I'm back......

Friday, June 12, 2009

for a short while.....

Sorry for the very long hiatus. Been feeling very lazy about updating this site and furthermore, nothing exciting happen also lah. Anyway, if anyone out there is still coming in and reading this, I'll try to update more often in due course.

I just took up photography and signed up for a pro flickr account so you can go in and check out my photos in the meantime.

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His royal highness blogged at 9:30 AM

Mr International Part 1

Sunday, December 28, 2008

Ok, I'm taking too long to write this entry and I have been rather busy lately so decided to blog in parts.....

I was asked by the Singapore Organizer if I was interested to go to Taiwan to represent Singapore in the Mr International Pageant, 3 weeks before the trip. Apparently, this year's Mr Singapore winner, Jovin, was busy during that period and they needed a replacement.

I had reservations about having to absent myself from work for 12 days. The prospect of having to appear in time consuming promo events, shoots and rehearsals for the entire trip didn't seem very enticing to me. Furthermore, I had to miss a good friend's wedding which falls during that period.

I still went ahead with the trip though thinking that I would be able to make some new friends from other countries and I should be able to sneak off to explore Taiwan a little bit on my own.

Flew to Taipei with last year's winner, Alan, on China Airlines. I had previously compared the pricing with SQ and they were the same! So I called the organizer to request for a change but was rejected as the plane arrives at a different terminal and they had to pick a whole bunch of other guys that day.

:(

Nonetheless, China Airlines was much better than I expected, I had initially thought that it was from China. At least I was able to watch movies during the trip and I watched "Get Smart" twice. I must have traumatized the other passengers though, I was laughing really loudly.

Reached our hotel and was not too impressed by it. Facilities were basic and the rooms were old and looks slightly haunted, a perfect setting for fashion photography though. Anyway, there was no gym and internet access in the hotel and I had to sneak off to California gym real early in the morning which was a 15 mins walk away in Xi Men Ding where I can get my workout and internet fix.

Had to get ready for my photoshoot in a makeshift studio in the hotel's restaurant upon arrival. I was still feeling rather tired from the flight and all the waiting at the airport. They only took a few shots of me giving me minimal directions. I had expected the photos to be really awful but surprisingly they turned out quite ok.

The first event we had to do the next day was to appear at an SPCA road show which helps spread awareness on abandoned pets and at the same time, seeks the help of the public in adopting some of their cats. There were 30 of us contestants and it was impossible to squeeze everyone onto the minibus. The minibus had to make a few trips in order to ferry everyone to the venue and by the time everyone arrived, we had wasted more than an hour. Was seriously hoping that there would be a bus for subsequent events.


Used the waiting time to take some photos. I was relieved that my camwhoring habits were not peculiar to me alone because all the models were also busy taking photos of themselves. A few were even videoing themselves, talking into their camcorders.

Publicity for SPCA's cause and also to promote the Mr International pageant. Sadly, there wasn't much of a crowd.

Finally, we all get to see the cats for adoption. I am more of a dog person so I didn't get all excited about the cats.

Bad pussy. Sibeh cranky, scratched one of the contestant's hand! But then again he disturbed the cat......


Autograph signing on a T-shirt. I saw some of the contestants writing their countries in their own languages and I followed suit by trying to write Singapore in Chinese, only to realize that I forgot how to write them out..... Haven't written in Chinese since I graduated from JC 10 years ago. I had to sneak a peek at my sash before I was able to write it out.

Having a meal back at the hotel's restaurant. I have not eaten such horrible food in a very very long while. There was a contestant who skipped meals at the restaurant altogether. I guess it's a good way to slim down for the finals anyway.

Outing to Xi Men Ding. Since there was such a big group of us, we were given 2 hours to explore the place on our own.

Me and Mr China. One of the more interesting guys in the contest. Apparantly he is a singer who won a singing contest very much like the American Idol.

My roommate in Taipei, Mr Lebanon. I traumatized him by giving him many sleepless nights with my deafeningly loud snoring. He is either royalty or from the mafia. He wears LV from head to toe, even his 2 suitcases are from LV.

