Halloween Horror Nights 2 - 10 Things

1. Be there at 8pm sharp. You need to get a head start on the crowd. The earlier you are, the more you get to see, the less you have to wait!

2. If you're in the normal queue, don't hate the people with the Express Pass. If you have the Express Pass, don't hate the VIPs. If you're VIP, try not to gloat openly. (R.I.P Tour passes are available for $148.) Moral of the story is be prepared to wait a little and self-entertain!

3. The main attractions are definitely the three Haunted Houses! Hit Death Alley first, to get a taste of the underbelly of Chinatown before putting your gall to the test at the Dungeon of Damnation. It was, for me, the highlight of the event. The last house is The Insanitarium, which is all the way in. Give it a miss if you run out of time!

4. Be brave. You're here for fear. Open your eyes. Peer through the corridors. Keep your eyes trained on nooks and crannies. Every turn a surprise. Watch where you're going. At times, you might even want to look up at the ceiling!

5. Try not to stay too close to the group ahead of you. You'll see all the tricks prematurely. Where's the fun in that!

6. Bring your cameras with you! Handphone cameras don't do the pictures justice in the scare zones. Total Lockdown and Bizarre Bazaar are fantastic, but for different reasons. There's a lot to see and you'll definitely slow down to admire the destruction and er... torture. Very S&M some bits. A+.

7. Rides are open this time round. They're not the essential but if you've time to spare, Battlestar Gallactica's queue moved quickly last night. The Transformers was the absolute best - the future of storytelling, I must say! Amazing, but extremely popular. Average queue time was 60 mins for Express Pass. The Jurassic Park ride was good too and a great way to cool off if you're feeling hot.

8. There's a Halloween musical called Monster Rock at Pantages Hollywood Theater. Take a breather from the heart-arresting attractions and catch the 11.30pm show (but be there at 11.15 for good seats). Great music, energetic dancing... 21 minutes of great entertainment!

9. Don't wear expensive jewellery. We saw this girl looking for her bling on the floor for a good 15 minutes, with staff and friends searching fruitlessly with her, and her throwing a bitch fit. No loose items in general!

10. If you're not scared, play your part and scream a little maybe? It gives the scare actors a bit more motivation and you get a better show! Well, of course, hopefully it doesn't come down to that and you pee in your pants instead.

Justin is the new Britney

Big Hits, Baby
Such a coincidence that their biggest hits have the word "baby" in them. For Bieber, then 16, Baby erupted all over radio as the song you could not escape from. Annoyingly catchy, distinctly bubblegum and possibly childish to the point of puke-worthy, it brought me back to '98, when Spears, then 17, released ...Baby One More Time. I remember feeling the same way - that it was pop at its most straight-forward, catchy and it was a track that was impossible to run away from. I also almost puked when Sometimes was released but radio refused to stop playing BOMT. Both tracks were monster hits and shot them to pop royalty with the music world waiting to see/hear what would happen next. Sonically, Bieber matured faster as the current album straddles between bubble-gum (Beauty and a Beat) and something slightly edgier (Boyfriend). Spears continued to pander to her teen audience with Oops! before hitting the big time with the adventurous Slave 4 U. I'd like to see Bieber find his Slave with the next album. It can only, like Britney's sound, go uphill from there.



Never Say Never...
... to lip-syncing. When you've become such an electrifying performer that the spectacle you put on stage surpasses the need for people to hear you sing live, you lip-syncing. There comes a point in time where you're on huge sold-out tours - the whole is bigger than the sum of its parts - and you've to put on a show! Thankfully Britney has never thrown up on stage with the backing track running (well at least not that I know of), so it was rather unfortunate when it happened to Bieber on the first night of his Believe world tour in late September this year. Regardless, I've seen his recent performances of As Long As You Love Me at the Teen Choice Awards 2012 and his energy, intensity and playful facial expressions reminded me of a young Spears. However Spears is clearly the more tantalising of the two - just look at this A+, take-notes-all-teen-stars performance from the VMAs  in 2000. With time, hopefully Bieber will be ready to have his carry-a-snake-around-his-neck or I-kissed-Madonna-and-I-liked-it moment very soon at award shows to come.



Slave
As Bieber makes teen ovaries explode worldwide, Britney did the same to her fans, with many proclaiming "I'm a Slave 4 U Britney!" as she did her rounds in countless magazines, TV appearances, concerts and music videos. Ahh, music videos! They've got that genre under their belts! Also, both teen stars have the media fixated on their every move. Following in Britney's footsteps, Justin's been dating fellow teen-star Selena Gomez. When she had her belly-button pierced, Bieber got tattoos. Growing up in the media spotlight as the biggest teen star of the moment will inevitably give way to The Breakdown. With great success comes pundits taking bets on their big fall and the bigger the fall, the bigger the comeback. (The breakdown is only possible when you've attained an incredible amount of fame and are perched at the top of your game.) I wait with bated breath for Bieber's head-shaving, grabs-umbrella-and-attacks-a-car, Gimme-More-at-the-VMAs moment.

