只有旅行和藝術可以自己決定

Eugene Onegin is one of my favorite operas, consists of great music, heart-breaking story based on the novel in verse by Alexander Pushkin and plenty of brilliant arias.

The story concerns a selfish hero (Onegin) who lives to regret his rejection of a young woman's (Tatyana) love and his careless incitement of a fatal duel with his best friend (Lenski).

In Act III Scene I, Onegin appeared in a nobleman’s mansion in St. Petersburg. The host Prince Gremin entered the ballroom with his wife Tatyana. Onegin asked Prince Gremin to present him to his wife and Prince Gremin sang the famous aria “Lyubvi vsye vorsrasti pokorni” (Love is no respecter of age/Everyone knows love on earth).

Ayam Presto Goreng

我們對某些印尼菜的喜愛完全都是因為台北磐石坊的好口味，說什麼都要去峇里島吃爪哇炸雞。在炸雞達人的調查與搜尋下，我們已指定好到峇里島有名的Malioboro吃酥骨炸雞，而且要請導遊「說價」，免得成了觀光客冤大頭，付了觀光客版菜單上的價錢。



這家Malioboro算是連鎖炸雞店吧？裝潢和菜單都有現代速食餐廳的感覺，不過賣的東西不只是炸雞，也有炸魚、炸蛋、炒青菜、炒飯和一些飲料。午後三、四點時店內倒有不少人，還有專程前來的觀光客。

Samson et Dalila is a grand opera in three acts and four tableaux by Camille Saint-Saëns to a French libretto by Ferdinand Lemaire. The opera is based on the Biblical tale of Samson and Delilah as recounted in the Old Testament's Book of Judges, chapters 16. The second act, the love scene in Delilah's tent, is one of the set pieces that define French opera. Two of Delilah's arias are particularly well known: "Printemps qui commence" and "Mon cœur s'ouvre à ta voix".

這次到峇里島我學了一些印尼文單字(多半都是吃的東西)，其中一個是ayam，就是雞的意思。從這個字出現在觀光客接觸點的頻率就知道，雞在峇里島生活中有多麼重要。

Ayam 文化篇 - Fight! Tajen!

雞似乎是每戶峇里島人家家裡必備的成員，當然有些人家是雞農，純粹的養殖目的；但更多是把雞當寵物或好夥伴來看待，尤其對於男人，雞可是兼具社會象徵意義和娛樂價值。

Lucia di Lammermoor is a dramma tragico (tragic opera) in three acts by Gaetano Donizetti. For decades Lucia was considered to be a mere showpiece for coloratura sopranos and was a little-known part of the operatic repertory. Since 1950s, famous sopranos such as Maria Callas and Joan Sutherland revived the opera of its tragic glory.

Arias of Lucia are truly challenging for its technical and expressional difficulties. “Regnava nel Silenzio” is Lucia’s famous aria in Act 1 Scene 2. Lucia is waiting for Edgardo. She tells her maid Alisa she has seen the ghost of a girl killed on the very same spot by a jealous Ravenswood ancestor.

Now listen to the performance by Sutherland and Callas.

My Fair Lady is a musical based upon George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion. The story concerns Eliza Doolittle, a Cockney flower girl who takes speech lessons from professor Henry Higgins so that she can pass as a lady. The musical's 1956 Broadway production was a hit. Later on in 1964 came a popular film version.

It is catastrophe. It is sorrow. It is anger.

Simple and pure strength remains – hope, faith and love.

“Amazing grace” is the well-know Christian hymn of Scottish origin. Whether it is presented with instrumental chord, choir or solo, I may capture the universal spirit it brings to spread the healing power for rebirth.

Bless Taiwan! 天佑台灣!