Finally, after around a week of long hours and rather intensive filming, "Hole In The Wall" has just wrapped...

Perhaps it was the amount of time and energy we've placed in this independent project by Digital Grain Production, the final moment seemed pretty anti-climatic...

While the rest had to clean and pack up the rented apartment that we've been shooting in, I had to leave to catch a long-gone last train...

Oh well, it had been a really fun and interesting experience and working with this wonderful set of cast and crew made it all worth it!

Now I am so looking forward to a few days of rest and relaxation, before more work begins and the Chinese New Year starts...

Before I go remove the character "Weijie" from my own being, I would like to thank the following people for being so patient and wacky during this production...

Hole In The Wall

(... Credits ...)

Apologies if I missed out anyone or misspelled any names!

Also, I wish a Happy Birthday to Kai, Edwin and Jon, as well as Jon's family for providing us with a wonderful homemade pizza meal complete with delicious one-of-a-kind Honeydew Sago dessert!

Can't wait to see the final completed film, but that would be some months later, and most likely through film competitions, screenings and festivals. Do lend us your support when it's offically released by then!  

Expect loads of photos coming soon, but don't hold your breath for them just yet (let me catch mine first!)

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One job's done, more to come...

Met up with Jann to collect my fees and to The Eye Place hoping to get my own prescription glasses with the Swissflex frames...

Qiaoyun said she couldn't make it after all, so I passed Jann a DVD copy of my entire set of photos that I took during the short film production...

Then I headed off to the nearest EC House barber to get rid of the last remnants of my film character, and get a fresh new hairstyle...

This is me now...

Edric Hsu

And on the way out of the mall, I found myself splurging on more design books and some magazines at MPH Bookstore, before chancing upon Jann, Qiaoyun, Jon and some film director having a meal at a restaurant there...

No wonder they couldn't join me for dinner...

Anyway, I found this place at Capitol Building that sells Chicken Rice, and I tried out their Lemon Chicken Rice (comes with free delicious soup) and homemade Water Chestnut drink for S$5. Not bad, worth dining there again...

On the way back, I changed my mind about the Swissflex specs, and decided not to get it after all. Maybe next time...

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Here are some back-dated photos taken on the 1st Feb 2007, with the talents from the New Moon Rice TVC shoot, Fiona and Lester...

And it's in two parts: Food & Drinks...

Teahouse by The Asian Kitchen

(More Pics Inside...)

Bobby's Taproom, Grills & Ribs

[break=More Pics Inside...]

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More back-dated photos on the way!

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During the past couple of days, I had the pleasure of attending the following two very different, yet very entertaining, stage performances...

The first was with Chee Kam, Sebastian and Wilsurn, for this show:

TWO OF US by 2 On Stage 

Conceptualised, written, directed and performed by two wonderfully talented young Hong Kong actors, Amornsomboon Pichead and Tong Wong, with a small ensemble crew, the guest actor, May Chan, and music by Matthew Ma (both of whom I'd the pleasure of working with in "Happy Ghost" musical some years ago), "Two Of Us" was staged at the Esplanade Theatre Studios in Cantonese, with a minimal but very effective set...

(Read More In Here...)

The other show I caught, with Adrian, was:

MULTIPLE PERSONALITIES DISORDER by Hossan Leong

Looking at the credits in the poster (Selena Tan & Mr Miyagi in the creative department), and knowing the irrepressible Hossan, you'll expect that this show is bound to entertain with a lot of local humour and a few pokes at our country's social politics...

And it did!

[break=Read More In Here...]

Hossan marvellously spoofed various celebrities like Barry Manilow, Whitney Houston, Richard Simmons, Prince, Kenny Rogers, Michael Jackson and Cher etc to hilarious comedic effect, and I really couldn't say which was a better impersonation - it's all fun and OTT...

But behind all these funny moments were many local news topics and issues that we are familiar and concerned with: the gahmen's aim to attract foreign talents and the different expectations that come with their employment, what it means to be a civil servant, the staging of IMF, the NKF trial case and others...

If it's hard to do a two man show, it's even harder to do a one man show. Hossan pulled this off with his comic timing, quick costume changes, and entertaining song-and-dance numbers (despite some rather contrived lyrics)...[/break]

Kudos to these wonderful performers! I'm now so inspired and itching to perform on stage again after watching them...