In my crystal ball, Justin looks like he'd be able to capture the world's imagination with the good-kid-gone-bad-gone-good story. Neither of them are Adele, but Bieber has what it takes to be the next Britney. Or he could become a boring, try-too-hard like Christina but I hope that never happens.

Love is like...

Love is like... just another thing that you need to sustain yourself. One shouldn't make a big deal about it. Just like one should not make a big deal about having air to breathe and having food to eat. When it's there... it's just there so you can move on with other aspects in your life. It's not supposed to cause you trouble and you shouldn't put in too much effort into getting it.

The people who are successful in life don't make a big deal out of love. It's there, they have it, they know how to maintain it, nurture it, but it's not what their entire life is about. Their lives are about their passion and their passion is not a someone, but a something. Changing the world with a business, a new innovation, taking part in philanthropy... these are worthwhile pursuits. 

We're constantly fed these terrible ideas, from movies, from music, from books, that love is life-changing and how it consumes you and how it's exciting and thrilling and nourishes your being and justifies your existence on this earth. Romance. Romance is a pain in the ass. It's great that people around you have it but it should be equally great if you don't have it. So you can concentrate on the real important issues, you know, like helping kids who need education, people dying from starvation and whether the eventual winner of the US X-Factor will have a #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. 

At the end of it all commitment is everything. You just need that one person, that one who wants to be together with you as badly as you do. After that you don't have to make a big fuss out of it. Nothing to celebrate, nothing to scream about. You don't have to come up with funny, special things - no anniversaries, no fucking birthdays. Just knowing the person is there should be enough. You draw nourishment from the relationship, just like how you would eat a burger or drink a Coke and then you can do other good things with your life.

I should learn to do just that. 

Gf.Bf

"We should have two lovers. One who loves me, one whom I love."

After spending an hour watching behind-the-scenes footage from the movie's official youtube channel, I've got a glimpse of Yang Ya Che, the director behind this moving piece of work. He's a demanding man, who was hard on his cast and crew, expecting the best from them. He had a vision. He wrote the script like a thesis of sorts. He wanted to make a film showing Taiwan in the 80s, when the three young characters, as well as the territory, was on the precipice of awakening.

The movie spanned three decades and in that time, the backdrop of Taiwan and her people changed visibly. The characters moved on with the times and watching the the three actors push their limits, it was as if you saw nine characters in a single movie!

I particularly liked that it wasn't written with a beginning-middle-end structure that's so prevalent, making films so predictable and you're just staying around for how it happens. Gf.Bf felt more like an experiment, three personalities thrown together and they delivered fireworks! At any one time there was so much tension between them, so much uncertainty, so much struggle it literally took my breath away. They were so intertwined with friendship and love that they couldn't tear themselves apart, like they were destined to be in an endless push and pull with each other.

They fought for freedom from each other and from themselves. Like life, nothing is certain. Sometimes you get what you want, sometimes you don't. You make sacrifices expecting something in return but that's not for sure. Like Yang said, it's a little selfish. You give everything to the one you love, but when you're disappointed and let down and hurt, you should have someone to catch you, someone who loves you, to make that fall a little less painful.

So much was said, but wasn't shown, just hinted at. And that's really masterful use of cinema. I started thinking a lot. And got a bit sad. I thought about my notions of love. I thought about how detached we are from one another, that it takes something to fight for that brings people together and how it's lacking in society now.

I'd watch it again. There's just so much more to uncover.

King of the Road KL

The day before the race, Firus and I went to collect our race packs at Sunway Pyramid, that was big and at some points, overlooked the amazing Sunway Lagoon where Justin Bieber had performed for MTV World Stage not too long ago. The collection point was full of energy, playing the latest Top 40 music and young folks doling out the goodie bags and manning the registration. There was the standard adidas stuff like apparel and their latest shoes.

When we collected our race packs, Firus got the ultimate lucky number (C3888) and the helpers made sure that he knew! The horrible fella was overjoyed and promised to frame his number tag!

 The running route was basically going up and down one of the major expressways, NPE highway. The challenge was getting there. Despite staying in a hotel that was relatively near, it was tough for a cab to bring us in the next day as the roads were being blocked. We could walk. But that would take us a good 40 mins! A good warm up but I'm not sure I had the strength to endure all that!



The next day we woke up at 5. As you can tell it's a lot earlier than I'm used to.. thus this stoned face! Strategically, we chose to take a cab and with luck, he managed to take us through the smaller roads to the residential area that was just behind the expressway.



We made walked there and it was really exciting to see the expressway signs flash stuff like- "this road will be closed for adidas king of the road" and "check Twitter for updates on the traffic situation". Very good use of social media!



As we continued walking, we were joined by runners and I went from being groggy to mildly excited. The road was huge compared to what I was used to back home. It was fantastic seeing everyone so enthusiastic, doing their stretching and warm-up jogs up and down and the highway when it was still pitch black. We did our own preparation as the crowd began to swell.



