With Jorja turning one in December and starting to toddle soon after, Meng & I figured it was therefore time to bring her to visit the kids playground at the KLCC park.

We chose to go on a weekday after dinner keeping in mind that (a) the weather would be cooler in the late evening, and (b) it wouldn’t be as crowded as during weekends. As it turned out, we were right on both counts. The only disappointment was that large parts of the playground were unlit - perhaps Petronas were beginning to feel the pinch of the monthly electricity bills?

Anyway, darkened playground or no, the girls were raring to go. I also took the opportunity to fool around with some slow flash night photography - I must say I’m rather pleased with the results!

From left to right: Large, medium, and small. Thumbnails are clickable.

Jorja’s a little bewildered at the whole thing but Meg and Kiki are clearly having a swinging good time, heh.

I recently decided to expand my collection of classic movies, thanks to a promotion of selected Criterion DVDs on Amazon. Managed to save up to 30% on Playtime by Jacques Tati, a DVD title that I’ve been eyeing for a while now.

I also could not resist picking up the remastered version of Carol Reed’s noir classic The Third Man, starring Orsen Welles and written by Graham Greene. It now comes as a two-disc Special Edition DVD set and is a huge improvement over the original single platter edition, also by Criterion. It’s on par with the remastered boxset for Seven Samurai which I already own.

Criterion have also released the following three films for the first time: Sansho The Bailiff by Kenji Mizoguchi, Ivan’s Childhood by Andrei Tarkovsky, and Ace In The Hole by Billy Wilder. All three films are masterpieces of art in motion, crafted by some of the finest directors the world has known. Of particular note is Ace In The Hole, which is the first time ever this film is appearing on the DVD format.

One of the marks of a great film is that it stands the test of time. Like fine wine, many improve with age. These five films - and the messages they convey - effortlessly pass that test because they remain remarkably relevant even today.

Playtime, The Third Man, Sansho The Bailiff, Ivan’s Childhood, Ace In The Hole.

Jacques Tati, Carol Reed, Kenji Mizoguchi, Andrei Tarkovsky, Billy Wilder.

French, English, Japanese, Russian, American.

True joy is finally getting to watch and experience so many great films that you’ve only ever heard about for years. Most of these films were made before I was even born. That, I know, will be an immediate turn-off for many people. But, like all good things in life, some films - like fine cuisine - is a distinctly acquired taste.

The sooner you learn to enjoy them, the sooner you will experience a marked change in the way you perceive the world around you. Trust me, try it.

Yoke Chin applies the finishing touch 

Three weeks ago, Metro Tabernacle A/G celebrated her 25th Anniversary. The birthday service was held at the Flamingo Hotel Grand Ballroom, as usual.

And again, as usual, there were a host of special presentations to mark the special event. Among the presentations was this short skit performed by members of the drama team entitled, “The Best Is Yet To Come.”

Of course each one of our previous skits are special, but this one is special in a slightly different way in that we actually wrote it ourselves, from start to finish. Maybe it’s not that big a deal, but it’s our first time anyway and so it deserves a mention.

The script may be our own but the premise and the setting was borrowed from another skit I had liked very much and had wanted to produce. “The Best Is Yet To Come” is a three-part play, featuring three different groups of people going through different periods and experiences in their lives. It’s basically a call to remember the good times of the past and to continue to look forward in hope to the future.

Credit to the entire team for a job well done - I am so proud of each and every one of them. Mei Young is the newcomer this time around and she carries herself with aplomb in the first scene with Vincent, who is returning to the team for the first time since Christmas.

   

In the second scene, we have all the regulars: Chun Hoo, Julie, and Katy who play a bunch of sharks… sorry, lawyers. Good lawyers, I might add :P

   

Mel and I wrap it up in the third act. She previously played my younger sis in Night Shift, but this time she plays my daughter. At this rate, I’ll be playing her grandfather soon. Suddenly, I feel a little old…

   

About the video, it’s a little chunky at 24mb but that’s also mainly because it clocks in at 13 minutes of running time. Which is almost the same as the previous Anniversary skit we did few years ago with Moses and the Israelites (Chun Hoo, Julie, and I were there too… what a corker that was!)

