Skip to main content

Hanoi - Water Puppet show


The water puppet show (Mua Roi Nuoc) at The Vietnam National Puppetry Theatre, 361 Truong Chinh, Hanoi is a unique art, performed in a pool of water with the water surface as the stage.  The puppeteers male and female, stand waist deep in the water behind the backdrop and manipulate the puppets using long bamboo rods and string mechanism hidden beneath the water surface. It's performed live, very artistically done and the puppetry was done to the beat of the music.

Dialogue and narration were all in Vietnamese except for the English salutation, but you can more or less make out the act as they're rather basic.  The show lasted an hour, part of our tour itinerary, cost 40,000 Dong, very reasonable.  It's a cultural experience and we enjoyed it thoroughly.




 This is the stage, standing in water.


This is the stage for the orchestra, all traditional musical instruments.


The show started off with dragons puffing out 'fire' and 'smoke' admist the crackling sound of fire crackers


 It was indeed a beautiful sight!


The fireworks made the show very spectacular!


The orchestra in traditional costumes and the pretty lasses sang ..... but alas, all in Vietnamese!


Is this a phoenix........ not quite sure, but it's colourful


I was truly amazed by the skill of the puppeteers, they were excellent and the show well choreographed.  The puppets danced and moved to the beat of the music.

 

A scene of farmers ploughing the fields with water buffaloes.



The puppets were handmade, traditionally Vietnamese and very colourful!


Snapped this picture from the Confucius temple, these puppets were on sale.


A close up view of the puppets that were on sale, beautifully hand crafted.

Read more of this water puppet show @ Wikipedia, and Click here to watch it  'Live'!


Labels:

Comments

  1. AnonymousJanuary 4, 2010 at 1:47 AM

    Wow what a great experience and great pictures too! Thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  2. MaryMohJanuary 4, 2010 at 3:13 AM

    I love puppetry and this looks absolutely fascinating to me. I wish I were there to watch it. Thanks for all the interesting information about your Hanoi trip. Wonderful to know you enjoyed it.

    ReplyDelete
  3. ShirleyJanuary 4, 2010 at 12:26 PM

    I am enjoying your Hanoi posts Cheah, since I've never been there. Water Puppet Show- am sure my kids would love that.

    ReplyDelete
  4. penny aka jeroxieJanuary 4, 2010 at 12:29 PM

    Oh! So cool! thanks for sharing all this.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Sokehah cheahJanuary 4, 2010 at 12:56 PM

    Dear Friends
    You are most welcome, I enjoy posting them and sharing with you.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Rotterdam ICONJanuary 4, 2010 at 5:53 PM

    I have enjoyed travelling with you. Thanks for the trip

    ReplyDelete
  7. Sokehah cheahJanuary 4, 2010 at 11:16 PM

    Hi
    You are most welcome, ICON!

    ReplyDelete
  8. My Little SpaceJanuary 5, 2010 at 11:40 PM

    Water puppet show is very popular over there huh! So, guess you enjoy the show very much lol.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Sokehah cheahJanuary 5, 2010 at 11:55 PM

    Hi Kristy
    Yes, I did enjoyed it although can't make out a thing about what they were singing, but can guess a bit from the scene they were depicting.

    ReplyDelete
  10. MaeJanuary 11, 2010 at 4:02 AM

    Wow, thanks for sharing this - I ran right over to the Wiki page to read more! :)

    ReplyDelete
  11. Sokehah cheahJanuary 11, 2010 at 4:55 PM

    Hi Mae
    It's interesting, think it's one of its kind.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Thanks for dropping by. Please click on 'Anonymous' if you do not have a blog but do leave your name after the comment because I would like to know who you are.

Popular posts from this blog

Mini lime marmalade chiffon cake

These little chiffon cupcakes were made with lime marmalade.  Other than orange marmalade I've never come across lime marmalade and so this went into my shopping basket when I was in Perth last.  It's slightly more sour than orange marmalade but it's delicious when you have it with butter or peanut butter slathered on a slice of freshly baked bread or toast!
51 comments
Read on for the Recipe

Kai Chai Paeng aka Little chicken biscuit

K ai Chai Paeng or 'Little chicken biscuit' was one of my father's favourite item to take away whenever we stopped by Bidor, a small town south of Ipoh on the way to Kuala Lumpur, long ago before the North-South Highway came into existence.  Those days, Bidor's famous restaurant, Pun Chun ,was like a half-way house whereby travellers would stop by for their signature 'Ngap thui meen' or duck thigh noodles. Pun Chun restaurant is right in the middle of town along the main road and has been in operation for 70 years and their Kai Chai Paeng were of the thick, doughy type made with lard and some pork but now they also have the thin and crispy version. Another small town, known as Kampar which is nearer to Ipoh is also famous for their thin and crispy version of  Kai Chai Paeng.  However,  I'm not too sure which town is the originator of these 'chickenless', unique but absolutely aromatic 'Little chicken biscuit'.
24 comments
Read on for the Recipe

Braised Pork Belly with Lotus Root 莲藕焖猪肉

This is a very simple pork belly dish cooked with fermented bean curd and young lotus root.  I like that the lotus root stays crunchy and blends well with  the equally crispy wood ear fungus.  A comforting dish to serve with a bowl of hot white rice! Recipe for Braised Pork Belly with Lotus Root Ingredient 300 gm pork  belly, cut into bite size 150 gm young lotus root, sliced 4 pips garlic, smashed 20 gm wood ear fungus, soaked, stemmed, cut into strips 2 pices of Nam Yue (fermented bean curd) 1 tsp dark soya sauce 2 tsp Shaoxing wine 3 cups water Salt and sugar to taste Method Saute the garlic with some oil till fragrant, add in the pork belly, stir-fry. Add in the mashed fermented bean curd, mix well and toss in the wood ear fungus. Add in water, dark soya sauce, simmer till meat is tender and cooked and sauce slightly reduced. Toss in the sliced lotus root, ...
9 comments
Read more