My golden birthday

Thanks for all the birthday wishes, everyone! apparently turning 22 on the 22nd equals a golden birthday. so that was cool :)
it's been a pretty long and crazy week, so get ready for another super long post. haha.

Universal Studios

cartoon and i went to universal theme park on monday, and it was pleasantly not-so-crowded. yayyy :) it was totally how i remembered it 3 years ago, when i was there with the fam. same rides, same shows, except for some new rides. like the simpsons virtual simulator which had a huge screen and totally felt real. but i was kinda surprised they only had like 4 rides in the entire park. the mummy and the jurassic park rides were fun though. i screamed my head off, and cartoon was so silent i thought she died of heart attack or something. that's how we were for all the rides we went on -- i'd be shrieking in terror/happiness, and she'd be pale with her eyes closed. hahaha.

anw the tours/shows were cool. we waited in line for a long time and finally got to tour around the universal lot. they were actually filming desperate housewives on wisteria lane, but we couldn't go in to see it, of course. so near, yet so far!!! we saw the sets from hitchcock's psycho, dr. seuss' whoville, the princess diaries, war of the worlds, and lots more.
and then they had cool shows like the sound effects and shrek and all that. it was the same as i remembered, but it's been 3 years, so it was still fun :)



jurassic park water ride = awesomeness


spongebob!!


the plane crash from war of the worlds


fake central park at universal studios. it's tiny. amazing how the camera can deceive us.

Premieres!

monday night we went to the premiere of The Invention of Lying at the chinese theatre in hollywood!! we saw jennifer garner on the red carpet, and she was gorgeous! and then free popcorn and drinks in the theatre again :) and then jennifer garner came in and sat several rows BEHIND us!!! totally cool! ricky gervais too!! (he's in the movie also)
so the movie wasn't that great (it was kinda blasphemy i thought) but the concept was interesting -- a world where lies don't exist and everyone tells the truth.
and then we saw rob lowe (who's also in the movie) on the red carpet after that!! and then kenny g walked by us numerous times on the escalator!! i think he knew we recognized him, and he was probably disappointed we didn't approach him for an autograph or something. haha. he kept smiling at us.
AND THEN my friend was in the toilet and peed next to matthew perry!!! so jealous!!! and matthew perry sat behind them!!!! UGH i wanna see him. but it was cool and it was the most number of celebrities we've sighted in one day so far :)



this guy looks totally like johnny depp in pirates of the caribbean


at the premiere


one feet away from Rob Lowe!!!


we freakin' LOVE free premieres!!!!!!

Thursday night we went to the free screening of Surrogates, but it was just a screening, not a premiere :(
the movie wasn't that great, it was like any other clone/robot movie, so i was glad i didn't waste 12 bucks on it.

Magical Disney

Tues we went to Disney California Adventure!!! it was right opposite Disneyland, and the difference in the number of people waiting to go into either parks was incredible. there were 10times as many people going to disneyland than cali adventure. which we were totally grateful for, cuz that meant NO LINES and NO WAITING :)
so i got in free cuz it was my bday :) and they gave me a badge to wear that said 'happy birthday benita'. and lots of random people wished me happy birthday. haha.
the rides here were fun too.. tower of terror?? TOTALLY AWESOME. it was like a giant drop but inside a building. this little girl sat next to me, and when we suddenly dropped a few stories, she clung on to my arm in terror and would not let go. it was so cute. haha. california screamin' (the rollercoaster) was awesome too. i remember going on it many times with my dad and bros. but then the mickey ferris wheel was like the most TERRIFYING THING ever. it seemed so innocent, a ferris wheel. but NO. the little container we were in swung back and forth violently, and there were no seat belts or anything to grab on to, so we just gripped the seats in terror and screamed for our lives. seriously, it was awful. here's me terrified. don't laugh.



but we got to take pics with disney/pixar characters, so that was fun. really tiring though. we got to the park an hour before it opened, cuz we got a ride from cartoon's friend (whom she randomly met at an airport a few months ago).


mr. and mrs. incredible were incredibly frisky. haha.


the terrifying mickey ferris wheel. don't let its innocent looks deceive you.


cars!


i love free disney!

Birthday craziness

It was kind of a really crazy birthday. we didn't make it to the jimmy kimmel show in time, but we did see David Duchovny and some famous basketball player in the alleyway, cuz they were going into the studio. so that was cool :)
then we wandered around Hollywood for a while before going to this restaurant called Saddle Ranch on Sunset strip. it was pretty cool -- they had a mechanical bull and a karaoke stage. andrew got to ride the bull for free - it was entertaining. haha. and then they made me sing 'barbie girl' on karaoke IN FRONT of the ENTIRE RESTAURANT. it was pretty embarrassing but i did it. haha.


at saddle ranch

and then after that.. partyyy all night. no details necessary. haha.

Circus

wed was our long-awaited britney spears concert!!! cartoon's first concert ever!!! she was pretty dang awesome. it was like a circus performance, not really a concert. i'm pretty sure she lip synched the entire time, but her dancing was fabulous. and there were crazy acrobats and dancers and magicians the entire time. it was pretty crazy. and jordin sparks opened for her. there were hundreds of screaming girls in the stadium, and the only guys there were either gays or boyfriends forced to attend. haha.


britney's fantabulous circus performance

Casting call

So we've been going out every day and night this week, i totally had no time for homework. heh. lots of last minute scrambling. but oh well.
anw i got to help josh with his casting call for his video project, and that was pretty fun!!! we auditioned several actors for different roles in his script, and i read the other part with the actors. it was a cool experience, cuz the actors were like reacting to me and looking at me as they said their lines, and some of them were pretty dang good. it was intimidating. haha. and then they had to do a crying scene, which was a little awkward. all these grown men crying in front of us. haha.
but it was fun. i like casting :)

Weekend!!

