Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Leaving home to KL

Technically, it's not my first time to leave home for KL. I lost counts on how many times I used to fly from KL to Kuching and return since I left home for college in 2004. Flying in something I'm so used to but it's just something that I do now look forward to especially when I'm flying FROM Kuching.

I was in Kuching for the Christmas holidays - for 2 weeks plus - and now, it's time to come back to KL for my career. What am I doing next, I don't know for sure myself, yet!

Woke up early yesterday to pack the leftovers and left home with Mum for breakfast. Initial plan was the Old Rex Laksa, but when we reached there, the stall was closed! They went off for a holiday. *sob sob* So Mum brought me to have Pork Leg Rice, but it was closed too! So I had Curry Chicken Rice instead.

After breakfast, I went over to Grandmama's house for a visit and later to Dad's shop to visit my Grandma. At about 11am, I bid farewell to them and Dad too and left for the airport. Checked in, this time was easy...not so much of a queue. Mum and I had a cup of steaming hot vanilla at Starbucks and that's where Tiffany and Adeline came. It was the first time to have friends coming to airport to send me off... how sweet of them~

Had some chit-chat and it was time to say my goodbyes. As soon as I entered the boarding hall, everyone was boarding the plane. Took my seats in 3A and the plane took off. Had a peaceful hour and a half sleep on board until I reach LCCT where my bag got lost in the belt. Everyone was busy running here and there, checking their own bags and thanks to the miscommunication, we were at the wrong belt!

Took the bus down to KL Sentral and knowing that it is almost off office hours, it'll be jam pack in the train. And it was! I was literally carrying 20kg of weight on myself (front and back) and was standing from KL Sentral to Taman Bahagia station! Went into a cab and reached home. I was already dead tired.

I cleaned my room, unpack my bags and finally took a shower and had my Ngo Hiam which Mum fried this morning while watching DVDs. There goes...feeling home sick again~ *sigh*

Friday, December 25, 2009

Merry Christmas!

Wishing you a Blessed Christmas and a Happy New Year!
-God Bless You-

Thursday, December 24, 2009

Xmas Eve Outing

I love to be home~ Why? Because I can sleep all I want, that's why! *smiles*
I know my mum will be reading this but...she'll be the one waking me up every morning and tell me that the sun is already on top of my head.

I woke up at 9am, showered and deng~ it was so cold. It's been raining since the night before. Mum and I had brunch at a place her friend, Aunty Alice recommended, and we had - Hakka Lui Cha! Tell you honestly, I do not like to eat this dish coz the tea smell is very strong... but, this particular Lui Cha is nice!!! *except when it comes to too much tea in it lah~*

...the Lui Cha...

Mum then accompanied me to the Sarawak Museum Office at Dewan Tun Abdul Razak to submit a letter to the Director for permission to access the Museum Archives and Library for a research I'm working on. I met with the Deputy Director who is kind enough to provide me with not only the permission, but loads of information on the topics we are currently working not and also some suggestions to other topics that we can cover.

I then drove to Gambier Street to see how things have changed since I last visited the place. There was a massive change in that old street! *eyes were wide open when I saw* The old market had been torn down, the taxi area is gone, and not to mention two rows of 4 shops were burnt down just two days ago....................

...the burnt down shops...

Was sadden with the 'destruction' of these old buildings in Kuching city - well, I am appreciating old buildings, cars, and anything that is antique.

The rain poured.
Mum and I went to Upwell to send something for carving and got a light meal at Junction Cafe and look at what I had........

...a very tall burger that I had to use fork and knife to eat...

After the meal, I sent mum home and packed my laptop and headed to the library across river for a one hour research. There were a few people in the section and I was rushing against time to finish up what I can and also to finish up my photocopy credit in the card...hahahaha... not wasting a single cent~

I drove down to dad's shop to pick him up from work.

...a shot of Padungan...

It's Christmas Eve!
Midnight mass...here I come!

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

My Christmas Album of the Year


The tracks are...
1. Joy To The World
2. Angels We Have Heard On High
3. O Come All Ye Faithful
4. Silent Night
5. The First Noel
6. O Holy Night
7. Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas
8. I'll Be Home For Christmas
9. Pat-A-Pan
10. What Child Is This
11. Riu Riu Chiu
12. Ave Maria
13. Melodies Of Christmas

-found this album while Facebook'ing and quickly downloaded and have been listening over and over again for the past few days-

Sunday, December 20, 2009

How I spent my birthday...

