Hey, ultimate coolness! Guess what, my camwhoring works like magic. I’m suddenly getting more hits on my blog and people are blogging about my blog mere hours after I post a blog! Wow.

From Cowboy Caleb’s blog:

Local actress Qiaoyun has got game. Actually she’s got a Nintendo Wii and a PS3 and lurves taking photos of herself with them. [read more…]

CBC is a real life friend (kinda… I’ve met him like a few times and there was this time he made me do a Long Island Tea race with Ruok and I won, but that was probably because I cheated and roped Nanny Wen in to help me). Anyway, it’s great to be made fun of by him because I love his quirky humour and his blog is really popular. I mean it.

Next up…

From koolgeek’s blog:

Singaporean artistes are making use of blogs to gain popularity. Not a bad thing though; but … maybe they should cut down a little on cam whoring and put some brainy stuffs on it… [read more…]

This guy I don’t know at all, but it’s still nice of him to link me and give me some constructive advice.

But I do have a few things to clarify to people who don’t know me, never seen all my TV appearances, and never met me in real life.

Firstly, about “putting brainy stuff” on my blog:

Well, I don’t want to. I was a professional writer and I wrote brainy stuff for a living. I still do write brainy stuff now, but when I do, I am always paid for my effort because it’s my profession. I don’t get paid to write my blog, so I write fun, frivolous stuff in it because I enjoy it.

Secondly, about “cutting the kawaii-pretence and putting on a proper personality (as though you’re not having enough on teevees)”:

It may be very hard for people to believe this, but the kawaii thing IS my real personality. That’s how I am in real life. If people think I’m fake or trying to act cute, too bad. And, as a matter of fact, I don’t have enough of that on TV. I am never kawaii on TV because I am often cast in roles which are totally different from my real personality (which is what being an actress is all about). When I’m off TV, I revert back to myself, the way I feel comfortable being, the way I enjoy being.

Thirdly, about “putting high hopes on my legs”

Actually, I do. I like my legs and they’ve helped me get modelling and acting jobs that pay well, so my bank account is very pleased with them.

Now that that’s out of the way…

I’m not mad at koolgeek, honestly. I’m pleased with his response and I thank him for taking the time to offer his opinion and advice. I totally respect what he says and I think he makes sense.

But there are always two sides to a story and here I have presented my side, so I would call it a truce. :)

And, now, for some brainy stuff.

I have made the observation that the people who openly trash camwhoring/bimbo/pretty bloggers, who criticise them for not writing intellectual stuff, actually do not read intellectual stuff themselves. These are the people who send hate mail to Xiaxue and post hateful comments on Dawn Yang’s blog.

But you almost never see the same people post comments on actually intellectual blogs. If they prefer to read political blogs or social commentary blogs or blogs that give you the hottest financial investment tips, then why the heck do they not stop reading and commenting on fluff blogs and, instead, go contribute to blogs that talk about really important issues in life?

(And, please, I’m not talking about koolgeek here. koolgeek is cool because he offers constructive criticism. I’m talking about kids who post comments like “bitch, get a life” or “you are so disgusting and shameful” and leave it at that.

These are the same kids who are too stupid to realise that their hateful comments are, in fact, HELPING people like Xiaxue and Dawn Yang earn the big bucks. Their hateful comments are generating hype and publicity for these celebrity bloggers and making them even more successful.

So… I think the joke’s on them.

Okay, and now, please bring on all your hateful comments so I can be as successful and rich as Xiaxue and Dawn Yang. Thanks.

Categories: Regular Blogs
17 Comments »

The other day, the Goonfather said to me, “Hey, I had a dream last night. I dreamt that my PS3 was jealous.”

“Huh?” I said.

“PS3 is jealous because you took photos with the Wii for your blog, but you never did for the PS3.”

I gave him the narrow eye.

And then, over the week, I thought about it. And I realised that I bear the Goonfather’s PS3 no grudge. So what’s wrong with posing for pictures with it?

