Month: October 2016

After enjoying a dynamic and patriotic performance at the Taipei Economic and Culture Office (TECO) LA Chapter (see Double Ten Goodwill Entry to read about it), the royal court was invited to the OC Chapter to participate in their annual Double Ten Tea Party Ceremony. Located in an industrial part of Santa Ana, the teen title holder and myself represented our organization and joined in on the afternoon festivities.

I debuted my new “Frozen” inspired dress, and with my tiara and rhinestoned accessories, I’d have to say that the ensemble does resemble a lot like Queen Elsa. Others commented that I look like a mermaid. What do you think?

The cozy venue seated around 200 guests and VIPS included local board members, and Taiwanese business members. We had a full program that included a flag ceremony with military officials, singing of various patriotic songs (both Taiwanese and American), a key-note speaker who encouraged to continue preserving our Taiwanese American heritage, raffle of Taiwan products, and a cake-cutting.

My favorite part of the program was watching the Lion Dancers enter the premise with their clanging cymbals and drums. There were a total of three full sized lions and a baby one who wowed the crowd with their playful performance. The royal court and VIP guests were given red envelops (symbolizing good luck) and encouraged to “feed” the lions on stage.

I unfortunately don’t have pictures of my interaction with them, but boy was it fun.

The Taipei Economic and Culture Office (Santa Ana) was established in Chinatown and relocated to their present location. The office has a vast collection of books and multi-media resources available for patrons to check out in additional to cultural costumes and equipment. Similar to the pageant organization TECO (Santa Ana) mission is to promote and preserve Taiwanese culture for generations to come. To learn more about this organization head to their site (here)

XOXO,

Rockstar

For many readers October 10th is 20 days before you need to get a costume for Halloween, but for my Taiwanese compatriots, it’s Double Ten Day – also known as Taiwan National Day.  It marks the beginning of the Wuchang Uprising  a revolt that led to a declaration of independence from the central government by Wuchang and several other provinces in China in 1911 and this year we are celebrating Taiwan’s 105th anniversary.  With such a milestone you know we’re going to have a rockin’ party to celebrate.

Hosted at the Taipei Economic and Culture Center in Los Angeles we had the opportunity to watch a wealth of performances from all age groups in the Taiwanese community. The programed started out with singing the Taiwanese and American National Anthem, then proceeded to officers of the military creating various formations with poise and precision. The program was filled with talents from local Taiwanese schools and non profit organizations, and my favorite were the traditional Taiwanese aboriginal dance followed by the silk sleeve performance.

Similar to the United Stated, Taiwan’s colors are Red, White and Blue – and my pageant sisters and I all coincidentally dressed up in blue, which looked fabulous in all the photos. I guess we really do have a connection to one another.

Among the attendees at this event were many influential political leaders including: Congressman Dr. Judy Chu and the Mayor of Walnut Mary Sue. There were many other local male councilmen and community leaders who supported this celebration and it was wonderful to see everyone come together to commemorate such an important day. It was entertaining, fun, and just one of the many celebrations to wish a Happy Birthday to Taiwan! Stay tuned on the next several posts – the royal court had an awesome time representing the beautiful island.

XOXO,
Irene