made a list and checked it twice (okay, at least thrice)...

Hey everyone, hope you all are enjoying yourselves over this holiday season! :)

I can't believe it's the end of the year already, and I have been missing on Livejournal for most of it. I blame it totally on Facebook, Twitter, and my busy and erratic schedule.

Before the new year commences, I am making a quick summary of the events and activities that had shaped this year for me, and here it goes:

My 2009

Japanese Lessons

• I took up basic Japanese lessons (Elementary Level 1) at Bunka Language School, but lessons were soon disrupted due to an overseas film shoot. I passed the test eventually, but after some thought, decided to wait till I've more time to self-study before taking on Elementary Level 2. At least I could decipher now. :)

The Philanthropist

• In many previous film productions I'd been involved in, I'd met countless actors and extras, and had seen how badly the latter were usually treated. I often wondered what makes them tick, and what really goes on a day in the live of an extra.

I soon discovered that for myself, as I got cast as a featured extra (an extra but with dialogue) in the American NBC network series " ", starring James Purefoy, Neve Campbell etc, and the episode I was in featured a cast of Singapore actors to play Myanmar characters. They flew us all the way to South Africa's Durban, where they re-created the street scenes of Myanmar.

We were all well taken care of, and from the moment we arrived at South Africa, we were each given our entire week's allowance in local currency, a production mobile phone, as well as the contract, scrīpt and call sheets etc all in one package. Each of us were given a spacious hotel room with a splendid beach view. Heck, we even got our own individual trailers at the production base camp! Even though I'm playing TWO very minor characters that might or might not be seen on screen at the end, I'd never felt more treated like a star, or with more respect.

More photos here: From South Africa to Myanmar (On the sets of "The Philanthropist")

South Africa * At the start of the year, I'd been worry about not being able to travel much this year due to the initial lack of projects and work. But my last minute casting for " " brought me to South Africa for the first time in my life. And what an eye opening experience!

Me with my fellow actors, Ros Pho, Shane Mardjuki and Zhou Quanxi, at the Hluluwe Safari Park Out of the 7 days we were there, we were only needed to shoot one or two days. The rest of the time we fully utilised to explore this beautiful yet dangerous faraway city. Highlights of the trip included visits to two different safaris: PheZulu Safari Park and the Hluluwe Imfolozi Safari Park, and hearing the famous clicking dialects of the African locals!

More photos here: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5

Robbed

• One of the low points of the South African trip, although it was still quite an exciting turn of events, was that I had my bag stolen in broad daylight at the beachfront, from right under my nose! Thankfully, we hailed a passing police car and the officers got us on board their vehicle to survey and search the location.

And within 5-10mins, one of the officers found my bag in one of the nearby trash bins! Most of the contents were gone, including my local production phone and my own mobile phone, a crystal lucky charm that perhaps did help in the overall scheme of things, and my wallet containing my identity card, credit cards and bank cards etc. Thank goodness though, my passport was thrown back into the bin, and that I had not brought any cash with me in that bag!

Losing my bag in such an incident is nothing compared to the hassles of making police reports and replacing all those bank cards etc, trust me. Even my camera, which never left my hands, got a terrible beating and almost died by the end of the trip. Also, just for the record, there were fatal gun shootings happening right near where we had dinner once!

All in all, a once-in-a-lifetime experience (for once is more than enough)!

Calefare-ing * Having experienced such "star" treatment for " ", even as an extra, I knew it would spoil me when I return back to Singapore. And through veteran actor Zhou Quanxi's recommendation, I got cast in a couple more featured extra roles in Mediacorp's Channel 8 productions of " " and " ".

I can tell you, over here, NOBODY cares about the calefares.

Sketchbook

• Inspired by Danny Gregory's " " book, I decided to do a month or so's worth of daily sketches, to record the little details of everyday life.

I'd stopped drawing for a long while since then, but I fully intend to get back to this lovely hobby again soon. Nothing beats sitting down at a quiet cafe and sketching a part of your life down on paper.

More Photos Here: My Everyday Matters Gallery

Myanmar

• After playing a Burmese ( Myanmar) soldier as well as a car-crash driver in " ", and having worked with a Burmese translator for the dialogues, I found myself terribly fascinated by this country that I had little prior knowledge of. So when a couple of fellow bloggers suggested a trip to Myanmar in September, I jumped at the chance!

It was a really great experience being in such a beautiful country that's so full of poverty and despair and grime, yet produced the most heartfelt smiles in her people. By contrast, our fellow Singaporeans seemed way too pampered, too demanding, and took too many things for granted.

We travelled from Yangon to Mandalay, to Bagan, to Inle Lake, and then back to Yangon. We took bumpy rides on long bus routes and we flew domestic flights. I tried my best to sample as much of their local culture as I could, trying their betel nuts, thanaka paste, local cigarettes and food. It was exhausting, and dirty, and uncomfortable, etc. And I loved it!

