A very Short and Sweet Experience

Hellooooooo and hi semua!!!! Let me start by saying, OH MY GOD THE LAST TIME AKU UPDATE BENDE NI WAS TIME PUASA????? and secondly, I'M ON BLOODY FOUR MONTHS BREAK BITCHES!!!!

(Note: I've been very busy with finals and theatre and stuff, but now I'm finally freeeee)

Okay back to the main issue at hand, the Short and Sweet Theater Festival, in which I acted in, became a director and also a playwright. This was the second time I took part as an actor but the first time as a director and playwright (kedekut sikit nak conquer everything this year. hehehehehe).

For those of you who don't know, Short and Sweet is an event organized by PenangPac, KLPAC (I think they have one in Australia too) and it's an event for the arts. They also have a festival for musicals, dance, stand up comedy and of course, theater. This year, my script "Good Girls" got short listed which made me the happiest person in the world for a moment. Also, this year I directed a play called "Shooting Star" written by Terrence Toh and was acted out by Hazim and Tera (both TTS members). Whereas I acted in "Good Girls" along side Hajar and Rafiq, under Doc's direction. This time ladies and gentlemen, I played (drum roll please)

A PROSTITUTE

And to be clear, no, I wasn't a female prostitute. Not this time. There are three sides to this story so let me break it down individually.

AS AN ACTOR

Playing as a prostitute was not easy (shocking kan?) There was a lot of, errrr, touching and movement involved (padahal I'm not even the main character pun). And everyday Doc would always say I'm not slutty enough or I need to be more of a bitch. But on the bright side, my punch lines did reach the audience. They laughed where they're supposed to. But apart from being on stage, I like being off stage in the dressing room just as much. Cause the actors were nice and friendly and completely mental. They were supporting if we felt down about our performances and they were just that amount of gila that we needed when everyone is stressed waiting for they're turn to get on stage. They were awesome and despite knowing them for a short moment, they were like family (corny habis)

AS A PLAYWRIGHT

My script, "Good Girls", was basically about a housewife having a conversation with her alter ego and complaining about how her husband is a jerk and how her family sold her to that man to keep they're land, while the alter ego becomes her voice of reason and tries to convince her to leave. But there was a catch, she couldn't leave because she caught her husband cheating and therefore pushed the housewife to her breaking point and killed the husband and his bitch. She became mental in the end. Buuuuuuuuuuuuuut, what Doc did to my script was, Lisa (Hajar), the housewife, was having a conversation with her two alter egos which was represented by her dead husband (Rafiq), who also happens to be a sultan and the man-bitch he slept with (Me). I was worried at first that this was too much and the audience would be confused with Doc's translation of the script. But the audience loved it. So I was ok with it. Lesson learned, trust in Doc, Doc knows best.

AS A DIRECTOR

So the script I directed was "Shooting Star", written by Terence Toh. The basic idea of the script was this guy, Andy (Hazim), has a crush on Rachel (Tera) and wants Rachel to make a wish on a shooting star but Rachel refuses because it brings back memories of her mother's death. So instead, Andy made a wish on the shooting star that Rachel would be happy. And she was happy....with another boy (FRIENDZONE!). As this was my first time directing, I became a wee bit paranoid about a few things. Okay I was overly paranoid. I had to worry about they're acting, and the props, and the stage setup, and the lighting. There was just so much that I was overwhelmed. And worst of all, I couldn't even watch them during their performance because I had to prepare for the play I was in. Luckily there was Doc there to be my third eye. In the end they pulled through and everything went well.

In the end everything went better than I expected. Why? 

Best Overall Production

Shooting Star

Best Director

Alvie Cheng (Hope & Hopeless)

Best Script

Mark Sasse ('No' In Spite Of Itself)

Best Glitz & Glamour

Good Girls

Best Actor (Male)

Hazim Halimi (Shooting Star)

Best Actor (Female)

Hajar (Good Girls)

Tera (Shooting Star)

Aimee Choon (Grave Affairs)

Best Supporting Actor (Male)

Alvie Cheng (Hope & Hopeless)

Best Supporting Actor (Female)

Tesa Sasse (Noticed)

Jackie Ashkin ('No' Inspite Of Itself)

Best New Comer Youth Award

Ysabel Loh (Noticed)

Festival Director's Award

Grayden (Homo | phobia)

Audience Choice Award

Good Girls

6 out of 11 of the awards. We won 6!!!! It was an unbelievable experience. All our hard work payed off in the end. I couldn't have asked for more. There were even members of the audience who came to congratulate us personally after the show and there was even this one lady who cried after watching Good Girls. The feeling was overwhelming and I thank God for everything. Alhamdullillah

So what's next? well "Good Girls" will also be playing in Short and Sweet KLPAC next month with a whole different cast, and concept. KL is going to be a totally different ball game because this is the first time we're performing at KLPAC. Come watch us! 

