Christmas Magic

Hello. I hope you had a great time on Christmas day.

ML managed to fly back home on Xmas day evening after two flights delay due to the stormy weather in united states. Brob is back!!

What did I do for X'mas? What else? EAT!! LOL

On the eve of Xmas, I went to the airport to pick Brob. Wanted to rush back to help out with the church musical but decided my dear Brob needed me more. Anyway, the actors were very committed and I think there's nothing more I can do to help and share anymore. In the evening, I went to LQ's house party. It was fun to sing and chat with her parents. After that we meet Brob again for short tea session and headed back home.

On Christmas day morning, I went to see the church musical. Couldn't get my backstage pass due to some miscommunication but I enjoyed the play anyway. I went back home to take nap right after that. I woke up by 5pm to get ready for Prince's house party. ATE & ATE & ATE! Fantastic food! Cat baked a log cake for us but couldn't join us. Yummy!! Brob ate to his heart's content. We were supposed to meet ML on Xmas but she fell asleep. Poor thing... after flying for two days and not counting the time stranded at the airport.

Love the diva earings Jacq got me. Love the Mac lipsticks and eye shadows from Cleo & Sharlene. Love the Bodyshop SPA body lotion set Liz & Jay got me! Love the PRADA parfume set Prince got me totally!!

But,
What I love most for x'mas present is...

To have everyone I love by my side. I'm thankful for this gift....

Gotta run people... Gotta attend the church play wrap party cum xmas celebration. Later tonight gotta meet ML, Brob , Prince and the rest! I LOVE MY LIFE!!

Work

Sorry everyone! I've been really really busy. Finally I've had bought a gown for Jacq's wedding!! YAAY!! Just a couple more christmas gifts to hunt for that's all. I never thought I could actually get sick of shopping. I'm kidding.. Nope I'm serious. LOL

Call time is 7am at changi beach tomorrow morning..... CHANGI!! I really don't know how I can manage to squeeze in time for work. Anyway, I've always have time for work. Who doesn't? LOL

Gotta go read my scripts and remember those lines now. It's already 1am.... Gotta wake up by 5am.. I'll blog soon...

Happy Holidays Everyone!!

Gone

You are my favorite cat.
I promise I will try not to cry.

A slice of my life this December

Wahhooo!! Da Moo Brob and Da Quack Duckie will be back on 24th Dec Christmas eve. This will be the best Xmas present for me! Missed them sooo much!

I have been very busy with friends, family, shopping and work, especially work, which is good. Good news is I have managed to cut down on my caffeine intake, limited to 2 glasses (max) of coffee per day and on most days, I drank almost none.

Looking back this year, I have had quite a happy year on the whole. There maybe times I felt down but I guess that's the part that had made my life journey interesting. I'm proud that I was able to overlook and move on. What didn't kill me only make me stronger. I love my life. After learning to appreciate for all I have, what I thought I didn't have did not feel important anymore.

Bonus of 2008:

1) New found friendship with 5 new friends
2) In good health
3) Accident free
4) Bought lots of shoes
5) Able to celebrate X'mas with friends and loved ones.
6) Two weddings (Jacq and Chili)
7) Went on a holiday with friends.
8) My mini concert at Esplanade
9) Able to do my part for charity
10) Received lots of love and support from family and friends.

And the list goes on.........
I'm thankful.

Real Life Comedy

For 3 days in a row this is just how clumsy I've had become.

Day 1
Someone stepped on my toes in the train.

Day 2
A)I bang my head on the glass door as I walk out of a shop.
B)Someone stepped on my toes again in the train.

Day 3
A)I almost fell off the stairs.
B)I fell out of the dressing room into the other dressing room next door when I was trying to take off my jeans to try on a dress....... LOL

This is sooooooooo funny! I prefer to laugh it off than to sulk over it.

Brain Fried

It's 621am now. Yet, I'm running away from work. First, it was facebook and now my own blog. I know I can do it. Yeah, after 5 cups of Vietnam coffee and an orange fruit. Oh, don't forget the fried rice I cooked and the 30mins long shower too. I'm now left with no excuses to run away.

It's not that bad actually. I think I should have more faith in myself. I should have paid more attention in class when I was schooling. But still I believe I can do it. I'm gonna do it no matter what.

I shall get back to work...... NOW!

Shopping Blues

I have been going around town hunting for the right gowns for JN's wedding. In the day I'm limited to wear only white for the occasion and as for the dinner, red, pink or gold. It's so hard to find the right gown. There is something in red I really like in Wisma but it cost me a good $600. Not gonna get that because it's too glamorous and I may over shine the bride. Besides, it's overly costly.

I'm glad I've already got myself new clothes for Christmas and new year, at least. Anyway, I can't believe it's so hard to find the right gown. Finally today I saw a red gown in Mango and its not too costly. Oh well, I better explore more options in Vivo City. New arrivals from Zara should be in by next week, hopefully. Now its too late to tailor make, can't keep on troubling Bro Rey. I almost forgot I also need to look for a new dress or blouse for an upcoming event..... Chinese new year is around the corner too. ARRGHH

Maybe I should also start digging into my wardrobe while I cross my fingers for some magic... Hopefully I do have a forgotten piece or two hidden inside. I doubt so...

I shall do Paragon and Raffles city on Friday. Hopefully I can find something in gold colour not red. Need to take a break for my feet still hurt big time.

Don LaFontaine : The Voice

We all know his voice but most of us never know his name nor how he look like.
The legendary voice behind more than 5000 hollywood film trailers and hundreds of thousands of television advertisements. He is Don LaFontaine.

In Memory Mr Don LaFontaine 1940 - 2008




Click here to Wiki
Click here to website

Babies of my family

Who's the cutest of them all?

First Pic: Baby Winni ( My Elder Niece)
Second Pic: Baby Fiona ( My younger Niece )



And the third baby below...........



MEEEEEEEEEEEE!!

Can't help it but to scream loudly here........

I'm very happy because , RAS IS GETTING MARRIED ON 27TH JUNE 2009!!

Slice of life this day

That must be a power shortcake even though the size is only 1.5inch by 1.5 inch. (Thanks to Cherlyn who bought it from HongKong for me) Yep, that's all I ate yesterday. I still didn't feel hungry when I wake up at 4am this morning but I thought I better get myself some food from the kitchen. I ran out of instant noodle... There's no bread on the kitchen counter but some left over food, vegetables , a piece meat loaf and rice. So I heated up the meat loaf in the rice cooker. Then I changed my mind and made myself a cup of coffee and ate another piece of short cake.

I still don't feel hungry. In fact, I'm feeling full now.

My elder niece visited her primary school for the first time yesterday. Awww..... Maybe I should get her something for school before her first semester starts in Jan. I think I'm gonna bring my nieces out for a walk in the park later in the morning. After all I haven't been spending time with them for a month.

Dad's operation will be tomorrow. I'll be there for him. I know he needs me.

I don't get to watch TV.

Many may not believe me when I say I hardly watch TV because of my profession as an actress.
But it's true I don't get to watch TV. My TV is shared by my family of 7, on 24/7.

7am-8am : My two nieces would watch their cartoons or DVDs.
8am -1130am: My father (Animal Planet)
1130am -2pm : My nieces and their cartoons again.
2pm-5pm : My mother's Chinese soap opera.
5pm-7pm : Father's Animal planet again.
7pm -10pm: Mother & Father's Cantonese TVB dramas on DVD
10-3am/7am : My brother's sport channel/ ESPN. (He would usually fall asleep on the sofa by 3am unless there's FIFA /EPL or worst, the world cup. )

The only day I MAY have the chance to even touch the remote control would be on Sunday afternoon, that's only when I get lucky. It is because Sunday USUALLY means mahjong day for my parents and as for my nieces, it's family outing day with my brother and sister in law of course. However I'm hardly at home on Sundays too. Where would I be? Hanging out with friends of course.