It had been days of having family dinners ever since Alex's wedding last Saturday. Damn, I was just about to go on a strict diet - to reduce all the unnecessary fats I've accumulated the past 2 months on shoot - but, was tempted by the delicious food on the table every single day *sweats*

It was another family dinner - this time with Mum's side of the family; grandmama, uncle michael and uncle peter & family together with 4th granduncle from England. We had the dinner at Happy Garden, just opposite The Spring.

...my empty plate before the dinner started...

It was when the dishes started coming out that we (15 of us on one table) started eating!
...yes, this was how we all turned out to be...

It was long before dinner that Aaron and I went over to The Spring's MBO Cinema to get ourselves tickets to Avatar 3D. It was RM20 per ticket (cheap though~). Movie was at 9.15pm. We headed over (with the car) to find parking space in the shopping centre but deng~ there were so many cars! We were a minute or two late for the movie. Taking our seates at R12 & R13, we put on our 3D glasses and there we were drawn into the movie for 2 1/2 hours.........

the greatest movie I've seen in 3D. reminded me a lot when Dinotopia and 10th Kingdom was on screen. it was beautiful. everything seemed to be floating in front of my eyes. the colours were so bright and beautiful. would love to watch it again.

Reached home at about 12.30am and slept through the morning. Mum was busy making ngo-hiam. Mum and I went out for lunch...wondering where to get good food in an air-conditioning restaurant...and there we found ourselves in Kenny Rogers!

...my Quarter Chicken in Mushroom Sauce and Spaghetti Bolognese...

Mum and I went for a stroll in The Spring but I ended up spending RM140 on my sports bra~! *sweats* Anyway, it had been quite sometime since I first mentioned to mum that I need one especially when I'm out for my work out. Just that spending my hard earned money is something not easy............. but thanks to the wander of having Debit Card, I did not hesitate but to swipe and sign it~

The whole family went to church for sunset mass at St. Peter's and later for dinner at After 4 (After 3's sister restaurant). Nothing fancy though but nice food...

Only...
the best part of my birthday...
was to have a beer with mum and dad...at HOME! *smiles*

That was how I spent my birthday this year.

A big thanks to everyone; my family and my friends, far or near, for your warm birthday wishes! Hugs!

*a year older...hopefully a year wiser*

Saturday, December 19, 2009

My 23rd Birthday Present

something I bought for myself after 3 years of pondering on when I will get this

the most expensive birthday present I even gotten for myself.
a BlackBerry Curve 8520

-another item crossed out from my list-

Friday, December 18, 2009

Pre-Early Birthday Party

Tiffany had been planning for a surprise birthday party for me since the last time I saw her in July. It was time to put the plan into action...

But...
Surprise one: Tiffany the driver of the night [Failed]
Karen drove Adeline and Tiffany from their house Richmond for Westerns and later to The Spring for jalan-jalan. And look what I found~!

...Kokoberry in Kuching!...
had my favourite Blue Sky

and later it was all the camwhoring sessions with the Christmas tree


Surprise two: Birthday cake [partially passed]
It was sweet of the girls to surprise me with Secret Recipe Chocolate Indulgence cake in the car just outside Havana. One little birthday candle and a fork to cut the cake. Although I knew something fishy was coming up after listening to many weird excuses from both of them, it was one lovely surprise.

And yes, we had a round of drinks at Havana with nice music and WipeOut Australia on TV. By the time it was 12pm, calls started coming in and it was off for home.

...the youngest one...

...the eldest one...

...the about to turn 23 one...

Big thanks to Adeline and Tiffany for making the night happen.
It was a great night, with fun and laughter, chit chats and beers.
-love you guys-

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Of My First Job After Graduation

Four months ago after finishing my studies in Curtin Univeristy, I was wondering where I would end up for my career. It was after having a very long backpacking trip with Catherine and a four days diving course that I finally settled down in Petaling Jaya after a call from Red Communications. I flew over to KL with little things of mine and settled down even before I agreed to any job. I met up with Sok Peng (a Producer in Red) and after discussing about my job prospect and the project and the pay, I signed the contract as a Production Manager for a TV Drama Series for 4 months.

...my second office phone...

The first two months was all about preparation for the shoot in October with recces in Perak and KL, letters to managements, sourcing out accommodations and caterings. It was quite a smooth sailing first two months in this project, only until the last two weeks before the shoot begins where workload started pouring in and we had to work till late at night and through weekends. I had to translate scripts to English, redo breakdown 5 times each episodes, etc.

...my cup...

Shoot started on the 18th October in Ipoh. Due to many last minute things popping out right before the shoot, many things started to stress everyone out. It was, at some point, so stressful that most of us couldn't take it, but no matter what happens along the way, we will still carry on.