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While everyone is getting couply and doubly happy on Valentine's Day, I didn't actually have any plans...

Okay that's not entirely true. The original plan was to stay home and do some major spring-cleaning, then hit the gym for a much needed workout...

Then a friend who just returned from abroad called to meet up for afternoon coffee at Vivo City, and some photo taking of the interesting Toyo Ito architecture and sculptures...

At the same time, another similarly-single friend decided to meet up for dinner after all, also at Vivo City, which worked out fine for me since I was already there...

We ended up at one of my favourite and often-visited restaurants...

The Asian Kitchen

Dinner was fun, and conversation ran from common topics like our student days at QUT, favourite songs etc, to diverse ones like marvelling at how the couple sitting next to us remained silent throughout their dinner, yet seeming to pay more attention to our chatter!

Then we continued our reminiscing of fond memories at Pacific Coffee Brewery, where I had afternoon coffee earlier, until they chased us off at the closing hour...

Well, I enjoyed myself today with good food and company, but totally ignored my original plans of gymming and spring-cleaning...

Will do those tomorrow, I promise!

3 angel(s) visited

Yes, today I've lived healthily (so far). After spending the afternoon at the gym, I was totally exhausted, but feeling very much alive...

Dinner consisted of something I've probably only eaten like once a year: Yong Tau Hoo (how-do-you-translate-this-into-English?)...

After a surprisingly satisfying meal, I headed over to the library to return one of my overdue books (there's another one but I have not found it yet...), and then sat down to do some sketching...

Dropping off the rat race into the cat chase...

Now I am home, showered and settled, I am feeling hungry again... dammit!

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Today's family reunion dinner was taken at Cousin Thomas' place just like last year, and together with his wife,  Cousin Barry and Auntie Siew Gek, they cooked up a wonderful ten course dinner!

Here are the pics...

CHINESE NEW YEAR 2007 REUNION DINNER

(More Pics Inside...)

Dinner was excellent, and I am now looking forward to tomorrow's dinner already!

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Firstly, I wish to thank all of you for showering me with your support, blessings and love in the past year...

Also, thanks for the wonderful and some rather creative greeting smses. Although I have said I'll rather not exchange any greeting smses, and though I might not have replied, I still feel blessed with your good will and efforts...

Now that the Year of the Dog is coming to an end, I wish all of you a wonderful Year of the Pig, filled with good news of love, happiness and abundant prosperity!

Huat ah!!!

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Here's another major food post, this time of our first family dinner during Chinese New Year...

The previous night's Reunion Dinner saw just one table of us eating. This time, it's about 33 of us sharing two big tables, and consisted of about seven branches of the maternal side of our family tree...

Here goes...

Food prepared by Auntie Siew Gek and Cousin Barry, with help from their family members...

(More Food Photos Within This Link...)

There are still many more photos to post, so I'll try to keep up to speed...

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Early in the morning, Bryan called and asked me to join Ian and him at his place for breakfast, before heading out to the temple for prayers and blessings...

Here's our breakfast, a traditional Hakka dish prepared by Bryan's mother...

After eating, we made our way over to Arumugam Road's cluster of temples, particularly the Lorong Koo Chye Sheng Hong Temple, for our prayers...

(Read Inside If Interested...)

After our prayers, I left Bryan and Ian and headed over to my younger sister Alain's place for lunch, together with her kids and my younger brother, Eric...

Been eating so much these few days, but since I don't have the luxury of enjoying all these delicious home-cooked food very often, I'm neither complaining nor stopping just yet!

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On Day 3 of CNY, some of us who were formerly from River Valley High School in the mid-1980s, got together at Sianghua's place...

It was nice catching up with them, talking about our old school days and our fun times in the school choir, and updating each other on our new ventures and life in general. And Sianghua's boy, Xueyan, is already so grown up and playful...

Kinda wish I could meet up with my whole class again, but I know that would be harder than striking 4D (oh yes)...

Anyway, how could we have a reunion without taking some pics?

After a while, I had to leave to join in another house visit, this time at David's place together with the other bloggers. Have not taken any photos as some of them have more professional equipment than mine, as can be seen in their respective blogs...

Dinner that night was spent with my sister and her two girls at, yes again, Vivo City. More pics coming up!

