Junk cameras, eating problems etc.

It all started when I arrived at Tokyo after my somewhat lengthy Eurotrip.

I was in a bus from the airport to Shinjuku. As I was arriving, I saw through the window, a young girl carrying a kickass looking camera and taking photos at the streets. The bus stopped, I got out, dragged my luggage with me and tried looking for the girl. She was still there, I started asking about the camera.

She spoke fluent English and told me she was using a Mamiya RZ67.

"Where did you get it?" I asked.

Discussing INHALATION at the Clermont-Ferrand Intl Short Film Festival

Ernest Chong Shun Yuan and Susan Lee Fong Zhi in INHALATION


It's been nearly 3 nights since I got back from Europe, yet I still feel a little jetlaggy, a little worse for wear. Despite recovering from a bad cold while I was in Clermont-Ferrand, I ended up with another bad case of diarrhea (happens every time I go to France, really, 3 times in the last year. Maybe me and French food just don't mix, maybe I had too much French fries, maybe I shouldn't eat train food, maybe I shouldn't have airport food etc.)

Aha. Valentine's Day in Paris

It's now 8.25am, February 14. I've just spent a night in Paris and am heading to the airport in less than an hour.



Yes, I'm aware that it's Valentine's Day, but since the day had never really meant much to me, aside from having some nice chocolates to eat (they were never meant for me, alas.

I rather just spend the day thousands of feet above the ground. It's been a long trip.

The stars will wheel forth from their daytime hiding places; and one of those lights, slightly brighter than the rest, will be my wingtip passing over

Location:Rue Tronchet,Paris,France

Bye bye Clermont-Ferrand

I've gotten sick the past three days (a usual occurrence whenever I'm abroad). I guess being on the road for more than two weeks had taken its toll.

Anyway, this is my last night in Clermont-Ferrand, the past week had been fun. Screenings of INHALATION occurred every night. Always to a full house. Twice, my screening had happened in the Cocteau hall, which has a capacity for 1200 people.

In other days, film is screened in smaller halls that still hold 600+ people.

THE TIGER FACTORY Q & A session

I left Rotterdam on the 5th of Feb. Am now at Clermont-Ferrand, France, for the Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival.

MSN Japan's most-discussed artistes...

For the past 3 days, ever since CINEMA TODAY's article of my short, EXHALATION, actress Tomoe Shinohara had remained one of the 3 most talked-about artistes on MSN, along with Nicholas Cage and Ai Hashimoto.

Awesome.

My Chinese New Year's Eve Celebration in Rotterdam

For a guy who had spent nearly a third of his life living abroad, it's still kinda strange to think that this was my first Chinese New Year spent out of Malaysia, the first time I didn't have the usual Steamboat CNY's Eve reunion dinner with family.

So my Chinese New Year's Eve was rather interesting. I started out seeing one of the Tiger Competition films by Iranian filmmaker Majid Barzegar called RAINY SEASONS. Then I ended up having lunch in a Chinese restaurant with Kiki, Hospitalite director Koji Fukada, and a pair of Koji's Japanese friends who live in Paris.