Today was day 2 of work. i was told to shred loads of waste paper, but the shredder hated me. i was having fun at first, laughing maniacally when feeding the papers into the machine, but then it overheated, and it got stuck and wouldn't work. oops. so i went back to filing. haha. but then i got to work on breakdowns and pick out the most suitable headshots of actors (cuz apparently they all have lots of different 'looks' for different parts) for roles in the new drama 'three kings'. so that was cool.
and now the weekend's here!!!!! :)

Visit from Cartoon

YAY i'm so glad she actually made it here! :)

so she came on friday and met me after i got home from work.
oooh work. i got an internship with The House of Representatives, a talent/casting agency in Santa Monica, and it seemed like a really cool place. it was small and laidback, just like my previous internship, and the people were nice. i did tons of filing and organizing clients' folders, so that was kinda fun. i got to see lots of headshots and resumes of their clients, and many of them were in recognizable TV shows/movies like CSI, How i met your mother, Friends, etc. i had a good time looking at all the beautiful people and their beautiful headshots. man, LA is full of adorably cute kid actors! so that was fun. but hopefully i get to do something of more substance in the future.
and thank God i got a ride from one of the guys from the program who's office is near mine, if not i'd have to take the sketchy bus to Santa Monica, which is a half hour drive away but an hour bus ride away. so our schedules are pretty much the same, except he starts work half an hour earlier than me, but it's ok. there's a library and cafes nearby that i can go to while i wait for 9.30am to come.

PLUS my office is on 6th street, a mere 3 blocks away from Third Street Promenade! the awesome outdoor strip mall in Santa Monica! and 6 blocks away from the SANTA MONICA BEACH! how great is that. all my lunch breaks are gonna be awesome :)
and yeah. i went shopping during lunch, and grabbed food to go on the way back. haha. there's a Barnes & Nobles, too, and tons of street performers and interesting people around. this is gonna be so fun! :)

ok anyway, on friday, cartoon got to meet a bunch of my friends, and we went on an adventure in faith's car. haha. drove around and couldn't decide where to go! we're such an indecisive bunch. but it was so hilarious in the car. they crack me up.

so we ended up at, of all places, Drew Barrymore's house, which faith found on the list of celebrity homes on the map! can you believe that? their addresses are on a map that people can buy! there's really no privacy at all for these poor rich people. but whatever. if i had that kind of money, i wouldn't care. haha. so anyway, her house was like 10 mins away from ours, and COMPLETELY SURROUNDED by huge super-tall trees and hedges so we couldn't see anything at all. it was crazy! so we gave up and went to In-N-Out burger. and told cartoon all sorts of hilarious stories about the boys in our program. haha. then we tried to go to a comedy club, but we were too late. then we went to Hollywood, but there wasn't much to do. then we tried going to a club, but we didn't really know where and didn't wanna be out so late in such a sketchy neighborhood (cuz people keep telling me Hollywood's kinda dangerous at night). so we ended up driving back. at midnight. haha. was fun though.

Saturday
cartoon and i took the bus (it really wasn't that bad. apart from a couple of weirdos, the bus ride was fine, and it only took about 20 mins) to Hollywood to go to Madame Tussaud's wax museum. it was so cool seeing all the wax figures of celebrities. we took 160pictures altogether, but my stupid camera memory card got corrupted so only like 10 turned up. sigh. have to go get it fixed. hopefully the pictures can be saved. anyway, some of the figures looked totally like the celebrity and we got kinda freaked out by that. but some of them looked nothing like the real person. it was weird. my fav was Justin Timberlake. haha.


Will Smith


Justin Timberlake


Jennifer Aniston


Jennifer Lopez (and her butt)


Britney Spears


Johnny Depp


Michael Jackson


Beyonce


Obama


On the bus to Hollywood!

then we came back to our apartment and met andrew neel! he's in town for a few days (coincidentally, for my bday too!) visiting from Florida, where he found a job. so that was fun. we got to catch up about our summers and jobs and stuff. then cartoon's friends came to pick us up to go to Little Tokyo. they got lost, and apparently they think i'm super rich 'cause the apartment i'm staying in cost a lot to rent out. i can totally see that, i mean, we're next to an expensive mall and there are tons of grocery places nearby. so anyway, i got to meet her friend and all his asian friends. haha.

anw it was interesting and actually turned out to be really fun. they were hilarious, especially when they blasted 'hotel room service' in the car, at full volume, wound down the windows, and yelled out the chorus. hahaha. and they got along really well with andrew, which was so funny. the japanese restaurant we went to had good food, too. i finally got to eat real rice with tofu :)
they were really nice too, drove us everywhere. haha. went to a hookah place after that. but i'm so over the whole hookah thing. it makes me choke all the time! and makes my throat dry too. don't really like it. but it was fun being there with new people.

Sunday
Went to Grace Community Church again this week, with faith and cartoon. but this time, we went to the youth service. it was alright, a little more contemporary than the adult service, but not what i was looking for. i think i want a place that's middle-sized, filled with a diverse group of people -- families, youth, adults, even old ladies 'cause they're so cute -- it gives me a sense of community when it's not just all old people or all youths.

Then we went shopping! YAY. to good old department stores like JCPennys and Kohls, instead of the ridiculously expensive places here at the Grove and in Hollywood. had to drive half an hour away, but it was worth it. didn't really get much stuff, but it was just nice to get away from LA. i think i wouldn't wanna live here in the city. i wouldn't mind living in another county like Burbank or Santa Monica, but not in the heart of the city, like downtown LA. there's just too much going on. Santa Monica is pretty nice and chill and has lots of cute quaint shops i like :)

Oh and then we tried crashing the Emmys (the awards show for stuff like best TV show/actor), but we totally got the time and place wrong. ended up at the wrong theatre 2 hours after the show started :( so didn't get to see any celebrities. my roomie got to see people like Heidi Klum, Drew Barrymore and the cast of The Office, but oh well! it's just my luck.
so we ended up watching the movie 'Se7en' at faith's apartment with a bunch of people. WORST MOVIE EVER. gross and pointless and disgusting and creepy. don't watch it. it's about detectives trying to figure out a killer going on a rampage, killing people according to the 7 deadly sins. so he overstuffed one man and called it gluttony, etc. it was SICK. and they had to make the man a southern baptist.

