as always.. the recess week is packed with activities so much so that i still have to come back to sch everyday.. i've learnt not to expect to be able to rest and relax during recess week.. AND i actually wake up earlier everyday during the recess week than normal school days because i had to meet for project discussions.. alamak!
and just yesterday, i had to be in city hall for project discussion in the morning, be back in school for ENERGY campus concert in the afternoon, then get back to city hall again in the evening to watch Forbidden City. Then it's back to hall again to spend the night.. best!
BUT Forbidden City is definitely worth all the trouble.. what is ENERGY man.. seriously.. they have zero appeal to me.. Kit Chan is da BEST!!!
the sets are pretty minimalistic, yet versatile and stylish.. singing was definitely great! costume good, lights good, acting good.. makes a wonderful evening at the Esplanade.. and somehow ancient chinese history appeals to me.. becos it's so mystical.. no one actually knows what really happens, what's fabricated and what's not.. then and again all things we see today are probably fabricated in a way or another.. (conspiracy theory!)
so glad it was Kit Chan cos i've heard others who had gone to caught this run and it wasn't her.. a very big part of my motivation to part with the money to catch this play was becos of Kit Chan.. i would still go catch the show if it's not her, just that i might not spend that much.. haha..
i'm pretty into theatre these days.. spend more than a 100 buck these 2 months catching plays in theatre.. from chinese, to english, kids' show to mature themes, experimental plays to musical, i've seen them all these 2 months.. i've always liked theatre, but it's just too expensive a hobby to maintain.. sigh.. i wan more!
Forbidden City's great hit in Singapore is possible mainly due to Kit Chan and Dick Lee's appeal, or so i feel... and this kinda mega success in Singapore is only achievable in the English theatres.. i dun think i remembered any Mandarin plays staging in the Esplanade Theatre having such a long run with such response yet..
i remember doing an interview with TODAY not so long ago, lamenting why Mandarin theatres are lagging so far behind the English theatre in terms or participation and viewership.. Even with artistes like Nick Shen and Cai Li Lian in Snakes and Lovers, it probably only managed to draw 5% or less of the attention Forbidden City is having.. Blame it on budget maybe..
We need more support on the Mandarin local theatre scene!
this is such a cute scooter and it just brightens my day to see it around school.. esp love the carpet grass..
The Apple Slicer
this device is such a wonderful invention.. it's sosimple yet so useful.. it just up-ed my apple eating pleasure by 5 notches.. FYI you can get this at IKEA.. you will totally have an apple a day after that..
i've been trying to find out what's the problem with my com, how come i cannot listen to Radio Fusion when my roomie can.. i keep checking the proxy again and again, even reinstalled my windows media player.. and then i realised it's my zone alarm settings.. aiyoh.. at least now i can listen to 飞声。
Had my 1st live show today at Can B! have been looking forward to that.. cos i've been wanting to try out the new booth at can b.. for those who have caught the show.. hope you guys like it..
we had some minor screw up with the system in the beginning but the rest was pretty smooth going.. well it wasn't perfect but i felt it was pretty good.. but it does feel weird getting funny stares by passerbys.. but at least when i ask the ppl who walk by to wave, they do.. proves that NTU students are not so unfriendly afterall.. and i sang my first song on-air.. happy birthday song to Peter (who ever that is...) you should feel honoured...
so go on to radio.ntu.edu.sg to tune in to Radio Fusion now.. we have 24 hr streaming programs alright.. must catch my capsule prog from 6-8pm tml.. hehe.. eh but i must say the quality not very good ah.. cos it was pretty rushed work... will strive to be better!!!
decided to take radio prac even tho it's on friday night.. yes night.. 630pm to 830pm decided to stay in PAC since it's just going to be one semester.. decided to not join impresario since 1) i did not know when the recruitement drive was and thus have missed it and 2) i would not be able to commit myslef to the planning since i'll be away on internship..
still there are decisions to be made: where shall i go for my internship??
it was the most amazing sight: rain pouring from a tree and a broken lamp post that still works.. (wait till i get my hands on the photo)
that was what we saw as we took a stroll down clarke quay after watching the screening of Smell of Rain.. how apt..
as we were in awe at witnessing such a supernatural occurance and contemplating calling the news hotlines, we saw a sign in the vincinity that read: Miracle, Biennale Arts Fest. BUT i checked the website and it says the fest would also kick off on 4th Sept this yr.. so can anyone tell me if what we witnessed was really part of the fest or a supernatural occurance?!? if that's part of the fest, it really cool.. if not, it's still cool..