One of the most frustrating experience in this shoot was how 4 vans broke down on my drive! YES! 4 VANS! ...how? I don't know. The first one broke down on our way up to Ipoh for the first time. The second van broke down after the replacement of the first van. Third and fourth broke down upon rental. At one point, everyone banned me from driving and at that point, I feel so useless - not to mention that not many of us in the production can drive manual cars!

Locations were all good. But, there were times where I had to wake up in the wee hours of the morning (shoot finishes past midnight) to source out for last minute locations in Ipoh. But, thank God for his guidance that I managed to get what I needed to, even if it was an hour or two before the shoot begins for the day. Another stressful aspect of one of my job scope as a location manager was to find out (very last minutely) that my locations are either a) from wooden 70s setting to brick & tiles in the 20th century; or b) from an open business location to a close-shop location. Yes~ it happened three times throughout the shoot......... *speechless*

...one of the locations from an open business to close-shop...

Hmm... first two weeks of shoot was quite a complication when certain departments just tends to screw up everyone on set. I'm sure that most productions anywhere do go through the same situations - it's just that, how bad the situation was at that time - and yes, we were screwed at some point but we managed to get things done and over with and think of solutions for the next day shoot.

...for example: this VW Van to be a police land rover *sweats*...

So, we had a new team on set...presenting...

...Angie, the art department with her assistant Aaron & Hon...

The cool part of this shoot is that we work together and we all stay together in 3 houses here in Ipoh - production house, cast house and crew house...and not to mention we have Tesco, Tesco Extra and Jusco just around the corner and a McDonald's Dive Thru just 5 minutes away. Also, the food in Ipoh are just great - Nga Choi Kai (Tauge Chicken), Hor Fun, Satay, Western, Italian, Japanese food as well. Last but not least, the pubs in Ipoh are just wonderful~

...everyone on set practically wears crocs...

There was a week of horror for most of us - especially the drivers in the production. It was a week in Taiping, but we had to drive up and down every single day of our shoot, and with call time at 6.00am and wrap time at 10pm, we reached home at almost midnight, sometimes at 2am, we practically drive while trying to get sleep in the car.

...the beauty of Taiping...

The size of our team: 8-men crew, 3-men art department, 2-men wardrobe department, 1-man makeup department, 5-men production department, 3-men directing department.

The amount of transportation: 1 crew truck, 1 crew van, 1 cast van, 1 wardrobe van, 1 props van, 2 production vans.

Equipments: endless list of camera and lighting equipments we use...but I love the camera.

...Panasonic P2HD Camera...

Somehow, dunno why... (still wondering)
was how I ended up in the hospital.....................


I was admitted to hospital for 3 days, running through checkups like blood test, scoop (camera down my throat to my lungs), xrays, and more blood tests. Was lying on the hospital bed with nothing more than a TV, a PSP and my phone. Thanks a lot to my brother Alex, who drove hours up to Ipoh from Tangkak to be with me in the hospital, and thanks to Lynn and Daniel for bringing me food :)

This is Lynn, the editor.
She is on set and off set (at home editing).
She has cool but heavy gadgets.

This is how I normally looks like in production.
My red cap, my red pouch, t-shirt and shorts, shoes or crocs.

There's so many things about this production that I love:
1. the stunt scenes (car chase, fighting, falling, crashing...)
2. the locations (old, classic buildings)
3. the casts (everyone is so fun to be around with)
4. the production (helping out one another)
5. the outstations! (ipoh, kampar, taiping, kamunting)

...our lead actor, Muniff...

...the craziness on set...

...the drinking challenger...

Of course, the project will come to an end. My contract ended on the 9th December. I left Ipoh that morning by train to settle my accounts and hand overs in the over. Am missing everyone on set (who are still working on this project...sorry that I couldn't be there until the end).

...the beauty of a camera...

All the best to everyone in this project!
Awaiting for the end of the project and the airing of this drama series!

!cheers to the team!

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Reunion and Birthday Bash


Date: 14th December 2009
Venue: A Chinese Restaurant at Jalan Mendu & Havana

...more of this to come...

Sunday, December 13, 2009

The Tangkal Besi Production Team

...presenting the production team of Tangkal Besi...

Producer: Oh Sok Peng
Director: Saw Teong Hin
Director of Photography: Michael R. Muschamp
Assistant Director: Fabian W. Joseph
Production Managers: Karen Kuek & Zsa Zsa
Production Coordinator: Enid Tan
Conti Girl: Lim Khai Sim
Art Deparment: Angie Choo, Lim Yee Hon & Aaron Liew
Wardrobe Deparment: Daniel Henry & Vanessa Lim
Makeup Artist: Susan & Jenny
Editor: Lynn Wong
Production Assistant: Cho Kar Yee
Technical Crews: Izad, Mardi, Asraf, Wan, Lan, Mus, Remy, Zol

...more on Tangkal Besi to come...