Most of the clothes in Xi Men Ding were pricey and did not have the quality to justify the price. I still managed to buy some clothes at this shop which my friend recommended and 2 pairs of Edwin jeans.

This is the toilet restaurant where they serve food in bowls shaped like toilet bowls. We wanted to try the food there but apparently there was a half an hour waiting list.

Finally got to taste Taiwan's chicken cutlet. Damn big!!! I like!!!!

Had to do another event the next morning at red house theatre, where we had to cycle the streets in Trishaws. It could have been much more fun if not for the slight drizzle and all the waiting. I wondered how much attention we were going to garner on an early rainy Saturday morning.


Stopping at the traffic light. Time for more photos.

Me and Mr Vietnam. I thought no one could be a bigger camwhore than me, that was until I met Mr Vietnam...


We were given a tour of the temple, where a group of students who studied English showed us around and explained the history of the temple to us. Apparently this temple worships both Buddhist and Taoist deities.
I had the impression that Singaporeans are the only one who follows and prays to both Buddhist and Taoist deities at the same time. Apparantly a majority of Taiwanese does the same too and pure Buddhists and Taoists are not too common.

My hand was itchy and I drew a lot again. Their lots are extremely huge, each probably about 1.5 metres long. This time round, the lot that I drew said the exact same thing as the one I drew during my Tokyo trip earlier this year. Damn spooky.


Night came and we were suppose to do a show in the vicinity of Long Shan temple, promoting the pageant by showcasing our various national costumes. The venue was not very apt. Try to imagine promoting a pageant to a horde of elderly people in Chinatown.

I was very amused the previous night where we had to attend a show at the same venue. Some government representatives, mayors and VIPs were giving very long speeches for more than an hour and this old man sitting beside me got really fed up and scolded "Smelly cunt!! Damn longwinded!! Go and eat Semen!!" in Hokkien very very loudly. I tried to control my laughter but it was too painful.

I was very impressed with Taiwan's effort in preserving their culture. Chinese opera seems to have died a miserable death in Singapore, whereas in Taiwan, they mix the traditional and the new by injecting contemporary humor into classic stories to make it appealing to today's audiences. I was lucky that I understood some Hokkien and managed to understand the show.

I only had 2 more days in Taipei and I still have not visited a lot of tourist sites. I was bent on going to Shilin night market and my other friends were not too keen on going since they were really tired from the entire day's event. So I sneaked off and took a train there on my own.

Nabeh bumbed into the Singaporean organizer Alan at the lobby.

Alan: Where are you going?

YDK: Errrrr, I go and use internet.

And I quickly went off.

I thought the shops would be closing by the time I reached the market at 10.30 pm. To my surprise, Shilin was still bustling with people. I managed to walk around the area in half an hour since there was nothing that caught my attention or was worth buying. I was too full to eat the street hawker fare which was a real pity.

Fun fair and tikam stalls. I think Singaporean Pasar Malams would do much better if they have these around.

Luckily I reached the hotel in time. 15 mins after I returned into the room, Alan came into the room and claimed that there were some complaints about my roommate burning holes into some of the contestants' national costumes backstage. Yeah right..... A sabotage backstage before the finals, real smart. Everyone sprang into the room and it turned out to be a birthday surprise for my roommate.

Woke up real early the next morning to use the gym at Xi Men Ding. It turned out that I was too early and they open later on Sunday. I went to eat breakfast at Mac Donald's instead and by the time I finished, I saw a queue forming outside the gym. These people must be health freaks, queue for the gym to open somemore! I gymed for an hour, surfed the internet to check my mails and hurried back to the hotel to get ready for the day's activities.

First stop, the National palace musuem. Those who have visited this musuem should know about the famous and extremely lifelike jade cabbage and jade roast pork. I was utterly disappointed when the tour ended abruptly and I realised that I would not be able to see the Buddhist statues and artefacts. I asked one of the organizers if I could detour back and have a quick look on my own and I was flatly refused. Disappointment turned to anger and I grew persistent. I approached another organizer instead who readily acceded to my request. Wah heng ah...... Anyway, everyone were busy taking photos outside so I didn't have to make anyone wait.