So now you see how I don't get to watch TV.

A Scorpion And A Frog

Last night JT told us of a very interesting story/fable he read from the world wide web.
Here it goes....

A scorpion and a frog meet on the bank of a stream and the scorpion asks the frog to carry him across on its back. The frog asks, "How do I know you won't sting me?" The scorpion says, "Because if I do, I will die too." The frog is satisfied, and they set out, but in midstream, the scorpion stings the frog. The frog feels the onset of paralysis and starts to sink, knowing they both will drown, but has just enough time to gasp "Why?" Replies the scorpion: "Its my nature..."

Zero Hour @ Club 21 sale

The Club21 sale was fantastic. Pity, I could only made it there during the last 30 minutes. Everyone went crazy there, both men and women. I think I must have shocked a staff member or a fellow shopper with my madness by talking to myself complaining loudly about having no mirror... haha

It was like war zone at the sale. Everyone was being super focus. This was the only time I saw all people in the same room came to life. No jaded eyes, no sad faces. The hall was filled with so much excitement that the energy level deemed enough to power our city for a week. All ages, the young and old, male and female, for the first time in the same space and time had the same and only objective in mind.

With deep regrets, I had only 30 minutes to do my retail therapy but I am glad at the same time for the very same reason that I, did not over spend.

I got a crush on Obama........

Hummm.... Maybe I shall do this song on my up and coming mini concert?
Only in America sweetie! Just kidding.....

Here's another one.....



I must say the special effects were good. Love it. Enjoy!

Heat Wave

Lately the weather has been really stuffy... The A/C is my new best friend even if it burns really big hole(s) in my pocket but that's what friends are for, I guess.

It somehow made sense when one of the new potential world leaders had taught us that Russia is a neighbouring country to Alaska. I suppose as we all live on the same planet so we all are neighbours. So if my friend who lives in Perth invites me over for tea, I shall have no problems getting there on time. After all Australia is our neighbour. Its just crossing the Pacific ocean that's all. Hummm I think I'll give it a pass on the baby shower party tonight at Ang Mo Kio. Too far from home.

Gosh.... It's Christmas season soon. Times are bad, so I won't be spending much on gifts this year. In times like this we do need to change. It's really time to change our spending habits.

I better go get change into something comfortable now. The weather's too hot. The cold wind that was supposed to be blown here from Alaska somehow got lost in the middle east. I ain't switching on the A/C tonight, can't afford to sew on new pockets anymore.

MIRROR - (Work in progress : Draft 2)

Mirror
A Monologue Written By Da Diva
(Work in Progress DRAFT 2)
---------------------

Woman(late 20s- early 30s)walks into the bathroom talking to the mirror.

You're so careful with things, people you'd care. No I mean to people you think who are worthy in your strange hidden world. You certainly took extra care with gifts people sent you as you'd always say, every gift is a thought and well wishes. You always get upset when things broke down, even for a cheap pen. How's that for a person like you? Sweet, wonderful, charming. How's that I never get to understand, the part for the only thing you'd break is me, no second thoughts. How strange... Its amazing how you could love and hold on to someone you hated? How's that? (beat)

And then I remember your little black book that you recorded all your hidden rainbow coloured life, the very reason you resented me for. (Beat) But how could you? How could you resent me for a choice you made? Maybe you have never made your choice. I don't know but I'd like to believe you did. I always believe you, I did, I still do, for all these years, can't you see? (beat, beat)

Sometimes I felt my life could end the very next day. Maybe I even wished for it. I don't know. But if it happens, I know I get to keep your love for eternity, I'm sure and that will be nice, more than... wonderful. This is really funny. Nope I'm serious, no I'm not. I mean really, funny. You know what's the funny part? (long laugh)(beat beat beat) Me. (beat) MEEEEEE! I knew it all along. You fu*king hate me! You FU*KING hate me! (Calms down) Yet I'm still here. (Beat, beat, interrupted by sound, turns her face to the door then puts on her smile) Yes honey!? In the bathroom! Just two more minutes please! (faces back to the mirror, beat) I don't know how you do it. I don't know how I did it. (Looks at herself at the mirror.Beat beat,beat. Quickly tidy up her make up and leave the bathroom)

Happy

Just read on yahoo news that "they" maybe taking off PUSHING DAISIES due to bad ratings. Noooooooooo! Yeah, just when I'm starting to kind of enjoy it.
Now I'm really looking forward to the new season of HOUSE and 90210.

I was at Scarlet Hotel for tea with Prince, Liz and JT last night. Nice place with sexy deco. Jones at Dempsey serves really good tea at very affordable price. Love the surroundings at Dampsey totally. Yeah, I've been having lots of tea sessions, be it day or night. Thats what my friends and I love to do when we hang out. Nothing beats interesting conversations amomg friends over a cup of tea and dessert. Love those discussions and debates from fashion to politics. A great way to learn from one another too.

I'm so gonna go swimming tomorrow with Mag. Its gonna be another fun day. I'm counting down the days when Brob and ML come back from UAE and States. Really looking forward to see them in a few more weeks. This christmas will be fun with all my love ones around me. I love my life.

Sleepless

I haven't been eating supper for at least two weeks. However, Jacq baked strawberry shortcake today. I couldn't help it so I had two servings. Okay, 3 servings. But I made it up by swimming for an hour at the pool. My body has been detoxing well, so I guess that's why I've been feeling weak. It must be the low sugar in my blood. Nope, I did not skip my regular meals and I'm glad I lost at least an inch from my waistline.

Not that I'm not sleepy now. I just didn't feel like sleeping that's all. Maybe it's the bears of Dow Jones tonight. But there's no reason for me to be sleepless over this because I have no investment in any stocks or such.

I have a wedding dinner invitation in Klang, Malaysia. At least this is a good news. I'm happy for this old friend who had found her happiness.

I guess it's the time of the year. Time to do some life re-evaluation.

No Regrets

I don't know if I am cursed or blessed in this case. Whenever I feel down, a few of my close friends will seem to have even bigger problems than me. Perhaps I kind of focus myself onto their problems, lending them my listening ear and after throwing in some cheap advise, when it's my turn to tell my story, suddenly my own problems seems to disappear. Maybe this is heaven's way of comforting me.

I'd always like to tell my close friends, if it can be solved with money, it's not a problem. To me, the worst problems are those that can't be solve with money. You can't buy all the time you need in the world with money if you have cancer. You maybe able to delay aging but you can never stop it with money. Whoever had passed on can't be brought back to life with money. You can't buy the smell of rain with money,can you? Like wise, no one can buy true love with money.

We are our own greatest enemy. We often kill ourselves with greed and envy. Contentment is the key to end all the sufferings. Those "what ifs" are also the top killers. I prefer to call them "cowardice". The fear of breaking out from the comfort zone. Comfort zone here means, things and situations that one are familiar. Sometimes when I get trapped, I would tell myself this, if my great-grandmother didn't have the courage to sail in that Chinese Junk, I would still be in China or maybe never be born. I shall sail on and make my own journey to add a brand new exciting chapter to my family history.

I don't know what's my future gonna be. Not that I don't care. I'm doing all I can at my best. For one thing that I'm certain is, during the last 5 minutes of my life on my deathbed I'd be smiling, because I know I did all I can for things I love to do. No regrets.

Blaaaaaaaa!

Blaaaaaaaa! I didn't do well in my audition. "Not My Day", is not a good enough excuse in my line of work. Actors are supposed to be master of emotion, I thought. However I was a dead fish. I need to slap myself 10 times for that. It's not about getting the job. It's about doing well. Moving on and will do better next time.

Met up with TC and J. We hung out at TC's studio for wine. 3 of us chatted till 4am. Today I was at wake of HC's grandmother. I'm so proud of HC because he never gave up his dream of being a commercial pilot when many around had laughed at his "foolishness". Now he's flying for the best airline in the world. The best part about him is that he's still the down to earth person I know.

