Tuesday, August 07, 2007
-First day of school PART 1-
Yes! I am back in School. All the way at NTU... Very far and ulu, I know. Anyway, this is what happened on my first day of school:
6.00AM - Mum woke me up. She sounded more excited than her usual self. She did not want me to be late for my first class(which starts at 9AM). I rubbed my eyes twice and went back to sleep.
6.30 - My Dad managed to get me up. He used the water spray method. Irritating.
7.00 - Mum insist that I eat some breakfast. I ate a piece of toast and drank milo. First mistake.
7.15 - Left house. Stroll to the bus stop. I was super confident that I will be at least 15 mins early.
7.35 - Bus arrived.
7.45- Got on NEL. Took out HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS and read the last 2 chapters.
8.20 - finished reading Harry. Annoyed at the ending.
8.25 - First wave of stomach ache. Must be from the milo.
8.40 - Reach Boon Lay bus stop. Second wave of stomach ache. Saw bus. No time to go toilet. Rush to catch bus.
8.50 - Reach NTU. Walk briskly to the ADM building. First class at S3.1 - B3-01. Problem: ADM has no Basement 3. Walk around the entire building (even going out again and entering in a different entrance hoping that the stairs leading to B3 will magically appear)
9.00 - Thought arrived in my head to call my fren who is a yr 2.
9.01 - She met me and told that my class is situated at an entirely different building at the South Spine.
9.05 - Back at bus-stop waiting for bus to go to the S3 building.
9.10 - Walking towards S3 building. Sign says "Nanyang Business School" . Thought in head: Huda, you sure or not!
9.12 - Bump into Elina (whose name I have forgotten. So embarassing!) Together we try to find the mysterious S3.1 building. (Harry Potter's Platform 9 and 3-quarters popped into head)
9.25- Finally found the class. I was late.
| ghaz says hello @ 3:23 PM|
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Tuesday, June 26, 2007
-woo hoo! ouch!-
My body aches. I guess it was from the running yesterday. Maybe it was the strenous SOS rehearsals. Anyway, it aches.
Did Kaypoh (the school show with W!LD RICE) today. The look on Farah's face when she lost her line was just priceless. It was hilarious. But the show turned out fine. Then, had lunch with Issy.
Oh! Guess what?! I obtained my PDL already liao. Can finally get to test my bike-riding skills on public road. 3 lessons and a TP to my bike license. woo hoo!
| ghaz says hello @ 1:01 AM|
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Sunday, June 24, 2007
-post-mortem-
I went running today.
IPPT just around the corner and I recently found myself breathing very hard after every SOS (Songs of the Sea) rehearsal. So i decided that I need to boost my stamina.
Not that it was the main reason why I started running today. Actually, I just need to get my mind off things. NDR post production blues finally hit me. Have been living in denial for the past 7 days. Told myself that the end of the North Diversion Road (NDR) run was not the end of young & W!LD. But you know what? It's just not the same. Daphne is in the States now. Terence in Alaska. Leslie gonna be gone for 2 years to pursue his Masters overseas. El and Jon gonna be away in Edinburgh later next month. NDR could be the last time we actually spend time as a complete group. I feel all nostalgic and sad just thinking about it. And being alone in a calm and tranquil house with Lifehouse playing through the speakers, I couldn't take it. I decided that I had to run.
So I ran.
The first few hundreds of metres was not bad. I focused on my breathing. I focused on my steps. I focused on the gravel track. It reminded me of my designs that I did for NDR. And it reminded me of the crazy moment when we realise that we still had not gotten the word out for NDR. Blithe Spirit was running at the Drama Centre at that time. Someone mentioned that it will be a perfect human traffic to start the buzz. The thing was, when we decided to put up the standy, Blithe Spirit has already opened and will be closing its run in 12 days time. This was of course realised during the same night that we had our very late night production meeting which ended almost to daybreak the next day.