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More photos taken on same day, but with my sis Alain and her kids, Sheryl and Shermaine, at our favourite haunt Vivo City...

Shermaine's the younger and more docile of my two nieces, who seemed more ready for photo-taking, while Sheryl's the little rebel monkey who found the whole thing embarrassing...

Too bad they've an uncle who's crazy about capturing life's happy moments, so that they'll grow up with plenty of fond childhood memories to look back on...

To be honest, it's a legacy that my dear Mom had passed on to me, for ever since she got a camera (quite a luxury item in the early 70s) when I was a toddler, she'd been snapping away whenever possible...

Well, let's go on to the photos, of which there are so many I'd to gather them in bunches like these...

(Many More Pics Inside Here...)

After so much photo-taking and activity, we were famished, and finally decided on Carl's Jr burgers, which none of us had tried before. The burgers tasted great, and portions were proportionate to their prices, and I'll probably eat there again...

Dinner at Carl's Jr

During dinner, there was some drama when I reprimanded Sheryl for being terribly rude and insensitive. Whether she's learned her lesson remains to be seen... 

By the time we had to go home, I was totally exhausted. Imagine 2 house visits and a family outing all in one day! But I really enjoyed myself...

And so I concluded Day 3 of the Chinese New Year...

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After all the festivities and self-indulgent breaks I'd given myself, it's time to get back to performance mode. And today is the start of new projects...

In the afternoon, I had a photo shoot at Asia Images Group (which is a photo agency that supplies quality stock photos showcasing Asians to international clients)...

It was pretty relaxing and loads of fun working with photographer Cedric (who took the pics for my "Drink Driving" ad campaign), his assistant Nugene, and assistant producer Erika...

I had several solo shots in different outfits and scenarios, and then a while later, Peggy Chang (the 2nd runner up in The New Paper New Face 2006 pageant!) joined me for some lovey-dovey couple shots...

The photos will be available on their website (see link above) when processed and ready, but in the meantime, here are some shots I took with my own camera after we've wrapped...

(L-R) Cedric, Erika, Nugene, Edric and Peggy

(More Photos In Here...)

After the shoot, Peggy and I shared a cab to town where she had an event, and while waiting for the heavy downpour to cease, I shopped around Borders before having my dinner at Rabbit Brand Seafood at Lucky Plaza...

After dinner, I made my way over to Kong Meng San Monastery for my second assignment of the day, to conduct vocal classes to the Young Artistes Club...

Some of the students were familiar faces from the previous term, while the rest I hadn't met till today. I led them through various vocal warm ups and exercises, and played some rhythm-based games, then did some vocal cool downs before calling it a day...

I was so exhausted I forgot to take a snapshot of the class attendees, as I had done in the last term. Oh well, there'll be more to come...

I finally got home on my third cab ride of the day. At least I had some of the members joining me on the way back, so it wasn't a boring ride...

Tomorrow's gonna be another long day, but will be fun and filled with food and I'll be watching the Taiwanese play, "Secret Love in Peach Blossom Land". But now, it's bedtime...

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Yesterday was "everyone's birthday", according to traditional Chinese customs, but I don't need any excuse to celebrate...

In the afternoon, I popped over to Michelle's place for a yummy traditional Fuzhou lunch, specially prepared by her mum who's also a Hu Jiu Neng (aka Hock Chew). Michelle's boss Katherine and Ken also joined us at the table...

Here are the food pics...

After lunch, in which I ate so much of everything cos they're simply delicious, we sat down to chit chat and later took some group photos "for posterity's sake"...

Edric, Ken, Katherine & Michelle

(One More Pic In Here...)

Who else here is a Hu Jiu Neng or just enjoy Fuzhou dishes? Let's have more food gatherings and discover other Fuzhou fare in town!

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Have we ever wondered where is our one true love, or if there ever was such a thing?
What if the one we love is not destined to be with us?
Does loving someone mean we've to be together forever?
Can we love someone without expecting to be loved back?
Have you loved someone secretly yet found that he or she have absolutely no interest in you? 

Love poses plenty of questions, and after watching "Secret Love in Peach Blossom Land", on Saturday night with Sam and Sebastian, I still have no answer. Perhaps I have even more questions...

