My 20 Biggest Moments in 2013. Based on Facebook

Facebook had listed out my 20 biggest moments of 2013. I'm glad I have a social media site to do this for me based on the amount of likes I got on my Facebook status updates.

My 10 favourite Anita Mui film roles

The Cantopop superstar Anita Mui passed away from cancer exactly ten years ago.

I remember what I did ten years ago when I heard of the news. It was morning, my family and I were heading off to Singapore for vacation. Her death cast a pall upon my heart, that day, on the road to Singapore, the songs of Anita Mui constantly played on radio.

While I grew up listening to her songs (Bad Girl, with the memorable "Why, why, tell me why" lyrics, was a childhood favourite) and had even attended one of her concerts in Singapore, I knew Anita Mui more as an actress who starred in many great Hong Kong film classics.

It's been a decade since her passing. I will sift through my own memories and list out ten of my favourite Anita Mui films (or film roles), from earliest to latest.

My Hou Hsiao-Hsien marathon

I'm ashamed to admit that prior to the beginning of this month, I have only seen two Hou Hsiao-Hsien films, and both are his latter day works: MILLENNIUM MAMBO (2001) and CAFE LUMIERE (2003).

Every time I watch MILLENNIUM MAMBO's opening, my heart flutters.


In order to rectify my lack of knowledge regarding Hou Hsiao-Hsien's body of work (and also for filmmaking reasons), I decided to go on a Hou Hsiao-Hsien marathon of sorts. I have heard that his best works are the ones from the 80s to 90s, those were times when he was more interested in making films related to Taiwan's history.

An essay I wrote at the age of 10 made me seem like a closet psychopath

A friend back in primary school managed to dig out a book of collected student essays. Turned out that my autobiographical piece was in it.

Lav Diaz's 6-hour film, CENTURY OF BIRTHING (2011)

For the past few years, I have always wanted to catch a film by the Filipino director Lav Diaz. Most of his films are longer than four hours (his longest being close to 10 hours), yet he is prolific to make at least a film a year. How is that even possible???

Finished the principal photography on Woo Ming Jin's SECOND LIFE OF THIEVES

After 14 gruelling days, we're finally done with Ming Jin's SECOND LIFE OF THIEVES shoot. For me, the strange about film shoots is that they always seem longer than they really are. It's not because they are miserable so time seems to flow very slowly, it's just that so many things happen in one day that when everything is over, you realize you've gone through a range of emotions that you usually would go through in a longer span of time.

More misadventures on the set of Woo Ming Jin's new film SECOND LIFE OF THIEVES

Here's a photo by our Art Director Gabby, which showed actress Emily practising her slapping moves on Ming Jin and I. Epic. That was the 7th of November.

Post by Edmund Yeo.

Woo Ming Jin's SECOND LIFE OF THIEVES begins principal photography

SECOND LIFE OF THIEVES is Woo Ming Jin's latest feature film that I'm producing, co-writing and (probably) editing. We have been shooting the film since Nov 4.

This marks Ming Jin's first independently-financed project since 2010's THE TIGER FACTORY (between this period of time, he also did commercial fares like the found-footage horror SERU, this year's hit zombie film KL ZOMBI and the upcoming MAMAK CUPCAKE)

An epic film that spans more than 30 years, SECOND LIFE OF THIEVES is about a village head trying to investigate a series of mysterious deaths in his village while dealing with his catatonic daughter, and remnants of feelings from a passionate affair during his youth.

WATCH: James Lee's 2000 debut feature film SNIPERS

Malaysian independent cinema pioneer James Lee has uploaded another one of his feature films onto Youtube.

Documentaries I saw at the Xi'An International Folk Video Festival 2013

On the October 25th to 29th, I was serving as a jury member at the Xi'An International Folk Video Festival 2013.

Adventures in the Biennale College at Venice (Part 2)

It's been a week since I got back from the Biennale College in Venice.

Now I'm back in the airport, preparing to fly off to Xi'An, China.