I remember the next 24 hours was super hectic. It felt like a nightmare. The standy by the way was 1.2m by 2m. For designers, you will understand the massive size of the psd file that I had to create and working with a super slow computer... sometimes I felt like throwing it out of the window. (But that will not solve anything. Besides, it is killer litter)
So, I worked the whole night designing it. I taught myself how to design using the "Unofficial Guide to Photoshop CS2" book and hopefully come up with something decent. The end product was not too bad. Quite proud of myself. But that was not all. I remember that very same day, I was in the middle of Mentah madness as well. That was the time when i decided to come up with version 5 (or was it 6?) of Mat CD (that's the script that I wrote for ekamatra). And not only that, I insanely decided that it will be a good idea to test it out during SERAM, which was on that very same night. So within 24 hours, I designed, sent for printing and put up the standy plus rewrite an entirely new script, rehearse it with my actors and showcased it to some ppl and getting blasted. I don't think my heart beat less than 200 per minute for that 24 hours.
But come to think of it, it was an experience where you feel totally amazing once you manage to pull through it. You feel like you can just do anything.
By this time, I can't think of anything about NDR because the scenery around me was just breath-taking. The sun is setting in a nice golden hue. The trees and the river capture the sun rays beautifully. It did not feel like I was in Singapore at all. I wished then that I had my camera with me. A beat later I changed my mind. I wished instead that I own a camera.
The clouds were beautiful as well. The closer ones were orangey and look like candy-floss. The far away ones look like marshmallows. Everything was so peaceful and nice.
But then I had to head home.
So I went home.
| ghaz says hello @ 8:05 PM|
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Sunday, April 01, 2007
-REAWAKEN-
Wow! 2 months since my last post?! Siak! What have I been doing?
Anyway, just completed stage managing/light operating Teater Artistik's Tangkap Angin. I realized that Artistik has some really great acting talents that should be given the opportunity to expand further. Ppl like Kak Lily, Kak Farisyah, Abby... amazing. Watch out for the month of July. Coz I will be directing an INBOX production.
MAT CD (my virgin playwrighting attempt) is confirmed to be performed at the Guiness Substation on the 17th to 19th May 2007... directed by Sani Hussin and stage managed by Fezhah Maznan. Man! So exciting! Can't believe I am working with all these people who I absolutely look up to in theater. I mean, Fezhah was my first director. I thank Ekamatra for choosing a very competent team to work on my play.
Well that's it about my life CCA. Actually there's more. Just can't be bothered to go into details about them. I am just not in cathartic mood right now.
Till we meet again
| ghaz says hello @ 11:03 PM|
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Thursday, February 01, 2007
-Oh happy day...-
Hey everybody who is reading this blog (whoever you are)...
Can't update this blog as frequent i would like it to be. A lot of stuff happening right now. It's been crazy. In a fun kind of way.
Ghaz update: what's up with me now?
1. Still in the process of writing "aku dan si mat CD". Finally, I have finalised the storyline. But have not start writing on the actual script yet. haha... what is it about?
About a believing-and-practising muslim guy who came from JC and his NS experience in the Civil Defence. Basically, it's an inspired story about yours truly.
Ok, you can stop rolling your eyes now. It's my first script. Wanna start with something personal.
Anyway, the script will be presented as part of Teater Ekamatra's Playwright Mentorship Programme showcase. It will be at the substation sometime in mid May. I'll keep you guys updated.
2. I am also stage managing for Teater Artistik's "Tangkap Angin". Another work by Md Fadhli Ramlee. I was Megat in his previous piece, "Srikandi". It's an INBOX production. If you guys dunno what that is, INBOX is a platform where young playwrights (or not so young) can feature their pieces at the Teater Artistik Blackbox (a.k.a TAB)... I will be putting up one piece in July. So, look out for that too.
3. I am also part of Teater Ekamatra's SERAM team. SERAM is short for SEsi RAbu Malam. It's a platform where Malay theater lovers can meet up ala Dead Poet Society and discuss old plays. A dramatised reading of the featured play will also be done. SERAM feb will feature Rafaat Hamzah's piece, MERDEKA.
4. Finally, Young 'N' W!ld is kicking up the notch and we are going into production phase. It will be a trainng season where we will feature 3 productions throuout the season. The first one will be in early May and is called "North Diversion Road"... I absolutely love it but John could not have given me a harder role. Argh! I am doubling as the marketing person as well. Gosh! There is just sooo much to do.