More Photos Here: My Myanmar Memories on Flickr

Recordings

• Back in Singapore again, I landed several recording gigs, most of them with John Tan of Johnues Media, and did voiceovers for Snow City Singapore and Science Centre Singapore etc.

John Tan, myself, and Caleb Wong More photos of other recordings here: My Recordings Gallery

Print Ads * Earlier on, some of my Taiwanese friends have spotted my face in one of their Taiwan Shin Kong Commercial Bank's posters and print ads. The photos were among some stock images I'd taken with Asia Images, by photographer Cedric Lim.

Here's another one that got selected by Singtel:

TV Commercials * Late last year, I was cast by the Land Transport Authority as their new safety ambassador cum mascot, Mr. Buckle Up, to teach young kids to wear seat belts safely on private buses, in a musical video:

Click Here For Video

• Toward the end of the year, I landed my latest TV commercial, for the new Lao Fo Ye Hair Care Centre! In it, I played a satisfied customer who introduced his friend with a receding hair pattern to the centre.

Danny Jow (actor), Wayne Wong (director), Ivy (owner of Lao Fo Ye), and myself

Click Here For Video

More Photos Here: My Ads Gallery

"Lost In Transit" Musical * After last year's exhilarating but very exhausting " ", I didn't expect to get back to theatre for quite a bit. But when I was asked by Dr. Kenneth Lyen and old friend Gavin Low to join the cast of Musical Theatre Limited's revamped version of Stella Kon's " ", I thought perhaps the time is right again.

I played the role of Robert, the owner of a sleazy cabaret club with underground dealings, and worked with some lovely new talents from the Philippines, Indonesia and Singapore. I thought given the limited resources and venue constraints, we did a marvellous job of the show indeed. A big pat for everyone!

More Photos Here: Lost In Transit Gallery

Short Films

• Before this year, I'd done several short films by student and indie filmmakers alike, but had stopped doing so for a while as there just wasn't enough good stories to tell, and budgets to spare.

However things seemed to have change quite a bit, and I am very pleased to be cast in two new exciting short films that might eventually lead on to full length feature movies:

The Gang * On a last minute recommendation of my dear friend Eve Tan, with whom I'd worked with in several other theatre productions, I got cast in Kelvin Sng Production's new local Mandarin short film " The Gang", a prelude and trailer-of-sorts to a bigger grander movie project " " next year.

Maia Lee, Edric Hsu, Wilson Ng, Adele Wong and Sunny Pang

This is a monumental production about local gangsters and triads in 70s' Singapore, arguably the most expensive short film to be made in Singapore yet, and directed by the young but confident filmmaker-with-a-vision, Kelvin Sng, it stars Andie Chen, Louis Wu, Maia Lee, Sunny Pang, Wilson Ng, Adele Wong, Ckay Lim, Danny Jow, Emma Yong and myself, among many others.

I'll post more about the film and it's official screening events soon!

Meantime, check out the official website of " " here: http://www.morethanwords.ksp.sg/

Also, here are some photos: Behind The Scenes of The Gang

Outliers - World Without Heroes

• It was while doing " " and " " that I landed the final role of the year, and possibly my most action-packed one to date. Another young filmmaker friend, Marcus Lim, with whom I'd worked with in two other short film projects in 2005, " " and " ", invited me to join his new production - Singapore's first 3-D action and science-fiction horror short film!

Me holding a 5.56mm cal. COLT XM177E Commando Assault Carbine Rifle.

Tentatively named " ", or " ", we also affectionately call it " ". For there were zombies galore! And that's beside the three main leads in the cast: Randall Tan, Melody Chen, and myself.

This short film, just like " ", both featured the use of stunts by local firearms expert Jimmy Low's The Stunt Production. As you could see from the above image, I got to handle and shoot an actual rifle (more than 15 years since my army days!).

We wrapped the principle photography shoot right at midnight of Christmas Eve, and I am heading for the cast party at Marcus's place tonight. Can't wait!

To I end this long belated entry, here's some other projects I was involved in throughout the year:

• Illustrations and graphic designs for Bryan Gan's Omhealth workshops and I-Weekly magazine articles.

• Graphics for London-based local fashion designer Ashley Isham's upcoming range of printed tee shirts.

• Art direction for young Sri Lankan singer/DJ, Dhana ( D-Fault)'s " " music video with Johnues Media and partially shot at Nazt Bistro Lounge.

Etc.

I will be blogging again more often soon, and hope there will be even more exciting and fun events to report! :)

In the meantime, have a lovely Christmas holiday and a wonderful 2010 ahead!