oh... and apart from the departed...

there were also.....

• aunt amy (who went to both shows!)
• uncle cheung (who i'm sure got dragged along by aunt amy to see the show)
• uncle no2
• moe moe (auntie)
• granddad (who thought my 19 year old mc partner was my boyfriend. no. i'm not ready to become mrs robinson... not quite yet...)
• grandma
• marylin (my grannies' domestic helper)
• ms fung & florence
• sum sum (auntie... so many aunties...), pam, priscilla, and the young one
• ah yee, amy lee, artemis, chauman, kiki, mung... my dear ex-classmates!
• anita & angela ( :p )
• virgo (i know you came to see apple, but i'm claiming you as my audience anyway :) )

MUM & DAD!!!!!! thank you for being there, always :)

thank you carol, gene, judy, bing, frank...

yes, hats off to all of them!
i finally did it. i finally danced in a musical number on stage!!!!!
thank you eve, thank you jamie, thank you mohamad, thank you owen....
especially owen and jamie.... because you gave me the confidence and guidance i needed to be where i am tonight.

and to carol haney, my inspiration: we're at, hernando's hideaway, OLE!!!!!

so it happens again tomorrow at MFL... dancing with a big grin fixed on my face, as if i'm in a gene kelly movie :p

She's now a fair lady in Mr Higgins' household!

Yo... being as energetic as a child on red cordial (i think) has landed me a bit part in MFL, as a woman in the Higgins' household. i wanted to be a maid all along! however, getting a bit part now means that i'll probably have to be at 20-30% more rehearsals than when i was just a chorus member so i'll have to time manage myself extremely well during the first term at SAGC.

oh, by the by, everything's going well so far at SAGC. we had a whole day of meetings today with our subject group and tomorrow i will meet my group of form 1 kiddies for the first time, up close and personal. geez, i hope to (some deity up there) that everything works out well, that they don't bloody well hate me from the get go... i'll even have to go to camp with them for three days in september, which also effectively rules out my participation in the pakistan tour.

so everything has been resolved... albeit in a weird and twisted way.

KRISPY KREME IS NOW IN HONG KONG!!!!!

YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
And they opened on my birthday :)

They're at:
61-72 Lee Garden Road.
Causeway Bay (next to 7-11)


woohoo!!!!!


in other news, this week we started
a) school meetings
b) rehearsals for MFL

a) i'm lucky because the english department colleagues all seem to be very young and nice and enthusiastic and helpful. so, the colleague part i won't have to worry about, and all i've got left to ponder about now is whether i can actually teach... !?!?

b) HKS are actually quite well organised, contrary to all the bad rep i heard from people. the MD was there and was drilling us thoroughly, taking us through every crevice and harmony of three whole songs tonight. the signs are good- it looks like it's going to be a fun ride.

singing, dancing and teaching.

* first ever MT performance in one week! i'll post clips.
** first ever english department meeting next monday... bright eyed and bushy tailed, i must look.
*** been sitting inside a frigid lecture theatre four days of this week from 9-5 for this new teacher training course i'm doing... i've been falling asleep at regular intervals there, akin to my time in frigid lecture theatres back at QUT.

otherwise...

** i was surprised to see the amount of spit being expelled from my mouth while singing in our rehearsals. a few years ago mum and i went to see grease in brisbane. it was an amazing show, but what's even more amazing is the spitting that's done by the singers in "grease lightening" number. the actors were literally "singin' in the rain".
** pakistan is on and off... at the moment, it's off because mum's rather paranoid about the terrorism situation there (of which there's none at the moment). so i've been told by my coach to do some more convincing and by my mum to "piss off" when i attempt to do said convincing.

aker- aka - jason akermanis

they removed his face from the banner on the brisbane lions website!
guess it is the start of a new era then...

junk food is good good!!

yum.... i like chips, but cannot eat as much as i would do because i worry about my health and the size of my arse, so i'm always on the lookout for slightly healthier chips. i'm trying out some calbee vegetable crisps at the moment and they don't feel as oily as "normal" chips.

the i found this amazing website that reviews and documents thousands of snacks from around the world! it's proving to be great holiday entertainment... or procrastination, cos i should really start to read up for my new job!

otherwise, third day into life as a 22 year old was spent in kowloon, back at training for the hk team. was a bit rusty at the beginning cos i haven't bowled for about two weeks but got better as the session went on. then we did this fielding drill where the coach threw tennis balls from a whole bag of 'em up, and up, and up in different directions for us to catch. my lovely thighs suffered a thorough workout as a result, but it felt good, in a weirdly masochistic way....

