my first public screening

"My New Home" finally went on its first public screening. It's the first time my fellow crews, and actors, and even close friends, get to see it. ;-) Thanks to Mien and Effa who organized the Filmmaker Anonymous, through word of mouth and a post on a mailing list, we managed to get not less than 40 people at Indiescene Cafe to come watch the 10 short films. Well, it's my first piece I direct since I left school, didn't expect much. It did feel vulnerable to be standing alongside other directors after the screening for Q & A. There were some shorts that I really really like, very well done. If you were not there, too bad.

Anyhoos, it's new year's eve.

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2007~!! *hugz* and thanks for reading my blog.

peng you

adrian and colin are among my most favourite friends in high school. they are cousins. one i see on and off, the other last i saw was years back. we spent a wonderful few days catching up and just did stuff. it was good to feel that our friendship hasn't changed. 10 years, it's been that long. :)

end of the year blues...

it must be end of the year.
the time when you look back and ask,
what have i done?

christmas songs filling the air,
friends and families getting together,
buying gifts and shopping malls,
cheesy lovers hugging tights.

romantic comedy makes you cry,
white snow you wish but rain you get,
people are happier, lonely ones tear,
traffic jam only makes me fear.

old friends i see, memories i had,
schooltime, innocent days, all that i cherish,
in that one box i brought along,
since the day i left, till i perish.

now it is,
it is end of the year.

Stuffs we did

Here's a few.
hanging out at the beach

bita in action

in the mall with a lady behind me

bought herself a 'dish-dash'

the 7star hotel as background


Finally the last bit of photos I want to post are all done. I may now close this chapter. ;-) moving on...

The people we met

We were very lucky to have met very kind people who helped us along the way. John is one of them (the guy in the first picture). When I told a friend who used to live in Dubai to pass me a contact, she gave me one number and said he'll take care of me. And he surely did his best. :) Among other photos are women we interviewed and friends we stayed with. one day as we were walking down a street we've not been, bita met her classmate from melbourne who just arrived on that day, eating lunch by the roadside. for a class of only 9 ppl, it was such a pleasant surprise to meet someone across the globe in a country you've not been. bizarre. (the couple in the shisha pictures)

photographs...finally.

Some of the places I stepped foot.

The desert on the picture is taken out from zarrin's balcony. she's a malaysian friend of mine who works in dubai and i'm very thankful that we get to bunk with her for few days. look closely and you will the skyline of dubai - they've got lots of high rise on their main highway, the syeikh zayed road, which can get horrendously jam. it's awful. the camels are chilling on the desert, and as how zarrin would describe it "i wake up and see camels outside my window, who else got a view like mine?"

First few days we didn't know where to go, and the cheapest food was fast food. there were iranian restaurants and lebanese restaurants, but they were not cheap, nevertheless we still enjoyed the variety. kebab, hommous, salad etc etc. yummy!

Land of the Emirates

I think I should definitely drop a line here while I'm in Abu Dhabi. It's day 9 in UAE Land, with first 7 days in Dubai, and a couple of days in Abu Dhabi, and leaving back to Dubai again before I fly back.
It has been work, work, and work! Calling the few contacts we have, looking through newspapers finding interesting stories and speaking to friends' friends or even strangers on the road or in some conference we crashed, our only aim is to find THE ONE woman whom we would like to feature. I am but the humble cameraman in this team of two. But really, I have learnt a lot - not the easiest way. Imagine, me and Bita (the director of this documentary) both flew a total of 40 hours (plus transit time) to meet here in Dubai, FOR THE FIRST TIME, and have to work so closely as though we've known each other for ages. Definitely there's some clashes of personalities, different methods, adjusting to each other and all that jazz. I came with no expectation whatsoever. I really didn't know what to expect. I just keep reminding myself to be open-minded about this and try to learn as much as I could. It really challenged me in many ways which I figured only by sitting down with me, you'll get the real impression of what I went through. (hope it doesn't sound all that bad)

There are some days that are slower which we just logged our tapes at home, or sampai jalan buntu kut so we went to the beach and chill. (yupp, I've dipped into the blue sea of arabian gulf). Mediterranean weather at this time of the year is nice, cooling and yet still sunny.

I might come back earlier than I think. Funny that I knew I was going to miss home and I DO - the secured feeling of routine, the warm and loving group of friends, understanding and patient colleagues and bosses, my own chill out pad and loyal sunnyboy waiting for me... or maybe just cheap 'xue cha' (cold chinese tea) and banana leaf rice that I miss. hehe. been eating lots of fast food 'cause everything is SO EXPENSIVE here, also kebabs and more kebabs. ro-boy must love it here a lot. they've got lime n lemon for most stuff, the humus, the mint leaves, tadik, salad, etc. all that.

Also, Bita's an American of Iranian origin. I think I have never had a close American friend and they are different from the usual Asians (duh!) definitely. We misunderstood each other quite easily at times, even the simplest way of saying things can come out different. For those who know me, *you know how malaysian the way i speak right*. I told myself I should probably stay in one of the caucasian countries one day, for a year or two, just so that I could comprehend the different culture a bit better. In another words, learn to deal with people who are a lot more vocal. ;-) (bita if u're reading this, love u k.)

Photos will be posted when I'm back. Till then.