WHY DO CHRISTIANS ALWAYS LOOK LIKE CRAZED IDIOTS IN MOVIES??? it's so unfair! makes me so mad 'cause it's so wrong. we're not all extremist psychos!
reminds me of friday, when we saw 'jesus' walking around in Hollywood. was a guy dressed up as jesus. why would he do that?? i don't know. weird. to take pics with people i guess. and then we met a youth group that came to Hollywood to 'preach the gospel' by dragging around a huge cross that said something along the lines of 'jesus died for you', and they were rapping about God and handing out pamphlets. i don't know, but i don't think it was very effective. sigh. oh well!

Crazy hectic day

Today i ran around like a headless chicken, trying to find a place that offered notary services, so i could notarize my oath to be a singapore citizen till nov 2010. yes, the appeal went through, so i'll still have dual citizenship till next year! :)

but man, it's hard finding a notary in this town. the bank said they couldn't do it, and that i needed to go downtown to find a certified notary. then i walked all the way down wilshire blvd and finally found one. it was like a sketchy post office, and there were lots of hispanics and dogs in the place when i walked in. i timidly asked where the notary was, and this bulky unfriendly guy led me up the elevator to a tiny office, and i totally thought i was going to be kidnapped or something. the whole thing just seemed so shady. and then the door opened, and the nicest lady greeted me with a bright smile. and i realized the office was filled with lovely ladies, and i relaxed. haha. so i got my stuff authorized and good to go! and now i'm 20bucks poorer. it's such good money to be a notary! you just chop your stamp on a piece of paper and sign something, and people pay you 10bucks automatically! that's 10bucks in 5mins.

So i was running (ok, brisk walking) everywhere today and finally made it to class in time. thank God. class was so overwhelming. remember how excited i was to be chosen as a producer for one of our films? well i take that back! i'm now stressed to the max, and production hasn't even started. i realized that producers are actually in charge of the whole dang film. there's SO much to do, i don't even know where to start. but thank God i have jeffrey as my partner producer. we have tons of forms to start filing out for pre-production - casting lists, insurance, permits, breakdowns, budgets... the list goes on. and half our film takes place in an office, the other half in a mall. HOW ARE WE SUPPOSED TO FIND A MALL THAT WILL LET US FILM IN IT??? i have no idea. jeffrey and i spent minutes searching for a place, but it's so hard. and it's doubly hard to get permits to film in malls. plus our director wants a colorful mall, complete with carousel and all. kinda worried about that.

but i'm super duper psyched for CASTING! we (the producers + the director) get to cast actors for our roles!!!! YAY! our film has 3 roles - the boss, the office employee and the kid. i can't wait to see cute little kids audition :)
we learned a lot about casting today, and got to see how an audition is supposed to play out. it was so interesting. i'm so excited for that!!!!

Anyway, here's a funny pic danielle took of us on the Space Mountain ride at Disneyland. we were cheapos so we didn't buy the image. we secretly took a pic of it on the computer screen instead. everyone looks terrified except for the guy in front, who's having a jolly good time. haha.

Free days

Internship interviews

I guess my free days are coming to an end soon. since i didn't get the Fox Features casting internship, i've been super free and happy. but now i suddenly have two upcoming interviews with other talent/casting agencies. one's nearby, in the same building as my classes, and one's in santa monica. so that's exciting, but also... have to say goodbye to my free days. oh well! i'm excited to go check out the companies tomorrow and friday and see how they are. pray they go well and i pick the right company for me :)

The Ellen Degeneres Show

So i got tickets to The Ellen show for today, and got a bunch of people to go with me. had a hard time finding people, cuz everyone either had class or had to work. but in the end i found hani, nicole and jeff, and we went! i actually had standby tickets, but we managed to get in after lots of waiting under the hot sun. in fact, most of the day was spent waiting in lines as buses shuttled us from the LA zoo (where we parked) to the Warner Brothers studio lot (where all kinds of crazy awesome movies/TV shows have been filmed!!!). it was so cool. but sadly, we didn't get to see any celebrities in passing. we did get to see Ellen Degeneres (she was totally awesome and hilarious) as she introduced the Dave Matthews Band on stage, and then they performed 4 songs. they were pretty awesome live. so all in all, a lot of waiting, but the concert was fun. i'm not a huge fan of either, but it was free, so why not :)

Our stomachs were rumbling by the time we got done with the concert, since we'd been waiting for hours on end. and when the rest heard i'd never been to In-N-Out burger (a fast food restaurant), they insisted we had to go there for dinner. so we went. and the cheeseburger/fries were pretty good, but i think they tasted like any other burger i've had. haha.

anyway, Cartoon's coming to visit on thurs!!!! YAY so excited!!!! :)

Church

Today woke up early.. again. went to this church called Grace Community Church. we thought it was a contemporary place, but no. it was one of the most traditional churches i've ever been to. it was HUGE, the compound was like a school campus! there was the auditorium with the main service (complete with organ, choir and all), the kids ministry, the welcome center for visitors, the chapel, the seminary school, and then we finally realized (after the service ended) that there was a separate service for high school/college kids at the gymnasium. oh well, next time.
the main service was quite boring. this guy rambled on about... i have no idea what. anw this church is where john macarthur preaches.. he's some famous author. but he had a knee replacement surgery and wasn't there today.

Also did some grocery shopping. bought pasta and sauce and more fruit 'cause i'm quite tired of eating microwave dinners and wasting money on super expensive whole foods.