Nothing.

So, here it is.

I hope Mr PS3 is happy now.

Categories: Gaming Notebook
23 Comments »

I’m a happy actress.

I have booked a drama series that will keep me occupied till the end of June, and then some.

I have acting classes once a week (fun!).

I have many new acting books waiting to be read.

I’m happiest when my life revolves around acting. It makes me dance around and smile lots and generally make people around me go crazy putting up with my nonsense.

I thought I had lost the role because they called me like two weeks later than they said they would. So I was quite happily surprised when I was told I got the job. That’s the 13-episode drama series I mentioned in the post about measuring myself. There are plans to make more episodes if the show is well-received, which would be so cool.

Although it’s not a dream role, it’s good enough to feel happy about because it’s almost a leading role. The main leads are a boy and a girl since it’s a kids’ drama. The secondary leads are two adults, one being my character (teacher) and the other being the boy’s father. My character is also involved in a romantic subplot, so that’s one more dimension than most of my MediaCorp roles.

Me!

My teacher image. Not that different from the real me — duh — because I wore my own clothes (only for this one episode because the sponsored clothes aren’t ready yet).

This was the exact same outfit I wore to the audition. Haha. After I arrived on the set and changed into the outfit, the project manager was amused. “Hey, isn’t this the same outfit you wore to the audition?” LOL.

Fine! I’m pathetic! I have like one mature outfit in my wardrobe!

The first day of shoot went well (for me). I don’t know about the crew. I think they were really stressed out because we were filming in a primary school during a normal school day. Absolute pandemonium, especially during lunch time. Kids yelling from all directions all the time, making the sound people’s jobs very difficult.

We were prepping for a shot, and this is so deja vu-ish. I’ve been a teacher in a feature film (I Not Stupid 2), in an English drama (Like My Own) and in a TV commercial (Toyo Klic Correction Pen).

And now I’m a teacher in a Chinese Drama.

Do I look so much like a teacher? I don’t know. And the shoot came so suddenly I didn’t even have time to study the script, much less go observe real teachers in action.

I wish my dear cousin Faith were here in Singapore so she can give me pointers. I think she’s the best teacher in the world beause she knows exactly how to handle kids and kids just love her to bits. She’s got a cushy teaching job in Hong Kong now, which is great for her, but I miss her!

My kids:

Kids are so precocious these days. They are more vocal than when I was a kid myself. During the shoot, I had kids trying to talk to me even while the director was giving all of us directions.

My director (one of them, anyway):

This drama series has many directors who take turns filming different episodes, which is typical of drama serials. It’s kind of nice getting to work with so many different people. But it makes it hard to develop a close working relationship.

But that doesn’t really matter because what really matters is that I’m a happy actress!

Categories: Acting Journal
14 Comments »

[Warning: Very very very long post with mucho mucho pictures.]

Barely a week after our crazy dinner involving 7.5 hours of travelling and only 30 minutes of eating, the Goonfather made me go on another road trip.

But this trip was more interesting because the drive there was as much of an event as the planned activities. This time, we went in a procession! Seven Mazda RX-8s driving to Muar (little town near Malacca) together.

Yeah, I know the picture only has six cars in a row. But see the lonely red car at the opposite side of the carpark? Part of the group, too. I don’t know why the driver (very pretty lady) decided to be the odd one out at this particular rest stop.

Incidentally, she was also very late for the meetup. So the guys, faced with the prospect of a long wait (meeting time was 7 am, she only arrived at 8.30 am), did the only thing guys do in such a situation: admire each other’s car engines.

…

I will never understand how guys can stand around all day staring at car engines and talking animatedly about them. But then, they will never understand why I need so many pairs of shoes, so I guess we’re even.

Kind of.

I still don’t understand.

Women are more sensible.

