JUST ANOTHER TEACHER

Sunday, November 1, 2026

WATCHING A MUSICAL THEATRE IN XI'AN, CHINA

4tH SEPTEMBER 2026 ~ The next activity in Xi'an after the historical tour of the Teracotta Army Complex was the musical theatre show. The title of the show was "The Legend of the Camel Bell". Only about three people of the group were not interested to watch the show.

Introduction session was something to do with traditional Chinese calligraphy painting.

Once the the lights of the hall were turned off, then the magic began. We were all impressed with the colourful and bright stage, and the high quality sound system made the experience unforgettable.

The Legend of the Camel Bell" is set against the backdrop of the Silk Road, recounting the thrilling experiences of camel caravans and the cultural exchanges among different nations. It serves as a vivid history lesson, bringing to life stories from the Silk Road thousands of years ago.

SOURCE: chinahighlights.com

From what I remember, there were two subplots. The first one was of a man leaving his lover to embark on the journey along the Silk Road, and was in the reunited with his love one. The other one was with a tragic ending. A son leaving his mother behind but was killed when he was attacked by ferocious wolves at one point along the way.

The stage rotated [or the seats moved] when there were changes of scenes. It was something like we have in Encore Melaka here but the one in Xi'an was much better.

The awesome element of the show was the presence of real live animals like the camels. The scene where there were angry wolves chasing and attacking the actors happened near the audience, in fact they were running along the aisles. We were just worried the worries would just jump and bite us instead.

It was worth the time and money spent. If you are in Xi'an and have any other activities, you should consider watching this theatre. I just checked and found out there are actually other shows at other venues as well.

I am about to upload a few of the videos recorded on YouTube as the files are too big to be uploaded direct in Blogspot. Will post the videos once they are ready.

[MY XI'AN TRIP MAIN PAGE]

INTRODUCING KACANG POOL HAJI TO A TESL FRIEND

The mission of this morning gastronomic adventure was to introduce Kacang Pool Haji to a TESL friend from Kuala Lumpur. We set to meet at Selera Johor Food Court at 7:45 a.m. as the place was expected to be crowded on Sunday morning.

Fried Oyster Mushroom

Cekodok Pisang
[Banana Fritters]

Kacang Pool Haji

I am glad that Puan Hayati Burkhan liked her first attempt of having Kacang Pool, and she loved the Cekodok Pisang too. Mission accomplished. She and her husband had a flight to catch at 11:40 a.m. so we bade farewell for now. Hope to see them again some other time for other series of gastronomic adventures in Johor Bahru.

Saturday, October 31, 2026

MEETING TWO TESL FRIENDS IN KAMPUNG MELAYU FOR DINNER

Puan Hayati Burkhan was in town with her husband, Mr. Amin. They attended a wedding reception of a relative's in the afternoon in Kota Tinggi but was putting up the night in Johor Bahru. I was excited to introduce her to the local food for the first time. However, I met the husband in August for Kacang Pool when he was here [READ HERE].

I just took them to the food court in Kampung Melayu for its Murtabak at Murtabak Azo Food Court.

Puan Salmiah, another UPM TESL friend, and her daughter were also in Johor Bahru because they went to watch the Festival Zapin, a kind of traditional dance event. We invited her to join us and she happily obliged even though they were staying at Kota Iskandar area which was 30 minutes away from town without the traffic jam.

We had to bid each other "goodbye" by 9:30 p.m. as it had been a long they for these people from Kuala Lumpur/Selangor. There will be one more gastronomic adventure with Puan Hayati before she flies back to KL after that.

ATTENDING THE WEDDING RECEPTION OF MR. SYAFIQ MASTOR

Another ex-student [of SMK Taman Universiti] held his wedding reception today, It was Mr. Muhammad Syafiq's turn to become someone's husband.

The event was held at Monet Garden by Diva, located somewhere near Taman Selesa Jaya. By now, I know the place already by heart and no need to use any navigation apps to get there.

Fried Banana

Puan Marina Abdullah, ex-colleague
of SMK Taman Universiti
and husband

I did not expect to meet quite a number of people at the wedding venue. One ex-colleague of SMK Taman Universiti and another one of SMK Dato' Jaafar. Then, there were a few ex-students of SMK Taman Universiti too, from different batches.