Caption Contest!

I was going through the bunch of pictures I have in my folders and I came across this stray one that made me laugh my socks off.
And it also reminded me that while the bunch of us were stressed backstage before the show, our beloved Egyptians and Roman soldiers had time to pose for DRAMATIC pictures!
Haiyoh! These fellows!
And, I think this pic is courtesy of Sue! Right?

Anyways, I'm pretty shagged to the max today and I had the Malaysian Film Festival write-up to do. So, as a treat for you, my loyal readers.........

Let's have a create your own caption contest! Yes yes! 'Tis true!

And there can only be ONE winner!
(This will determined by a panel of 3 judges. 1 of whom will be me. The other two neutral parties.)

And the winner might get a prize! Real or not?

Maybe, maybe not.

Hahakz!
Up to you to believe!
But then again, no harm right?
Afterall, if its true, you might just be watching a movie ON ME!

So, what the f**k?
Just try your luck!

Just leave your captions under comments!
Closing date for this competition ends at 00:00 hrs 28th September 2005!

Have fun!



"Fill in your own caption"


Terms & Conditions apply:
Actually, I can't think of any lah. Hahakz!

Disclaimer:
This competition is strictly coming from me, out of my own free will, out of my own pocket and have not been forced in whatever way possible. If there's a prize lah!

And I am...

I don't usually do memes. But why not?
It was started by MercerMachine, http://somethingstickythiswaycomes.blogspot.com
I saw it on Mr Brown's.
And I decided to do it after seeing Becca's, http://crazyparadox.blogspot.com


I am the baby who was showered with as much love as he could've asked for.

I am the baby who broke his grandfather's cigarettes and made him quit.

I am the baby my paternal grandfather named.

I am my parents' only baby.

I am the boy who loved soccer but had to play badminton.

I am the boy who was scared of the dentist.

I am the boy who wanted to be an author and wrote his own series of ghost stories (or tried to at least)

I am the boy whose father wants him to be a journalist.

I am the boy who did not go to Victoria School and could've done better for his PSLE.

I am the boy who waited 2 and a half years for her.

I am the boy that finally learnt to open his mouth and call the stage his own and cannot stop talking till today.

I am the boy who, at thirteen, knew he was going to do Mass Comm.

I am the boy who fell in love with literature, the performing arts and poetry.

I am the boy who got distinctions for his English and Literature but could've done better for his Maths and Science.

I am the guy who should be in Mass Comm or Film, Sound and Video.

I am the guy who got too many warning letters.

I am the guy the children call "Teacher Shaiful"

I am the guy who will always want to make movies.

I am the guy who wants to make change.

I am the guy who's been called ambitious many times.

I am the guy who dreams of having a soiree under the stars.

I am the guy who wishes he could reach out and touch the stars.

I am the guy who's superly duperly majorly got a crush on Felicia Chin.

I am the guy who's thankful that he has people who will always stand by him.

I am the guy who thinks too much.

and I am that baby, that boy and the guy who is on the brink of becoming a man.

The Sentosa Pictorial

Alritey folks! For some of you, like a certain Mr. YK who cannot wait for these pictures to be up, here they are now!
There's a whole bunch of them from my camera and I'm sure there were lotsa others who also took pics. But here's just a taste of the action from the island of Sentosa!

And oh, did I mention that I was the ONLY guy around?


Station Mistresses getting briefed

As you can see, most were dressed in GREEN. It was only a "die-die" situation that we could wear white.


Participants getting briefed

The response was pretty good!


Janice giving instructions

Now, while Janice is giving out the instructions, take a look at what's going on behind her. I'm not sure what we all were doing but the picture surely looks like the types you get for your oral examinations!


"Can we have your sunglasses?

One of the tasks at one of the stations included obtaining objects such as seashelles, name tag of staff of Sentosa and sunglasses!


Blow Wind Blow!!

This was the one station that made me laugh, laugh and laugh even more seeing people walking around without realising there was flour on their faces.


Words fail me!

Definitely one of the funniest pictures I discovered inside my camera!


Aishah explaining the wonders of AXION soap

As always, Aishah shines! Hahakz. I have no idea what exactly she was trying to say here but it sure as hell seems like a makcik telling her friends about how great the latest product in the market is! *Sorry Aishah!*


No one's bothered by the camera

As you can see, me in the pain-to-our-eyes outfit being a cam-whore while the rest simply can't be bothered.


The people who made the event happen!

This picture is testament as to how the ECH Society has come a long way from a year and a half ago when we only had like 4 members carrying the club. Things have changed and the future seems all too good for us all! Yippee! Yet another event successfully accomplished!