They don’t need to stand around a bunch of tubes and cables to have a good conversation and are well-equipped to entertainment themselves anytime, anywhere, under the sun, which was incidentally very glaring, even at 7 am.

Very, very hot day.

When we finally set off, the journey was unexpectedly fun. I had planned to sleep during the drive (which I estimated would take over an hour) because I only had a few hours of sleep the night before.

But entertainment come in the form of a little blue gadget and threw all my sleeping plans out the window.

Each car was equipped with a comms unit, which was how we communicated. Driving single file, the leading cars relayed important information to the cars behind.

“Pothole on the right. Keep left, I repeat, keep left.”

“Clear for overtaking after motorcycle.”

“Big roadkill middle of road. Gross!”

“Major bump coming up. Please slow down.”

“Dead cat on road shoulder left.”

“Someone sing a song or something. I’m bored.”

Unfortunately, most of the conversation came out garbled. I don’t know if it’s because the Goonfather’s unit is lousy. Or the reception is bad at larger ranges. Most of the time, all we heard was “Zzzblppzz raaaar raaar raaar zaza graaaaaaar!” especially when people spoke too fast and too loud.

So I entertained myself by taking pictures through the widescreen.

Here’s our procession. We had five cars in front of us at this time and I managed to get a good view. I had to prop my camera on the dashboard and wait till the road curved so I could see all the cars.

We got to Muar in no time.

First stop (not counting a quick breakfast at a rest stop along the way) was this famous temple supposedly popular with many Singaporeans.

The weather was very, very, very hot. Hotter than before. We took refuge at a coconut stall after we were done with temple activities.

But it was still too hot. I was drenched in sweat by the time we got back to the car. Rare event, because I hardly sweat. Not even when I work out at the gym. The only times I sweat buckets are after one-hour jogs in the open.

I took a photo of my sweat-beaded cleavage because it’s so rare to see so much sweat form there, but the Goonfather says I can’t post that photo up.

Oh, well.

So, we went on to have lunch.

Muar is very quaint. It’s like a giant kampong. The two words I would use to describe Muar are “Green” and “Dusty”. The roads are dusty but everywhere else is green.

The guys found a whole stretch of green near the lunch place to park their cars. Managed to get a picture of all seven cars in a row, yay.

Lunch was at this place called Restoran Merlin.

It’s also supposedly a very famous place popular with Singaporeans, although I’ve never heard of it. There are pictures of Singapore celebrity Zhong Qin eating at the restaurant, as well as newpaper articles, plastered over one wall.

It was very, very crowded. We had to wait for a seat (Well, we did have almost 20 people) and then wait for the food.

I think everyone enjoyed their food, but it was only okay for me considering the hype. Maybe because I was totally not hungry, having had a nasi lemak breakfast only like three hours before.

Back to the cars after a very filling lunch.

And back on the road.

We were driving behind this white RX-8 when the Goonfather pointed out that something was written above the “Mazda”.

Hahaha. Apparently, one of the guys had finger written it when the owner wasn’t looking. Is Muar really so dusty? Or is it the owner never wash car for too long? Haha.

I’ve zoomed in and upped the contrast so you can see the writing.

Hahahaha.

The expedition leader took us to this very ulu place next. After winding through lots of dusty little roads and alleys, we finally came to here.

The general consensus was a resounding “Errrrrr….?”

“Bring us to construction site for what?”

We followed the leader into the madness, past the construction and delapidation and we came to…

Otak!

What a delighful place!

Another famous place. What an educational trip this turned out to be!

There was this old uncle and auntie couple selling frozen otak from their house. I think maybe they’re suppliers, because they didn’t flinch when one of the guys ordered 70 boxes.

Each box is only about the size of my hand, but 70 is still a considerable number. We had to wait for ages for uncle and auntie to pack them up.

And here it is. Phat lewt! OMG.

In contrast, the Goonfather bought this gimpy little bag’s worth. Hahaha.

