's building is behind this old Portuguese-Peranakan styled building of antiquarian charm.

This is the town's cinema - still a single screen theatre (as opposed to a multi-theatre cineplex). The last single screen theatre in Singapore, incidentally also called 'Capitol', closed down many years ago!

Finally, we found the Seremban Teochew Association!!! Hurray! But no restaurant, as it opens only during the day! So no dinner!

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Oh dear, we should have gone to Malacca!

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So from here, it was a straight speedy track back to Singapore. Once back, we headed straight for our favourite Wanton noodles at Lavender Food Centre. There was a long queue at the stall, but we needn't have to queue. For us it was special! Frequent customer privilege! :)

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For our previous trip to Sepang Gold Coast, click here.

The Hungry Ghost Getai

The Chinese Seventh Month Getai (concert) season this year is coming to a close tomorrow on the 19th September 2009. I had a very entertaining and fascinating evening attending one at Loyang Tua Pek Kong.

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This temple is an epitome of religious harmony in Singapore. Besides being a Taoist temple, it also houses a Hindu Temple and a Malay Kramat (shrine).

The Hindu Temple. Chinese devotees pray here too!

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Here is the Malay Kramat next to the Hindu shrine.

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Besides opening the getai to the public for free, the temple also provide food for everyone. A big thank you to all the volunteers here seen dishing out the bowls of soup.

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This is the Baobei sisters. The stage is very posh for a getai. Artistes enter the stage from beneath, via an elevator platform.

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This is Karen Lim - the Getai Queen. She has 153 getai engagements in 2008. That is more about 5.5 getais to sing at every night! She is a live wire and dances non-stop during her performances. This is a rare sight to see her seated.

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This is a 9 year old Malay kid who did a Michael Jackson dance. Here while bantering with the MCs Liu Lingling from Singapore and Lan Tian from Taiwan, he cheekily put on his mask, just like Michael Jackson used to.

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Mai Ke, an Indian singer from Penang sang in Mandarin, Hokkien and Cantonese. He is also a Michael Jackson impersonator.

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Oh! Now we have three impersonators! In case you can't recognise them, two of them are the MCs.

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This is Hei Mao (Black Cats) from Malaysia. A three girl and two boy sing-and-dance group. Amazing feat stacking themselves and swing themselves around while singing.

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Hong Kong singer - Bai Mei Hui

Taiwanese artiste - Yaya

This is Fang Fang, our Malaysian 'Yau Shu Rong' (a famous female vocalist from Taiwan in the 1960s). At 58 years old, she still look great. She had ever said that she will continue to sing even when hit 60!

Singapore artiste - Xie Sheng Zi

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This is so Singaporean. Dishing out fans with campaign slogans - about getting help for gambling addicts! This is to pre-empt gamblers getting into doldrums when the casinos are opened next year.

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They also issued tissue papers with the same slogans. Luckily they distributed the tissue pads in the middle of the show. If they are distributed in the beginning, they will be used to reserve the seats!! *LOL*

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Indeed seat reservation is a serious problem in some getais, as touts sell reserved seat enbloc and sell them for a few dollars each.

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It was already near midnight, but devotees are still offering prayers at the temple.

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I enjoyed myself thoroughly in an evening of street culture and entertainment. A bit rough on the edges at times, particularly of those double meaning jokes banter between the emcee and the artistes, but such is the spontaneity of street culture.

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Particularly, the Loyang Tua Pek Kong getai is uniquely Singaporean in that there was so much diversity among the artistes from different countries, different religions and races. The temple premises itself houses a Hindu temple and a Muslim shrine.

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I think that is because Singapore is a confluence of two 'rivers' from the East and the West. Incidentally, this also goes for Singapore's ecosystem. For instance, there are about 60 known species of mangroves in the world and Singapore is home to 50 plus of them. Read here. For the coral reefs, the Great Barrier Reef which is about 6,000 times the size of Singapore has about 400 plus species and Singapore has 200 plus. Read here.

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For a small island of 660 square kms, there are just so many races and nationalities in Singapore. Some come as professionals to work and others to study.

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Perhaps this is Singapore's destiny, given its limitation of land size, it has learn to be open, adapt and innovate to prosper.

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Notable artistes from other getais:

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Taiwanese artiste, Hou Hou

He is known for his drags and ability to sing in both male and female pitches.

Taiwanese artiste, Kai Li

Here's a video clip of 17 year old pole dancer Lim Zi Yee. Amazing how she can sing while up at the pole.
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There are more and more younger artistes coming on stage over the last two years. The youngest who is only 5 years old.

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For more video clips, click here

For more pixs, click here.
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In my getai blog post on Vacuum State Travel in 2007, I wrote:

In the near future, they may have to continue to innovate and use newer entertainment technologies. May be there will be fireworks, pyrotechnics, more electronic music, more techno beats, holographic displays, large LCD screens for those in the far end from the stage, or even simulcasts on Youtube.

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Well, at the getai at Loyang Tua Pek Kong, pyrotechnics are already used. There are already many video clips on YouTube, though we haven't have simulcasts yet. Techno beats have already come together with rap and Michael Jackson gigs. Younger artistes have also leveraged on the Internet and have facebook profile pages to communicate with their fans.

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Looking back, getais in Singapore have come a long way. Below is a pix (taken in the year 2004) of what getais used to be.

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Read previous post on getai, click here
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