three days of sultry weather and three typhoons

CUHK is quite a lovely place which has a lovely coffee shop that serves the cheapest ($12) and best latte that i've so far tasted in hong kong. the same costs ten dollars + more at the more established chains here and is frankly not worth it.

the last three days has been quite an eye opener for a teacher to be like me. i learnt much from our group discussions that were an absolute riot at times (go group 5!). those who went generally had a lot of heart and appear to teach because it'd make a difference to children's lives. i also forced myself to speak three times in front of the lecturn... in cantonese... as they say, practice makes perfect! the wonderful group 5 made spending 8 hours of my birthday in a cold lecture easier to bear. thank you, guys. we even played a party game :) i had fond memories of the feather exercise, where we had to keep a toy feather afloat with nothing but our hands and mouths...

thunder and lightning outside... i'd better turn my computer off.

who doesn't like sesame street?

Kermit the Frog You scored 47% Organization, 46% abstract, and 81% extroverted!

This test measured 3 variables. First, this test measured how organized you are. Some muppets like Cookie Monster make big messes, while others like Bert are quite anal about things being clean. Second, this test measured if you prefer a concrete or an abstract viewpoint. For the purposes of this test, concrete people are considered to gravitate more to mathematical and logical approaches, whereas abstract people are more the dreamers and artistic type. Third, this test measured if you are more of an introvert or an extrovert. By definition, an introvert concentrates more on herself and an extrovert focuses more on others. In this test an introvert was somebody that either tends to spend more time alone or thinks more about herself. You are mostly organized, both concrete and abstract, and more extroverted. Here is why are you Kermit the Frog. You are both somewhat organized. You have a good idea where you put things and you probably keep your place reasonably clean. You aren't totally obsessed with neatness though. Kermit is also reasonably tidy. He'll even dress up for interviews. You both are sometimes concrete and sometimes abstract thinkers. Kermit spends a lot of his time as a reporter collecting facts, but he is also the author of the dreamy song "The Rainbow Connection." You have a good balance in your life. You know when to be logical at times, but you also aren't afraid to explore your dreams and desires... within limits of course. You are both extroverts. Kermit gets along with everyone. Sure a few folks annoy him, but that's just because they are annoying. Kermit likes to meet new people when he does his job as a street reporter. You definitely enjoy the company of others, and you don't have problems meeting new people... in fact you probably look forward to it. You are willing to take charge when necessary or work as part of a team. Oh, and in case you were wondering, Kermit starred on Sesame Street years before The Muppet Show. The other possible characters are Oscar the Grouch Big Bird Snuffleupagus Ernie Elmo Cookie Monster Grover The Count Guy Smiley Bert If you enjoyed this test, I would love the feedback! Also if you want to tell me your favorite Sesame Street character, I can total them up and post them here. Perhaps your choice will win!

My test tracked 3 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender: You scored higher than 19% on Organization You scored higher than 21% on concrete-abstra You scored higher than 91% on intro-extrovert

Link: The Your SESAME STREET Persona Test written by greencowsgomoo on OkCupid Free Online Dating, home of the 32-Type Dating Test

a happy 8th of august b'day to

roger fedrerer
faye wong
keith carradine
esther williams
dustin hoffman
emiliano zapata
john laws


...

and, oh,
cheung kwok wing, margaret: of brisbane, australia and hong kong, china, who turns a joyous 22 on this lovely day! (and will spend 8 hours of this lovely day in a lecture theatre, in training to become a youth program leader at her new school. she will be engulfed with positivity during those 8 hours by the very enthusiastic trainer.)

Affirmative action.

i was talking with mum about how RADA was searching for more talented chinese actors to be trained there, and i was thinking of issues about affirmative action... but i couldn't get the term out of my system... was it... positive something? it was something something... i couldn't rest until i knew the term. reminds me of when i was 16 and wondered at 10pm what the biological term for humans is. it got me so frustrated i headed to the storeroom, pulled out my old science textbooks and looked it up. after i found homo sapiens, i went back to bed, quietly pleased at myself.

interview with one of our APA teachers

link

only for those who can understand cantonese!
mr woo speaks quite candidly about his life as a student at the apa all those years ago.

isaac mizrahi

this guy is hilarious!