Despite all the ups and downs faced on our journey, I wouldn't have traded any of them for anything in the world. So thank you for the experience PenangPAC. Next stop, KLPAC!!!

Ok tu je

Bye~

Terharu

Hiiii

Almost every Ramadhan, my ex-schoolmates akan organize sesi buka puasa ramai-ramai. Ever since aku duduk UTP, it's been getting harder and harder for me to come back and join any of these events. But this year (after much fighting with myself and contemplating on if I should go or not) I decided to travel all the way back to KL just to buka puasa with my friends. Tak kisah sekjap ke apa, as long as dapat jumpa diorang. So accompanying me on my day trip back was Gummy, Somy and Sara.

So fast forward to KL, aku dapat jumpa everyone and it was a mixture of feelings. Mainly sebab ada a lot of us, and all from different cliques masa kat sekolah dulu. There were even people yang 3 tahun lebih dah tak jumpa and suddenly jumpa that night. Needless to say semua orang reminisced about the good old days, the bad memories, new gossips, etc etc. And as much  fun as it was, my time was limited with diorang, sebab I had to make my way back to UTP that night jugak. I didn't tell them in the beginning that I came back just for that buka puasa (mainly because I didn't think it was a big deal) but when they found out, diorang macam gave me gas money and duit tol for the way back. I honestly didn't want to accept it (sebab it was a lot) but they insisted. And at that moment it hit me.

Dulu these were the same people yang I could consider aku tak suka sangat pun. Some of them there last night aku pernah benci gila time sekolah dulu. Some of them aku rasa annoyed gila time sekolah dulu. And some of them there, aku memang taknak borak with them at all pun. But that gesture of offering to pay for my gas and tol that night macam made me feel loved. It was as though despite every hate moment or negative feelings I had with any of them dulu suddenly didn't matter cause in the end macam everyone still anggap everyone as their friends. Despite the distance and years, I think that was the night I loved my ex-schoolmates even more. And it was all because of a small gesture.

So from the bottom of my heart, thanks guys. We got home safely, and thank you for everything. I literally almost cried on my drive back.

Ok tu je
Bye~

Of Ramadhan and Ukuleles

Hello, and selamat berpuasa to all my muslim brothers and sisters and mothers and fathers and grandmothers and aunty and uncle (you get the point)

Anywho, pejam kelip pejam kelip dah bulan Ramadhan dah (since last week Rabu, and baru nak post something Ramadhan-ish now. Sorry cek busy sikit haaa) This would be my second time puasa-ing at UTP and honestly, tak rasa beza mana pun. It feels like a normal day, except I'm more hungry and thirsty than usual. And to make matters worst, setiap kali dah dekat dengan buka, mesti bersepah gambar #foodporn kat instagram la, twitter la Facebook la. So sorry in advance if I'm a bit cranky due to deprivation of food and water. But besides the normal hunger and thirst, This holy month has been good so far (then again tak sampai lagi pun the 10 day mark of puasa) InsyaAllah my puasa akan full this Ramadhan and many Ramadhans to come.

Side story, sejak aku lepak ngan Gummy and Ermie and Rafiq, aku makin jealous tengok diorang sebab diorang sangatlah musically talented. Until one day aku buka puasa kat rumah Ermie and he thought me how to play the Ukulele and I got hooked. Seriously, this thing is like weed. I can't stop playing. I was so in love with it, that I paksa Gummy (accompanied by Tera and Sara) to teman me buy my very own Ukulele.

