Dresden: Semperoper, the Famed Opera House

Approaching Semperoper, the opera house designed by Gottfried Semper

Dresden is a two-hour train ride from Berlin and even though it's south of Berlin it's colder here at 6 degrees (Berlin was 11 degrees)!

We even had rain greet us at the train station which was worrying. But in the late afternoon the rains cleared to blue skies (though very chilly).

The historic centre is very photogenic -- everywhere you look there are beautiful old buildings, many of them restored after World War II. However they also seem to need a good cleaning too, as the roofs of the buildings with beautiful decoration from stone carvings and bronze domes are black as soot. But it's understandable there are many other things on the priority list to fix than clean some buildings.

Inside the decor is completely faux to create an illusion

Some landmark buildings or areas are being refurbished, and so while the place is photogenic, there are construction gates everywhere that make some angles unsightly. Guess you can't have everything.

Nevertheless, today we got to tour the Semperoper, the opera house -- actually the second one, that was named after the architect, Gottfried Semper who was a professor of architecture in Dresden.

He designed the first opera house that was built in 1841, which had a round facade and was said to have the best acoustics and the most beautiful opera house in Europe.

However, much like the recent Notre Dame fire, some renovations of the opera house led to a fire that razed it to the ground in 1869 and the residents clamoured to have Semper redesign another opera house on the same site.

An "ad" for Shakespeare's Hamlet above one doorway

While he did draw up the plans, it was his son Manfred, also an architect, who built the second opera house, described to be Neo-Renaissance in style.

During our tour we were told the first opera house was only for aristocrats -- no ordinary folk were allowed in.

But by the time the second one was being built, the industrial revolution was well underway and created a wealthy middle class who were keen on higher pursuits, like the opera.

Apparently the aristocrats were mortified of the thought of having to share the opera house with the riff raff and pleaded with Semper to do something. His solution? Have the nouveau riche crammed up on the top floor -- but standing room only -- for three hours, while the aristocrats sat in boxes with partitions complete with snacks and drinks.

The bust of composer Richard Strauss

Also during that time it's interesting to note that these aristocrats had not traveled to Italy before and so the opera house was their first impression of quasi Italian opulence. The upstairs foyer -- only for the aristocrats -- appear luxurious but in fact are completely faux.

The marble columns and marble-like walls were carefully painted to give the impression of using rich building materials. Apparently to create the green marble columns, it took 200 to 250 hours of work just to complete one.

The opera house also inspired a nationalistic drive to write operas in their own German language, thus Richard Strauss was one of the composers whose operas premiered here.

Our guide also explained how the opera house had one of the first "advertisements" in the foyer. They were kind of like today's movie posters of the 19th century. For example there's a scene of Hamlet with the name of the play and the name "Shakespeare" below just to give the audience a hint of what's to come.

A look at the seating complete with the royal box

When we finally got the opportunity to go into the seating area, we were impressed by the lavishness of the decor, especially the royal boxes and the several floors of boxes around the massive room. We were also told interesting trivia that the stage and backstage was 3.5 times the audience seating area.

The stage is such that it can move 360 degrees, and it can fold up vertically. It can also be divided into rows and squares that move independently of each other.

When we were there, the steel fire door on stage prevented us from seeing the setting for Der Rosenkavalier by Richard Strauss, though while we sat there, the fire door was lifted up to reveal a beautiful setting of a sitting room area and technicians were testing out the lights.

The stage is set for Der Rosenkavalier by Strauss

Our guide also talked about intermission intervals and how 20 minutes is so stressful because you are either in line for the bathroom or for drinks and by the time you have your champagne in hand, it's time to go back to your seat. He said back in Semper's time intermission was 50 minutes long, and added the Met is currently experimenting with 45-minute intermissions. Maybe this will be the new standard for arts performances the world over?

The Real Side of Jackie Chan

Jackie Chan's memoir is very honest

I have yet to read Jackie Chan's explosive memoir, Never Grow Up, but I don't want to.

He sounds like an absolute pig.

Part of it stems from not growing up with his family -- his father emigrated to Australia where he worked as a cook for the American Embassy. Chan wasn't a good student and so his parents took him out of the school system, and at the age of six sent to the China Drama Academy where he boarded and trained for 10 years in martial arts and acrobatics.

