Why

With only so much time to spend

Don't wanna waste the time I'm given

"Have it all, play the game" - some recommend

I'm afraid, it just may be time to give in

~ Jonathan Larson

Haven't done any proper blogging for the longest time. 20 years ago, it used to be cool to blog, now it's the TikTok generation.

Anyhow, it's been a tough 2 years and life has been very different. Currently not feeling great but hey, at least I still got a job right?

Review: Remax CX-04 Cutie Car Recorder

I have been using this dashcam for the last 6 months and I thought I should review it, partly because there not much information you can find on the internet about this dashcam.

It all started when I wanted to buy a dash cam for my car. One of the criteria is the camera must use a capacitor instead of lithium battery. As we live in a tropical climate, exposing a lithium battery to the heat is not ideal. I did some research online and was very closed to buying the Viofo A119, when I stumbled upon this rather cute looking dashcam- Remax CX-04.

Minions, anyone?

I tried looking for reviews but- as mentioned earlier- couldn't find any. However, I did find a few YouTube videos from Vietnam showing the camera's video quality. Overall, the video quality looks okay and the camera is cheaper than the Viofo A119. So, I decided to take the risk and bought it on Shopee for RM220.

This is how the package looks like.

Simple but beautiful

I bought the black one so it's more discreet

You can the option of 3M sticker or suction cup. Most dashcam reviewers suggest using stickers.

Cable to connect to the power source

there's a slot (not visible in this picture) for you to attach your phone cable

Instruction manual in English & Chinese

Specs

You can scan this to download the app on your phone(IOS or Android)

Installation was pretty easy and you should have no problem doing it.

I put it just behind the mirror

Not that visible from the outside, would prefer the rim to be black too

As cute as it looks, the import part is the video quality. There is an option to record at 720Pp or 1080p. you will need a Micro SD card(manual says up to 64gb) to record the video. Put in on a loop and you can easily transfer any important video from the camera to you phone.

Below are my sample videos.

If you want a dashcam that doesn't hurt your pocket, I  highly recommend this Remax CX-04.

Thank you Short+Sweet Musical 2015

"Boy..."

That was how Joe described the results before he began the prize giving ceremony for Short+Sweet Musical 2015. Yes, it was that close and our group was fortunate to win 4 awards last night, of which 3 were won by 1 vote.

a cast member asked why I had that look when I went up to collect my prize. It's a rather surreal moment to hear my name announced as the winner of the best director because it's only my 2nd time directing a S+S musical, and I was working with mainly young and inexperienced actors. Also, it was also the first time I win something without wifey.


Anyhow, here are a few people I would like to thank:

God for the people who have guided & helped me for the last 6 years. Thank you for the cast and creative team who have worked very hard to make the musical work.

Alex Chua & Nicole-Ann Thomas for your training. Appreciate the time you have invested in teaching me. I do hope I will get to work with you again.

Wifey & Mei Wei for your valued feedback. It is always good to have a third eye and, in this case, I got 2 great third eyes.

Calvin Terence, Lydia & Kelvin, for your hard work behind the scene. Thank you for trusting me with your work.

Joe & Faridah for providing a playground for me to explore and try new things.

Phoebe & the stage crew, for your support and making S+S Musical a success. Best backstage team ever!

Boy, Amirul, MJ & other tech guys, for the lights, sound & music. Every night, I could sit back and know that I need not worry about anything technical matters at all.

Parents of my under-aged performers. Thank you for letting your daughters take part in this small musical. Thank you for driving them to rehearsals and supporting us during the performances. Your daughters are very talented and I believe you are very proud to see what they have accomplished over the last 2 months.

Grace for offering to be the makeup artist. You have made my job so much easier backstage. Thank you for coming everyday so early and help them get into their characters.

Finally, my wonderful cast. No matter how great a script, how nice a song, it is you who brought everything to life. You have all been amazing. Each one of you played a vital part in making UP ALL NIGHT what it is. I hope you have learnt that the success of a production depends on teamwork and your inputs are very important to the development of a character. I couldn't have asked for a better company.