But before that, I want to remember my last two days in Venice.

Adventures in the Biennale College at Venice

The Biennale College is a new initiative started last year by the Venice Film Festival to help support new directors around the world who are trying to do their first or second feature film.

This year, I was one of the twelve directors selected by the Biennale College to develop my feature film project.

We Have Lost Even This Twilight: Remembering my trip to Pablo Neruda's houses in 2007

Last night, a friend posted on Facebook a Chinese translation of Pablo Neruda's CLENCHED SOUL (which was retitled as "We have lost even this twilight", just like the original Spanish title).

我們甚至失去了黃昏
詩／聶魯達　譯／李宗榮

我們甚至失去了黃昏的顏色。
當藍色的夜墜落在世界時，
沒人看見我們手牽著手。

從我的窗戶中我已經看見
在遙遠的山頂上落日的祭典。

有時候一片太陽
在我的雙掌間如硬幣燃燒。

在你熟知的我的哀傷中
我憶及了你，靈魂肅斂。

彼時，你在哪裡呢？
那裡還有些什麼人？
說些什麼？
為什麼當我哀傷且感覺到你遠離時，
全部的愛會突如其然的來臨呢？

暮色中如常發生的，
書本掉落了下來，
我的披肩像受傷的小狗踡躺在腳邊。

總是如此，
朝暮色抹去雕像的方向
你總是藉黃昏隱沒。

Clenched Soul

We have lost even this twilight.
No one saw us this evening hand in hand
while the blue night dropped on the world.

I have seen from my window
the fiesta of sunset in the distant mountain tops.

Sometimes a piece of sun
burned like a coin in my hand.

I remembered you with my soul clenched
in that sadness of mine that you know.

Where were you then?
Who else was there?
Saying what?
Why will the whole of love come on me suddenly
when I am sad and feel you are far away?

The book fell that always closed at twilight
and my blue sweater rolled like a hurt dog at my feet.

Always, always you recede through the evenings
toward the twilight erasing statues.

Seeing the poem, I cannot help but remember my pilgrimage to his three houses, La Chascona, La Sebastiana and Isla Negra, in Chile back in 2007. Has it been six years already? It felt like another life. I was in Chile for the Santiago Film Festival (SANFIC), it was the first ever film festival I attended either as a producer or a director. I went there for Ming Jin's THE ELEPHANT AND THE SEA, and stayed in Chile two days after the festival ended so that I could visit all of the houses.

The idea of attending a friend's wedding had always been...

The idea of attending a friend's wedding had always been a scary one. They remind him of the passing of time, or his inability to find love.

Yet this was an invitation that he was unable to turn down.

Honen-in Temple and Junichiro Tanizaki

I'm at Kansai Airport while I'm writing this, waiting to fly away.

Yesterday, I visited the famed Ginkakuji Temple and took a stroll through the Philosopher's Path. I wasn't sure what to expect from this solitary journey, except to be alone with my thoughts as I absorb the sights, the sounds, the scent of this historic place.

There were some temples and shrines along the way, I decided to pick one randomly to visit.

A stroll through Ginkakuji Temple and the Philosopher's Path

By the time this is posted on the blog, I am a few hours away from flying back to Malaysia.

On Saturday, I got sidetracked by cheerleaders and cosplayers at Heian Temple, and then by a great art exhibition at the National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto, when I was on my way to Ginkaku-ji 銀閣寺, the Temple of Silver Pavilion. By the time I reached Ginkaku-ji in the evening, I was already closed.

Therefore, Sunday, my final day in Kyoto, I decided to rectify this regret of mine by heading straight to Ginkaku-ji right after lunch.

To experience the place for myself.

So I entered Ginkakuji (which is officially known as Jisho-ji 慈照寺).

GLORIA & LEON, a video installation by Miwa Yanagi

The original plan yesterday was to visit Ginkakuji and walk the Philosopher's Path, but my plans were foiled by a sudden afternoon rain.