Meeting PaPaP on Friday for birthday celebration dinner. This is gonna be so fun!!!

I haven't spoke to my elder niece for 3 days. I'm still very much upset with her. Blaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!

Audition & Preparation

It's time to work! I don't know if I would get the job but I'm happy to be called up for an audition. Its almost 3am now. Gotta focus on my preparation. Gotta break a leg!

Cheers!

Announcement

I need to earn some school fees for my acting classes. I'm trying to raise 50k to continue my acting education in Los Angeles. Hence, Nuffnang ads have been added to this blog. Please bear with me.

Thank you for your kind understanding.

Mirror On The Wall

Mirror
A Monologue Written By Da Diva
(Work in Progress)
---------------------

Woman(late 20s- early 30s)walks into the bathroom talking to the mirror.

You're so careful with things, people you'd care. No I mean to people you think who are worthy in your strange hidden world. You are certainly careful with gifts people sent you as you'd always say, every gift is a thought and well wishes. You always get upset when things broke down, even for a cheap pen. How's that for a person like you? Sweet, wonderful, charming. How's that I never get to understand, the part for the only thing you'd break is me, no second thoughts. How strange... Its amazing how you could love and hold on to someone you hated? How's that? (laughs) This is really funny. Nope I'm serious, no I'm not. I mean really, funny. You know what's the most funny thing is? (long laugh)(beat beat beat)Me.(beat)MEEEEEE! I knew it all along. You fu*king hate me! You FU*KING hate me! (Calms down) Yet I'm still here.(long beat, interrupted by sound, turns her face to the door then puts on her smile)Yes honey!? In the bathroom! Just two more minutes please! (faces back to the mirror) I don't know how you do it. I don't know how I did it. (Quickly tidy up her make up and leave the room)

Before Sunrise

At 630am I walked to the fridge at the balcony to get myself a drink. Yeah I know, don't ask me what's my fridge doing in the balcony. Its a two door fridge to store drinks, ice cream, chocolates, cakes, candy, fruits and a salted fish for the family.

Anyway..........

It was a long night as I was following the news about the depressing Dow Jones that had closed at 8579 and of course I was also busy with my face book games. Just as I was trying to visualize about whats gonna happen to our country and world's economy in my head, I walked to my fridge to get myself a drink and that's when I saw the first ray of hope.

I haven't seen such beautiful sky for a long time. It put a smile on my face. I suddenly got the urge to grab my passport and hop onto a plane so that I can immerse myself into the art of the universe. I'm dying inside to explore foreign land. To be able to experience sunrise at the Pyramids of Egypt or Machu Picchu would be totally perfect. However, I must first make my way to Adam's Peak. I regretted for giving up the plan to make my way there as I was overly tired with all the climbing and walking in other parts of Sri Lanka. That was 10 years ago.

Then again, the sun rays reflected on the HDB apartment blocks in view reminded me this. What sunrise can be as beautiful to be compared to as having my whole family sharing the experience with me under one roof even they were still snoring in bed at 630am?

I say, I have had experienced the perfect sunrise of all, this morning, at home.

Heart Attack At The Bank

I was at the bank today to withdraw from my unit trust investment as the market is really bad. True enough I lost total of 2k. ARRGH..... Oh well , at least I didn't lose everything.

The thing is the guy who served me at the bank today held the title of Personal Wealth Manager. Yet he didn't know CPF account number is the same as NRIC/ID number.... I was shocked when he asked me that question. He even doubted me.

The funny thing is he told me that my withdrawal from the investment will be dated tomorrow. He dared me that I should know this is the case since I make investment and as a front line he has to prepare me about it. I couldn't believe my ears! Every seconds in stocks, funds, forex can mean life and death. I know this very well because I used to trade in Forex. When a customer/client tell you to sell, you gotta sell immediately. Any further delay will cost possible losses. Time is really money. Wait till tomorrow?? What if the market crash again tomorrow? This is unfair to me. He just shrugged his shoulders.

I text messaged my friend who is the VP of the bank and he replied me that it has to be dated today. So I told that Personal Wealth Manager that it should be dated today. His explanation was the documents may not make it to the central on time.... I check the clock on my phone, it screamed 930am. So I told him that his VP told me that there's no problem and no reason why it wouldn't be dated today. Guess what the Personal Wealth Manager said? "Okay if the VP says it can be done then it can be done." I wanted to vomit blood at this point. What kind of answer is this?

I explained to him that I am not trying to tell him because the VP is my friend so that means I can cut queue and make unreasonable demands. But time is money especially in this case, no banks in the world does things like that. He just simply nodded his head. My heart almost burst and die on the spot. I picked up my phone and called my friend to double check again. I freaked out as its lots of money I'm talking about, well at least to me. My friend told me to take his name card and if transaction are not done today. He will file a complain.

It was then he asked me for my CPF account number. As I mentioned earlier he doubted me telling him that CPF number is the same as NRIC/ID number, he asked his boss for help. His boss came to his desk and confirmed that I was right. Then I took the chance to ask his boss if my withdrawal would be dated today. His boss ensured me that transaction will be done to date as they will do the faxing today. After the boss left, he the personal wealth manager finally admitted to me that he's new. At this point I almost burst out laughing. I told the poor stress out manager to relax and take his time to do the documentations.

I text message my friend again after I left the bank and told him about the poor newbie personal wealth manager who didn't know that CFP account number is the same as NRIC/ID. My friend's reply to me was "Haha Must give chance. All of us has been newbie before.Testing time now."

I totally agree. I am glad that I didn't scream, shout or bang table to get my withdrawal done. I can't get angry at the new guy. Do you remember your first day at work? Because I do. Me the famous blur queen who had made many customers vomited blood.

Swimming Cat

I'm back from the pool.
I swam but only 10 laps. The good thing is I didn't eat my strawberry sponge cake with peanut on the side, yet. I'm still glad I went swimming because I'm feeling good.
I'm so gonna swim again on Thursday.

Most of all, I'M SO GONNA EAT MY STRAWBERRY SPONGE CAKE WITH PEANUT ON THE SIDE NOW!

PMS Nightmare

I woke up from a nightmare crying out loud this morning. What a great way to start my day.
Thankfully the weather is cool today so today's not too bad actually. duh.....

Yesterday's shoot was fun. We went to a few good locations. Last location was at Sentosa beach area and we must have spotted 6 other couple shooting their wedding photos. I didn't know so many people are getting married.

I found my wedding gown last evening. I mean I found something I like to wear for my wedding cocktail. I even found a dress I'm so gonna wear during my pregnancy. Nope I wasn't looking for any of "those", just happen to pass by "those" shops and spotted something. Nope, my wedding bells are not ringing yet and I'm not pregnant. Duh.. Why am I even explaining?

Anyway....

Brob will be back on 22nd December! So is MAL !! Missed them both sooo much!!
My former classmate will be coming to this part of the world for the very first time during christmas. Yaay!!

Still, I am not in a good mood.... I've decided I'm so gonna swim 20 laps later. But before that, I want my strawberry sponge cake with peanuts on the side.........

Sleepless

Seriously, I don't see the point of trying to sleep now as its already 928am. Today will be Jacq's wedding photo shoot and I'm to be her PA cum outdoor make up artiste cum stylist cum whatever for the day from 11am -8pm.

I love helping out friends during their wedding, planning and especially photo shoot.

My all time favorite involvement to these weddings is still the HUNT for the perfect gown.

I must have been involved helping in at least 5 weddings so this means I have had "27 dresses"? LOL

I don't know how I'm gonna survive through the day without sleep but I guess 5 liters of coffee shall do the trick.

Yes, this photoshoot was supposed to happen last month but the couple decided to postpone it because they couldn't decide on the location for the shoot. I'm not gonna be the "second unit" today because I couldn't make it on time to borrow a good camera from my photographer friend.

I don't know why I couldn't sleep.

