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.