Short+Sweet Malaysia 2015

Surprise, surprise.

The missus and I did not submit anything for Short+Sweet Musical this year, though I submitted a political parody. More on that later.

One of the reasons we didn't submit a musical was because we didn't really have a good idea on what to write about. We sort of have the skeletons but we got stuck there for a bit. After consulting Nick Choo for his feedback, we decided that we should probably not continue writing unless we have a firm idea on what to do. In the meantime, I also had an idea on writing a song for Short+Sweet Song instead.

After watching last year's Short+Sweet Song and seeing how UiHua trolled the category with his Harry Doldrum persona, I began to think about how I could do something different to make it more fun and less about the competition.

Harry Doldrum in S+S Song 2014

Somehow the thought of a hungry ghost complaining about not being served his favourite food came to mind. I have heard a sermon from Pastor Oh Beng Kee many years ago and there was a point where he mentioned ancestral worship, and how we usually serve the food we liked to eat instead of our deceased ancestors' favourites.

Pastor Oh

So I pitched the idea to the missus and asked if she would be interested to take part. I also mentioned the idea to Freddy Tan and if everyone was okay, we could have a trio. Unfortunately Freddy couldn't commit and in the end it was just the two of us. I also spoke with Jee, a friend whom we got to know through S+S Musical 2014, to be our musician.

In May,I submitted my proposal to S+S organizing committee with just the title "Hungry" and a short description:

"A song dedicated to those who have passed on and yet are held dear in our hearts.  It is a duet lamenting the offerings during the Hungry Ghost Festival. Song genre is Oriental Pop, presentation with harmony and counter-points." We submitted our registration forms indicating that we would be performed as "Hu Ah Yew" and "Soo Fah Nee", since the fun is in singing in character instead of performing as ourselves.

After checking with UiHua what he submitted last year, I wrote a draft to the organizers, just to give them an idea of what we would be covering. It was decided that the missus would compose the song once our submission was accepted.

Early July, the organizers released the list of participants, and we started working again. After a few changes to the melody and lyrics, we finally gave it to Jee with the instruction that the music needed to sound chinese, with guzhen, erhu, etc. Jee was busy with his own gig and hence he would only record the music for us.

We only received the music 2 weeks before performance and practised as much as we could without music before that. In the end, this was what we did.

We managed to spook a lot of people. Even our fellow participants were scared of us when they first saw us on full dress rehearsal night. It goes without saying that we were the forerunners for the Glitz & Glamour award so no surprise when they announced the winners. However, we also took home the 1st runner up award, a first for a performance with minus one music. Before this,  all winners had live music. 

It was a fun experience and I find it easier to make new friends because unlike musical or theatre, there are less people in the dressing rooms. We are happy to win and we really appreciate the help from our arranger Jee who was amazing with the music. Many thanks to the people at klpac for giving us the platform to experiment with this song and providing the tech and stage support.

I am taking a breather this week but still in the midst of preparing my team for the musical category next week. I am directing a few teenagers from my church. I hope they will have an equally good experience next week.

Oops....

Didn't realize I have not updated anything since Oct 2014.

With Facebook, everything can updated immediately without the hassle of  typing out everything. But with Facebook, sometimes I feel the need to self censor. So today I shall put something here that I will not put on my Facebook.

I have started writing again for Short+Sweet Festival and again it will be a collaboration with the missus.

Initially we wanted to split and pursue our own project but I think we're not that motivated to do anything unless the other person applying some pressure. Anyhow, this year we're attempting something different....

No outrageous comedy.

What will it be? Wait for more updates when we have the story fleshed out :)

Performances from S+S Musical 2014

OK, for those who missed the show, here are the recordings of our performances at Short+Sweet Musical 2014. Enjoy!

Note: This was our 4th performance and I had to step in because my lead Boon Kit was admitted into the hospital for appendicitis 

Notes on Short+Sweet Musical 2014

 This years marks the 2nd time wifey &  I took part in Short+Sweet Musical as a team. Last year we decided to explore other areas of interest instead of collaborating. This year, instead of just writing together, I also pulled her in to help me direct a musical too.