For the last two weeks, I have been losing sleep for no reason. I don't believe in sleeping pills. Maybe I shall get me some lavender oil for my pillows. I suspect these insomanic nights were due to my overdosage on sugar intake as I have been the official "white rat" of Jacq's Bakery.

Its 10am now. I better get going.

Cheers.

Drank Grapes

I was invited to the wedding dinner of Henry Thia's daughter. As usual, we the Jteamers had fun. For me, I shamelessly help myself to many glasses of wine. Please people, I need my vitamin C from the grapes. lol It's always fun to be able to catch up with good old friends from the business.

Dropping by...

I thought I just drop by my own blog for a while.

Not much happening except I bought another new pair of shoe, watched the F1 race on TV, followed CNN news on the mass hysteria of stock market and went to a celebration party of LL with Prince and JF.

I'm also re-reading Dan Brown's Angel & Demon, enjoying myself indoors in the nice and cool rainy weather. This very moment, breathing in the aroma mixed from both the rain and my cup of coffee makes me happy. Life can be simply beautiful. Good morning!

Monologue

From the film NETWORK (1976)

Howard Beale: I don't have to tell you things are bad. Everybody knows things are bad. It's a depression. Everybody's out of work or scared of losing their job. The dollar buys a nickel's worth, banks are going bust, shopkeepers keep a gun under the counter. Punks are running wild in the street and there's nobody anywhere who seems to know what to do, and there's no end to it. We know the air is unfit to breathe and our food is unfit to eat, and we sit watching our TV's while some local newscaster tells us that today we had fifteen homicides and sixty-three violent crimes, as if that's the way it's supposed to be. We know things are bad - worse than bad. They're crazy. It's like everything everywhere is going crazy, so we don't go out anymore. We sit in the house, and slowly the world we are living in is getting smaller, and all we say is: 'Please, at least leave us alone in our living rooms. Let me have my toaster and my TV and my steel-belted radials and I won't say anything. Just leave us alone.' Well, I'm not gonna leave you alone. I want you to get MAD! I don't want you to protest. I don't want you to riot - I don't want you to write to your congressman because I wouldn't know what to tell you to write. I don't know what to do about the depression and the inflation and the Russians and the crime in the street. All I know is that first you've got to get mad. (shouting) You've got to say, 'I'm a human being, god-dammit! My life has value!' So I want you to get up now. I want all of you to get up out of your chairs. I want you to get up right now and go to the window. Open it, and stick your head out, and yell, 'I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore!' I want you to get up right now, sit up, go to your windows, open them and stick your head out and yell - 'I'm as mad as hell and I'm not going to take this anymore!' Things have got to change. But first, you've gotta get mad!...You've got to say, 'I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore!' Then we'll figure out what to do about the depression and the inflation and the oil crisis. But first get up out of your chairs, open the window, stick your head out, and yell, and say it: 'I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This monologue is sure a killer. Love it.

Whatever! She's so cute!

Being Contented

I'm feeling proud of my new arrivals. Prince said I showed more feelings to my shoes than any human beings based on the way I looked affectionately at my 9 pairs of new heels, which was nicely and orderly displayed on the floor, fresh out of the box. Of course I denied his accusation.

Mom let out a sign and knocked her head with her hands muttering to herself " We have 7 people in the house with 700 pairs of shoe. 20 pairs belonging to 6 people and the rest of the 680 belonging to you." Nonsense. I don't own 680 pairs of shoe of course. Maybe just 40 pairs. Yes at one point I did own a good 100 pairs but that was so long ago.

Okay, enough of the bimbo-tic shoe talk.

I was at the Gala Premier of the movie "Connected" yesterday. It was a Hong Kong remake of the Hollywood film "Cellular". Louis Koo was cute as ever and Barbie Su made her entrance as beautiful as a goddess on the red carpet. Best of all, I love my door gift. The movie was enjoyable and funny though I did receive a few comments on my increased waistline as usual. This is not good but all I can say is, I'm working on it. Yeah, I do understand its part of the job for any actor to look good and these people do meant well.

The charity sale that I was involved was supposed to happen at the end of this month has been cancelled for unknown reasons. But a few more events had pop up.

It rained this morning. Love it. Nothing matters now except my cup of coffee and a good read of Elizabeth Gaskell's Wives And Daughters. I shall hit the gym after lunch.

My Favorite Actresses

Here's the list of my top 5 favorite Hollywood actresses and their movie(s)/work that I admire.

1) Merly Streep
(MOVIE: Devil Wears Prada, Death Becomes Her)
She's a super natural in her acting. I totally adore her. What I really admire about this actress is her acting technique in transition of emotion which is totally superb.

2) Vanessa Redgrave
(MOVIE: Atonement)
She had only one scene in Atonemnet and it was also the last scene of the movie. She gave such powerful performance that she outshone every actor in the movie and left me totally speechless.

3) Cate Blanchett
(MOVIE: Elizabeth, Elizabeth- The Golden Age)
Period and historical movie has always been the best challenge for many actors and in my case, a total nightmare. It takes a lot out of the actor to deliver such grand performance.

4) Marion Cotillard
(MOVIE: La Vie En Rose)
Her body language is so good that she delivered a very believable performance as Edith Piaf in La Vie En Rose.

5) Nicole Kidman
(MOVIE: Birth, The Others)
She always deliver truthful moments with her beautiful eyes. She's the perfect combination of both beauty and talent.

Preparation Season!

All right, there has been too much ranting on silly things on this blog. I shall stop complaining and whining away here. Well, at least for a while.

Banks in the states are either closing down or merging. But who am I to comment about the world economics here?

If you are asking me what have I been working on, I have only one word - READING. yep, I've been working on building my good reading habits again. After all I have more than 30 unread books on my bookshelf. Most of them are hard to digest and follow so I'm gonna read those easier ones to kick start my reading habits.

Two weeks later I shall start to get back working on my monologues again. It's important for an actor to work on monologues. Anyway the casting season is over, I shall prepare myself for the next round of audition season.

Currently I'm re-reading this book The Last Empress- The she-Dragon Of China by Keith Laidler which I had given up reading two years ago because I thought it was a little long winded for me at that time of my life. However this is actually an interesting book because the author is NOT a historian. So a few things here and there may not be as accurate and based on speculations which provide readers a new point of view. Anyway, I'll finish reading it this time. Who knows I maybe cast as Yehonala (CiXi) for my next role? An actor must always be well prepared or at least try to be prepared.

Being Adventurous

Sometimes over worrying kills not only your brain cells, it also kills your courage to move on to a greener pasture hence destroying all great possibilities one could have ever accomplished. Why be so afraid to lose? What is really there to lose? Why be afraid of the unknown? Why stay in the comfort zone to whine and wonder about the other side? What doesn't kill you strengthens you.

Rant

I need to RANT!! I really don't wanna talk about this here BUT.... ARRGH

My room is still in a mess. I hate my wardrobe! All my clothes seems to have shrunk to a much smaller size. Okay I admit, I myself is to be blamed for this tragedy BUT how can I resist sweet offers from dear friends and love ones? Lately Jacq has been baking so much and she has been stuffing me every 2 days with yummy cheesecakes and muffins from her up and coming FAT KITCHEN. Mom always get me Char Siew Bao from my favorite stall every Sunday for supper. Sam sends me her killer chocolates almost every 2 months from Europe. Prince spoils me with ice cream and desserts every week and my tummy needs to be filled with prata 3 times a week for supper. My nieces feed me with sweets everyday. Besides all these, there are so many dinner parties & invitations with really good food, how can I ever resist? Something must be done!! But I really don't want to spend 3 hours in the gym/pool every day to burn all these fats. But still something must be done! Okay, I shall only eat salad in the day and save my main meals for dinner and start to spend one hour every day to workout. Strictly NO supper!