Friday, December 11, 2009

Alex and Choulyee's Wedding


Date: 12th December 2009 (Saturday)
Venue: St. Peter's Church, Kuching
Time: 10.30am

TGIF and Love Happens

It was my last day of my freelancing job in Ipoh. I bid everyone farewell and off I took a train back to KL that morning. I thought I could get a good 3 hours of rest in the train because I was up all night until 4am and slept on the couch in the living room while waiting to close my accounts. Instead, my first hour in the train was all about my accounts. There was a tiny winey mistake which took me the whole day to figure it out. Also, it wasn't comfortable to take a nap in the train.

...it was a really cold ride...

Had lunch with Yih Wen at Atria before heading back to the office to settle the accounts. Ming Yi was lepak'ing at the office while waiting for me to settle everything I need that afternoon before taking a cab to One Utama for dinner at TGIF. Had a long dinner and chat with my favourite Jack Daniels Chicken and Mocha Mud Pie.

It was a white Christmas in One Utama. There were a group of carolers singing at Highstreet. It was so Christmas'ies...and at that point, I missed home~

...the carols...

We decided to watch Love Happens (because that's the one and only show we haven't seen), and it was a really touching and good movie. Not any typical romantic stories, but something everyone will experience in his/her life. Wouldn't mind watching this movie again.


We headed home for a good night rest for a traveling day the next. It was a great way of escaping from all the stress that has been in and around me for the past months. It was great meeting Ming Yi who is heading to Perth for her WA Scholarship (CONGRATS, MING YI!). It was great to know that I'll be heading home...

Thursday, December 10, 2009

Completed My First Freelance Project!

9th December 2009!

Officially completed my first TV Drama 'Tangkal Besi' shoot.

And is now on the way back to Kuching~

Friday, December 4, 2009

Movies in Ipoh, GSC

It took us quite a number of off days to finally push ourselves for movies in Ipoh. (wanna have the feel of watching movie in Ipoh mah~) So we did - twice. It wasn't a pleasant moment for our first movie because everyone was practically making noises in the cinema and it was so noisy! How do these people watch movie and enjoy them when you can't even concentrate...

First movie was Aaron (our intern)'s choice: New Moon
Wasn't fancy on watching this movie because I did not watch the 1st sequel but anyway, it was a time out with the colleagues for movie so I joined, the day I was discharged from the hospital. Hmm...can sleep lo through the movie. Other than watching hot guys in the movie, there was nothing interesting to keep my eyes open, but after paying RM11 on this movie, I kept my eyes wide open every minute of the way.


Second movie: A Christmas Carol
We were supposed to watch Ninja Assassin but the ticket was only available at 7pm (which was rather late for us as tomorrow is a shoot day). So Angie bought this movie and it was GREAT! If only I was watching it in 3D! Damn...it was nice~ There's so much meaning in this movie and it just reminded me of A Polar Express. The Xmas songs in the movie brings me much closer to Christmas and closer to home.


It was a half good half bad movie experience in Ipoh. Not sure when will be the day to come back to Ipoh after this shoot. Would definitely love to come back for the food, but not sure whether to come back for the movie *smiles*

In McDonalds, Ipoh


Now as I write this blog, the clock shows 1.18am and I am still in McDonalds in Ipoh, 5 minutes away from the Production House at Taman Tasek Indra.

What am I doing here?
This is the only place to get internet access in Ipoh. Although Starbucks is nearby, but I can go online for free (only when I feel like munching food I'll then have to pay for the food lah~).

Internet, oh, Internet. What will my life be without you?

Daniel and Khai Sim with their new Toshiba laptops they bought this morning and myself with my MacBookPro. Good thing this McDonalds is 24 hours. Anyway, this will be my last time here in McDonalds and soon to leave Ipoh for KL on the 9th December. Won't be finishing this project though, but looking forward for the airing next year.

Thursday, December 3, 2009

The crazy night at Zero Degrees

It has been such a long time since I last had a drink with a bunch of friends...and this time, it was with a bunch of friends who are in a hell lot of stress. It was my last off day in this project and it was indeed my idea to go have a drink.

Kar Yee picked us up at the 'Production House' at 10pm to the bar. It was ladies' nite...free drinks of course! Had a glass of house cocktail and a bottle of vodka FREE! Music was great! How I wish Kuching has a bar like this...that plays R&B songs...............

Should not 'story-morey' about how much I drank and what happened to everyone there... :)

Anyway, it was a good, no, let me rephrase, it was a GREAT night!

...and now it's back to work!