Random observations:
1. Our apartment is super gross since nobody cleans it, and food + dust + dirt is everywhere. even on the couch. i was sweeping the dirt off the couch with my hands, and danielle goes, 'what are you doing?' and i'm like, 'there's dirt on the couch!' and she finds it really funny and goes 'you're so asian!' haha.
well, that's one stereotype i don't mind. i like to be clean, thank you very much.

2. Ang mohs are incredibly dependent on the dishwasher. seriously, everything, from tupperwares to silverware to water bottles to tupperware LIDS go into the dishwasher.
i'm like, come on! is it really THAT hard to wash your own water bottle? just run it under the sink water for a few seconds, and voila! clean! no need to put it in the dishwasher for half an hour! or your tupperware LID! just use tissue and clean! goodness.
although... i'm slowly becoming lazy and putting my spoons/forks/knives in the dishwasher even though i can easily rinse them off. it's kinda funny how we run the dishwasher like 5 times a week. haha.

3. There are no chain restaurants in LA. or california, so i've heard. it's really weird! lots of people have complained about how they're craving Macdonalds or Applebee's or Chili's or Wendy's some other chain fast food store, and that they've either seen only ONE around or none at all. i tell them it's good, since fast food isn't exactly the healthiest anyway. they growl and insist that every once in a while, it's a necessity to chomp down on a McD's cheeseburger. but personally, i kinda like all these quaint mom and pop places (that's what they call the non-chain restaurants). it's different and the food is better anyway.

4. There's lots of Jews in LA. i heard at least 80% of the entertainment industry behind-the-scenes people are Jewish. and i really have seen tons of them along the street. i don't think i've ever seen this many Jewish people in my life, except for when i was in Israel, but that's the motherland. i think they're so interesting. i want to make friends with them.


andrew just tagged me with this photo -- me holding the boom mic! so cute and furry at the top like a little dog. it was fun :)

Laugh it up

Stuff i forgot to say:
Faith and I saw a bunch of black guys getting ARRESTED by cops!!! We were a little lost in Hollywood (i don't know why we keep getting lost even with the GPS), and we went past this little street, and there were guys standing in a line getting their hands handcuffed by two mean-looking cops!! kinda freaky.

Also, my friends saw Jake Gyllenhaal at a sushi restaurant. and another group saw JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE with jessica biel in a car!!! HOW COME I NEVER GET TO SEE THEM??? i only see the little celebs i don't really care about. i want to see people like jessica alba!!!

Ok anyway, friday i was waiting for my internship to call, but they didn't, which was fine. one extra day off is okay by me :)

we went to a Black and White party at a friend's apartment in the evening, and it was kinda cool cuz people really did dress up nicely, even if it was only to a party in the apartment. tried to start a dance floor but failed. i guess people aren't comfortable with each other enough to dance. or maybe cuz everyone was sober (since alcohol is the forbidden fruit) so they were more self-conscious. oh well still fun!


Me and hani


Me and esther


Me and roomie tas

After that, we went to a comedy show at the Comedy Union. it was me, tas, brad, jeff and josh. and omg. it was..... an experience.
let me explain.


The comedy union

So...the place was... not very diverse. the DJ was black, the servers were black, the comedians were black, and every single person in the club was black except for me and josh. i kinda suspected it, by looking at their website, but i didn't think it'd be a big deal. SO we innocently went as a group of 3 blacks, one asian and one white. hahahaha. totally asking for it! and they sat us RIGHT IN FRONT of the stage, so obviously we got picked on!!! we made friends with these two funny black ladies sitting in front of us, and they kept asking if josh and i were together (cuz we were sitting next to each other), and we kept denying it, and they kept insisting we'd get picked on. so we were kinda nervous about that. i mean, COME ON! the only asian and the only white guy sitting next to each other! prime targets right there.

and they were right. we did get picked on. multiple times. everyone thought josh and i were together. it was so weird!!! especially since you know how comedians can be crude. and one of them asked me what was an asian stereotype that irked me the most (someone yelled something inappropriate), but i couldn't think of any. nothing really irks me. but they also picked on our other friends, so it was okay. and they were SUPER funny, i laughed till i cried for 3 hours. totally worth the 10bucks.

One guy was talking about the difference between men and women, and how when a girl gets drunk, her girlfriends will immediately take action, swarm her, bring her home and make sure she's ok. but guys will just leave the guy there and continue to have fun, then if they remember to bring the guy home, they'll just leave him in the doorway. hahaha. so true.

Also, we got to see Kim Whitley! i thought she looked familiar, so i looked her up, and she's an actress from That's so raven on the Disney channel + some other stuff. she did a bit of stand-up comedy and was there to celebrate her fellow comedian's birthday, so that was cool.



We got to meet the comedians after the show, cuz my friend's cousin knew them, so that was cool, talking to them. one of them actually went to singapore to perform before!!!

So anyway, we got back late, and i only had 4 hours of sleep before had to wake up at 6am to go to the beach and help bethany, my roomie, with her film shoot.
but it was fun, we drove to Malibu Beach!!


Malibu Beach

We lugged all the equipment to this little cave along the beach, it was SO COOL. although we had to climb rocks to get there. imagine us, carrying all the expensive equipment, dangerously wobbling on the rocks. but nothing bad happened, thank God. although there was tons of disgusting moist seaweed and hundreds of flies in the cave. so flies were buzzing around us for 2hours. it was gross.
But the filming went smoothly, i was the boom microphone operator, just like the person below. haha.


Random person holding a boom mic

It was fun, although sometimes i slipped and the boom mic appeared in the shot. oops. but brad did a good job acting and we hardly had to re-take any shots.
then we went to a doctor's office to shoot the office scene, and bethany 'hired' professional actors (for free), and they were a bit loony and didn't take directions very well. i guess that's why they're still unknown. but it was fun getting to know the guys better. they're funny dudes.

SO tired by the time we got back in the evening, and we still had a couple scenes to shoot in the apartment.
and then, by some miracle, i had the strength to go to watch the new animated movie, 9.