I brought my nieces to Chinese Garden to see the Hello Kitty Lanterns. It was beautifully, costly. $15 for adults and $10 for kids for the entrance fees. I mean I am fine with the entrance fees and I think its quite worth it because I know my nieces are gonna enjoy themselves and so do I. BUT, those kiddy rides! $3 for a token? Some kiddy rides cost 2 tokens which means a good 6 bucks. Kids are always kids, so one ride is never enough and I have two kids with me. Plus the drinks, food and toys... ARRGH I felt bad I had to do some budget control on them because seriously I would rather save the money and bring them on a overseas trip so that they can learn about the world. I'm such a bad auntie to my nieces....... ARRGH

My super CPU is back. Everything has been upgraded and even had a new casing. The only thing recycled from my old PC is the motherboard and the fan. I'm happy with my new CPU but I really gotta stop spending money.

Seriously I think all these are what I call "positive stress". No big deal actually when I choose to look at the other side of the coin. I just need to laugh at myself for my silly thoughts. What I am so called suffering is really no big deal compared to those who are really suffering from the third world countries.

Have I not enough to eat? ABUNDANCE! Have I not enough to dress? A ROOM FULL! Have I not enough to enjoy luxuries? PLENTY! Then why am I ranting so much?

Now that I've found my balance, thank you for listening.

I'm having fun!

Finally finished my two days shoot today. A bit tired but happy. I'm happy not just because of money but I'm happy because I'm working. Working means I get to practise my craft as a actor. The crews and director are friendly and easy going. They took great care of me. Matter of fact is, this has been a fun and enjoyable shoot. Prince and I had dinner tonight at Raffles City with a very good and veteran actor whom I call him PaPa "P". Food was good and we even had a bottle of sake.

About 4days ago my blanket flew away after I hung it to dry on the pole/teck ko. I had used three clips to secure it to the pole but apparently it didn't work. I was just relaxing in my room when my mom came running to my door to inform me about my missing blanket. The pole was still there but the blanket went missing. Thank goodness the pole was still there because I live on a very very high floor. I decided to conduct a mini "CSI" while ironically I was wearing my CSI t-shirt I bought from Las Vegas. I looked outside the window at my laundry area but I didn't see anything below my apartment. I figured out it must be the "work" of the strong wind as it had been very unusually windy lately. I then decided to go downstairs with my two lovely little "CSI Assistants" whom both process the IQ of a 4-5 year old kid. ( Okay, both my lovely nieces are truly 4 and 5 years old. )

ANYWAY.............

After I got downstairs, my blanket was still no where to be found. I thought to myself it must have flew its way to Johor?! LOL Just as I turn my back to head back home, I SAW IT.
My blanket was nicely hanging on top of a tall tree. So how tall are we talking about here? Picture this, it took me a 4 step ladder and two poles/teck Ko that were attached together to extend the length to the maximum and a good 15minutes to "rescue" my blanket from the tree top. As a friend mine put it jokingly, GONE WITH THE WIND! I actually thought this incident was funny and also heart warming as both of my nieces, my dad and I worked together as a team on this "rescue mission".

My Chinese Poem: 寒潭望春

有心栽花花不开
肥田树枯水月寒
春去秋来时景迁
秋水难留又一梦
明月看似冬无限
鸳鸯寒潭望春临

I must be watching too much TVB period drama to come up with something like that. Feel free to correct my chinese poem.
Have a great weekend.

Serious Cravings

I wanna eat Bak Chang. Those with salted egg, pork and mushroom. Where can I get good Bak Chang? The one at Joo Chiat road is too far for me........ Arrgh. Finally I ate my last piece of Sprungli Chocolate Truffes. Anyone knows where can I buy this brand of chocolate? Dim Sum!! Where can I get really really good Dim Sum besides 126 at Geylang?

Yep. It's all about food. Maybe I'm just too hungry now.
I shall just shut up and go cook instant noodle, my favorite unhealthy happy food.
But before that I wanna share my "secret recipe". :P

Here's what I usually add into my instant noodle besides the usual egg and crab sticks.

1) One Table spoon of sesame oil
2) One to two table spoon of Chinese rice wine/cooking wine.
3) One tea spoon of ready made deep fried onion.
4) Whatever vegetable available in my fridge. Best is fine slice cabbage and bean spout.

So, what do you usually add into your bowl of instant noodle?

4 Birthdays and a box of mooncake

Recently I met my childhood friend/neighbour Siew Lan while doing a show at Suntec City. I haven't seen her for 15 years at least. I was rushing at that time so I quickly gave her my contact number and rushed back to the stage. I didn't expect her to invite me to her baby boy, Victor's first birthday party. I made effort to turn up even I had another birthday party that happened on the same day.

I was nervous when I got there and had to calm myself down for a good 15 minutes before I took the lift up to her apartment. I mean, seriously I haven't seen SiewLan for so long and I felt a little weird. But then I recalled the good old days. The days when we were both little girls, having fun with play pretends, using blankets to create costumes and playing badminton at the playground. Yet now we both have grown up and she's a proud mother to a beautiful boy. The best part of the party is I met another of our childhood friend/neighbour, Hun. Lots of flashbacks came into my mind as 3 of us updated each other about our lives.

I headed off to another mass birthday party after Victor's. Yep I use the word, MASS. We were celebrating the birthdays for 3 friends at one go. We had dinner at a German restaurant at Raffles City and then followed by kopi and tea till late. Can you imagine the big bag of birthday presents I carried that day? LOL

So it's mooncake festival. I'm so glad they have this mooncake "convention" at Raffles City. This made it so much easier for me to make my festive purchase. Met an old friend at one of the mooncake booth. I didn't recognize him until 10 minutes later.... He looked so different. I was ashamed of myself for being rude. Rude in a way that I didn't recognize my own friend. He gave me huge discounts for my mooncakes and that made me felt even worst.

This has been a heart warming week indeed, from meeting of childhood friends to celebrations of good old friends. I've got a callback from a production house so this means I may have jobs coming in which is good. Gotta save money for my education and spare some to pamper on my nieces. It's school holiday now. I guess I shall bring the girls to the beach or do some trekking in the jungle for a change.

Randy Pausch - Really achieving your childhood dreams

This ENTRY has been EDITED.

Here's something I wanna share with you on Life Lessons.

"The Last lecture" by Randy Pausch is truly amazing and inspirational. The speech was part of a series that the computer science professor Randy Pausch and other professors at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh were asked to think about what matters to them most and give a hypothetical talk.

Prof Randy Pausch age 47, with pancreatic cancer had died at his home in Chesapeake, Virginia on 25th July 2008. His last lecture titled "Really achieving your childhood dreams" became an internet hit with 6 million viewers. He had also published a book and it made it to the top of the non-fiction best seller lists.

Here's one of my favorite quotes from Randy :

Remember, the brick walls are there for a reason . The brick walls are not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something. Because the brick walls are there to stop the people who don't want it badly enough. They are there to stop the other people.

Check out his book THE LAST LECTURE

Transcript from the speech by Carnegie Mellon University CLICK HERE

Videos and Podcast can also be found in Itunes Store.

My cup of music

I'm very stingy when comes to buying CD these days. I used to spend lots of money on Cds and now I own at least 200CDs minus 100 that I had thrown or given away. A Cd cost about $20 on the average and multiply by 200 is really a big sum. So I've stopped buying them 5 years ago.

However, there's this CD I've been wanting to buy, the artist is Justin. For so many times at HMV, I put it back after picking it up. I just couldn't let myself buy it. So there's no music in my life for the last 5 years. This is sad and bad for a singer. But I thought, if I have to choose between singing and acting , acting will be my first choice.

Two days ago, Prince bought a CD for me. He got me Justin, the J TV album!! Awwwwwww.....

In my point of view Justin is the mixture of Taiwan's David Tao and Jay Chou and he's surely gifted in music. I must say I enjoy Justin's Cantonese album very much. I'm a big fan of Cantonese pop by the way and in case you didn't know this, I am a Cantonese.