A few Singaporeans approached me and asked me where our group was from. I told them that we are contestants of an international pageant and all of them wished me good luck. I was quite touched by their words of encouragement. I always had the impression that Singaporeans are generally very critical towards others.


This is what happens when everyone in the group tries to take self pics simultaneously.


Next stop, liberty square. The archway used to read "大中至正" and was changed to "自由廣場" when Chen Shui Bian took over. The Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall was also renamed to National Taiwan Democracy Memorial Hall as well. Apparently they are going to change the inscriptions back to it's original name since Ma Ying Jiu took office as the new president.

There was a protest behind us. Apparently this group was protesting for the right to protest anytime and anywhere they want without having to submit any permits. Sounds like a good idea since I am living in such a controlled environment where protests are not even allowed but the others think otherwise. Imagine waking up one morning and then going to work only to realize that the roads have been blocked by protesters.








This is the first decent meal I had so far during the entire trip (If you do not count Mac Donald's). The food we had were really quite horrid, most likely due to the fact that we went to the wrong places since a lot of my friends claim that Taiwanese food is good. Anyway, this meal is considered decent because it is a buffet and we get to choose what to eat and what not to eat.

This place is unlike Seoul Garden in Singapore. We pick the stuff we want and hand it to the "chef" to fry. The word chef is used loosely because we had to add the seasoning and sauces on our own and they basically just fry whatever shit we give to them. I have never cooked anything in my entire life and feeling adventurous, I scooped a few spoonful of chilli powder, dumped it into my bowl of meat and passed it to the chef, who refused to cook it for me. He eventually gave in and told me not to put chilli powder again. The meat turned out a tad too hot and I suspect that the diners behind me would also have really spicy meat as well.

Next stop, Taipei 101. Didn't go up to the top floor though and I tried to do a bit of shopping. I ended up not buying anything at all since everything is more expensive than Singapore.

Mr Taiwan reccommended me this Squid Ink bread. The bread looked like a huge lump of coal but it turned out to be quite fragrant and soft. Quite yummy.


We were given a free treat to watch this Taiwanese movie "Cape No. 7". I had high expectations of this movie since it supposedly won a lot of awards and did extremely well at the box office. It turned out to be one of the worse movies I have ever seen in my entire life. Acting was awful, emotions were over dramatic and pretentious (a lot of screaming over nothing, arrrgh my ears.....) and cape no. 7 was entirely irrelevant to the story. The product placement of "Ma La San" appeared so many times that it made the movie look like a 2 hour long commercial. I still cannot fanthom why so many people liked this movie. It can't be just me because most of us in the group were cursing after we walked out of the theatre.

Ok thats all for Taipei, will blog about the pageant in Tainan soon.

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His royal highness blogged at 11:17 PM

Missing

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Sorry for the lack of updates. Was in Taiwan for 12 days to compete in the Mr_International pageant. I have over 600 photos from the trip so this blog entry will take a long while to update.....

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His royal highness blogged at 3:53 PM

Halloween

Monday, November 03, 2008

Something got stolen from me again this weekend.



Someone grabbed my furry cotton rabbit tail and yanked it off. Lucky never tear a hole in my shorts!!

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His royal highness blogged at 10:50 AM

Theft in Bali

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Freaking pissed right now. On my trip to Bali, I had checked in my agnes b duffel bag and locked the zippers with a small lock but apparently, the baggage handlers there broke my zip and conveniently stole my pair of Armani sunglasses and my Ipod touch :(

And I didn't even realize they were stolen until I got back home in Singapore..... I thought the zip came off because the bag was handled roughly and when I tried to look for my sunglasses, I only found the case and I thought that I had left the glasses at home. I didn't dig out my Ipod touch in Bali because there was no wifi in the villa. So I only realized that my stuff were stolen when I reached home at 4.30 am in the morning. Tamade and I need to wake up at 6.30 am to go to work somemore. So angry that I couldn't sleep.

Now when I look at my broken bao bei agnes b bag, I am reminded of the loss of my bao bei Ipod touch and sunglasses..... I curse that the thief gets rolled over by a 747.

