Wednesday, August 24, 2011

The Kitchen Musical Media Day, exclusive set tour images!

My first post after 2 WHOLE weeks!
Ipad apps are so utterly addictive.
I'm converting into a couch potato- Fat, short & plain lazy.

That aside.

Here's something I, as a Singaporean, am so proud of!

The Kitchen Muscial this is the FIRST international musical television drama series produced in SINGAPORE for the regional & international markets.

Its filming location?
Republic Polytechnic, Blk E5 & E6.
That's way at the back of the school.

You'll NOT be able to tell just by watching the series unless you are really familiar with the campus. Period.

Exclusively invited by FoodNews on behalf of FIJI Water & Halia Restaurant, I attended the The Kitchen Musical Media Day. So yes, I was among the FIRST to catch the first episode of The Kitchen Musical even before it airs across Asia this coming October: Singapore, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines & 12 other countries.


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===== Side Track ======

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Meet Gim Goh, my guest-of-honour at the Media Day.
Thanks for your company. :)

Catch him on Channel 5's new drama series, Payday, which is airing on Channel 5 every Wednesday at 10pm, starring him as Ryan Ong, a management trainee. Payday is on Xinmsn's video channel too.

Gim has acted in a number of local ads, local drama series as well as local short films. I'm sure many of you have seen him on TV. Well, you don't recognise him simply because he's a total stranger to you.

Not from now on.

Watch this video and you'll see what I mean. It's a Singapore Idol ad featuring him singing to a pug (or not a pug?)


You go, "Orhhhhh... This guy.... ..."
Randomly, this fella doesn't update his blog. =.=

============================

Back to The Kitchen Musical Media Day.

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One of The Kitchen Musical's sponsors, FIJI water comes from the remote Yaqara Valley of Viti Levu in Fiji, drawn from an underground aquifer. Check out more from their Facebook group.


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It's been awhile since I've worn a media pass.

Gim and I were there early. In no time at all, we were cam-whoring outside the studio while waiting for the screening to commence. I'll just show you ONE picture of us so I won't spam you with at least 20 similar photographs unlike some bloggers out there.

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I was a student of RP; yet it's my first time in this studio; a totally new experience.

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The name The Kitchen Musical suggests that this is a musical which happens in a kitchen scene. We're only half right.

Q: Is this a musical where you buy tickets and watch it in a theatre?
A: Soon there will be which will be produced in US. This is actually a television drama series which will be aired on AXN Asia on the 2nd week of October 2011 & MetroTV in Indonesia, nTV7 in Malaysia as well as Studio 23 in the Philippines on the 1st week of October 2011.

Q: Why is it call a musical then?
A: That's because the storyline is spiced up by the characters, who are specially choreographed, to sing and dance to their favourite hit songs throughout the show!

Q: Is this a cook show?
A: Delicious dishes will be presented to you in the series, with the storyline, and the recipe will be mentioned zooming in to the FOOD. Also, there will be plenty of kitchen scenes to show you how the dish is being prepared along with music, dance & dialogues. You will soon find these recipes online through their facebook page.

Q: What is this drama series about?
A: It's about a girl named Maddie, who goes to work at her father's restaurant following her graduation from a culinary school in Paris. The drama series will introduce her father's restaurant, The Avilon, and special encounters she met while working there with her colleagues & customers.

Q: How many episodes are there?
A: There are 13 episodes, 1 hour each.

Q: Who is acting in this series?
A: International cast from Philippines, New York, Britan, a Hong Kong Supermodel & actors from Singapore!

Q: Who came up with this idea?
A: Cheek, the creator & writer of The Kitchen Musical who is also the Executive Vice President & Creative Director of The Group Entertainment. BRAVO!

Q: Interesting & creative personalities who are involved?
A:
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From Left:
Cheek, writer & director of The Kitchen Musical & Singapore Film, "Chicken Rice War".