Secret Love In Peach Blossom Land

The play is interestingly about two drama troupes, after mistakenly booking the same theatre concurrently, having to rehearse their separate shows on the same stage...

The first show was "Secret Love", a contemporary Mandarin play about a pair of young lovers in 1940s Shanghai separated by the war, and how they've been searching for each other ever since, till their old age...

The second show was "Peach Blossom Land", a traditional Taiwanese Opera performed in Hokkien, based on a classic literature piece "Notes on Peach Blossom Land" by Tao Yuan Ming and related the story of a fisherman who, after discovering his wife's adulterous affair with his landlord, was forced to go catch bigger fish to redeem his wife's love, and accidentally stumbled onto a mystical paradise and met a pair of lovers who looked exactly like his wife and his landlord...

While the first was melodramatic and filled with passionate dialogue, the latter was, by contrast, a comedy of errors complete with Taiwanese Opera tunes. At one point, each show took up half the stage and both rehearsed at the same time, to uproarious effect...

And throughout the staging and rehearsing for these two shows, we caught a glimpse of the various people behind these stories...

There's the director of "Secret Love", whose play seemed to mirror his own failed relationship and quest to find his old sweetheart. There's the bumbling stage hand who kept getting his instructions wrong. There's a mysterious woman who kept going around looking for a man whom nobody knows. And some more...

I was pretty impressed by the concept of mixing up two vastly different performances within a play, and also by the way this whole production explored the themes of love, and the quests for lost loves... 

This 21-year-old show, specially brought here by Taiwan's Performance Workshop and Ming Hua Yuan Taiwanese Opera Company, and created/directed by the highly-acclaimed Stan Lai, was simply but beautifully staged at the Esplanade Theatre. And although the set pieces were minimal, they were effective, and also made use of the immense depth of the stage. It even came complete with pretty confetti falling onto the stage as flower petals...

The only problem with the show, to me, was the slow-motion manner in which the two lead characters of "Secret Love" spoke in the final scene...

The young actors, although they did a great job in their transformation from young to old and were pretty convincing in their portrayal of the finally-reunited lovers in their old age, chose to over-elongate their dialogue, and slowed down the finale to almost a standstill...

The saving grace was that we (or at least, I) could feel the sadness each felt at how love had evaded them even till the end, despite knowing that each had found loving spouses who had accompanied them throughout those years of longing...

I enjoyed this production as much as I did the movie many years ago!

Unfortunately I don't think Sam and Sebastian felt the same way, for they not only couldn't understand the Hokkien portions of the show, they also couldn't see the accompanying English and Chinese surtitles (they don't wear glasses). Anyway, they emerged from the show rather disappointed...

Sigh...

One more thought after watching the show: I am feeling the strong urge to perform on the Esplanade Theatre stage again, and soon!!!

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As a tribute to Ma Zhao Jun, a Taiwanese singer/composer whose songs I loved as a teenager, and who inexplicably collapsed and passed away at the age of 48 just a couple of days ago while out shopping, I would like to share with you the lyrics to one of his most beloved songs...

Ma Zhao Jun

我要的不多

我要的不多
无非是一点点温柔感受
我要的真的不多
无非是体贴的问候
亲切的微笑真实的拥有
告诉我哦告诉我
你也懂得一个人的寂寞
你也懂得一个人的寂寞

有多少空白的心在静夜里跳动
有多少呐喊在胸膛里沉默
我的眼眸里只有冷漠
这样的夜我不理人人不理我

我要的不多
无非是眼光里有你有我
我要的真的不多
无非是两心的交流
轻轻的触摸真实的占有
告诉我哦告诉我
这世界孤单的不止是我

(Click on above photo to listen to song)

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Girls (and erm, some guys)! Have you ever felt like an ugly duckling who's forever awaiting that handsome prince to kiss you and turn you into the World's Next Top Model?

Have you seen photos of beautiful people on TV and magazines, and wished you could be like them?

Have you ever felt insecure about your own looks, no matter how attractive you already are?

Have you ever digitally enhance your photos, sometimes overdoing it?

Have you seen the following video?

~ Dove - Evolution ~

(Watch the Making-Of here...)

[break=And then of course, The Parody...]

~ The Parody ~

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Get the picture?

1 angel(s) visited