now abt the movie screening... if there is one thing that irked me most, it's the sound design.. why is there korean dialogue when the TV was obviously showing a channel 8 show?? and the dialogue is the same in scene 2,5,7,9,14,20..... every scene that has a tv switched on.. at least haf the cheek to change it ok.. even tho i dun understand korean i still know that it is the same dialogue.. there no really no part of the sound design that i like.. non at all.. other than maybe some of the original music.. bad sound is really a turn off..
ok i'm an ebm student, i can never watch movies the way others do.. it really becomes a torture sometimes.. white balance, lighting, steady cam shots, continuity, jump cuts...... these things will inevitably run thru our mind when we watch something.. it's THE CURSE..
p.s. at least i think the male lead is cute.. and the female lead also not bad to look at.. haha..
it's the end of yet another production by hhk youth drama troupe.. yet another fulfilling production..
it's always a jovial affair, working with the friends there.. always an enjoyable event as the people are forever so dedicated yet also play really hard..
it's nice to be involved with people whom were away and missing-in-action for a while.. those from my batch.. there is no other batch of friends like them.. we literally grow up together..
it's nice to be getting to know the younger ones.. it's wonderous seeing them grow up.. (tho i feel that most of them just grow up physically and not mentally.. esp the guys.. haha)
having being involved in other productions before, there is nothing like working in a hhk production.. the kind of bonds, the kind of dedications, the kind of commitement, the kind of support we get.. the people are simply great!
THE CAT, THE BRIDE AND LIAO MAMA..
-- yet another quality production by Hokkien Huay Kuan Youth Drama Troupe
I try to be a good father. Give my kids mulligans. Work nights to pay for their text messaging. Take them to swimsuit shoots. But compared with Dick Hoyt, I stink.
Eighty-five times he’s pushed his disabled son, Rick, 26.2 miles in marathons. Eight times he’s not only pushed him 26.2 miles in a wheelchair but also towed him 2.4 miles in a dinghy while swimming and pedaled him 112 miles in a seat on the handlebars–all in the same day.
Dick’s also pulled him cross-country skiing, taken him on his back mountain climbing and once hauled him across the U.S. On a bike. Makes taking your son bowling look a little lame, right?
And what has Rick done for his father? Not much–except save his life.
This love story began in Winchester, Mass., 43 years ago, when Rick was strangled by the umbilical cord during birth, leaving him brain-damaged and unable to control his limbs. “He’ll be a vegetable the rest of his life;'’ Dick says doctors told him and his wife, Judy, when Rick was nine months old. “Put him in an institution.'’
But the Hoyts weren’t buying it. They noticed the way Rick’s eyes followed them around the room. When Rick was 11 they took him to the engineering department at Tufts University and asked if there was anything to help the boy communicate. “No way,'’ Dick says he was told. “There’s nothing going on in his brain.'’
“Tell him a joke,'’ Dick countered. They did. Rick laughed. Turns out a lot was going on in his brain. Rigged up with a computer that allowed him to control the cursor by touching a switch with the side of his head, Rick was finally able to communicate. First words? “Go Bruins!'’ And after a high school classmate was paralyzed in an accident and the school organized a charity run for him, Rick pecked out, “Dad, I want to do that.'’
Yeah, right. How was Dick, a self-described “porker'’ who never ran more than a mile at a time, going to push his son five miles? Still, he tried. “Then it was me who was handicapped,'’ Dick says. “I was sore for two weeks.'’ That day changed Rick’s life. “Dad,'’ he typed, “when we were running, it felt like I wasn’t disabled anymore!'’
And that sentence changed Dick’s life. He became obsessed with giving Rick that feeling as often as he could. He got into such hard-belly shape that he and Rick were ready to try the 1979 Boston Marathon. “No way,'’ Dick was told by a race official. The Hoyts weren’t quite a single runner, and they weren’t quite a wheelchair competitor. For a few years Dick and Rick just joined the massive field and ran anyway, then they found a way to get into the race officially: In 1983 they ran another marathon so fast they made the qualifying time for Boston the following year.
Then somebody said, “Hey, Dick, why not a triathlon?'’
How’s a guy who never learned to swim and hadn’t ridden a bike since he was six going to haul his 110-pound kid through a triathlon? Still, Dick tried.
Now they’ve done 212 triathlons, including four grueling 15-hour Ironmans in Hawaii. It must be a buzzkill to be a 25-year-old stud getting passed by an old guy towing a grown man in a dinghy, don’t you think?
Hey, Dick, why not see how you’d do on your own? “No way,'’ he says. Dick does it purely for “the awesome feeling'’ he gets seeing Rick with a cantaloupe smile as they run, swim and ride together.