Jason Coleman, Australia's top choreographer in charged of the overall choreography. He was the choreographer & dance consultant of the feature film "Happy Feet" & is currently a judge on the hit TV series "So You Think You Can Dance" in Australia.

Chef Bertrand Cheo, who began his culinary journey at 14 years old. He is the dish creator for The Kitchen Musical.

Massimiliano Della Maggesa of the MTJ brand, an esteemed fashion designer, senior make-up artist & creative director who flew in specially from Milan to help. He has collaborated with the likes of Missoni, Gianni Versace, Albert Ferretti and the Estee Lauder Group.

Not in picture:
Gerard Salonga, internationally acclaimed conductor & musical director from the Philippines. The overall Music featured in the show was arranged by him.

This is a visual masterpiece.
The colours, the make-up, the settings, the props and all the cast are HOT with very distinctive personalities. I can't wait to meet them in real person!

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Here we are at the press conference & the filming venue itself.

I am anticipating to see the cast. However, I think Gim's old school digicam thrilled me more! In fact, I spent more time fidgeting how to play with his camera instead of noticing the grand entrance of the cast. This camera; to think it's still usable, I'm totally amazed! It's well maintained. I'm impressed because if this was mine, it would have been broken by now.

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Meet the cast!

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The main cast: (from left)
Hong Kong Supermodel Rosemary Vandenbroucke(3rd from left),
British thespian Stephen Pahman-Hughes,
Filipino powerhouses Karylle Tatlonghari(5th from left) & Christian Bautisa,
New York based, Filipino stage actor, Arthur Acuna(in grey suit & blue tie)
& Singapore cast such as Gail from Singapore Idol(extreme right)

After that, it was their time for Q&As.

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Film venue shots taken from Republic Polytechnic.
I'm going for their set tour!

The actual set looks smaller than on screen. Still, the entire 'restaurant' looks really posh! This is a temporary restaurant which they have set up within 2 weeks along the pavement between blk E5 & E6, with special restaurant walls which the crew can add special lighting effects on them! They even printed their very own restaurant menu!

No photos are allowed to be taken inside the set so I'll show you whatever I've taken on the outside.

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Check out their floating platform to shoot into the restaurant. Awesome!

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Mint meets some of the cast!

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This gifted actress just graduated from NAFA when she was given a role in this drama series. Just want to let you know that I'm proud of you! :)

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With Cheek & Nelia Sutrisno, Chied Executive Officer of The Group Entertainment.

The best has yet to come.

One of the best buffet crusine I've eaten so far, prepared by Halia Restaurant. They are located at 1 Cluny Road, Singapore Botanic Gardens, Ginger Garden. The Halia Restaurant is one of the sponsors of The Kitchen Musical.

Wait a minute, I've been there! Check out this post I did last year & take a look at the interior of the restaurant.

The food was so delicious I took 3 FULL servings and still yearning for more!

There's fresh ocean trout spread with black bean, chilli & curry leaf crumble on eggplant puree. Then there's Escargot, polenta, taleggic cheese, white truffle oil & parsley oil. Not to forget ASian ratatouille, truffled mash potato(Gim's favourite!), Chilli-Crab-style Penne (My favourite), fresh sweet ginger tea and lots of desserts!

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Dessert chefs meticulously designing your dessert before it's served. Not only that, I secretly got them to design a last-minute 'birthday cake' for Gim because it's his birthday! Happy Birthday, Gim!

Take a look at their masterpiece:

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Oh, we are so contented.

Buffet catering with chefs at tables to serve you by designing your desserts, cut your lamb steak, prepare a plate of piping-hot penne...

Pure indulgence.

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I finished them ALL.

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That missing Fiji Water bottle stands on my dressing table now.

To end the day, both Gim and I walked home with two wine glasses & a box of tasty macarons, with each colour representing one of the main cast from The Kitchen Musical.

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Catch The Kitchen Musical on AXN this October 2011, serving up International Greats to Spice up your screen.

Saturday, August 13, 2011

Bubble, the Toy Poodle.