He reveals how much of a b***** he was to women

There the students had to train 18 hours a day from 5am, doing stretching, acrobatics, weapons training, acting and martial arts. In a 2008 interview, Chan recalled, "It was really arduous, we hardly had enough to eat, enough clothes to keep warm, training was extremely tiring, and Master could cane us anytime!"

As a result Chan didn't have much experience socializing with others, and in Never Grow Up he reveals his various relationships with women including prostitutes, but he treated them terribly. The best known story is how he cheated on his wife, Taiwanese actress Joan Lin by fooling around with beauty queen Elaine Ng Yi-lei and it resulted in the birth of his daughter Etta Ng.

She recently declared she is lesbian and married her Canadian girlfriend last week. Both biological parents did not congratulate her, nor does Chan mention her in his book.

He also recounts going on a date with singer Teresa Teng at a French restaurant. She daintily held a spoon while she ate her soup, while he picked up the bowl and slurped it down...

Chan with his Taiwanese wife actress Joan Lin

Aside from not being gentlemanly, Chan wasn't much of a good father in the beginning. One time he and Lin were having an argument and he picked up his toddler son Jaycee with one hand and threw him across the room, landing on the sofa. Chan recalls Lin being "terrified".

She said: "He's just a child. Why did you do that?" He apologized and said it would never happen again.

This lack of education may explain Chan's insecurities and his pursuit of wealth and fame. In the book he boasts about how much cash he carried around and always paid for his entourage's meals. He would also walk into stores and buy expensive watches to show off his wealth.

It's the usual story of nouveau riche people, and Chan let his wealth get to his head.

He writes that as a stuntman, "We all knew that if something went wrong we wouldn't live to see the sun rise the next day. We had a short term mentality which means recklessly spending our money."

He had an affair with Elaine Ng who gave birth to Etta (left)

In another part of the book Chan writes about being drunk all the time and crashed his Porsche in the morning and his Mercedes-Benz later that evening.

It's interesting the multimillionaire 64-year-old is being so frank about everything -- why did he do that or he was following someone's advice to come clean? It's a lot of information for the public to take in, a lot of it undesirable.

Chan lost his integrity several years ago when he began spouting pro-Beijing views that left a sour taste.

In 2009 during a panel discussion at the Boao Forum for Asia, Chan question whether or not freedom was a good thing. "I'm gradually beginning to feel that we Chinese need to be controlled. If we're not being controlled, we'll just do what we want."

A few years later in 2012 he also criticized Hong Kong people for protesting too much.

Who is going to buy his book? Not people in Hong Kong that's for sure!

The Macanese Version of Paris

The ceiling of The Parisien with copy and paste angels for an ethereal look

In Macau we stayed at The Parisian, a relatively new hotel on the Cotai Strip that literally has a replica of the Eiffel Tower in front.

The fountain lights up in gaudy colours to classical music

Inside the hotel tries really hard to be old school European, but instead looks very nouveau riche. In the foyer there is a giant fountain that periodically lights up in gaudy colours to classical music. Above the fountain is a crazy dome ceiling covered in paintings of angels and figures that are randomly copied and pasted onto the dome and make no sense at all, but look somewhat heavenly.

Not.

The long corridors have more ethereal paintings on the long, narrow ceiling with massive crystal chandeliers suspended complete with Corinthian columns and marble floors to make guests feel like they're in the Palace of Versailles or some kind of rich chateau.

Very posh-looking corridor that goes forever

We just dreaded the long walks to get from point A to point B.

As we were staying in the hotel we were able to go up to the seventh floor observation deck for free. But before we were able to get there, we had to sit down for a picture with a green backdrop and got a photo slip for it.

Later when we arrived at the Eiffel Tower gift shop, there was a picture of us in a cardboard frame along with us in a snowglobe -- for over HK$200.

Uh, no thanks. And I hope you recycle that snowglobe...

The tower itself is hardly worth oohing and aahing over -- it's not that tall, though it has a nice fuchsia colour when it's lit up.

Meanwhile the long walkway to get to the tower has a railing that's covered in locks to imitate the Pont des Arts in Paris, where lovers will declare their love for each other by putting a lock on the bridge with their initials.

A very funky Eiffel Tower at night

If you didn't bring a lock, don't worry -- the gift shop kiosk nearby sells lock kits for HK$60, and the guy manning the booth even offers to help customers open the kit with scissors once they have bought it.

Thousands of others have declared their love at The Parisian -- why not you too?