(Introducing, Ermie, my new ukulele baby. And no it's not creepy at all that I named it after Ermie)

And I feel so happy that I can play another instrument aside from the piano (not really). Also it's a great distraction from my hunger and thirst during this fasting month so no, aku tak rasa bazir langsung beli this ukulele (for now). Anyway happy puasa everyone. Let's make the most of this holy month. Also, side, side story, aku dah boleh main lagu suasana di hari raya (well almost. I just have to get the "wajik dan dodol" part right)

tu je

k bye

The Justification Of Actions

Hello,

First of all, due to this haze, I'm sick and I missed my class which sucks. Honestly I didn't want to miss anymore classes after the end of my theater, but circumstances prevented me from keeping my word to myself. However, is being sick really a valid reason anymore to skip class, I wonder. Really think about it now.

In school we skip class cause in our immature little minds, we feel that school is useless and half the time we don't know what the hell is supposed to be done. Growing up teaches us independence and how to survive in life. Entering now university life, where we ourselves are responsible for our own future and no longer our parents, could you really risk not going to class? And the reason I use risk is because the classes we attend symbolizes how we may handle ourselves in the working world. In simpler terms, now that I am responsible for my own actions and my own future, is this really a valid reason for me to do something stupid (in this case I'm referring to skipping class) and subsequently jeopardizing my own future with my stupid actions?

Which brings us to justifying our actions or, as I like to call it, paraphrasing our actions to make it seem like what we did is actually okay. I missed my classes today and I feel horrible cause I don't want to miss anything. However, I am sick, and technically, even if I went to class today, could I really give my full attention? Hence, there's no point of me going to class anyway if I am sick right? Somehow I feel like no. This is the same as: I was hanging out with my friends last night until 4 in the morning despite knowing I have class at 8. Yet, I keep telling myself, it's okay, I can wake up tomorrow morning. Then morning comes and you tell yourself, I'm sleepy as hell. Even if I do go to class, I might end up sleeping and so there is no point going if I am going to sleep anyway. Similar no?

We know deep down what is right and what is wrong. Yet we keep coming up with a million excuses to make ourselves feel better about the choices we make. The validity of the reasons you make up for yourselves maybe convincing to others, but can you convince yourself? I am not convinced that skipping class today due to a mild sickness is a valid reason despite how many reasons I keep coming up with.

Shit, I hate growing up

Tu je, bye~

Post Festival Theatre Perak

Hey everyone. Let me start off by saying, babi lama sial aku tak update bende ni. But in my defence aku super duper keduper busy these past few weeks. Like terlampau busy. Having to maneuver in between classes and assignments and training and bla bla bla you don't want to hear that anyway and aku pun malas nak cerita.

No, the point of this post is to rant about the recent events of Festival Theatre Perak (FTP) whereby our theatre group Tronoh Theatre Shop (TTS) took part. Let me begin by saying I regret nothing. We worked our ass off. So what if we didn't win? We still bagged two awards. And it's a pretty big deal for me too because

1. It's the first time aku masuk show sebesar macam ni
2. It's the first time aku dapat watak besar daripada biasa (also the 3rd time aku dapat watak lelaki. EH?)

 I'm not saying that we should have won (and based on our previous track records, honestly I wasn't keeping high hopes) or that we are the best team ever, or that the judges tak suka our play ke apa. These things are very subjective. As long as we put on a good show and the people enjoyed it, I guess I could live with that. Although it would be pretty cool if we did win though. Just sayin.

Anywho, the experience was good and after a brief moment of contemplation and depression I thought, SCREW IT. We did our best, we learned a lot and we had fun. So as bloody corny as this may sound, we are all winners (that sounded waaaaaay worst than I expected) But you get my drift. With that being said, Let's get ready for our KL show. To quote Seether and Amy Lee "The worst is over now, and we can breathe again"

Before I return to the reality of studying and books and assignments, here's a little promo of our show in KL. Do come :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLPam2cDJkw

Ok tu je
Bye~

Don't Hug Me I'm Scared

Hello everybody! Its that time again where we review yet another weird Youtube video. So as per-normal, tengok la video ni dulu

(Don't Hug Me I'm Scared)

Alright, bagi yang malas nak tengok, basically video ni at first nampak cam something innocent and kononnnye its something for children. But then as the song progresses, it gets a bit...err...creepy. Actually a bit too creepy. Mungkin tu la sebab dia namakan the video Don't Hug Me I'm Scared? (Takde kaitan pun) Anyway, current video views: 4million ++. Basically it starts off with three characters in costume yang tengah duduk senyap-senyap and look bored and suddenly a singing notepad is singing to them about getting creative. Tapi as the song goes on, the definition of "creative" gets more and more weirder. Like tiba-tiba ada a human heart and they're head banging and suddenly ada something about death. Babi cuak sial part last-last tu.