So I took shelter at the National Museum of Modern Arts, Kyoto, and also bought a ticket to check out their "Reading Cinema, Finding Words: Art after Marcel Broodthaers" exhibition.

This is how the exhibition was described on the Museum website:

Cheerleaders and Cosplayers at Heian Shrine, Kyoto

I've been in Kyoto the past few days because I was invited to screen my short films and give a talk at Kyoto University on the 6th of September.


The following day, I decided to explore Kyoto. (my last visit in Kyoto was December 31, 2008, and chronicled on this epic video, that's a lifetime ago) My first thought was to go to the Philosopher's Path and the legendary Ginkaku-ji for a leisurely stroll. My last visit there was in 1999-2000, my memories of that place were entirely hazy.

After lunch, I hopped onto a bus, heading towards my intended destination.

However, when I passed by Heian Shrine 平安神宮, a few things caught my eye:

WATCH: Video of the 3 DOORS OF HORRORS world premiere

I mentioned that 3 DOORS OF HORRORS (which features my new short film FLOATING SUN) has been uploaded on Youtube last Saturday. But prior to that, we actually had two great physical screenings of the omnibus film.

WATCH: 3 DOORS OF HORRORS 鬼節:三重門, a 45-minute horror omnibus film (featuring my new short film FLOATING SUN)

3 DOORS OF HORRORS 鬼節:三重門, which my new short film FLOATING SUN is a part of, was uploaded on Youtube a week ago.

Directing 101 with Edmund Yeo

Another four more days and everyone will get to watch 3 DOORS OF HORRORS on Youtube, the omnibus film that my new short film FLOATING SUN is part of.

FLOATING SUN features a floating corpse, and it wasn't easy to tell my actress how to not just act as a floating corpse, but to become one.

Luckily, produce James Lee had managed to snap a few important shots of my efforts in directing these challenging scenes, and he had posted this on Facebook, which cracked me up.

Introducing Ng Ken Kin and Leroy Low (the other two directors of the "3 Doors of Horrors" omnibus)

I first met Ng Ken Kin and Leroy Low, the other two directors of "3 DOORS OF HORRORS" in March, when James Lee gathered us all for a meeting about the omnibus project. Each of us has vastly different backgrounds, Ken Kin is a veteran in the film and TV industry who had done quite a lot of short films and TV programs. Leroy is a young music video director who had done a few music videos with some of the most popular Chinese pop stars in the country during the last two years.

"3 Doors of Horrors" (omnibus with my latest short film) on The Hollywood Reporter

August 17th, exactly a week from now, my new short film FLOATING SUN, which is part of the "3 DOORS OF HORRORS" omnibus horror will be launched online.

It's great to see this being covered by The Hollywood Reporter yesterday.

Jia Zhangke's PLATFORM, Fatih Akin's EDGE OF HEAVEN... and Cucurrucucu Paloma

The preparation of a new screenplay is filled with challenges, and tiny little joys.

The past two days, in order to get into the right mood to write a new story, I was watching films that are relevant to what I intend to do.

Two days ago, I finally caught Jia Zhangke's monumental PLATFORM (2000). I was overwhelmed by its ambition and scope, its execution and style reminded me of the earlier works of Theo Angelopoulos (THE TRAVELLING PLAYERS and ALEXANDER THE GREAT came to mind, I think Angelopoulos shifted styles after VOYAGE OF CYTHERA as his stories became more intimate and more focused on one protagonist).

I realized I have never seen that many of Jia Zhangke's works. A few of his short films, and maybe just his later film, THE WORLD (2004). But I still keep this 2010 photo of myself with his muse (now his wife) Zhao Tao because of the Jia Zhangke photobomb.


Now that I look at it, the year 2000 was an amazing year for Chinese cinema. Wong Kar Wai's IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE, Edward Yang's YI YI, Jia Zhangke's PLATFORM, Ang Lee's CROUCHING TIGER HIDDEN DRAGON etc. Regardless of what you think of these films, they have all left a mark in history, influencing filmmakers and the film business in ways beyond description.