So what are you listening to today? Coffee anyone?

Morning

What a wonderful morning! I'm all smiles. Coffee taste good. The air, something about the air today...... I smell happiness. It's a good sign. Now I didn't feel like repainting my room anymore. I realized I do like it as it is. Now that I feel much motivated, I'm gonna keep myself going. I can see myself working, reading, writing and typing happily all in my little cozy space.

Feels great to have a proper matching table in my room. But of course I shamelessly do admit that my room is still in a big mess. Land mines are everywhere. LoL At least the table is in and my bookshelf has been assembled with tiny help from my nieces. I haven't felt so good for a long time.

How are you feeling today? I hope you are well too.

There's room for transition

Talking about being diligent, I haven't been able to finish my spring cleaning. Shame on me. There have been too many excuses. The latest excuse now I heard from myself is that the laptop's back so I gotta test run it with my games and update my blog. Duh! Whatever it takes, I'll make a point to finish my spring cleaning by Monday.

Finally ML had spread her wings and off she flew to the states. Haven't seen her cry so much. The love of her life cried too of course. I admit I teared a bit. Good news is ML gonna be back during Christmas for a week or two. Brob has not been online lately. I wonder if he's doing fine.

My PC is not back from repair yet because I'm doing some major upgrading. The new graphic card, additional RAM, new hard disk and DVD writer stuffs. It broke down 18 months ago and I had let it rot in my room until my laptop too died on me a few days ago then I had no choice but to send both in for repair.

I'm "California dreaming" again. Missed my apartment in Santa Monica. I was amazed by the google map that allows me to see the exterior and the surroundings of the apartment! I wonder when will I be able to get back to Los Angeles. Don't think I'll rent the same apartment again if I ever get back there but I would love to stay in the same neighbourhood or somewhere in Marina Del Rey.

Yeah, I'm dreaming. Dreams are free and it cost almost nothing but a ton of sweat and blood to make it real and occasionally some tears too. Thats what we call goal. Without dreams there will be no goal in life. Without any goal in life, there is almost no meaning to life.

My Current Major Goals in Life:

1) Move to Los Angeles by 2010
2) Play Sims 3
3) Lose those 8 kgs I put on for 80s Rewind
4) Clean and do up my room
5) Grow and expand my computing business
6) Grow my acting business
7) Spend two or three weeks in India
8) Climb Mt Kota Kinabahru

Yeah, I included playing sims3 as one of my major life goals. LoL. It's the "pleasure goals" like playing sims3 that had kept me going and motivated to achieve those really difficult goals. Meanwhile I gotta work on my sub goal first, that is, to finish reading all the 20 acting books and 30 other books that has been collecting dust in my room.

Oh my........ I almost forgot, I must first clean and do up my room before I can start my readings. ARRGH! Back to square one. I hate spring cleaning!!

Laptop Down

I guess I kind of deserve it. I have been abusing my laptop all these while. I'm gonna send it in to the "hospital" and so this means I can't update much here anymore for the next 7 days. Strange, just as I am starting to do spring cleaning, my hard disk died on me. I guess its a good thing, so now I can fully focus on doing up my room. I feel so weird now using my bro's PC.

Maybe I'll also upgrade the RAM, change the dvd writer to dvd rewritable. So if this happens mean I gotta pay $500 for all the hardware and stuffs..... By the way did I mention my laptop's fan has been making strange noises too? LOL Might a well get a new Acer laptop at $899. Actually my laptop is not that old. Only almost 2 years old. It had served me well but ungrateful people like me abuse it by turning it on 24/7.

Priority, priority..............

Objective: To create a comfortable, cozy and beautiful space for work, creativity and relaxation.

First thing first:
1) Spring cleaning : Throw out old and useless items in the room to make way for new incomings.
2) Fix the laptop only where it need to be fixed. Change only the hard disk.

Guess I won't be upgrading my laptop after all. LOL

On Wednesday after the new furniture comes in, it'll be "LEGO" time!! I'm really looking forward to it. It's fun to assemble your own furniture.

I hate spring cleaning because it's hard to throw things away. Too much sentiments in me. But I have been doing well for the last 12 hours, I hope so.

Spring Cleaning

I made muffins for the first time. It didn't taste good but still edible. LOL

Brob is leaving tomorrow afternoon so I can't go for the WallE Gala which happens at the same time. For the past two weeks I've been spending lots of time with friends that are going away for a long time, and also I played some catch ups with a few good old friends and people that I have been neglecting. I guess after both ML and Brob take flight, it's time to give lots of well deserved attention to my two nieces.

I bought some furniture for my room FINALLY. Those new pieces really means a lot. For a long time since I moved into this jumbo apartment, my room has only a 2 door conner wardrobe and a bed and two mismatch pieces from my old home, I've been using my mom's dresser next door. Mainly its because I thought I had over spent on my budget for my room in the first place. I kind of blew 2 thousand dollars away with the curtains, mattress, pillows, bedsheets, wardrobe and paint. So this trip back to Ikea, I got myself matching furnitures, a chest of 3 drawers which double up as a dresser, a book shelf, table lamp, a writing table and a chair and surprisingly it cost me less than $300 this time which includes delivery. The color theme of the furnitures in my room are, white and silver. Most of my walls are white except for one side which is painted in purperish-pink. My bedsheets are in whites and purpleish-pink and so are my curtains.

I'm making another trip back to Ikea to pick up some stuffs next week. Gotta get new bedsheets with matching curtains, a new curtain rod and some nice boxes to organize my things too. I hope I won't spend more than $200 this time because I am thinking of repainting my room.

By the way can anyone tell me where can I get a nice sleek looking fan in shades of whites and silver? Mom made it a law in the house that no one is to turn on the the AC........

Unjust

This is a very silly part of me, I know. But the inner child really wants to play. There's no logic and pretense to it. I must do it sometime, sooner or later. Worn out by the old age of empire, tired of holding on to the endless zero hour. I need to move on for my conquest to command and conquer and head back to some sim-plicity, at least for a while. Why is this happening to me?

Perhaps its the trip to the EA office that trigger all these mixed feelings. I can't help but to be awed by the wall of fame, 10 years of fun and for me it all started with the need for speed. The most painful moment was the feeling of so near yet so far. Those game testers were cruelly teasing my inner child with their super high tech machine and super big flat screen TV. So much envious for the 360s while the old halo looking rusty above my head. Those were the days.... I had to focus on what I was supposed to do instead and had to keep on reminding myself that I'm there at the EA office to work because that was my location on set, for the day.

An evil thought came into my mind this moment of time, especially after both Brob and Mag bought themselves new laptops. I have the urge smash my 2 year old laptop to make excuse for a new one, so that I can be reunited with my virtual world once more. Yes you may, go on and minus 80 points from both my IQs and EQs.

Picture paints a thousand love

Busy

Sorry ppl!! I know I haven't been updating my blog. I've been really busy with lots of things. Friends, family, shoots and auditions.

I haven't got time to even sort out the pics for my Tioman trip....
But I'll find time next week to put them up here. Anyway this weekend I'm going to chalet with my friends. Will update soon!

Back To Life

In real life no matter what happens, the sun will still shine the same the next day. Not that I don't feel sad about the deaths of my two relatives anymore but I have to make sure the sun in my heart still shines for the living such as my friends, relatives and family. It's time to let go and move on. It's time to get back to work. It's time to come back to life.

My next shoot date will be on 6th August. Small part this time but in the actor's 101, no part is too small and creativity should be the main focus point of any actor.

I was at the Money no enough2 movie gala and walked the red carpet. Even though I was smiling and waving to the audiences on stage at Vivo City but actually I had fallen ill on that day and with the 5 inch heels I wore added more burden to my already weaken body. But I really love those shoes even they were killing my feet. So much for the price of beauty........