'9'

Went with another random bunch of people to watch it at the Archlight theatre. was super expensive - 15bucks, but OH SO COOL. the theatre had assigned seating, for once, and it was HUGE. the screen was curved and wrapped around half the theatre. and the picture and sound was awesome. although the movie was quite pointless. tim burton (the producer) is a total genius, but really weird sometimes.
Also went to Amoeba Music, this enormous music store that has tons of cheap, second hand CDs and DVDs. the place where esther got her wallet stolen the very first day :(

Point of this story, i realize the first few weeks of meeting new people is always the most important. it's when people click and connect with each other and start forming cliques. so no matter how tired i am, i also make myself stay up and hang out and do stuff with different people. it's at the cost of my beauty sleep, but then again, how many opportunities will i get to live in LA? i should live it up now. sleep can come when i'm 50 years old.

Oh here's pics of my apartment.


Our living room - couch, TV and DVD player


Dining table + kitchen, fully furnished with stove, microwave, oven, fridge and dishwasher :)

And yes, this is another long post. you should expect it of me by now.

more hollywood fun

me and faith outside the famous grauman's chinese theatre, where i saw district 9 last week with a couple other people.


my feet are in the place where johnny depp's feet once were. how cool is that.


the kodak theatre, the place we got to tour inside, where they hold all the major awards ceremony like the academy awards.


bustling hollywood blvd at night.


pretty fountain at the kodak theatre mall.


me and faith shrieking in joy, pretending we just saw our favorite celebrity


coldstone ice cream. yum.

So today i pitched my ideas to my screenwriting class, the very same ideas i was thinking about and writing till the last second before class started. and i hesitantly told them the ideas were awful, and then i shared them. but surprisingly the class seemed to kind of like the ideas. so i think i've settled on one, which i'll elaborate on later when it's more developed and thought out. this is the biggie, the one i'm going to have to write 100+ pages of scripts on. so it better be good. also, i've realized that it somehow always works out better when you write about something you know or have experienced before.

about my class, i think we have a good variation of experience levels and passion levels. some people don't really care for screenwriting, for others its their life and the air they breathe. some people have these ideas festering in their minds for years, and others (like me) have trouble thinking of ideas 'cause there's just so many possible ways you could point your story toward. anw mine's a romantic comedy, since... i obviously love fluffy romantic comedies and have seen them all, from crappy predictable ones to better ones. so hopefully it turns out well.

tonight faith and i went to go see Pink in concert for free at the jimmy kimmel live show in hollywood. she was totally awesome singing live, and totally gorgeous in person. too bad we couldn't take cameras into the concert arena :(

then we walked around hollywood blvd and took lots of pics. wanted to take pics with jack sparrow from pirates of the caribbean, but he disappeared. only left with lame spiderman who didn't even look like spiderman cuz he was pudgy and short, and bart simpson, who was too muscular to carry it off well.

then we met this guy who tried to convince us to donate money to his cause - promoting marijuana. he was like, i'm a big fan of marijuana, i donated tons of money to this cause to help make it legal in more places to smoke weed. you should smoke weed, you should tell your children to smoke weed cuz it's awesome!
and then he pointed at me and was like, you look like a total california girl! i'd date you if you lived here! ('cause i told him i was from singapore, which has laws against smoking marijuana, whereupon he looked horrified.)
i was like.... uhh ok, running away from the crazy dude now.

waiting for another company to call me back and interview me for my internship! cuz i didn't get the Fox one.. too much competition for 2 spots. oh well. at least don't have to travel an hour by bus everyday, cuz this new internship is 15min walk away from my place, in the same building where my classes are held.

Movie premiere!

Tuesday faith and i went to the Grove to see 'All About Steve,' a new romantic comedy starring sandra bullock and bradley cooper. it was cute, but the ending was pretty awful. i think all my money's going to fly away quickly if i keep going to movies that cost 12bucks. but we had a nice long conversation about boys while watching the fountain lights. and we thought we saw the lead singer from maroon 5, but we weren't too sure.

And then wednesday, we thought of a perfect plan to save money. just go to all the free stuff they have here! and they have plenty!!! wed evening we attended the free screening of Kate Beckinsale's new movie, 'Whiteout.' only we THOUGHT it was a screening, but it was actually a PREMIERE!!!!

we totally went crazy screaming and jumping in excitement. it was SO awesome. i'm so sad i didn't bring my camera. there were lights, paparazzi, cameras flashing, a red carpet, stars on the red carpet... and we thought we saw a glimpse of kate, but we couldn't be sure, cuz the security guards kept rushing us into the theater. and then we got free popcorn and drinks, and saw the other smaller stars of the movie as they came out after, signing autographs and taking photos. faith was obsessed with alex o'loughlin, who was pretty good-looking. i got a pic of him on my camera phone. haha. so the movie was lame and predictable, but the experience was totally exhilarating. good thing i decided not to stay home and do homework! although now i'm screwed cuz i haven't finished my hw and i have an hour till class :(
totally will be going to more movie premieres, even if it's just to stand outside and wait for the celebrities to arrive!!!

oh. and ystdy we had our Hollywood Production Workshop class, and they picked the 5 scripts we were going to film and produce, and mine wasn't one. but that's totally ok, cuz i didn't want the pressure and stress of having to re-write and re-write to please the director. anw, i got chosen to be 1st PRODUCER!!! on a film called Two Hours, about a little boy and an office worker. so that was kinda exciting, until i realized the producer does just about everything and is super busy and involved in the entire filming process from start till finish. oh well, it'll be a good experience, especially since i have no idea what i'm doing. was kinda disappointed that i didn't get to work on the other films, cuz they sounded so interesting - a musical, a fairytale, and some other weird stuff - ours was the most normal, but it's okay. i'll accept my fate and move on with life :)

oooh and i watched Fight Club, the BEST movie ever!!! totally mind-blowing!!! you'll never see the twist at the end coming. it's crazyyyy!!!
Fight Club and The Prestige are now my favorite movies.