This year, at ages 65 and 43, Dick and Rick finished their 24th Boston Marathon, in 5,083rd place out of more than 20,000 starters. Their best time’? Two hours, 40 minutes in 1992–only 35 minutes off the world record, which, in case you don’t keep track of these things, happens to be held by a guy who was not pushing another man in a wheelchair at the time.
“No question about it,'’ Rick types. “My dad is the Father of the Century.'’
And Dick got something else out of all this too. Two years ago he had a mild heart attack during a race. Doctors found that one of his arteries was 95% clogged. “If you hadn’t been in such great shape,'’ one doctor told him, “you probably would’ve died 15 years ago.'’
So, in a way, Dick and Rick saved each other’s life.
Rick, who has his own apartment (he gets home care) and works in Boston, and Dick, retired from the military and living in Holland, Mass., always find ways to be together. They give speeches around the country and compete in some backbreaking race every weekend, including this Father’s Day.
That night, Rick will buy his dad dinner, but the thing he really wants to give him is a gift he can never buy.
“The thing I’d most like,'’ Rick types, “is that my dad sit in the chair and I push him once.'’
早安您好 just axed us from their show on thursday morning for national day rally reports.. what the heck?!? to think that it was one of the first medias that confirmed with us.. THANKS LEH!
i was actually pretty excited on going down to the studios on thursday.. oh whatever..
still do look out for the report on The Cat, The Bride and 廖妈妈 on Thursday's TODAY papers..
time to do some publicity here!!! since it's been publicised on Zao Bao, UFM, Wo Bao and RSI already and also coming out in TODAY and 早安您好.. hehe.. juz have to publicise it here too!!
A cat in search for the perfect gift A man on a quest to select his bride A woman on a duty that never ends
A triple bill in 2 ½ languages exploring the simplicity, eccentricity and sacrifices in life.
一只在寻找完美礼物的猫
一个必须做出选择的男人
一位永远不用睡觉的母亲
一点偶剧、两种语言、三出戏。共同分享生活里的纯朴、荒诞与奉献。
Presented by Hokkien Huay Kuan Youth Drama Troupe
Date / Time: 25 - 26 August 2006 (8 pm)
26 - 27 August 2006 (3 pm)
Venue: Play Den At The Arts House
(The Old Parliament House)
Ticket Price: $18 (Not inclusive of $1 ticket surcharge)
Look for me for tickets now!! I promised it will be a great show!!
my life goes in a spin.. for the past week i'm shuttling from one place to another, one event to the next...
lessons from 10 to 6 on Monday.. really tiring.. but i'm really enjoying audio.. tuesday is another pretty packed day with lessons.. but we had siok visiting us and staying over which was really nice!
wednesday.. li sheng jie campus concert... he is really good live.. it's a pity i had to leave early to shoot my video project..
it was quite an eventful shoot.. haha.. firstly the camera refused to work cos of condensation problems.. then being the 7th month and us actually shooting a somewhat horror video, we actually scared a passerby in the process.. shunyi is really successful being a ghost.. haha..
and today.. i travalled 3 hrs back and fro to toa payoh only to be there for like half an hr.. all these to get an interview with Today.. hope the article will come out good manz..
and there's stil more editing to do, one last campus concert of Wilber Pan tml (if i decide not to stay on in the committee..)and the performance next week to take care off.. my yr 3 life has definitely started with a BANG!
i believe everyone has a little soft spot for fireworks.. everyone just love to watch them..
and for Singaporeans, it's especially so since fireworks is always linked to NDP and how the nation celebrates its birthday and its progress thus far... i think many of us just link fireworks to national day naturally.. and the increasing amount of money we are spending on fireworks display each year definitely shows something..
as for me.. there's definitely a soft spot for fireworks in me.. i'm so glad i actually got to play with them myself in Taiwan.. too bad it can't be done here.. of course the display is barely 1% of the magnificence of what is seen on display here.. at least i thought friday's display was great.. ) but still the feeling is completely different when you know that the fireworks was meant for you and you only and you actually physically light them up yourselves..
i definitely wish to play with them again someday...
i've never been so happy to be back in school.. seeing those familiar faces and going back to the familiar setting that i left 8 months ago... was really excited to see my friends again.. it's really a very cosy feeling sitting by the benches and having packet lunch with them, bitching about this and that, making lame jokes, just hanging out..
if going for exchange has taught me one thing, it is cherishing my friends and not taking them for granted.. really.. so glad that i'm back with all of them around me.. in school, in hall, in my CCAs.. feel so happy just having them around.. they are always ever so entertaining..