Pondering the Importance of Being Prolific

Now that I am utterly sure that no one reads this blog anymore, I think I can try to revert it back to what it was when I started this 9 years ago.

A journal for my own thoughts.

Autumn Di Hatiku ended today.

Today marks the beginning of August, and also the end of the web series "Autumn Di Hatiku" (watch it here) which I co-produced, co-wrote and co-directed.

Reception had been more than I imagined. The media coverage was amazing. The stars of the Autumn Di Hatiku were almost ubiquitous, appearing in newspapers, magazines, TV shows etc.

When it comes to the film and TV business, creativity is one thing (and the fact that we were given full creative freedom by Tonton for this show was a rarity that fills me with gratitude), being backed by a team that trusted us entirely and did so much when it came to promoting the show, the whole experience was quite joyous.


To mark the final day of Autumn Di Hatiku, Tonton and Gua organized a "chat with the fans" session with Autumn Di Hatiku stars JS Kim (the titular Autumn) and Anas Ridzuan (the morally ambiguous Kai) this afternoon.

The full list of Golden Wau Awards nominations

Having a new set of awards to reward Malaysian Chinese cinematic achievements is a nice idea, especially considering the increase of Malaysian Chinese films in the country during the past few years.

So we now have the Golden Wau Awards, which is kinda like the Golden Horse Awards in Taiwan, or the Hong Kong Film Awards in Hong Kong, except, this one is in Malaysia.

WATCH THIS: Trailer of 3 DOORS OF HORROR (a horror omnibus that I'm part of!)

FLOATING SUN took only two days to shoot, and perhaps a few days to edit.

But the process of trying to perfect it had been rather exhausting. The colour grading, the audio mixing, the music, they were tricky, because I am working on a genre that I wasn't exactly familiar with.

The entire month of July has passed by without me noticing.

The film is finally done.


In case you don't know, FLOATING SUN is part of a horror omnibus produced by James Lee called 3 DOORS OF HORROR. The other two directors participating in this are Ng Ken Kin and Leroy Low.

Yesterday, James finally posted the trailer of 3 DOORS OF HORROR, and it looks pretty great!

The Media Coverage of AUTUMN DI HATIKU

In my last post, I mentioned about the web series that I co-directed and wrote, AUTUMN DI HATIKU.


14 episodes had came out, so the series has already reached its halfway mark.

What truly amazed me in the past few weeks was the media coverage of this series.

Introducing "Autumn Di Hatiku", a web series I wrote and directed

This is the story of how I got this beautiful Autumn Di Hatiku pillow.

When cast members constantly live-tweets your film shoot...

On the 28 and 29th of June, I was shooting my new short film, FLOATING SUN, which is part of the HUNGRY GHOST FESTIVAL: 3 DOORS OF HORROR omnibus project produced by James Lee.


The other two directors, Ng Ken Kin and Leroy Low had long finished their segments, so it was up to me to ensure that I wouldn't screw up.

Once again, my cinematographer was Lesly Leon Lee, who shot my first two short films CHICKEN RICE MYSTERY (2008) and LOVE SUICIDES (2009), and later, my one-minute Prada short film "NOW". Because of this, I couldn't help but find myself comparing the current film shoot with those from 5 years ago.

One of the biggest differences nowadays is the advent of social media and smart phone technology. Cast and crew members can now easily live-tweet/ live-blog/ live-facebook/ live-whatever the entire process of the shoot. Of course, being generally open to such things, I agreed to let everyone post up videos or photos of the shoot as long as I look flattering, and as long as they don't spoil the story.

FLOATING SUN, which is loosely based on a Kanai Mieko story, stars Emily Lim 林佩琦, Daphne Low 刘倩妏, Candy Lee 李佳洁 (whom I last worked with in last year's short film DOUBLE which I produced), Steve Yap 叶良财, Candy Ice 林冰冰 and Azman Hassan (who had appeared in almost every single important Malaysian independent film out there).