Weekend wowza

I had the longest weekend break ever. No classes from fri to tue. Loving it!

Friday

Helped my friend, faith, out for her video project. my very first time watching the entire filming process unfold! it was fun and long and exhausting... we filmed from 4pm till midnight. her story was about this handyman who witnesses a murder, and so we filmed outside at the park, then in her apartment, then in the basement. at first i was just helping out fixing up the lights and sound and camera, but then she wanted me to BE in her film, so i ended up acting as the typical asian stereotype who cannot speak good English and wants the handyman to fix my air-conditioner. it was ridiculously hilarious. we cracked up so many times, we had to do multiple takes. the other actors were so funny, they started speaking with an asian accent after that. it was just a lot of fun acting ridiculous. haha. although i was supposed to be mad 'cause my a/c wasn't working. anw they liked my role so much that faith decided to make me the murderer instead. hahaha. crazy stuff. can't wait to see how the short film turns out.

although filming in the basement late at night was totally creepy, especially since we weren't supposed to be there cuz we didn't get a permit to film there. but the cop who found us said it was okay, so we were there, breathing in the smelly air from the dumpster, for 2 hours. poor esther actually had to climb INTO the dumpster, which was full of trash and glass and what not, to act as the dead victim. gross. totally exhausted after that.

Saturday

Went to Santa Monica beach to lay out in the sun. i'm getting really tan. YAY!! i think we were in the wrong spot, cuz there were couples being all affectionate around us, and it was weird. then we went and walked along the Santa Monica pier, where tons of movies were filmed (like Iron Man, Hannah Montana, and more.. i can't rem), and it was sooo cool. tons of shops, restaurants, rollercoster and ferris wheel rides, a carousel, and lots of people chilling on the boardwalk. totally wanna go back at night to ride the rollercoaster and see the view. omg the view of the ocean and all the houses along the beach was SO beautiful. i'm loving this whole sunny california thing.

In the evening, we went to the legendary Hollywood Bowl, an outdoor concert arena, to see John Williams in concert. No idea who he was, but apparently he composed the soundtrack to tons of major movies like Harry Potter, Star Wars, Superman, etc. we got seats in the nosebleed section.. the cheapest, furthest away from the stage. haha. but it was okay, cuz it was seriously the most boring concert i've ever been to. not a fan of classical music and never will be. it was just an orchestra on stage playing. but the place was PACKED. hundreds of people! i don't know why they pay to hear movie soundtracks! i can just sit in my room and listen to it and it would be more fun. so after 1001 harry potter songs, i couldn't take it anymore and left with some friends. we went to Hollywood blvd and browsed through the shops and watched street performers. definitely more fun than sitting through another 2 hours of boring music.

Sunday

DISNEYLAND, here we come!!!! drove an hour to get there with danielle, my funny apartment mate. got lost, cuz there was a marathon going on, and no signs to direct us to alternate routes. but we finally got there at 10, an hour after the park opened. and it was wonderful! exactly how i remembered it when i was there 3+ years ago with my family. nothing changes! it was still the magical land of disney where all your dreams come true! haha. danielle and i were like little kids, prancing around the park with joyful sparkles in our eyes. we went on all the rides, from kiddy ones like Peter Pan (her fav) and Snow White, to crazy ones like Space Mountain and Indiana Jones and Pirates of the Caribbean.

ooh and there was a new ride, Finding Nemo! it was SO cool. we went into this submarine, which took us on an underwater tour of the 'ocean'! and Fantasy Faire was also new, where we waited an hour in line to meet the Disney princesses. haha. took pictures with Cinderella, Snow White, Sleeping beauty and Mulan. Sleeping beauty was a little cranky. and then, just as we left, our VERY FAVORITE princesses came out. SIGH! Belle, Jasmine and Ariel!!! sadness. then we went to see the Disney parade, which was different! they changed it to some 'Celebrate' parade, with random teenagers dancing around and forming congo lines! that's SO NOT DISNEY! WHERE ARE MY DISNEY CHARACTERS??? that was disappointing. but all in all, still fun :)


danielle suggested we blow kisses for the camera, and sleeping beauty was like, (in a fluffy voice) 'oh, my lips hurt from blowing so many kisses!'
i was like, you're getting paid for this! shut up and smile! haha.


Cinderella wanted us to do the 'princess pose,' where we clasp our hands together like that. well... i look like i'm doing the 'gong xi fa cai' pose. haha.


Mickey and Minnie at the parade.


Sleeping beauty's castle


Me and danielle on the Finding Nemo underwater ride.

we left around evening time, cuz we were totally exhausted from little sleep and too much sun, so didn't stay for the fireworks. but thank God we left early, cuz we got lost going back, and exited the freeway at the wrong turn. so we ended up at this totally SKETCHY and SHADY and TERRIFYING town and we had no idea where we were. seriously, at 8pm, the streets were PITCH BLACK, all the shops were closed complete with METAL GATES, NO ONE was on the street except for a million homeless people, pushing their carts full of random things and chasing plastic bags down the street. everytime we stopped at a traffic light, i was so scared one homeless person would come up to our car and shoot us or something! it was THAT scary, not even kidding.

it's funny now, but we were totally in panic mode and didn't know where we were going, and there weren't any cars around, cuz obviously that's a neighborhood no one wants to be in when it's dark! the only lights came from street lights and this ridiculously bright 'topless dancers' sign. not cool! so after minutes of shrieking and driving really fast to get out of there, we finally hit downtown LA. a little better. then we came across koreatown.. then finally found our way back to our apartments. crazy adventure. hopefully that's the last time we get lost.

and then we came back to 20 people hanging out and playing games in our apartment. i was like, great. i'm so tired, the last thing i want is to hang out with people right now. so i went to faith's apartment and hung out with them.