Group #7 aka The Pau(s)

And this is the group of ladies who made my day!
Considering I was supposed to be a station master, I ended up being their facilitator, to which I had no regrets of course!
The Pau(s) were a great bunch!
Will see you Pau(s) when school starts!!!!




And for those of you who are wondering if the [sun-kissed one] i mentioned is in any of the pictures there, I might say yes. Hahakz.
Too many? Oh well then. Let's play "Where's ________?"
(I'm sure y'all grew up playing "Where's Wally?" right?)
I might have a prize for the one who guesses correctly!

Kissed by the sun...

Well, I don't have pictures yet from the Sentosa Trip that the ECH Society organised.
So much for wanting to relax and just remain as station master.
Ended up being a facilitator and had to take charge of a group.
Which would mean that I had to run if they run. And that I did.
In my pants and ready-to-fly-off-my-feet sandals.

But, it was all good! I have no complains! My group was fantastic and enthusisatic!
WAhahahah! And the best part was that we actually got 2nd place. Hehehe.
"The Pau(s)" *shakes head* Wahaha. Die lah. When school resumes, cries of "____ Pau!" will ring through Canteen 2.

In any case,
I think I am somewhat smitten.
A few hours there and being kissed by the sun, together.
And she, heh.
Every time she smiled, the sun's rays just kept reflecting of her cheeks.
And, she just had this glow around her, which was pretty comforting. Heh.

And I shall stop with me heh-ing and leave it at that.

Gushy, Gushy, Gushy!

It seems that I'm still stuck with the Be With Me bug.
But before I go further, I would just like to say that Felicia Chin remains my numero uno local celebrity crush not that y'all don't know that already lah.

In any case, I just wanted to say that Korey sms'ed me to switch on to Channel 5 last Thursday and to my surprise Felicia was on the show! I thought she would be featured throughout the whole show and was pretty disappointed upon realising that she was in it for only ONE segment. Nonetheless, there were close-ups of her face and I was gushing and smiling to myself.
And in all honesty, only Felicia Chin's the one person on tv that's made me do that! So Soozee, the show isn't the only thing that's GUSHY now!

Anyhoo, I sensed that someone up there liked me as I didn't switch channels afterwards. Lo! After Felicia was Joanne! Wahhahaa!

I don't seem to have any new pictures of Felicia but here's the one from my old blog. Hahakz. Lovely lovely.


Ze Olde Blog Template


Now, on the topic of Be With Me again.
Stefan should recall my reaction upon seeing both Ezann and Samantha on screen but I have to say that Ezann's the one who I've a soft spot for. Heh.

And, I went about searching for screen caps and I found two nice ones of Zhao Wei Films!

Eiiiii, I think right, when I watch Be With Me a second time around, I confirm going to gush one! Wah lau!
Look look!



Ezann and Sam

Ezann!

Hehehehehehehehehehehehehehehhehehehehehehe.
And I just had to put the next pic up again lah!


Us again!

"Oh what's getting into me now?!"
Hahakz.
*gushes*

Jackie Chan come Singapore lohh!!!

Well, I keep forgetting to update about my last day at the childcare centre and the updates with Yellow Chair.
And then, I get news like this hot off the press since I was there!

And today, the movieXclusive gang went to meet a certain Mr. Chan.
Jackie Chan.
He's in town to promote his upcoming movie, The Myth!

And here's our press pass!



Press Pass~!

There was a press conference at NLB's Pod and *grumble grumble* to those who went and saw the magnificent view from the forbidden area.

Anyhoo, our dear Richard managed to borrow his parents' car and we headed for the Botanic Gardens. No, it wasn't to shoot a scene for his latest film.
They were nice enough to name a flower after him.
This following in the footsteps of Ricky Martin, Bae Yong Jun and Shah Rukh Khan who've all had flowers named after them at the Botanic Gardens.
The crowd at the secluded area of the gardens were closely guarded and when Richard drove in, it almost became a scene from an action movie. We could hear the walkie-talkies saying things like "Car Number XXX has entered the premises when it's not allowed to. Please check.)

Anyhoo, Jackie Chan arrived soon after with director Stanley Tong and co-star Mallika Sherawat (!!!!!!!!!!!)
Below are the pics from the flower naming ceremony. I don't quite remember the breed of the orchid lah but the article will be up on movieXclusive.com pretty soon yeah. Enjoy these first!



Jackie Chan

Mallika Sherawat

Stanley Tong

And that's a group shot...

Jackie names his flower...

Jackie hugging his flower

Isn't he the proud one?

And they all got a bouquet each...