5. And of course, some of you might know, I am on my 19th day as a Student Pass/EZ-link card phototaker. Today I was sent to Opera Estate Primary School. And it has been a very good day. OEPS is just so cool. The kids were obedient. I did not have to shout this time. Some kids were so funny they just made my day. And the environment of the school is just so peaceful. (It's kinda ulu tho... but in a good kind of way) And the food is good. The chicken rice is actual chicken rice (not plain rice and dry fried chicken like VS used to tricked us with) with soup and sambal, all for $1.80. So cheap!
The photoshoot went smoothly. We finished way ahead of time and had time to chill before heading back to the office. Ah...
Oh happy day...
| ghaz says hello @ 4:19 PM|
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Monday, January 22, 2007
-Dance, baby, dance!-
Singapore has been bitten by the dance bug. and so have I...
After watching the superb finale of So You Think You Can Dance 2, (Wade robson's choreography for sexy back is just awesome!) it's non-stop dance-related shows for me. Step up (Best Dance Movie ever - this is what a movie about dance should be like), Take the Lead (Yuck! but Jenna Dewan is so sexy), A Time for Dancing (I was wondering what happened to Larisa Oleynik after Alex Mack), DanceFloor and Loads of Wade Robson Project's clips from You Tube...
Dancing is a great thing. Everybody should dance. Even if you don't know how or have any place to do it. Dancing has its many advantageous. For one, dancing constitute of physical exertions which in turn releases endorphins. Endorphin, as we all know, is happiness in chemical form.
Also, dancing burns calories. Lose Fat and produces endorphin. Double Happiness...
Practising how to dance also practices your coordination and all that such. So, dance to develop a sense of coordination.
Aiyah! Just dance lah!
| ghaz says hello @ 6:25 PM|
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Tuesday, January 09, 2007
-swollen-
There was once a very bad man. And he did very bad things. He preyed on small innocent boys and girls. He caught them unaware. And he hurt them... It hurts me to think about it, to remember it... but I know that it must be said.
I was just a tiny impressionable boy then. But what happened that day, I can never forget.
I remember we were forced to a room. A bad lady (obviously, she was helping the bad man) marched us down the hall leading to the room. We were made to march in silence, our right index finger pressed to our lips. In my heart, I object to this blatant symbol of oppresion. But I was too weak then.
The room was small. I could hardly breathe. We were made to squeezed into it without protest. All 30 of us. They put bar codes on us. Our names, our identities do not matter to them. Just those bar codes. One by one, we were made to go up to the bad man. I waited obediently, while I prayed to God for protection.
And then someone pushed me forward and the bad man grabbed me. He pointed an evil-looking device, which emits evil red rays, on my body where the bar code was involuntarily pasted. It emitted an evil beeping sound. He made me sit on this evil-looking chair. I felt like a goat to be sacrificed. He forced me to look at him. I refused. He came to me and forced my head to look at where he was sitting. Where he once sat, was another device. This one bigger and more evil-looking than the one before. He then barked something at me, which i could not remember. But his voice was menacing. I gave in and obeyed his commands. I look front. I told myself, this is the moment where I pretend I am not a little boy any more. I will not let them see my fear.
It happened in a flash.
I stifled a scream. They have made me blind. But my vision came back after a while. I thank God for that. And just like that, the bad man pushed me away so that he can do the same to my other innocent little friends. I walked out of the room, promising never to speak of the violation ever again.
A few weeks had passed. I thought everything was going back to normal. That was when they showed me the picture. It was hideous...
My forehead was swollen. My cheek was swollen. And my lips looked like they were forcibly stretched. I hid it and vowed to myself to never show it to anyone. But I could not let the bad man get away with it. I searched for a higher authority and made a legal complaint. I showed them the evidence, the hideous picture of me. They laughed.
This is the bad man's plan all along. To humiliate me. I could never ever forgive him.
I HATE you EZ-link card photo taker!!!!!!
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A few years pass. I am a man now. And now I was given a horrible task. The same task as the bad man. I thought I could never do it. But I had to.
As the kids diligently queued up for their photos to be taken. I looked at their young, innocent faces and I remembered when I was once just like them. I smiled at them. But memories of the bad man keeps flashing back. It's almost as if his spirit is trying to possess me, making me do the same thing that he once did to me. But I could never be like the bad man.
I gave those tiny kids photos they could be proud of.
| ghaz says hello @ 12:35 AM|
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