On the 9th August I'm gonna be Jacq's 2nd unit wedding photographer cum outdoor make up artist. This is gonna be fun because we are going to various location from 8am - 11pm for the shoot and the highlight of the photo shoot will be during the fireworks! It's been a while since I work on a digital camera. Gotta go to my photographer friend and beg him to give me a refresh course.

I'm currently still working on DIVA Part3 - Being Versatile.
I'll post it up as soon as possible.

DIVA Part 1 - Being Diligent - Click Here

DIVA Part 2 - Being Intelligent - Click Here

Thank you my dear friends

Special thanks to Princessann and Cherlyn for the messages. Love you babes totally. Hugz

3 quarter empty

3 quarter empty glass of water or just a mere quarter full of water? Either way it leaves me the feeling of total dissatisfaction. This feeling is different from the half full or half empty glass of water theory thingy, if anyone get what I mean. Never mind...............

Another death occurred in my family. Two deaths within 3 days. Did I mention I also saw a dead kitten just 200 meters from home?

Yeah, I'm angry. I was upset but now I'm angry, at myself. Three life lessons learned from these three deaths, 2 humans and a cat.

I'll be a stronger person the next day.........

Life and Death

Sorry, I've not been really in the mood to update my blog.

1) My grand uncle had passed away two days ago......
2) PMS
3) Suffering from headache, heartache and indigestion.
4) 2 good friends leaving in August.
5) One of my best friend SQ is suffering from depression.
6) Brob is trying to move on after his break up.
7) Seriously refraining myself away from Godiva ice cream and those world class chocolates.

The only good news are:

1) The arrival of the new born baby girl of Mark & Cat Lee.
2) Prince got me the personal mini coffee maker I always wanted.
3) Bro Rey designed a pretty dress with real crystals and earrings specially for me to wear it to movie gala.

Oh well look at the bright side, at least there are some good news. But I must admit, I'm running away from being upset over the death of my beloved grand uncle. I don't wanna talk about it anymore for now. Will be back soon next week to update when I feel better.

Awakening

I love traveling because there is always something for me to learn from all my trips somehow. Years ago, when I was at the Great Ocean Road in Melbourne, I learned about how life can be beautiful at the most depressive point of my life. This trip back to Tioman Island, I learned that I do have a wonderful life.

5 of us were tracking to another Kampong in the forest along the coast. 4 of us were amazed by the scenic view as it was the first time for my friends to be on this beautiful island but for me I have had lost count. It was at this very same moment I realized I do have a great life! It's not about bragging of how many times I have been there but that moment when all the flashbacks of my life adventures came into my mind, I must say I did have a wonderful life!

At the Rockfall we met a couple and their children, I gladly shared my past experiences of the island with them. When the lady asked me how many times I've been there I told her I must have been there for 20 times. It was the look on her face again made me realized I do have a wonderful life!

If I have taken the beauty of the island by granted, I must have been taking my own life as in what I have for granted too. How could I? There's nothing wrong wanting a better life but I guess one gotta stop and look around at times, for contentment is also the basis to true happiness.

I can't write anymore now as I'm brain dead at 435am after a movie and supper. Will be back with pics and updates soon! Good night and good morning.......zzzzz

Back to Reality

Just got back from holiday yesterday and I actually slept from 6pm till 1030am the next day......
Will put up some pics soon! Meanwhile, I gotta go hug my pillow first...... Meeeeeeow!

Talking to Diva

Is this for real? I can't tell but I'm not gonna look back because I'm looking forward.

Holiday

Yeah finally! I'm soon going for a short holiday on coming Monday with many of my friends. Brob is back from UAE and ML is leaving in August to NYC for school, I guess it's great to finally being able to spend time together. 6 of us are gonna max it out and have a great time and this trip will bring back good memories for years to come. I'm gonna bring my DV! So now it leaves me last 3 days of road show before the fun begins.

By the way I did a photo shoot two days ago. Love the gown Bro Rey put on me. Come back soon for all the fun pics!!

Love this quote totally!

Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery and today's a gift. That's why we call it "The Present".

Air Mail

The course catalogue finally arrived after crossing halfway round the globe. I was still dreaming and fantasizing about enrolling myself and spend 3 years in this prestigious school of dramatic arts until I opened the catalogue and saw the super unaffordable tuition fees. But this ain't gonna stop me. I'm gonna write in to apply even though I don't know if I can even afford the tuition fees for just the summer class.

Meanwhile, more course catalogues will be flying in from everywhere for the next few weeks. I'll just send in applications and see what happens. I may not even be accepted to any of my top 3 choices for I can't expect myself to be as lucky as the last time when it happened. But as I said, I'm still gonna try.

Two summers ago in Los Angeles, every time when my classmates complained about our intensive classes, I would tell them how lucky they were to have some of the best acting schools in the world right in their country while I have to fly all the way there and was almost being sandwiched to death in between two "coma-like" passengers for 18 hours on a cheap economy airline.

So this time, if it happens, it'll happen. When it really happen I'll find ways to deal with it. If it doesn't happen, I'll work harder and try to make it happen again. I miss school!

DIVA - Being Intelligent Part 2

For now I see myself retiring in Tuscany, 20 years later. I've never been to Tuscany myself but I've seen it in the movie "Under the Tuscan Sun". Everything starts with a dream and I've been dreaming all my life. I dreamed to be an actress as a child and some years later, I started to live my dream, for real.

The word "actor" is associated with fame, glitterings, attention, glamour, and admiration to many but in real life behind the scenes and curtain, the first lesson an actor needs to learn is how to deal with rejections. Dealing with rejections is one of the most important part of the acting business.

Selling dreams and fantasies are of a natural job of an actor. An actor sells a persona that many audiences themselves sometimes hope they'd be or possess. From physical likes to the romantic scenes the actor played, a dream is seemingly alive. In Bollywood, the biggest movie "factory" in the world which churns out about 5000 films a year says it all. As Jonathan Torgovnik, the illustrator of "Bollywood Dreams: An Exploration of the Motion Picture Industry and Its Culture in India" says in his book , "It is about going to see the actors larger-than-life. It is about living the glamorous life for a few hours and leaving your daily hardships behind".

So to some audiences, the actor lives in a perfect world because the actor seem to be using the least amount of sweat and blood to earn a living. Because of the mistaken perception, many perceive actors as bimbos. Ironically, being bimbo is also a persona that sells well as typecasting in the acting business in many cases.

The whole point of "Being Intelligent" here means to have high level of emotional intelligence, the will power to overcome and breakthrough one's pessimistic mind, mental blocks and dejection caused by both internal and external factors in order to achieve the desired goal.

The secondary is to be able to deal with rejections and dejection such as; being typecast , unable to get acting jobs for months which may lead to many monetary pressures from immediate family members and relatives, disapproval from casting directors, directors and audiences, being misunderstood and misjudged etc etc. The acting business is also about the waiting game of the long overdue big break for the actor that can lead the actor into serious dejection which may last for months and even years. There's a term in the acting business which describe best, "The struggling actor".

Come back soon for "DIVA - Being Versatile Part 3".

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I'm still in the process of learning to be Diligent & Intelligent in everything I do. Just like how one can't drive or operate a vehicle simply by learning the basic or advance theory, one has also got to learn the practical part before getting the driver's license too. Which means to say, I'm now learning to put into practice of what I had learn in theory.

So where do I get these "ideas/theories" about acting from? Acting books, acting coaches, autobiographies of great actors/ great acting teachers and many veteran actors I met on set.

All the above are my daily struggles and my learning process in general as a working actress and I'm glad to share my 2 cents POV here with you.

DIVA at War

Last two days, I've been working on writing the part 2 of my Monologue " Diva - Being Intelligent". However, I seem to be having mood swings. I didn't feel like doing anything which violated my number one DIVA rule, Being Diligent.

How ironic..

I've been siting in front of my laptop for the last two days and doing all I can to stay focus on being diligent while having a major war going on my mind to be "intelligent". Let me get hold of myself and I'll be back soon.