It revolves around a drowned corpse.

Ranking the Pixar Movies

It's most likely that the next movie I'm catching is MONSTERS UNIVERSITY, the prequel to the wonderful MONSTERS INC.

Last night, after reading The Playlist's "From Worst To Best: Ranking The Pixar Movies", I decided to come up with my own list as well.

More photos from my "Floating Sun" location scouting

I got myself a Blackmagic Cinema Camera recently for two TV shoots. (one of them is BUDDYZ Season 2, which is currently airing on Astro Ria every Wednesdays and Fridays at 8:55pm, each 5-minute episode is available on Youtube a few hours after it's on TV, here's episode 3)

One of the most convenient things about the camera is that I could just re-use my old camera lenses from my Canon 7D, even got myself a new Tokina 11-16mm 2.8 lens to help with wide shots. This morning, while doing some location scouting for my new short film Floating Sun, I managed to put the lens to good use.

Location scouting for my new short film "Floating Sun"

As I prepare to shoot my new short film "FLOATING SUN" at the end of June, I traveled early this morning for a round of location scouting with James Lee the producer, TK the production manager and Lesly the cinematographer.

Armed with my new phone, the Huawei Mate (technically, with its 6-inch screen, it's really a "phablet" and not a phone), I traversed into a place which was absolutely wonderful (and photogenic) for my film, taking some photos.

Excerpt from my new short film, SPRINGTIME NOSTALGIA 残香

A new short film of mine, SPRINGTIME NOSTALGIA, is premiering at next week's Shanghai International Film Festival, followed by a screening at the Taipei International Film Festival in early July as part of an "in focus" program for actress/producer Kiki Sugino.

This Ikebana-themed short that was commissioned by Kao last year

The kind folks of Taipei International Film Festival posted a one-minute excerpt of the short film on Youtube which featured the three main cast members, Kiki Sugino (who did EXHALATION with me back in 2010), Qyoko Kudo (who did KINGYO with me back in 2009) and Eriko Ono (who was probably a baby when I collaborated with the aforementioned two actresses in my previous works).

Mieko Kanai 金井美恵子

You might not have heard of the Japanese writer Mieko Kanai (金井美恵子), but she wrote the short story "The Moon" that inspired my short film "LAST FRAGMENTS OF WINTER".

I stumbled upon her works by accident. It was September 2010. My uncle (father's younger brother) passed away suddenly, my parents, who were in Tokyo with me for my graduation ceremony, had to fly back to Malaysia immediately.

I was left alone in the hotel that my parents were supposed to stay for a few more days. Overwhelmed by solitude, I went to my favourite Aoyama Book Center in Roppongi, hoping to distract my mind with literature.

Going through the shelf, "THE WORD BOOK" by Mieko Kanai, a collection of her short stories, caught my eye. Maybe it was the cover. THE WORD BOOK came out in the 70s, but it only just got translated into English that year.


I flipped through the book, went through some stories, and found myself captivated by the imagery of her dream-like tales. I didn't buy the book immediately, but her words lingered. (I bought the book a few days later on Amazon)

This is the opening paragraph of "The Moon":

Q and A session for WOMAN ON FIRE LOOKS FOR WATER at CineMalaysia

On the 30th of May, the screening of Woo Ming Jin's WOMAN ON FIRE LOOKS FOR WATER was held right after the screening of my short films at CineMalaysia Film Festival (a film festival for Malaysian films held in Tokyo).

Q & A session for my short films screening at CineMalaysia Film Festival

I have just spent three nights in Tokyo to attend the CineMalaysia Film Festival シネ・マレーシア, a great film festival organized in Tokyo to show Malaysian films. This was its inaugural edition. The film festival ran from the 24th to the 31st of May. I was around for the last two days.