Anyway, must keep a positive state of mind, the thief already stole my stuff so I cannot let him steal my happiness as well. Guess I am considered lucky since I only realize the loss after the trip and I had such a great time nuahing away in the villa. Oh my god I look so fabulously tanned now. And the food there is so cheap and awesome! Too bad it's only a 3 day trip, will definitely go back again to do a few dives and explore the place a bit. Bringing a secured suitcase with chains and padlocks of course.

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His royal highness blogged at 10:41 AM

ANIC 2008 photos

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

The show's finally over. This production is more tiring than the last one I took part in. There were a lot of rehearsals despite the fact that I play quite a small role. The main cast, volunteer welfare organizations and crew spent far more time on this production so I can imagine how tired they must be. Nonetheless, everyone was having so much fun and seeing how the participants were so happy to be part of the show made our effort and time put in very much worthwhile.

Tried to ask my friends to watch the show, but somehow most of them were not interested. Was glad that friends who came, enjoyed the show and gave very positive feedback :) Anyway, here are some, I mean..... a lot of photos from the show.








Hip Hop dancers from SADeaf. Their timing and coordination is flawless, and they can't hear the music in the first place!!! I am truely impressed.

Darius as Shelby the sea snail. His costume looks almost the same as the last production, add one more shell only.
Pierre as Cornelius the Alaskan crab. His costume is uber nice but it is a nightmare wearing it, its like wearing a sauna, damn hot. His "Gong" is so soft, he should be called an Alaskan, soft shell hairy crab.

Karen as Hannah the hammerhead shark. Extremely witty, she came up with a lot of her own lines and injected much humor into the show.




Wheelchair ballroom dancer. Amazing how they can move around with such grace and agility.



My mom and dad came to watch the performance. I seldom see my dad smiling so widely. Can see that they both had a really good time watching the performance. They were both very eager to take a photo with me, I guess this will be the only occasion I would pose with my parents, half naked in silver tights and foam shells in public.

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My eventful weekend

Sunday, October 05, 2008

• Took a cab down to the clubs last night. The cab smelled of garlic breath. Tamade, damn suay. And I already smell nice nice of my CDG fragrance before entering the offensive taxi somemore. After a while, I couldn't smell the garlic anymore, which kind of got me worried because the smell might not have dissipated but my nose could have gotten accustomed to the stench. There was a possibility that I might turn up at the pub smelling like vegetable farm produce instead of the fragrance I was wearing. On an unrelated note, the taxi uncle was playing jazz music, which was quite cool and unexpected.
• I just realized that I have not quite overcome the inferiority complex I had when I was young. I used to have this constant feeling that everyone is looking and judging me. I entered the pub expecting my friends to have arrived but it turns out that I was the earliest there. There I was, alone in the middle of the crowded pub, without a familiar face in sight, wearing my bright ah beng yellow DKNY shirt (think 1990s Giordano windbreakers) and shiny silver Swear shoes. We had came up with our own theme to wear something super bright that night, and I was standing out like a beacon in the night, like a cockle in a bowl of mee siam, like a getai singer in a school assembly..... And there I felt it again, the feeling that a thousand pairs of eyes were staring at me. I panicked and pretended to look occupied and less lonely by playing around with my phone, sending out smses for my friends to come to my distress. I'll make sure that I will be the last to arrive at the pubs next time.
• An old man asked me for directions this afternoon. He wanted to go to Chinatown from my bus stop in Bedok. I told him that there are no buses that goes there and he was quite dulan about it because someone had told him to drop off at this stop to take bus 21. I gave him the directions to the bus stop to take bus 21 and he just turned around and walked off without saying thanks. Nabeh sibeh rude lor!! I yelled "You are welcome!" at him. Anyway, bus 21 doesn't go to Chinatown so I hope he gets lost in Whampoa.
• I had just finished my workout at Cali Novena and I was waiting behind 2 girls to use one of the two internet terminal to check for buses to go to a friend's place at Margoliouth Road. Taking the cab was not an option because I can't pronounce the road name. I didn't want to use my Ipod touch because trying to find a free wifi network and logging in is quite leceh, furthermore, the 2 ladies seemed to be in the middle of their workout so I reckoned that I need not wait that long for my turn to use the computer. 10 minutes later, Lady A was still nosing around her friend's baby photos on facebook and Lady B was still typing a very long email on "how to annoy other people behind a queue" at a rate of 1 sentence every 5 minutes. I'm serious, she was just moving her mouse around and then typing one word every other few seconds. Thinking that these 2 ladies would not be returning to their workout anytime soon, I dug out my Ipod touch and left the gym.
  