Monday

went to Chinatown today! and ate at the restaurant, called Foo Chow, where they filmed Rush Hour with jackie chan!!! it was so small though and different from what i expected. but the food was good and the people were fun, and i taught them some chinese. hahaha. then we walked around, and most shops were closed since it was labor day, but we went into this market, which was full of ah ma clothes... and i found some asian snacks, which made me really happy :)

at night we tried to walk to the La Brea Tar Pits, which are apparently one of the things you have to see while you're here. faith was like, 'let's go see the tar pits! they have fake elephants dying in the tar!' hahaha. i was like, that does not sound fun. but oh well, sure. so after an hour of walking around at 10pm at night, we realized the park was closed. oh well. evening exercise.

probably should go do some homework now. classes tomorrowwwwww....

Lazy days

Everyday is a lazy day. I have no motivation to go anywhere except the pool to suntan. haha. even classes seem so far away, and walking in the hot sun sure isn't fun. i really need to get a fan. our apartment is like, as my roomie says, a hellhole. SO HOT. btw, my roomie/apartment mate is like the funniest person ever. every word she says makes me laugh so hard. one particularly hot day, she was like, 'i would give my first-born child for some air-conditioning in here!' and then she goes on tirades about those 'demon birds that screech like they're possessed' every morning at 5am (they're actually kinda creepy. think huge clusters of crows screeching their heads off). cant remember what else she said, but she just cracks me up :)

Anyway, i completed my script. it's 10 pages long, the maximum. and it's about this 10-year-old kid who's really quirky and a little off-beat and has a vivid imagination. he thinks he's an explorer and talks about his adventures in the third person. but he doesn't have friends at school 'cause everyone thinks he's weird, and he gets bullied alot. and his parents fight about him, too, because his dad thinks he's a failure at life and wants him to be normal and play sports instead of holing up in his room all day, talking to himself. and his mom always has to defend him.

So one day, he stumbles upon a magical watch that gives him the power to go back and forth through time. after being bullied again, he's fed up with his life and wants to be liked by others, so he turns the watch forward and finds himself 33 years old and completely different. he realizes he's become what his dad wanted him to be, and in the process, accidentally caused the death of his mom. so he's traumatized and horrified and goes back to the present day, where he returns the watch to a mysterious stranger and appreciates his life the way it is.

After telling my story idea to my friend, i realized there's already a movie similar to this idea. which brings up the point that there are simply no original ideas. seriously. everything's been done before and done again a thousand times. it's so hard to write something original. sigh. i don't think i like this whole scriptwriting business much. and now i have to write a 100-page screenplay for class. at least the prof seems totally laidback and generous with the grades. all we have to do is turn the screenplay in at the end of the semester! yayyy. and that's all for this class. so glad i chose screenwriting instead of motion picture production, where my other classmates are suffering cuz they have to write, direct and produce 3 entire films in 2 months. craziness.

Hollywood production workship, my other class, seems to have a heavier workload. we applied for positions we wanted, and i put (in order of my choice) producer, production designer and 1st camera assistant. soooo.. hopefully i get either one of my top two choices, cuz producer sounds really fun, get to audition actors, search out places to film, help out the director and all. and then production design is designing the set and putting everything into place on set. cool, huh. i have no idea what 1st camera assistant does, but i put that cuz i didn't wanna do sound or be an editor. simply no interest being behind the camera or in front of the computer for hours and hours.

Been watching a lot of critically acclaimed movies lately, to increase my little knowledge of film. haha.
THE PRESTIGE --- the best suspense thriller EVER. i was on the edge of my seat! so good. it's magic + suspense + crazy fantastic script + insane plot twists. totally awesome, plus it stars hugh jackman and christian bale.
Some like it hot --- first time i ever saw marilyn monroe in a movie. it was alright... funny and cute, but in black and white and totally from a different era, one i haven't really come to appreciate yet.
Being john malkovich --- so interesting! what would you do if you found a portal into someone else's head?? and you could see and experience everything they did?? crazy plot twists too. loved it.
Adaptation --- directed by spike jonze, the same guy who did Being john malkovich. but this one was weirder. about a screenwriter who tries to adapt a novel into a screenplay and ends up writing himself and the people around him into it. i almost fell asleep.

YAY i'm this much closer to accomplishing my goal of watching all 100 films on the top 100 list of movies.

Week 2

yes, it's already week 2. only 15 more weeks left in LA :(
haha anyway. today i went for my interview!

It was with Fox Features casting department, as in 20th century fox, the major studio that produces all kinds of awesome movies like The devil wears prada, Titanic, Xmen and Fantastic Four. So that was pretty cool, and kinda nerve-wrecking. but the interview turned out to be really informal. the casting director's assistant just asked me a bunch of questions about myself, then showed me around the office, and i got to see the casting room where they audition actors. also got to walk around the fox studio lot, which was huge and on high-security. craziness! and so basically interns do lots of office stuff, filing, logging, researching, running errands on the studio lot, and hopefully sitting in on castings and seeing how the process goes. sounds alright. i wouldn't mind doing that for the next 3 months. besides, it's FOX! who wouldn't wanna work for them?? probably shouldn't talk too much about it 'cause they have this thing about privacy and confidentiality.
anyway, even though it's an hour away by bus, i think i can do it. just have to wake up earlier and sleep earlier too. heh.

So.. i'll know if i get it by friday. fingers and toes crossed.

Ok have to go write my script now. sigh. i think i have a story... about an imaginative, quirky, lonely little boy who finds a watch that gives him the power to go back and forth through time. it's all about staying true to who you are and not conforming to society's expectations.
i don't know how good it's gonna be... and out of 52 scripts turned in by us students, they're only gonna choose 5 to be produced and made into films for our class. so... here's hoping it's good enough!

Excitement

Life is so exciting lately!!!