And after about 20 minutes, they were whisked away and the ceremony ended just like that lah. Maids on leave and tourists had a pleasant surprise shouting "Jackie Chan! Jackie Chan!"
How often you come to Singapore and you see people like Jackie Chan yeah? At Botanic Gardens some more!

And then, we had our dinner at Bugis followed by the panel discussion on Asian Cinema with Jackie Chan and Stanley Tong. It lasted for about 45 minutes or so and was conducted in Mandarin. I tried looking over at Richard's notebook in which he was furiously scribbling notes. But I must say that it was great having Jackie Chan, International Superstar about 5 metres away from me. We were in the very first row. Hehe. Got media passes mah.
But eh, the flower naming one better leh! About 3 metres away from us only.

BUT.

We didn't get a chance to take a personal photo with Jackie Chan. Too many bouncers and we had the NLB Drama Centre door slammed on us as the entourage exited. At this point, Richard managed to give them the slip AND managed to ONLY get a handshake. Lucky him!

Anyhoo, Richard told us briefly about what was said during the discussion. Again, the report will be up soon on movieXclusive.com.
Do check it out! Meanwhile, more pics!


Jackie and Stanley

The discussion

And the lucky kids!

Stefan also has a take of his account about our day with Jackie Chan.
Visit http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com

Be With Me: The Movie

This is the third entry on my blog that has Be With Me starting off the title. This should be the last, I think.


Be With Me

Surely the movie caught my attention when it was first mentioned that the movie would premiere at Cannes.
It got me hyped when the audience in Cannes gave a standing ovation when it opened the Director's Fortnight. I mean, how often do you get a Singapore product that made an international audience stand up and clap for 5 minutes?
And i kept going on and on asking when the film would be released on our shores.

This was supported by excellent news that Warner Brothers had bought the local distribution rights!!!

And then at the launch party, I fell for it hook, line and sinker.
Samantha Tan and Ezann Lee were reasons enough for me to watch the movie.

So, Stefan (read his review at http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com) sms-ed not too long ago asking if the rest of the usual suspects were up for watching the sneaks of Be With Me. And he "forced" us to reply within 30 minutes!
And without much thinking, I agreed and yesterday, we went to watch the movie.

Now, I don't usually review a movie extensively anymore unless I have to for the website.
And I'll keep my views about this movie sweet and succinct.

In all honesty, after meeting Ezann and Samantha in person, every moment they appeared on screen made my heart jump.
Let's just say I'm pretty fond of Ezann now (not that it's a new fact now aye?)
and that Samantha is just irresistable and yummy. Heh.
I am buying that copy of New Man magazine with her on the cover now!
And that kiss they shared, I don't know what to feel anymore except that I was in heaven?

Now, fanboy mode aside, I loved the movie.
If it could be described in a word, it'll be "Poignant."

It's true what the reviews have said about the young love and middle-aged love parts letting down the movie as a whole.
Yes, the strength of the story lies so much more in the elderly love part but the same part also might have struck some nerves. While it was an apt way of allowing Theresa Chan to communicate with the audience, the subtitling dragged on for quite a bit.

That is just the most superficial of levels that I'll share with you about Be With Me.
I can wax lyrical and go into the deeper underlying themes of the movie such as dealing with death. But I'll stop here.

The three stories, interwoven together, form a tapestry of love in a Singaporean perspective which is mostly poignant and saccharinely bittersweet.

The papers have given this movie a 4 out 5.
Three columnists from movieXclusive.com, including myself give it a 4 1/2 over 5.

Teachers: The Lights in Our Hearts

The Light they shine..

The title of this entry is derived from my poem called "A Teachers' Day Ode", which was written as a dedication to the teachers of Junyuan Secondary School and the Department of Early Childhood Education at Ngee Ann Polytechnic, last year.
The poem can be read at: http://www.postpoems.com/cgi-bin/displaypoem.cgi?pid=391345

This year though, I didn't have time to plan or conjure something as such. I was too caught up with the whole idea of rebuilding my dramatic corner at the childcare centre for my re-assessment. Little did I realise, that this would be the first time I would be celebrating Teachers' Day as a teacher! (I know lah Student Teacher but still...)

Teachers don't do what they do for the gifts.
It was pretty heartwarming being remembered and given gifts like mango strudel, double fudge cake and lots more cake! (Thank God the era of giving red and blue pens are way over)
But, it struck me at that moment, that you don't have to give teachers gifts. Just to get a wish and to be remembered would suffice.
And it was a nice genuine feeling being there at the childcare centre as part of the teaching staff there, it really inspired me to conjure more things that I never knew I could do with these hands of mine. I'm excited at the prospect of how my dramatic corner would look like when it's fully complete. Will post pictures when it's all done!