Have you 'like' Bubble yet?
Bubble without an 's'.
He's my son.


I've been uploading videos and photographs of him via his facebook.
Check them out.

:::: Sidenote :::

Bubble is a MALE toy poodle;
mistaken identity that he's a SHE.
No doubt other male dogs try to hump him all the time...

>=.="<

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

[Sponsored] The Big Groove 2011 with crocs™

This is wayyyyy overdued yet I still feel an adrenaline rush as I vividly recalled what Sheikh Haikel had said that night, "I say TB, you say G".

"TB.... G!"
And the 'G' only got bigger & louder.

The international hip-hop dancers at The Big Groove 2011 totally rocked the house down!

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While waiting for the performance to commence, I spotted the crocs™ booth, OFFICIAL SNEAKERS PROVIDER OF TBG2011, and decided to check it out first.

Oh Yay!

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The difference between these crocs™ sneakers as compared to the others is that they are super lightweight. Yes, SUPER lightweight.

Does the sneakers weigh even 200 grams?!

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I was particularly awed by the pre-show entertainment segment: Some random questions were flashed on stage. Before long, you see spontaneous youths running on stage attempting to answer them.

That kind of energy you'll rarely find in grown ups.

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Who's the man?
Sheikh Haikel!

"When I say TB, you say G!" ~Sheikh Haikel's quote of the day.

He's the man coz he's FUNNEH, FUNNEH & Really FUNNEH!
Thanks for making my day, big guy!


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Hip Hop teams from Japan like WCO, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, France, Singapore & more, shone like superstars(they already are) on stage, and the adrenaline rush had me cheering like mad & screaming my lungs for them throughout the entire event. It was crazehhh!

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When we had our 20-minutes break, I surprisingly bumped into Sze Ping! Get a four-square man. At least you don't give me a scare like that when bumping right into your face. :)

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Amazing, awesome people who dance with passion, love & most of all, with the right kind of attitude. Some of these international dancers are also involved in fundraising/awareness campaigns to help spread the love around with their dance.

Doing something you love while at the same time, contribute something back to the society. Kudos to them!

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Jackie & I really enjoyed ourselves!

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We were with Chris & Sister Leong(Smith, below in purple) too!

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Thank you, crocs™ for this exclusive invitation to The Big Groove 2011!

Not long after TBG2011, Jackie and I visited crocs™ (Marina Square) to get our very own sneakers. The shop was really spacious & sparkling clean!

*Note: This visit wasn't totally not planned for.

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Spoilt for choices, I can't decide on the colour & design.

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Well, like they say, if you can't decide, you just keep trying.
And so I did.

Jackie knew almost immediately what he wanted; the high-cut series. As much as I wanted the same pair as his, they didn't have them in my size. In fact, ALL the adult high-cut sneakers weren't available in my size.

I'm a woman size 5.
Very small indeed.


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Jackie chose this pair.
Black & white are the safest colours to choose from, aren't they?

Anyway, we both had a pair of red crocs; the limited edition ones which were specially designed for World Cup 2010. Pictures of the limited edition crocs can be found in my past blog entry(Short & sweet personal entry).

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Foot measuring has never been so convenient. You don't have to try every single pair of shoes in the house now.

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I would really LOVE to have this pair. But I already have a pair of red ones at home! AWw....

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The colour combination of this pair caught my attention. Plus, they were high-cuts so that I can own something similar with Jackie. However, everyone suggested that I looked better in the red ones.

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I had such an agonized time deciding which pair I wanted. Both looked equally attractive to me so out of the blue, I daringly tried on a pair of blue & black ones since I've never had any blue-coloured shoes.

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They turned out looking better on me!
YIPPEE!

Another secret:
I actually picked my pair from crocs™ JUNIOR section. Ops.

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Finally, two happy shoppers walking home in two pairs of brand new sneakers from crocs™.

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Random: Cute pen alert***

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PRETTY!
Thank you, crocs™ !


Crocs Sneakers