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His royal highness blogged at 7:34 PM

A Nation In Concert 2008

Sunday, September 28, 2008

If you guys have been following my blog for a few years, you might have come across an entry where I helped out as one of the four hunky soldier ants in a charity musical "A Nation in Concert" in 2006. A new production will be put up this year with a brand new script and a bigger cast.


Performers involved includes well known faces from TV and Theatre and a hundred over participants from the Association of Persons with Special Needs (Katong School, Tanglin School and Chao Yang School), Handicaps Welfare Association, Singapore Association for the Deaf, Singapore Association of the Visually Handicapped and Spaces Community.

This show which celebrates diversity, is put together by the effort of a hundred over different individuals. Sometimes, we tend to dwell too much on someone's weaknesses or shortcomings and neglect the fact that that person might be a lot more talented than us in other aspects. I think we have all been through that, lamenting why other people wouldn't look past our weaknesses or differences in superficial appearances or personality, and focus on the existing goodness in us. So this show provides a platform for able and "differently abled" people to work together and showcase their talents for charity.

If you are free on the 11 or 12 October, make a difference in someone's life and join us in this fun filled charity show. You can book the tickets through Sistic or you can give me a call or leave a message on this blog :)

Here's the synopsis taken from the ANIC website.

Meet Shelby the slowpoke Sea Snail, Cornelius the Alaskan Crab and Priscilla the Drunken Prawn - a trio of headstrong sea-bottom dwellers who are sick of being looked down upon for having feet (or in Shelby's case, being just one big foot) in a world of arrogant but oh-so-graceful swimming creatures. They long to express their uniqueness by taking part in a talentime hosted at Madam Manta's undersea lounge The Ai Hum Club, but all their hopes are dashed when the ruthless Petula Pufferfish threatens to buy up and tear down the club, and even reports the trio to the censors who are out to prevent 'footers' from getting too vocal!

Will the trio win their right to be heard? Will the Ai Hum Club survive the invasion of the sea-vil servants? What will it take for the whole undersea community to learn that difference should be celebrated rather than stigmatized?

Oh, if you can't make it for the concert, you can show your support by buying one (or all) of our T-shirts :) Four of the celebrities from ANIC comprising Timothy Go, Karen Tan, Timothy Nga and Chermaine Ang have respectively teamed up with 4 artists comprising Chan Wai Teik (photographer), Bjorn Yeo (graphics designer), Ter Yeow Yeong (graphic designer) and Soh Ee Shaun (illustrator) to create 4 different designs for each T-shirt. The tees are sold at $39 each and they are available at Actually... and Wooonderland.

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Kidnap

Monday, September 15, 2008

Me, Jerry and Darren kidnapped WALL·E and Eve.


Ok, sort of. You guys seen this WALL·E and Eve promo bench thingy at the cinemas before? I saw it at the staircase landing when I exited the cinema toilet and showed it to Jerry excitedly. Since it was located at the staircase landing, it was highly likely that they were going to dispose the thing!!! And so Jerry shamelessly went to ask one of the staff to verify this and it turns out that they were really going to throw them away!!

Being yao gui Singaporeans, we proceeded to dismantle WALL·E and Eve and quickly loaded them into Jerry's car!! We even dismantled and took back the bench as well!!! Coolness!!!!





Now must keep a lookout for other things to take home. Saw this "The Days" movie promo fixture with a real motorcycle in front.......

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His royal highness blogged at 2:04 AM

Lombok

Monday, September 08, 2008

Went to Lombok to dive 2 weeks back. For those who do not know where it is, it is an island quite near to Bali. It has been a year since I did a diving trip, so I was very much looking forward to this trip. Furthermore, I bought a dive com a few months ago and I have been itching to show it off use it ever since.

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PROFILE

Name: Yandaokia
Species: Level 12 Adonis
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Mr International Part 1

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My eventful weekend

A Nation In Concert 2008

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