it's the official start of a crazy semester.. video I and audio I would be quite a killer.. I'm already having 3 hr video tutorials starting tomorrow when this is still the first week of school..
ha it's finally your turn! too bad you had to spend your birthday attending some boring seminars.. hope you had a great dinner yesterday yah.. feels good to have half the restaurant singing the birthday song and cheering for you? heheh...
it's actually my first time at Jumbo and i realised my first time eating black pepper crab! so much for it being a Singapore delicacy and having spent 21 years of my life here.. but the crab was really good.. yummy..
the added (unplanned) surprise of celebrating your birthday with 2 Norwegians and 1 American was cool wasn't it? and they actually met at a pub here and just decided to have dinner and hang out together.. it's cool.. this is what should happen when travelling man.. i remembered this saying clearly from a discovery travel and living program.. "travelling is about the people you meet along the way." i totally agree with it.. experienced it myself while travelling around Taiwan...
now i'm digressing..
feasting on the black pepper crabs! yum yum.. there was also the fried fish with nonya sauce which was really delicious!
a photo with the 2 norwegians and the american.. the lady is an american by the name of maryann i think.. did not quite catch the other 2 names.. haha.. they were really nice ppl who offered to treat us to dessert upon knowing we were celebrating siok's bday.. and it was with their help that half the restaurant got involved in singing the birthday song and wishing siok happy birthday!
as the holidays come to a close and school is starting.. it's time for gatherings again.. secondary friends that i haven't seen for god knows how long and rjco jie meis which i haven't met for at least half a year..
it's nice to meet up with friends again.. catching up and all.. and knowing that among my ex-classmates are aspiring doctors, lawyers, occupational therapists, musical therapists, engineers, accountants, businesswomen, economists, life scientists and the list goes on.. to think that we had the same interests when we were 15 yr olds which made us chose the same subject combi in sec school and hence becoming classmates.. but we are all now going on to pursue such varied interests..
class of DHS 4I'01... there were more that turned up.. wait till i get my hands on the group photos..
my dearie jiemeis which made my life in rjc so happening! still short of one who's somewhere in the US..
i experienced life as an extra for almost 10 hrs yest.. 8pm to 6am.. and i think we're only going to be paid 25 bucks.. that works out to be 2.50 an hr?!
actually we only had to be there till 1 am but being poor students and not wanting to let the taxi uncles earn our 25 bucks which prob would be gone on midnight surcharges, we decided to hang around till the 1st buses and trains start running and we had extra screen time cos of that(or so we belief)
so glad i met jocelyn and the rest there cos initially i was there alone a feeling kinda lost and out of place till they arrived.. we spend 70% of the time gossiping and 30% of the time fliming.. haha
and we met this guy from tp who was there on internship.. he so hated his job that he swore off productions altogether.. and i've also concluded that i would not wan to intern at mediacorp doing productions.. radio maybe but def not these drama stuff cos it's full of sai kang and u had a warped sleeping pattern.. now that was wat i wanna find out from being an extra this time..
behind the scenes of Without Warning (the show we're filming for)..
what a flimsy sign.. mediacorp could definitely do better..
my image for the show.. a passenger running away from a bomb scene.. with dirt on my.. haha
posing before the first take.. we are always full of ideas to get more screen time.. haha.. our 30secs of fame on national tv..
the scdf personnel.. they haf to carry so much equipment with them it's really hard on them.. bet they are paid more too lah..
getting bored of waiting..
we do wat cs students do best.. gossip! while waiting for the next shot..
the kids there are amazing.. they dun cry or make noise at all! dun even emote much.. they also dun seem to need to sleep.. but the lure of the sweet is too much for him.. he's juz so cute.. dun even know if he actually knows wat is going on with all the make-up he has on..
the make-up artist having a busy busy time.. but they are really doing a good job.. those injuries looked so scary i tot i was at fright nite again!
camera man hard at work.. extras busy whining away while we continue to gossip.. haha..
i dunno why those ppl are stoning away while there are injured ppl having a hard time.. if it were real i would curse at them for not helping loh..
so do look out for my 30 seconds of fame on "Without Warning", to be screened sometime in October! but u'll prob hear more of our screams than actually be able to see us.. ha!
the sets are pretty minimalistic, yet versatile and stylish.. singing was definitely great! costume good, lights good, acting good.. makes a wonderful evening at the Esplanade.. and somehow ancient chinese history appeals to me.. becos it's so mystical.. no one actually knows what really happens, what's fabricated and what's not.. then and again all things we see today are probably fabricated in a way or another.. (conspiracy theory!)
