Typhoon!

After lunch at Trinity Seafood, the men suddenly disappeared...where could they be?

I found them outside...what are they doing????

 They are filming and taking photos!!

 hahah! they are caught in action videotaping!

 typhoon!!! ...hehe of course it was not a typhoon....

 just very strong wind and heavy rain. We Malaysians have not seen anything stronger than the odd monsoon or tow!

 I brave the rain to stand and pose for a good shot!!!

 Steven contemplates the wind and rain...but from a safe distance

Induction

 Last week I flew to Manila with some friends for the Induction Ceremony  of new officers and directors..it was held at an aerospace Museum!!! such an awesome venue! 

              Aerospace Museum Villamor Air Base Pasay City.

 Just look at the fantastic gridlock of cars leading in and out of the airport and museum vicinity!! Everybody took a long time to arrive at the venue.

The spacious hall where the event was held and the words "world class induction night" was beamed from the monitor. A lot of guests still have not arrived. 

Tess, Sim, Erin Kim at the registration table.

This is a nice group pic of Malaysians and Filipinos

Food was served right at the start of the event and done with for the ceremony proper to begin

 Singing of the national anthem, of both countries.

 Good candid shot of the Malaysians!

         Oath taking by President with his family members and his directors

Solemn and serious moment of oath taking

 Fellow members

 Nice and artistic pic of my friend!

 Line up of office bearers

 Our own president giving his message

 President's wife and son

 So glad I attended, it was an eye opener and not a dull moment was had

our three Malaysia members having a good time!!

These are the highlights of some of the significant moments..

1965 Movie for SG50

About 1965 "1965 is a riveting dramatic thriller that uses a piece of Singapore history like never before.  With a star-studded cast comprising of local and regional talents such as Lim Kay Tong as the Late Mr Lee Kuan Yew, Joanne Peh, Qi Yuwu, Deanna Yusoff, Sezairi, Mike Kasem and James Seah,  1965 tells engaging and touching stories of immigrants and natives; how a group of people, divided by race, language and religion, saw their intertwining lives profoundly transformed by a defining moment in Singapore history." (Taken from the net....)

 Qi Yuwu is a Chinese immigrant in real life

acts convincingly (though it helps that he is dishy too)

and btw he is the husband of Joanne Peh (below)

 Joanne Peh is now a new mother...

She is a delight to watch in this movie

 Lim Kay Tong was convincing in his tearful portrayal of LKY

he had to pause many times to prevent himself from breaking down in sobs, a scene that is not easy to do without over acting or undue dramatics. 

 (mainly shot in Batam Island)

mainly because there are no more "kampungs" in Spore.

 60's inspired furniture and look....

Recreation of a scene of Singapore in 1965

I was in Singapore over the SG50 weekend and I arrived on the 7th of August.  My bro in law had booked for me tickets to "1965" a movie that I had not even heard of prior to this!  Since I was caught in the wave of Singaporean patriotism which was evident everywhere and which was heightened by the recent death of LKY, their beloved first prime minister, I agreed to catch the movie, and was touched my brother in law had already bought the tickets and chose a time slot suitable for me. ( I had a dinner date with my other classmates later the same evening.)  As soon as I arrived at Vivo City with my classmate Bee, I was whisked off to Lido...

 My sister went to exchange the booked tix while her husband my dear bro in law went on a merry go round looking for a parking space, a space he found, in the next building....hahaha...such was the crowd that came out to watch the movie and to bask in the mood of SG50, and in case you are wondering what this Sg50 I am ranting about , it is Singapore celebrating its 50th independence day and also the separation from Peninsula Malaysia...1965 is 50 years ago to the day, hence the title of the movie.

 while waiting for the both of them, I wandered around and saw this from the window, an arch "Majulah Singapura" ...back in the days when I was a young girl living in Batu Pahat, we had better reception of Singapore TV than Malaysian channels, so I could sing "Majulah singapura" very well!

So, I asked my sister to take a pic of me framed by the arch...

Here: enlarged for you to see...a 59 year old me and 50 year old Singapore!!!