Have a better day-
I have one word for you: posture.
Try. Clothes. On. You have to try clothes on, I'm telling you!
Breathe. That's all style is, really: breathing.
A bronzer is a girl's best friend- but if you get the wrong one, you look like a porn star.
The great thing about shopping is that it ends when you want it to end.

living in a dream? you betcha!

two hours of musical singing today.... complete euphoria-- endless repetitions in training, to carol haney's hernando's hideaway and the prologue to the rocky horror picture show.... i'm in musical heaven... i gotta admit- owen's put us through a thorough vocal workout today those Eflats were pretty extreme... especially for a voice that's not done much work in two months.

all this exposure has got be going through my cd collection... and i found my film soundtrack to annie get your gun. judy garland's rendition of this following song is absolutely spine chilling... so much pathos...

-----------------------
they say it's wonderful: annie get your gun (outtakes)

They say that falling in love is wonderful
It's wonderful, so they say.
And with a moon up above it's wonderful
It's wonderful, so they tell me.
I can't recall who said it
I know I never read it
I only know that falling in love is grand
And the thing that's known as romance
Is wonderful, wonderful
In every way
So they say

POTC--- Dead Man's Chest

"As with the "Matrix" pictures, however, public anticipation is such that nothing can stop "Dead Man's Chest" from filling up with B.O. gold; pic is like a slot machine that gobbles up the public's money while giving little back, and, somehow, people don't mind."
...
"These are the odd films that succeed by stirring neither the emotions nor the mind."

- Todd MacCarthy, Variety.

i agree completely, Todd... and i was one of those suckers who caught the first screening today in hong kong. the film was fun up until the 90 min mark. and while summer blockbusters usually end, at around 2hrs, dead man's chest dragged on and on... fight after fight...

there were a few specific things i was disappointed with. i was looking forward to see how well keira knightley uses her opportunity to do proper choreographed swordfights, but her sequences were not well planned or shot. (reaction: "that was it?") even the much anticipated "white sands" fight involving johnny depp, orlando bloom and jack davenport (this man looks much better dirty!) felt rushed, was visually messy, and to be honest, a little disappointing. (reaction: see reaction to prior expectation) the fight sequences failed to showcase the fight itself, and only served to highlight the incompetence of those at the helm. CGI sequences, e.g. slimy octopus thing which leaves icky stuff on humans that looks a bit like the mask i'm putting on my skin every night, left me focusing on wondering about the cost and not the splendour. why so many sea creatures? does it advance the plot? i wanted to see bill nighy snort!

there were some good moments though, the opening, for example, set the tone for the rest. but the best moment for me was the "bone cage" sequence. kudos to hans zimmer for doing what he did then with the music. "oom pah pah" music was completely out of left field (trying not to give too many spoilers here) but it worked to give the scene a comic effect! meanwhile, depp is still amusing as cap'n jack and knightley proves that she can be much more than the part of the damsel in distress bestowed upon her in the first installment.

i'll still gladly hand over my money to disney for a ticket to the third installment, let's hope the next one doesn't get any worse.

-------------------------
through jane and aaron, visitors from down under, i got myself an orlando bloom POTC promotion sticker.... from a Helsinki chip packet! i was very excited.... much like an 11 year old in love with a matinee idol :)
--------------------------

Spoof time---- Barbie POTC: Curse of the Black Pearl

Johnny Depp in Japan

Check out this interview JD has to do in japan! it's like bill murray in lost in translation.

huzzah!!!!

A very happy couple doing the charleston (circa 1920's)

4-6pm of today was one of the happiest two hours of 2006 :) like all the 1 1/2 to 2 hours of dancing lessons i've done this past year....

mohammad drissi came along to give us a guest lecture and class. he's been there, done that, trained under matt mattox, bob rizzo etc etc etc... had amazing stories to tell. we learnt the charleston... got me going!! then the lindy, swing dance, the mambo, and chorus line dancin'. good stuff.... nothing else cheers me up like dancing... especially this sort of dancing :) it's just so... happy.... you cannot dance the charleston with a frown on your face, that's a FACT. mo' even talked about carol haney and bobby fosse and ann reiking and gwen verdon... sends shivers up my spine... i've finally arrived at a place where i can let all my MT obsession out with gusto, without having people stare at me as if i'm a complete weirdo.

No more K-Mart?

Weird stuff.
Coles and Myer divorced.
K-Mart will be renamed as "Coles".
A "Coles" that sells oil of the engine as well as the cooking variety?
This is way, way too weird.

Gilco Bisco!

i'm in love with this box of bikkies... cos lately i'm not allowed to eat anything too rich. yum!!! this is the japanese ad for the biks.