James Lee uploaded his entire 2009 feature film, CALL IF YOU NEED ME 黑夜行路 on Youtube

These days, the Malaysian director and independent film pioneer James Lee had been uploading his works on his Youtube channel Doghouse73pictures. Both short films and feature films, from his earliest to his latest.

Last month, in April, he uploaded his 2005 breakthrough film THE BEAUTIFUL WASHING MACHINE (one of the seminal films of the Malaysian New Wave) in its entirety.

Today, in conjunction with its screening at the CineMalaysia in Tokyo (a new film festival that is showing only Malaysian films), James has uploaded his 2009 gangster film CALL IF YOU NEED ME 黑夜行路 online for us all to see.

Set photos from the Buddyz 2 TV shoot

(On the set of Buddyz 2, with the iconic kombi van and some yellow umbrellas. The guy in yellow and seated in the background is actor Shaheizy Sam, reading the script)

Last year, I made a passing mention that I was involved in a TV shoot for a series of 5-minute episodes called Buddyz. The series started airing last June.

Discussing the short film medium

Back in January, I was on Kenneth Chaw's The Star article "Short Films starting to appeal to a bigger audience", discussing about my thoughts on short films. Filmmaker James Lee and Youtube sensation Jinnyboy were interviewed too.

Prior to that, Kenneth had actually done a very lengthy email interview with me in preparation for his article. While a number of my quotes were in the final article, I thought I would like to share our entire discussion with everyone. I'm doing it now, with Kenneth's permission. (In truth, I have wanted to do this since January, but, ah, I never had the time.)

So, here we go.

Kenneth's questions are in bold.
My answers will just be... normal text.

WATCH: James Lee's award-winning film, THE BEAUTIFUL WASHING MACHINE

The Malaysian director James Lee's Youtube channel, doghouse73pictures had become increasingly interesting recently. Not only is he uploading his short films online, both new and old, he's also uploading his full-length films online so that everyone can watch them.

RIP Roger Ebert

I woke up to sad news of Roger Ebert's passing.

Shibuya at dusk captivates me

I was in Shibuya yesterday evening before I headed off to Haneda Airport for my flight back to Malaysia.

Even though I have been in Tokyo for five years, I still find myself discovering something new all the time. And the joy and surprises of these tiny discoveries can sometimes accumulate into something wonderful.

For example, I don't think I've ever seen Shibuya at dusk looking like this.

Spring Snow in Sapporo

After my joyous Graduation ceremony, my family and I headed off to Sapporo, Hokkaido.

The last time I went to Sapporo was 6 months ago, for the Sapporo International Short Film Festival. I was honoured to receive the Japan Tourism Agency Commissioner Award for my short film, LAST FRAGMENTS OF WINTER.

When I arrived at Sapporo, I was a little surprised that the place is still snowing. It's already the end of March, and in Tokyo, the cherry blossoms were already blooming.

My speech at GITS Commencement & Graduation Reception (26.3.2013)

I just went through my graduation ceremony yesterday at Waseda University. For some odd reason, I managed to get myself a doctorate.

I'm sure my secondary school teachers would have been mortified.

Revisiting Cicerello's Fish & Chips restaurant (Fremantle)

After visiting Fremantle Market, I headed off to Cicerello's.

Revisiting Fremantle Markets

I was in Perth from 2004 to 2006. The last time I visited the place was 2007 (for my graduation ceremony).

That was the time before Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Youtube. It was also the time before iPhone and Android phones. There were many things I experienced then that I could not instantly share, nor capture properly.

All I had was this blog. Which was created during my time there.

I used to carry a camcorder with me most of the time then, taking videos, editing them (yeah, my editing was self-taught), and carrying my laptop around to different houses hoping someone I know would watch the videos. Perth was probably the place where I picked up photography. Life was quite different back then.

Last Friday, my parents and I flew to Perth to visit my sister, who is currently studying there. We were supposed to celebrate Chap Goh Mei together (the 15th day of Chinese New Year).