Now, I asked for time off from the principal to go back to my alma mater. She asked if I was invited, I said "No. It's tradition!"
I missed the whole celebration as I reached there just as it ended but I was one of the last few to leave the school.
It's a great feeling to know that my teachers are proud of my achievements.
Mdm Fauziah said it best, "You guys are testimony that teachers can make a difference in their students' lives"

And it was well said. I miss my teachers. Many of them have left Junyuan since and things have really changed for the worse. And I fear, I won't see some of these faces around soon enough.

I miss my teachers who have moulded me into what I am today. They gave me the opportunities to excel in my different areas and made me a better person. I miss the ones who inspire and motivate me to always do well. I still carry their teachings with me.
I miss the laughs and tears shed over things good and bad.

There are many who can't understand what I feel for my teachers.
Had it not been for them there probably wouldn't be the MSB or Shaiful you know today.

Few can understand for you'll only appreciate your teachers even more when you've left the school. In my case, being a teacher myself makes me fully aware of what my teachers had to go through with us back in those days.

I will never forget the teachers who have made a difference in my life.
There are those who are unreachable, there are those who have disappeared and there are the few I'm still in contact with.
But, one thing is for sure, they'll always be in my heart forever.

To all my wonderful teachers who have given me so much for so little:

Happy Teachers' Day!

Be With Me Launch Party

Well well, I had to leave y'all hanging the last time.

The other two suspects who were there have already posted their take on the event:

To read Stefan's: http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com
To read Lokman's: http://dgital.blogspot.com

I was covering the Cathay Classics series over at Cinelesiure with Fazzy joining me. Prior to the show, Stefan had contacted me about meeting up after our respective events to go home together. Little did I know my night would be unforgettable.

And so, immediately after my event ended, I contacted Stefan who was still at Bar None with Lokman. And nicely enough, they enquired if they could get me in.
Without much hesitation, I rushed over to Bar None, in record time nonetheless.
I had a slight hassle at the door as I thought I couldn't go in as it was a private party and all...The bouncers weren't helpful I tell ya.
And when Stefan came out, we couldn't see the lady who he was asking permission from to allow me in. I ended up asking the bouncers if i could go in and they said yeah.
KNN. Made me stand there and wait like stupid F**K.

Inside, I discovered to my horror that both Stefan and Lokman had run out of batteries for their cameras and that they had not talked to Eric Khoo or the other cast members at all.
Made me wonder if they were drinking the whole time away. Wahahah.
And lo! I had my camera with me. And, I decided to lead the charge in trying to talk to the cast and crew. Saw Eric Khoo talking to friends and then saw Ezann Lee and Samantha Tan being interviewed by a reporter. Wanted to attack the girls first but I found a window of opportunity to talk to Eric Khoo. We traipsed over to him and hung around and he looked over and I smiled. He continued talking to someone else and the moment he was done, I pounced and introduced ourselves as being from movieXclusive.com, to which I asked for a photo and then got Stefan and Lokman to talk to him. Wahaha. And that was when Eric Khoo spilled his drink on Stefan.
Lokman gave Eric Khoo his namecard (lucky bugger) and they talked a bit more. Eric seemed a tad drunk by then and all he could muster was "ok ok" and "cool coooool".

Done with that, we went back to the ladies who were still being interviewed. When the reporter was done, the group on the sofa next to the ladies didn't do anything and started looking around. I took the chance once again and this time I literally pounced onto the seat that was adjoining to Samantha Tan and introduced ourselves again. Stefan and Lokman weren't really prepared for it at that moment (neither was I lah). Had slight trouble as we didn't know the group next to them were actually their minders. Exchanged formalities and asked for a short interview. And at the spur of the moment, I got up and pushed Stefan onto the chair (stupidly, I know). Wahahaha.

But, I then shoved my camera at Lokman and knelt down on the floor near them when Ezann smiled at me (!!!!!!!!!!)
We managed to get what we wanted and even got a group picture out of it.
And then, Lokman suggested taking personal photos and the girls obliged.
What made it feel like heaven was having them around me everytime a photo was taken to see the results. Wooooooooo~
This was all done much to the dismay of their minders of course. Wahaha. Up yours!

And, we soon left in extremely high spirits. I didn't take a sip at all and I was appearing the more tipsy of the lot. We called the Chief and Richard telling them about our night.
Rounded it off at Starbucks when we kept going on and on and on about it all.

Heaven, I'm in heaven.


Aiyohhhh. Ezann so sweet lah in person.
But hey, in this state of heaven, Felicia, I still loyal to you hor!