It wasn’t my idea to eat at this Hong Kong style restaurant, but it got me reminiscing about past travels. I felt nostalgia for the Asian cities I’ve visited and in particular Hong Kong. I am grateful that I least I live somewhere where I can fantasize that I’m in a foreign country when I’m feeling a bit of wanderlust. As you can see, this restaurant doesn’t cater much to the English-speaking crowds. In fact all of the surrounding area is like that.

A few days ago, I was reading up on the operas that will be performed at the Santa Fe Opera. I was excited to see that they would be performing M. Butterfly. Madama Butterfly is an opera that is very dear to my heart for many reasons. As I read more about the planned productions, I noticed that they were very excited to be presenting the world premiere of M. Butterfly. World premiere? Did they mean this particular production of it? No, they mean the entire opera.

Then I realized my mistake. I assumed they were merely abbreviating Madama, but it turns out that it will be an opera that is based on the play and movie titled M. Butterfly. A story based on true life that draws heavily from Puccini’s opera. So it will be an opera inspired by a play inspired by an opera.

I rolled my eyes and though about skipping that opera. However, curiosity got the better of me and I looked up the soundtrack to the movie. It is so beautiful! It obviously draws heavily from Puccini, but its score sounds very classic Hollywood. So I decided to buy and I planned on streaming it at a later date.

That later date turned out to be today once I returned home from the restaurant hungry with nostalgia. I watched M. Butterfly and loved the story. There’s a big element of surprise, so I won’t go into any details other than to say it is a love story between a French diplomat in Beijing and a Beijing opera singer. This is based on a true story so I’m curious find more books about this affair.