Anyway, this one is quite a corker, too. I think Mei Young and Vincent are hilarious as the newly-weds… the lawyers look as if they are actually about to come to blows in the second act… and I always love working with Mel: I love her as a friend, and I love playing off her character in a skit. Extra hugs to her as well for drafting the initial script for this drama which we eventually distilled via collective input into the final treatment that you see here.

“The Best Is Yet To Come” (WMV / 13:02 / 24Mb / 320 x 240)


This one goes out especially to all the Metrotabbers who are away from home studying and working around the world. Enjoy!

NOTE: If you’re looking for previous videos, you can find them in the Downloads section.

 
Jorja is eight months old today, exactly. And it’s almost exactly a year from the day we first had that real good look at her  and discovered she was… well, a her.

One of the best ways of keeping tabs how fast time flies is to have kids, I say. Her two elder sisters are already ten and three respectively, so it’s no huge surprise that Jo is a quick learner. At eight months, she’s already an accomplished crawler - if someone would organise a speed crawling competition for 8-month old babies, my girl would ace it every time.

   
Taking photos of Jorja is always tricky as she keeps coming for the camera!

Mind you, she was doing this some 2-3 weeks ago just after she turned seven months. In comparison, her two elders sisters crawled with all the grace of a pair of beached whales at that same age.

In other areas of expertise, Jo is also an accomplished ‘stander’ (she’ll grab hold of the nearest available support and pull herself upright) and also quite a talkative little bundle (once she warms up to you).

I guess when one has big sisters to chase around the house, one has no choice but to either learn to do things quickly or get left behind quickly. Survival of the fittest, indeed.

 
Related post:
Arrival: Jorja Wong (with lots of videos!)

They say the two hardest things for a director (stage, film, art) to deal with is having to direct kids and animals.

Well, I’m here to tell you the same can be said for taking photos. Trying to take just ONE decent photo of ONE child is already a tricky task. Shooting two or more children requires you to juggle equal amounts of camera handling dexterity and patience and sanity.

Coz’ when you finally manage to get ‘em in position, they’ll just as quickly move OUT of position. When you finally coax the both of them to look at the camera and smile, one of them will invariably be distracted by something moving in the room (curtain, mosquito, etc). And just when you fire the shutter release, one of them will move at the last split-second and blur the shot. Or blink. Or ask for milk. Or need to suddenly go to the bathroom.

A thousand different things can (and do) happen. It’s enough to make me pull out my hair, if only I had any left.

But then, you get the briefest of opportunities, that magical freeze frame in time where everything just falls into place for that perfect shot. You seize the moment and click on the button, hoping nothing will go wrong at the very last microsecond…

Yessssss!!! We have touchdown! w00t x 2!  Booyah! Pack it up boys, we’re goin’ home!

I high-five myself for a job well done and grin from ear to ear like a monkey and his banana milkshake. My wife heaves a sigh of relief.

And then I scan the shot again - my smile withers like a worm on a hot day.

——->   The.Kids.Forgot.To.Smile.In.The.Photo.   <——-

Ah, what the heck… Que Sera Sera!

NOTE: All pictures are clickable for a larger view.

Gobsmackingly gorgeous

This is the Nissan Sport Concept and - as its name implies - it’s a concept vehicle which Nissan unveiled at the New York International Auto Show in 2005. It also made an appearance at last year’s Kuala Lumpur International Motor Show 2006 (KLIMS).

It’s quite an impressive-looking piece of kit, wouldn’t you say?

However, unlike many other concept cars that never actually make it past the prototype stage, Nissan actually went on to flesh out this concept into a street car. The result is the Nissan Latio Sport, which - surprise! - also happens to be my spanking new set of wheels. Yesssss!

Compare some shots of the Sport Concept below against the Latio Sport. The family resemblance is unmistakable.  

Check it out, dudes (thumbnails are clickable).

Nissan Sport Concept
   
Front                                                Rear                                                Side

Nissan Latio Sport
   
Front                                                Rear                                                Side

So, whaddya think? Okay, you can wipe the drool off your chin now.