Cheese cake anyone?

Could still remember my first cheese cake - homemade. Surprisingly, it was not bad, just plain pure and simple cheese cake. My hubby loves them, my sons finished them in a flash. I guess the most beautiful moment of baking a cake is when you start to smell the aroma of the creamy yet extremely intoxicating cheeeezzzzeeeeeee creeping out from the oven and you immediately feel the rumbling in your tummy. A moment not to be missed. I think I will make another cheesecake real soon.

A Busy Buzzing Week

Has it been that long?
1 week...7 days...168 hours...10080 minutes...
I wanted so badly to just sit down and write
but things seem to catch up on me
Projects to be overlooked, kids to attend to
I guess this is part of life
I have always admired those who enjoy what they do for a living
and yet could still earn a comfortable living out of it
these are the few lucky ones
for the rest and most of us
we are only trying very hard
to achieve the dreams in our lives
but I am certain that
this day will come
when dreams will be fulfilled and
the journey continues
to re-discover and explore
the best things in life
for they are always the ones
that define and make us
who we truly are

Hear My Voice

An album from Wang Lee Hom. I have seen him performed live some years ago, when I was working with an entertainment portal, covering mainly entertainment news and events or concerts.

My vivid memory of the concert that night was him playing the violin with the orchestra. He was extremely charismatic and talented. He was so absorbed in his playing that it seemed to affect the audiences, well, at least, I was completely mesmorized by his playing and singing.

Although this album is entirely in Japanese and I have no clue what he is singing, I do believe music has no border. In fact, a friend recently commented something which rings true to the bone to me. He said, "Always remember, music has no boundaries and no race..." I absolutely agree with him. It reminds me also of an old wise friend from Hong Kong, who said music is the purest form of art. I guess music soothes the mind and has the ability to fill the heart of an empty soul. Let there be beautiful notes in our lives.

Queen Of Lunch Time

Japanese, 12 Episodes, 2002

Starring:

Takeuchi Yuko as Mugita Natsumi

Eguchi Yosuke as Nabeshima Yujiro
Tsumabuki Satoshi as Nabeshima Junzaburo
Tomohisa Yamashita as Nabeshima Koshiro

The love for food and the perseverance to maintain the good name handed down from generation to the next in this small Japanese family owned western food outlet are some of the themes that make this series so attractive. Of course, it is always with good cinematograhy, excellent acting by the main casts and a memorable soundtrack to further deepen the audiences' empathy towards the characters and the situations they are in which actually complete the whole package.

I was particularly interested in the structure and the way the story unfolds whereby lots of flashbacks were used to re-inforce your understanding towards the characters and how they feel in situations. The whole series is very much contained within the food and restaurant side of the story and it does not lose its focus and try to expand beyond what is necessary like some series may tend to end up with towards the end. It is fun to watch partly because Takeuchi Yuko's character is very lovable yet it is also very much grounded when it comes to issues that she needs to come face to face with towards the end of her stay at the male-dominated Nabeshima household. She became the anchor to the story.

If you love food and the passion in painstakingly (but with utmost pleasure and pride) preparing a great meal / lunch, this is definitely a must watch for you!

song titled: Morihana Shojo Hayashi
sung by: Yosui Inoue

Take a listen

So ready to die...or is he?

I was driving back home tonight, from OneU towards Sunway, on LDP. My hubby was playing with my second son, Aidan at the Back. Ryan was angry at us for not allowing him to watch "Terminator 3" when we get home. The digital clock in the car showed 11:57. He has kindergarten to go to tomorrow morning!

As we were approaching the curve right after Kelana Jaya LRT station, a man in white shirt, khakis pants stood right in the middle of the road. I saw him from a distance but thought that he was trying to cross the road. As the cars moved closer, he did not even try to move an inch from where he was standing. All cars had to slow down to avoid hitting him. Is he insane? Was he trying to get himself knocked down by a car, deliberately? I have no idea. When I drove passed him, all I could think of was how irresponsible he is and how guilty I would have felt if I were to accidentally run him down. Maybe, he is trying to kill himself...but why and for what reasons? For whatever reasons he may have, it is hard for us to even comprehend why one decides to take their own lives, but I could relate to that one notion to a certain extend because, I too once had that thought flashed in my young mind, but I guess I was too afraid to make it a reality.

I guess the idea of conscious death can hit you there and then, just a split of a second. If only you had someone by your side, then, to clear your mind, the next second could be the longest moment in your entire life, it could even change your whole perspective towards life, completely. I have often wondered how it would be like for me, if I were to die and what would have come out of it. It scares me too much because there are still so much that I have not done or accomplished in life. Greed is one of the true natures of being a human, I must admit.