 

 

I was given 5 scripts to choose and I am glad that I got my first choice "A WOMAN AT WAR" by Mark Sasse. As a first time director my immediate challenge was to get my cast. After finally sorted out the leads, I faced a bigger challenge of assembling a band to play the music. While Mark & Laura Danneker(co-composer) had provided me with a minus one, I didn't think the recorded music would fit into my vision for the musical. I am also a firm believer in live music for musicals. Thankfully, 2 weeks into my rehearsal with the actors I managed to get a pianist from church and slowly my band was formed - 2 teenagers from my current church and 2 guys from my Penang church. I also decided to cast an ensemble of 6 people to support the leads.

 

The idea of writing a sperm musical, believe it or not, came during Short+Sweet Musical 2013, in the green room. I wanted to see how many performers we can put on stage so I'd figured with a sperm musical, the possibilities would be endless. So I presented the idea to wifey and together we slowly developed the story. While we wanted to stretch the story as much as we could, we also wanted the story to be as scientifically accurate as possible. So after much research and discussion, we decided to settled for the contraceptives as antagonists.

 

We also approached our friends Ross & Shen to be the director and musical director respectively.

 

 

So we were slotted into S+S Musical Week 1 and thankfully, both musicals made it to Gala Night which just ended a few hours ago.

 

How did we fare?



 

Karynn & I won the Festival Director's Award while 300 Million: The Reconceptualization of a Conception won the Audience Choice & Best Overall Production Awards. As much as I am proud to win, I am even prouder of the team who performed on stage, both the cast of A Woman At War & 300 Million. I did not participate with the hope to win - I just want to showcase my work and explore what I can do in the arts.

 

Words cannot describe the joy I had when I first watch both musicals come to life during the full dress rehearsal last week. I was so satisfied with the work the teams have put in and I can still remember the pride I had after the rehearsal ended. For A Woman At War, the pride to see how the actors have grown over the last 2 months was enough for me. For 300 million, it was the pleasant surprise of how the puns and lines were delivered with great comedic timing.

 

As we leave S+S Musical with wonderful memories, here are a few people I want to thank:

 

1. First & foremost, God for sending me people along my path to help me learn and grow.

 

2. Wifey for always bringing the best out of me. Somehow whenever we collaborate, we've always managed to come up with some crazy fun stuff. Let's make more babies on stage!

 

3. Alex Chua & Nicole-Ann Thomas for the guidance you have given me as a performer. I try to apply what I have learned from you and I hope I have made you proud. Thank you for your feedback Alex, and Nicole, hope to get yours soon.

4. BB for your lighting suggestion. Looks good:) *correction: IT LOOKED GREAT!! 
 

5. Nick Choo, for being Nick Choo. I am not sure if people actually realize how generous you are. Thank you for taking your time to meet us & to offer your advice on 300 million. You are, in my opinion, the Godfather of S+S Musical. Wifey has learnt much from you at the 2011 S+S Musical workshop and I have learnt much through her as well. I do hope you will continue to take part in future S+S Musical and allow us the privilege of enjoying your wonderful work. Nick Choo doesn't need S+S Musical; S+S Musical needs Nick Choo.

 

6. Mark Sasse & Laura Danneker for trusting us with your work. I know it can be a scary thought to surrender your work to a complete stranger. You are braver than us because we approached our friend to direct. Thank you for your kind words of encouragement and it has been a pleasure directing A Woman At War.

 

7. Ross & Shen for the work you have put into 300 million. We love it the moment we saw it last week. You have made both wifey & me proud of our work.

 

8. Cast of A Woman At War & 300 Million. Every night you had me cheering for you and I couldn't be happier with your final performance.

 

9. Joe, Faridah, Soo, Lawrence, April, Boy, Ariff & other staff for your support and for giving us the platform to explore.

 

So what is next? 

 

I will be directing in S+S Theatre and I hope we'll do well. We have about 2 weeks to start blocking and get our act together. As for next year, wifey & I have decided that we will split again, before we reunite for Short+Sweet Musical 2016.

 

Why?

 

Because it's not about the competition. It's about the arts.