And then, it was time to head home with our fishy spoils, but first, a petrol stop.

We totally owned the petrol station.

The journey home was nice because I finally managed to get some sleep. But halfway through, we ran into a torrential downpour, which woke me up. And visibility was so bad we had to drive at below 80kmh for a good long time.

But it was a great trip on the whole. Very fun, even though I didn’t know anyone apart from the Goonfather. It was my first time to an outing with his car forum friends. I didn’t talk much to anyone, but they were all nice and friendly people, so it was cool.

We brought a giant pineapple home! The Goonfather was worried about it along the way because it kept rolling about in the boot during the drive home. We kept hearing “klonk!” from the boot.

But it got home nice and safe. Phew.

Afterword: The otak from that funny ulu house is AWESOME, so spicy and fragrant and very chunky meaty. Now I know why that guy bought 70 boxes. I think the Goonfather’s gonna buy 200 boxes the next time we go there. Haha.

I hear there’s gonna be another road trip to other Malaysian locations soon, involving many many more cars. OMG can’t wait. But I’ll need to buy a straw hat or something to keep from being barbequed alive. Maybe a parasol.

Haha.

Categories: Food Files, Regular Blogs
18 Comments »

I kinda dread receiving phone calls from stylists.

It usually means only one thing: that the production I’m going to be acting in has little or no wardrobe budget and would need me to wear my own clothes, at least for some of the scenes, because they don’t have enough to dress me up for the entire shoot.

I don’t know if that only happens in Singapore, but I think it’s a sad state of affairs when actors have to wear their own clothes in productions. Then wouldn’t the actors be themselves and not being someone else as they’re supposed to be?

I just got an offer for a teacher role in a 13-episode MediaCorp children’s drama serial (in which I will appear in 11 episodes).

So, last night, the stylist rang me and the conversation went something like this:

Stylist: Hello, can I speak to Qiaoyun, please?

Qiaoyun: Speaking!

Stylist: I’m the stylist for [show title] and preparing the wardrobe. Can I know what size clothes do you wear?

Qiaoyun: XS to S.

Stylist: XS to S?

Qiaoyun: Yup.

Stylist: What size top you wear?

Qiaoyun: XS to S.

Stylist: What size bottom?

Qiaoyun: XS to S.

Stylist: *nervous laugh* So petite?

Qiaoyun: Yeah. :(

Stylist: Hmm… a bit hard to get such small size. How about you wear your own clothes?

Qiaoyun: Um…. I don’t have any teacher-like clothes…

Stylist: Oh. Actually just something simple will do. Do you have basic skirts?

Qiaoyun: I only have one.

Stylist: Oh. Like that…

Qiaoyun: My clothes are all very youngish, not very suitable for teachers.

Stylist: Er… may I know how old you are?

Qiaoyun: [censored], but I look younger than that, so I don’t wear clothes that age.

Stylist: Oh. Hahaha. In that case, I’ll try to find something for you. We’re trying to get sponsers but it’s not happening yet. For now, we’re just trying to settle the pilot episode first.

Qiaoyun: I see.

Stylist: What’s your shoulder measurement?

Qiaoyun: Um… can you wait a while? I measure myself now.

Stylist: Sure.

For the next 5 minutes, I fumbled with a measuring tape while the stylist made me measure myself all over. It’s hard because I’ve never really had to measure myself. We usually get measured by stylists, and they would write little numbers in their little books and they don’t exactly give us copies of those. And I think it’s rude to peek into their books while they’re writing, so I never know my measurements.

Every time I measure myself, I end up getting different numbers because I’m not sure if I’m measuring myself correctly. Like, how do you measure your shoulder length? Exactly from which point to which point? You could be off like two inches if you don’t get the points exactly right.

Anyway, that traumatising phone call kinda dampened my glee of getting the role. I think it’s quite a good role, but I’ll talk more about it later when everything is more firmed up.

Categories: Acting Journal
9 Comments »