On Saturday, I visited Fremantle. Some of my fondest memories of Perth were in Fremantle (technically, Fremantle is considered a different town in Western Australia). My solitary trips here had been to look for inspiration every time I felt crippled by loneliness. The Fremantle Market itself on Friday nights is a wonder, the CD shop, the live performances, the food. And the lights.

My final student film had a scene shot at Fremantle Beach. That was 2006.

Rest in peace, Loh Yin San and Claudia Theophilus. This is their documentary TWELVE 11

In 2007, I caught a documentary short called Twelve 11 by Loh Yin San and Claudia Theophilus about the Highland Towers tragedy. Immediately after that, I wrote:

"I was truly enthralled by the events documented by TWELVE 11 (a rarity, frankly), and was actually hoping that Loh Yin San would post her works on Youtube or somewhere just so that it could gain a much wider audience beyond festival circuits as she has had some difficulties trying to get TV stations to broadcast the documentary. I personally would try to help her spread the film around."

At the 3:19 minute mark of this video that I shot during the screening, you can see me discussing with Loh Yin San about uploading her work on Youtube for the sake of helping more people gain awareness about the problems recorded in her documentary.

James Lee, Jinnyboy and I talking about short films (The Star, 6th of January, 2013)

Back in December, I did an interview with The Star's Kenneth Chaw for an article about the rising popularity of short films in Malaysia. The article came out exactly three weeks ago while I was still in Kanazawa. (I found out about that, naturally, from friends on Facebook.)

The other interviewees were filmmakers James Lee and Jin Lim (more popularly known as JinnyBoy), well, excuse ME for not having a name that starts with J.

Kenneth and I had a really long email interview, which never really made it to the final article, but I will be posting that later. For now, you can just have a look at the full article:

Solo adventures at Kanazawa (part 2)

I'll continue chronicling my Kanazawa trip from two weeks ago before it the tiny details slip out of my mind. Some of the anecdotes here were posted on Facebook, but I'll try to expand.

I've never seen a snowfall like this in Tokyo before

14th of January, 2013. When I woke up and looked out of my window, I was stunned to see this scenery.

Solo adventures at Kanazawa (part 1)

This is how I would start my travelogue...

"The passing days and months are eternal travellers in time. The years that come and go are travellers too. Life itself is a journey; and as for those who spend their days upon the waters in ships and those who grow old leading horses, their very home is the open road. And some poets of old there were who died while travelling.
There came a day when the clouds drifting along with the wind aroused a wanderlust in me, and I set off on a journey to roam along the seashores. I returned to my hut on the riverbank last autumn, and by the time I had swept away the cobwebs, the year was over.
But when spring came with its misty skies, the god of temptation possessed me with a longing to pass the Barrier of Shirakawa, and road gods beckoned, and I could not set my mind to anything. So I mended my breeches, put new cords on my hat, and as I burned moxa on my knees to make them strong, I was already dreaming of the moon over Matsushima.
I sold my home and moved into Sampû’s guest house, but before I left my cottage I composed a verse and inscribed it on a poem strip which I hung upon a pillar:

This rude hermit cell
Will be different now, knowing Dolls’
Festival as well."

But alas, these words were already written, centuries earlier, by the poet Matsuo Basho, in his masterpiece "The Narrow Road in the Deep North".

Almost a week had gone by since I came back from Kanazawa. How would I chronicle such a trip then?

TINY PUPIL's 4-year-old actress wins best actress award at Yxine Film Festival

This happened last month, Chen Yu Ting, the (very young) lead actress of Teng Fei's TINY PUPIL (which I produced) had won the Best Female Performance award at the Yxine Film Festival.

None of us were able to attend the award ceremony in Hanoi on the 15th of December, so Chen Yu Ting accepted her award on video. She was 4 when the film was shot, 5 this year.

She also showed that her talent extended beyond just acting.

Countdown to New Year 2013 at Senso-ji Temple

It it unbelievable that I was having my fifth New Year countdown in Japan already.

You can immediately watch the video here if you are too lazy to read what I have to say.