Standing behind the starting line, we heard the excited chatter of the runners, with some whipping out their cameras for pictures and others updating their facebook status. From their running attire, we spotted people from Singapore and many others from different parts of Malaysia, runners of marathons, school teams, state sportsmen all psyched and ready to go! The runners burst forth when the horn went off and there was this amazing drumming by some folks on the side, which I remember correctly, was possibly a school band. On the way back there would be a rousing group of percussionists, this time made of traditional drums and the like.



It was slightly smokey and the sky was still dark when we started, with houses lined along the side. Soon enough we hit the toll booths and it wasn't a breath-taking sight but it just struck me as utterly amazing to be able to set foot on this place normally reserved for vehicles! I thought it was funny and awesome at the same time!



Past that, the road got really wide and there was a lot of room for overtaking or running at your own pace. Being relatively out of shape and having not trained sufficiently, it took a lot of effort for me to hit the halfway mark of this 16.8km run!



On the home stretch, we were joined by runners who did the 10km race, with most of them tired out and walking. By then my legs were hurting like mad and I joined the crowd in their walk! After a cup or two of 100 Plus on the side I continued running, hobbling a bit as I finally crossed the finish line.



I confess to being ill-prepared but I enjoyed every moment of it. The crowd, the atmosphere and the sights were all fresh to me and it was great to be among everyone who fought so hard to conquer the distance and reach the end.



The majestic sight of Sunway Pyramid.



One of the cool things about this run was the different running tees that designed for the race! There were 3 for men and 3 for women so there was an amazing splash of colour as all the runners gathered at the end, taking photos and whatnot.



Firus was a good ten minutes in front of me. I really should've pushed myself harder! I was wearing the wrong shoes though so by the end of it all I couldn't wait to get my feet out of them and give them a break.



After that we, had a good meal at what I understand to be restoran kegemaran malaysia - KFC - overlooking the Sunway Lagoon. It was value for money and accompanied with a good view, possibly the best, most relaxing breakfast that I could have after the race.



Despite the pain (wow, the run really made my legs look good) I'd do it all again in a heartbeat. It was the highlight of this trip, definitely, and I've realised that this is the kind of stuff that gets me excited when I travel. It was a great experience, something "hardcore", something I'd remember for quite awhile. I'm keen to do other races overseas and when I travel in the future, I look forward to being part of something amazing, full of cheer and spirit, just like adidas' king of the road kl.

Friends from Overseas

When we stepped into the ballroom, the atmosphere was at fever pitch. And there was nothing. The event had not started but the clappers were being used with full force. There was a lot of whistling and cheering as our enthusiastic Indian workers went up on stage excitedly to take photos with the backdrop, something for them to share with their families when they went back.

It was the first time in six years that we had a Dinner and Dance and possibly the first time that all workers were invited to attend. There was so much riding on the success of this one, and it turned out to be a huge rallying call for everyone. Getting together and having a good time, the spirit of good cheer was overwhelming. For most of us, it's something we never had the chance to experience and for quite a lot of them, it must have bordered on the uncomfortable. We had a sizable crowd of PRCs, Bangladeshis, and to a smaller extent Malaysians and Filipinos but it was the Indian crowd that brought the house down with their catcalls and passion to dance. Reminded me of the Lady Gaga concert. That's the level of intensity that we had!

I loved that they really knew how to party (and thankfully nothing got out of hand). We had F1 Grid Girls and these "Desert Rose" dancers that whipped them into a frenzy. I was impressed by how well-behaved they were and laughed when a colleague told me that their supervisors had briefed them, saying that if they "anyhow touch the girls, straightaway go jail"! They were really into the music, whether it's singing or dancing, they cheered especially loud when Shakira's Waka Waka came on. There's a common denominator in there, somewhere.

My favourite part was when the Indian guys from one of our production departments took the stage during the talent competition, dancing Michael Jackson's Dangerous. Electrifying. The smoke machine went on overdrive and the lights guy gave them dizzying flashes of white light like they were in the Thriller video! Supporters rushed to the front of the stage, whipping out their camera phones to record the spectacle and the most exciting part for me, was that the performance was really good. They went on to win the competition, with prize being an $800 cash voucher and a huge-ass, ridiculously heavy trophy.

Organising the event made me aware of how insufficient my knowledge was of them, as well as the other foreign workers that make up our company. I was also struck by how much more that I could done to reach out to them in my daily work.

No doubt there's a language barrier and for me, that's always one of the most painful challenges in communication. I'm only fluent in English. When a Chinese dude comes to the HR counter and asks for help regarding his work permit/employment pass/something something, I at such a loss that I become the one who requires help! But there was a moment last night when my colleague, amid mayhem, told me that the Indians were really good at wolf-whistling. I spotted this guy standing behind me whose whistle reverberated around the huge hall and I looked at him, a little bit in awe, while saying and gesturing to my colleague over the noise that I couldn't do that, ever. The guy smiled at me, before firing off another whistle that joined the happy cheers of the rest of them.