The video was uploaded on the 29th of July 2011. The name of the company who created the video is called "This is it" and their youtube videos are uploaded with the username "thisisitcollective". And actually diorang ada one other video on their channel yang bernama "Bad Things That Could Happen" which is not that creepy. Actually tak creepy langsung pun (aku actually expected that other video to be creepy too tapi nothing happened). The funny thing is kan, this video was featured in some festivals worldwide like Sundance and Los Angeles Film Festival. Tapi apalah masalah diorang ni gi tunjuk video creepy camni kat festival camtu.

So this creepy video was directed by some mat sallehs yang bernama Becky Sloan, Joseph Pelling and Baker Terry. Tapi yang Becky and Joseph tu ada website diorang sendiri where they directed other videos. According to the directors, awal-awal video ni the puppets were silent sebab diorang tak "creative". Pastu bila the notepad tu start nyanyi baru diorang start jadi creative. Kononnye the message is without creativity we are silent and boring...or something like that la.

So banyak orang (aku pun) actually get freaked out masa part diorang start jadi gila part last-last tu and banyak orang actually start getting scared. Aku pun tak tahu asal. For me it was because it looked so innocent and non-threatening and suddenly jadi hardcore and killing and human hearts and death. Dia macam kalau kau tengok and innocent budak kecik bunuh orang la. Scary shit.

Tapi tu aku je la. Aku memang senang kene takut pun, eheh.

Ok tu je. Bye

The Perks of Being in The Single Life

Hi everyone!!!

Seperti ramai orang tahu, aku masih single (terkejutnya). Tapi bukan aku nak mintak simpati ke apa. Aku nak cito kisah aku sebagai seorang single dan dikelilingi oleh orang-orang yang dah berkapel (kononnye macam single tu suatu penyakit yang kronik)

Laik this, sebelum finals, aku ada balik KL jap sebab mak aku dah pressure aku sebab apparently aku dah lama tak balik. Aku tak rasa sebulan tak balik KL tu lama mana. Ada je membe aku satu sem tu tak balik terus. Anyway, alang-alang aku balik, aku gi join surprise birthday party membe aku, Husni, and party tu telah pun diplan oleh aweknya, Shira. Ok fine. Problem is, kat party tu, semua orang pergi berpasangan. As in Acap with Amira, Hariz and Yasmin, Khidir and Fatin. The only ones yang pergi solo was me, Bear, Zack and Pie. And tu pun diorang datang solo sebab pasangan mereka tak boleh datang. Don't get me wrong, aku  bukan the type yang tengok orang berkapel and tetibe jealous and tetibe jadi desperate nak cari girlfriend ke apa. It's the fact that, kalau la tetibe everyone nye pasangan betul-betul boleh datang malam tu, cuba teka sape akan jadi the odd one out. Not only that, cuba teka sape yang kena ambik gambar semua orang nanti. AMBOI!

But okay in all seriousness, I still don't mind being the only single guy in our group. Cuma, sometimes tu, bila ada event-event camni, aku rasa macam awkward sikit. I mean korang mesti perasan some people bila depan awek lain, depan membe lain. So sometimes susah sikit nak talk to them. Not that at that party time tu ada any problems talking to anyone ke apa. Just nak kaitkan dengan normal scenarios. And ni bukan the first time. Aku pun dah brape kali juga jadi third wheel gi teman orang dating. So aku dah biasa sikit la. Okay tu tipu, I actually find it a wee bit annoying. Eheh.

But ni tak bermaksud aku akan tetibe go all out nak carik teman ke apa. My confidence level cukup tinggi and I will not be defined by a woman (Ceh! ayaaaaaaaaat!). I'm happy with my life and aku takde lah rasa lonely mana. Membe ada en. Cukup la tu for now. Hal-hal girlfriend, kita buat lek je. InsyaAllah akan jumpa. Hal-hal kahwin, wait until aku dah start keje ke apa. Ke tunggu mak aku carik kan ke apa (EH?).

K tu je. Night~