Here's what I think of the movie 1965...

To be honest, I had doubts about seeing the movie because my time in Singapore was very short, and my sister and her husband were not so free to accompany me as they had to be in Kluang for a temple event the next day.  Moreover I had my classmate with me who took me across the causeway (or second link) so I felt quite bad about ditching her.  Anyway, I was glad too that they took the trouble to squeeze in a movie for me in our tight schedule as sitting through the 2 and half hour show proved to be no chore as it was well acted, the story line albeit fictitious was engaging, the actors/actresses were locals (Joanne Peh was a darling and every Singaporean's favourite actress, mine too, now) and hey! I was even moved to tears in the end! 

Deanna Yusuf

Above is Deanne Yusuf, the Malaysian who acts in quite a number of Singaporean movies:

"The Malaysian actress talks about her involvement in the upcoming film 1965.

Deanna Yusoff has been cast in the leading role in 1965, a movie commemorating Singapore’s 50 years of independence. She plays a single mother opposite China-born actor Qi Yuwu who plays a police inspector in the film that is slated for release next year, to mark Singapore’s 50th birthday."...from the Star 

http://www.thestar.com.my/Lifestyle/Entertainment/Movies/News/2014/09/10/Deanna-Yusoff-reveals-more-about-her-role-in-new-film/

Deanna, who is the only Malaysian among its main cast, was first offered the role three years ago; she was approached again last year in March. The film was mostly shot in Batam, Indonesia from last September to early January.

1965 was directed by Randy Ang and follows the stories of several fictional characters as they witness the historical events leading up to Singapore’s independence.

Khatijah, played by Deanna, is reeling from the death of her youngest son. “Khatijah is a very common woman, she would be invisible, nobody would notice her. She sells kuih by the roadside to earn a living. She has gone through a hard life. She had two husbands; one left and one died. She’s left to raise her four children herself,” Deanna said of her character, in a phone interview from Singapore.

“There’s not much meaning to her life. She’s feeling numbed. When this happens, it awakens her. She starts to live. She starts to feel emotions. The character was dead and with this challenge she became alive,” she continued.

What’s the most memorable experience you had filming 1965?

There was a scene where I realise that my son is dead. It was an emotional scene, there was no dialogue. I had to express my anger, pain and suffering all in a few seconds. It’s the kind of scene where you can’t do many takes; to me, I’d rather do it in one take, which I did.

And what I found magical was that everybody who was involved in that scene, from the camera, the lighting, to the sound, the extras, everybody on set did it perfectly and it was magical. That’s why we were able to do it in one take. Those are moments I will never forget because they’re very rare...(Taken from newspaper article)

Thank you, bro in law and sis for letting me watch the movie with the both of you! We even had to forgo our lunch to be in time for the movie, making do with...MC D! hahaha!!!

https://youtu.be/Tl8ldwrABQw

Lunch for 6 (16 August 2015)

Relatives were in town so we joined them for lunch today at a nice restaurant

 The Singapore relatives, an architect Goh and his wife from Singapore with Fifth Aunt at the back on the way to Lunch

 We went to this restaurant...my second time here

 We had lunch for 6 but not this

 We chose this: RM298

 5th aunt and Jennie

 Golden Brown Minced Garlic Prawns, very dry but crunchy and I could chew the heads..my fave part! had lots of crunchy bits of garlic and spicy chips (for want of a better word)

 signature dish (jiew pai choy) Seafood fish fillet pot

 comes with soup and kept hot with a burner underneath

 ma poh tofu...tofu swimming in spicy szechuan sauce I think

 quite an ordinary dish and I do not think it does justice to the pricey menu

 Steamed Australian garlic scallop...exactly 6 for the 6 of us, but 5th aunt passed hers because of seafood allergy

 our party of Lunch for 6

 back home...what are they looking at?

  That's me, Fifth aunt said. 

That's my mum. Goh said. 

 Fifth Aunt and Goh's mother are/were sisters. 

Hahaha!!! this is the photo! 

Such an ancient antiquity, don't you think!!!