I wonder if he is still alive...

A friend called Angel

A simple birthday message. Don't get me wrong, neither me nor this friend of mine is a religious person, and no...we are not christians either...but I called her angel for certain reasons. It was dated back when both of us shared some wonderful times together in Uni. Of course, she stood by me through those rough times as well, hence the name. This is dedicated to her.

Life is full of strange surprises

Maybe it is fated that we met that way

To be able to connect with another person

in spirit, in all sorts of human emotions

the connection is indescribable

Words could only mean that much

the rest is left to be felt and touched

by our very depth of the human heart

Though time has passed us by

and the reality of life has silently taken over

It is fortunate that we are still friends
we may not keep in touch
as often as we would love to
You will always have
a special place
within me

A toast to our friendship and more great things to come your way, my dear angel.

CHOICE - Part 4

The making of CHOICE - a walk down memory lane

Part 4 (final)

We have arrived at the final chapter of the director, Patrick Lim's note on his short film. Let's take a look...

Conclusion
I want CHOICE to be a mirror reflecting upon what is happening to our youth today. Although this is only small parts of our society but magnify that by ten folds and you will have an epidemic of national proportion to deal with. Our youth are supposed to be the leaders of the future but are we heading towards a brighter future?

The other thing that I want the audience to reflect upon is the notion that all of us are hypocrites to a certain extent. Our actions contradict our words at times and vice versa. We are liars if we say otherwise. There were varied responses from some who have seen CHOICE. Ones that liked it could relate to it in some way or another but there were also some that were offended by the brutal truth.

Sometimes it is easier to run away from the truth and to hide our own flaws but how many of us can come face to face with the ugliness within ourselves.

At the end, CHOICE is also about seeking that elusive love and to be accepted as who we are without being judgemental or being judged .

Tanya - Stranger

If I were a sTrAngeR to love, would you take a look at mE?

At the train station, the heat from the afternoon Wednesday sun
envelops almost every single one of us here...
everyone of us who is eager to get onto our ride.
Gosh, I wish I was somewhere else
Maybe Hawaii, what about Bora Bora
The Atlantic or perhaps the end of the world
anywhere exotic and chilling at the same time
Not freezing, I can't stand absolute cold
in whatever form
Come on
Come on
Yeah, I think I catch a glimpse of the train already
Is it coming? Is it real? Yes!
The door opens
The door closes
The train leaves
Was I on the train?
Why not...Oh yes...I was waiting...
Waiting for you...the stranger on the bench I never knew
but fancy that I might just fall head over heels with
Could it be you...over there?
Why are you looking at me? I could feel your gaze from
the very corner of my eyes
you are but...only a stranger...how could it possibly be...you?
The One?

How would you know?
We'll never know

I look again...you were gone. Who are you?
Just a friction of my crazy afternoon imagination
Who am I?
Just a little voice in my own head
a GirL called fascination
a bOy called illusion

Sometimes a song can make you do this - completely crazy and feels like wanna be free. I love her voice. She is one of my favourite Asian female singers, apart from A-Mei. I think you could hear the truth of emotions when it comes through in her singing. An excellent album to feel lonely yet loved at the same time - a good mixture for the soul.

CHOICE - Part 3

The making of CHOICE - a walk down memory lane
Part 3
In this 3rd part of the director's note, Patrick talks about characterization and his process of making the film.

The Process

We met for two Sundays at Brigetta's place where the condo scenes were shot. I checked out and loved the location, the bathroom, which I thought was a bit small but the big mirror compensated for what I really wanted and I know the cameramen can negotiate themselves in the small area.

During the two Sundays, we discussed about characters and their history. The three of them shared their experience and history with me where I, then incorporated them in CHOICE.

Characters

I needed three of them to be completely different but in an emotional level, they need each other for support, like a bouncing ball needing a surface for it to be able to bounce off from. Naomi, to a degree becomes the initiator to the conversation and also the observer to Henry's and Brigetta's issues.

Naomi has a calculated coldness and an invisible but clearly vulnerable barrier that she puts up to protect herself. She is also torn between her Malay-Irish heritage and the conformity that she has to abide to.

The outspoken Brigetta appears strong-willed but is actually the opposite. She sees sexual relationships as an outlet to gratify her selfish needs of her definition of love and desire.

Henry is the catalyst of CHOICE. Being the most complicated character of all, He has issues with his religion, gender and identity. His annoyance succeeds in bringing out the hypocrisies in the other characters and also himself.
to be continued...