Additional Scene: I'm glad I've overcome my mood swings and had completed DIVA - Being Intelligent Part 2.

Deepest Sympathy

My deepest sympathy and condolences to Simon Wong and his family on the demise of his beloved wife PeiQi who passed away peacefully on 23rd June 2008.

It's not easy for a couple to stay married as divorce seems too easy these days. Marriage is really a big commitment and seriously how many can really last till the "till death do us part"? Simon, who I worked with during 80's Rewind, had sure live up to his marriage vows to his beloved wife when he said "I do". I admire Simon, for he is a man who had proven his words by going through thick and thin with his wife all the way even when cancer took his beloved wife away.

DIVA - Being Diligent Part 1

Diligent
adj. Marked by persevering, painstaking effort

Diligence

n.

1. Earnest and persistent application to an undertaking; steady effort; assiduity.

2. Attentive care; heedfulness.

The word says it all be it in noun or adjective form. It is also the foremost important part of being an actor. To be an actor, one has to be prepared to go through a life long learning process.
That means, to put in a great deal of effort in learning. It's not enough to be good in doing something because everyone is good, one has got to be great. The secret for being diligent is simply not to give up during the learning process. There is no short cut unless one decides to quit acting.

One of my acting coach once told me, the minute you have keen interest in something, that is the minute you start to develop a talent for it.

To learn acting is like a chef learning culinary skills. Everyone and anyone can cook. The minute you make half boil egg for breakfast means you can cook and can start to call yourself "The Great Chef" in your very own kitchen. Yes, only in your very own kitchen. LoL

The question is, how many times have you overcook or under-cook your half boil egg before you perfect the skill of getting it right? So the story moves on to one fine day you became so good at half boil egg, you decided to make scramble egg and the whole process of trial and error begins again and again and then again. You then became so good with cooking eggs in 101 different ways, you move on to making sandwiches or baking bread for breakfast. Suddenly on one morning out of the blue, you decided that you were wasting too much time making your own breakfast and decided to order in. That's the day you stop being a chef. The same goes with acting.

So what's there to learn as an actor besides acting? For example let's just say when a scene requires an actor to be a chef , an actor has to know at least the correct way to hold the knife or wok in order to make the scene work. Of course, an actor does not need to murder someone before acting as a murderer in a scene. It's also important for an actor to know when to draw a line.

One may ask why does an actor got to learn all these skills beside acting? You see, as actors we audition for roles just like anyone who goes for job interview. In many cases, actors may lose their chance to be cast in a film/Tv series because he/she does not have the "special skill" such as rock climbing, horse riding, or swimming required for the role. Yes, in a few special cases the actor will be sent to classes for whatever special skill that is required for the role but this is rare although it happens. Once I lost a role because I can't drive a car. The other time I was lucky to be sent for special dance lessons required by the role of geisha when I was casted in "Dance Of A Modern Marriage".

As there are one million things to learn as an actor such as the acting, singing, voice training, accents, dancing, martial arts, foreign languages and etc etc, the hardest part is to keep one's interest in learning. The moment one starts to lose interest in something, the usual "excuses" will be:

A) I have no time.
B) It's boring.
C) This is too difficult.

This is the time when the "Intelligent" part comes in. Come back soon for DIVA- Being Intelligent Part 2.

I'm still in the process of learning to be Diligent in everything I do. Just like how one can't drive or operate a vehicle simply by learning the basic or advance theory, one has also got to learn the practical part before getting the driver's license too. Which means to say, I'm now learning to put into practice of what I had learn in theory.

So where do I get these "ideas/theories" about acting from? Acting books, acting coaches, autobiographies of great actors/ great acting teachers and many veteran actors I met on set.

All the above are my daily struggles and my learning process in general as an actress and I'm glad to share my 2 cents POV here with you.

Blessed

On Saturday after the HPB Road Show, I joined the rest of the Jteamers at Bright Hill Monastery's fund raising event for the SiChuan Earthquake. By the time the fund raising event ended, I was half dead but happy to be able to do my part to help. This event made me realized once more just how much I was blessed in life.

Sometimes one just gotta take a look at those less fortunate to appreciate the blessings in one's life. My mom taught me this when I was young. We were on vacation to China, and visited the house that once belonged to my great great grand father somewhere in a village near Canton. I saw a young boy about 3-4 years old, he was removing meat from a hill of oysters using a sharp pointed tool with his tiny hands. My mom said to me "Never compare yourself to those people who you think that are luckier than you, see the little boy over there working? Now who is really the lucky child here?". I was that lucky child on vacation for one entire month with my family.

I'm thankful my parents are still in pink of health. I'm thankful to be surrounded by everyone I love. I'm thankful for having food on my table. I'm thankful to have a home. I'm thankful to have the two monsters (my beautiful nieces ) cheering me up everyday. I'm thankful to be able to follow my heart in life. I'm thankful to be alive.

I hope the less fortunate will be blessed with beautiful things in life and the fortunate ones will appreciate for what they were blessed in life and for that I will be thankful too.

Additional Scene: I found an interesting English audio on the website of Kong Meng San Phor Kark Monastery / Bright Hill Monastery by Venerable Tenzin Palmo on Transforming Problems into Wisdom.

Teaser: Being DIVA

So what's really the meaning behind Diligent Intelligent Versatile Actress ?

Come back next week for the real drama in Being Diva Being Me!

Comedy Of Errors

"If It Ain't Broken, Don't Fix It."

This is whats happening to my blog now because I tried to change the blog skin.
So meanwhile please kindly bear with the layouts and stuffs while I'm on my way out to get myself a copy of "The Complete Idiot's Guide To Blogskin" .

Additional Scene (2hours later): Guess I kind of like the way my blog looks for now. I mean you should have seen how I freak out just now after uploading a new skin and got everything messed up and missing. Oh well, at least I kind of fix it back to what it look like before.

Think Twice

Does anyone ever have to call the AA in twice in the middle of the night just to jump start the car engine?

We did.

0114am
Prince's car Tobey died on us at Orchard Road after we picked up our friend whom we had made plans to go for tea together somewhere out of town. We had no choice but to call the AA in. Luckily we didn't have to wait for long. The nice "uncle" who drove a van from AA recharged the car battery and advised us to replace the battery the next day. He also said it should be able to last us for a night. So off we drove our way to our usual kopi place and it was then I randomly decided to name the car Tobey.

Three over hours later at 0430am
When Prince was about to send our friend and me back home. Tobey died on us for the second time. Maybe the car didn't like its new name...

At 0500am, here comes my dramatic moment
When the AA tow truck arrived, (yep this time is a tow track not van) I was thinking to myself, if a tow truck were to tow a vehicle and passes through the ERP, does this mean the same vehicle that is being towed has also got to pay ERP?



Is there any difference between the pic above and below? So its one or two vehicle? Chicken & Egg question! LOL




You can't blame me for asking this question at 0500am after being wasted from 3 big cups of tea. I mean, to me technically it's only one vehicle passing through the ERP gantry. Think about the container truck, you'll get what I mean. If one can attach the container to the truck and still count it as one vehicle, how about the tow truck? Yes, on the surface it's two vehicles passing through the gantry but the one behind has no driver and not moving on its own which is the same case as the container.

Yeah I know... Our friend rolled her eyes on me after I asked her the same question. The last time I check, I wasn't blonde. Maybe I should get myself a new mirror, a driver's license and some sleep.

Additional Scene: I can't believe I am back to add pics to this entry. I should just GET OVER IT! LOL My contradictions........

From The Internet

This is indeed touching and inspiring. However on the second thought I'm just wondering, does such BF really exist? It's really as hard as hitting the jackpot to get that triple 7. Everyone hit the jackpot at least once in a lifetime. The question is, do you see it or you don't?

Being Me Now

My Sunset



My Ancient Wisdom



My Impulses



My Brain Food




My cravings



Yay! I'm enjoying my 3 off days now.