Ok so. the jimmy kimmel live show?? pretty AWEsome! we tried to drive, but my friend's car broke down. ugh. so we had to walk, take a bus, then walk again. but we got to Hollywood in time, and waited in line and then got into the Jimmy Kimmel Live show!!! the show was... not what i expected. i guess having never seen it, i thought it'd be more like Oprah.. you know, lots of talking to the guests and what not. but it was way different.

this comedian came in to hype up the audience, give us instructions and entertain us, then jimmy came in, did some commercials, the band played... we cheered alot. and jimmy got his makeup re-touched every commercial break. it was SO interesting to see how a real live TV set filming happens!! it was so cool! i was on camera!!

and then the guest stars came on.. dylan mcdermott and bj novak. they were both really good-looking, but they only talked for like, 5 minutes! and then they went off! and then the show aired another commercial, or something stupid that was supposed to be funny, but really, wasn't. so it was okay.. wasn't the greatest show ever. don't think i'd watch it on tv anytime soon. haha. but it was cool to see the celebrities. although bj novak spent most of his time talking about CEREAL. who does that??? seriously, this show must be running on advertisements, because there were A TON. subway, cereal, school supplies, everything. but we also got to go outdoors and see The Dead Weather in concert, so that was fun :)
i'd go back again, if i can get free tickets, cuz Boys Like Girls is playing soon!! but their tix are sold out. sigh. oh well.

and then we walked around Hollywood, which is really pretty at night. all the lights and stuff. and had dinner at Johnny Rockets, which apparently had the best burgers in town. it was pretty good. and then walked a lot more, waited super long for the bus, walked even more, and finally reached home sweet home. LA is really, really, really hard to get around without a car. no kidding. i don't know how i'm going to survive the next 4 months.

Anyway, today we went and did a tour of the Kodak Theatre, where Hollywood has all its celebrity award shows... the place was majestic, even though way smaller than it seems on TV. they have all kinds of shows there.. the oscars, the emmys, the academy awards... it was so cool to be there and see where the stars go and walk where they've walked before, and pee at the toilets where they've peed before. hahaha. we got to go on stage, in the auditorium, on the winner's walk...it was way cool.
then we broke off into groups and had lunch. i went to a sushi place with a bunch of other people :) and most people had california rolls. seriously here, sushi=california rolls and nothing else. haha. but it was funny seeing people use chopsticks. hahaha.

and i really like the girls in our program, they're just so crazy and funny and fun to be with. and the guys too.. they're so friendly and funny and also fun to be with :)
there's this girl i found out i had a lot in common with, she cracks me up. so we were talking about how people make connections REALLY FAST here. it's so obvious which guys like which girls, and it's funny how it's usually a one-way thing. the girls here don't seem to like the guys... in that manner. so it's funny to just see how they interact and (most of the time) follow the girls around like a lost puppy. ahahaha.

and then me and this girl found out we both (sort of) had an interest in the SAME guy. sigh. although... it's more of fascination for me. i'm just intrigued by him. but as i get to know him better (we spent most of the day together today)... not so much. haha. a little too quiet for me i guess.

anyway, a bunch of us watched District 9 at the Chinese Theater, where all the stars on the Hollywood walk are and there are people all dressed up in characters walking about. today we saw spiderman, tigger, the joker, elvis, and more. but back to the movie... it was surprisingly GOOD! a lot of people i've talked to either LOVE it or HATE it. but i actually really liked it. ok so it's about aliens. and it's gory. two things i usually dislike in movies. but this time, it worked. i don't know, it just struck a chord in me. i feel like the film had a ton of messages, and it was different and very unique and interesting. it was filmed in a documentary sort of way... and talked about how aliens came to invade our earth, and how people don't like them and want to chase them away, which i thought was an interesting referral to immigrants. and then as the story progressed, the main character got more likeable, and his story was just really sad in the end, and i really liked his transformation, even though parts of it were GROSS. so yeah, although i spent half the movie covering my eyes, i thought it had a good message. it was intense and thought-provoking. you'll have to see it to believe it. if it ever comes out in sgp.

i really like doing this film program, cuz it means people are film geeks and they love watching movies. and i love watching movies too! :)

so after the movie, the four of us attempted to walk back to the apartments from hollywood. we thought it was like a 5-10 min walk. but NO. it was like half an hour before we decided to stop and take a bus. so i ended up hot, sweaty, disgusting, and really exhausted. such a bad idea to walk. but now i know.

and then our program director invited us over to her house for dinner, and omg. her home was SO COOL. it was like french gothic, quaint, like a stone-walled cottage kinda feel. so homey and cozy and wonderful. i loved it. there was even a wardrobe that looked like it could be from the Narnia set. and the food was yummy...been a while since i've had a home-cooked meal. lots of cereal and sandwiches and fruits. so yeah.. got to talk to more people and get to know them better... and again... i really like the people here. some people are so open and honest in sharing. and then they get crazy playing games. haha. i'm already sad just thinking of having to leave 4 months from now!!

ok should go to sleep now. going to church tomorrow bright and early!
and ooh i have progress on the internship aspect, but not gonna say anything till i get the interview. don't wanna mess things up. but it's pretty sweet :)
keep me in prayer that i'll find the right internship!

TICKETS!

i've been scouring all over the internet to find free tickets to events and talk shows and stuff, and finally this morning i got tickets to the Jimmy Kimmel Live show TONIGHT starring guest stars BJ novak (from inglorious basterds that just came out and The OFFICE!) and dylan mcdermott. i actually really couldn't care less about the stars. i just recognize their names, but i'm not like a huge fan. i'm just EXCITED to go to a live show TAPING!!! IN LA!!! AAAAHHHH!!! i can't believe i just got tickets! cuz they were sold out this whole week up until this morning! some wonderful person must've declined at the last minute :)

I also got some tickets for free premieres of shows on ABC, Fox, CW and all that... but i don't really know those shows. even though it might be fun to just go and see celebs. haha. COOLNESS! my friend saw christina ricci at the grocery store the other day. seriously, why do other people always get to see celebs and i somehow always miss them???

oh but anyway, last night this actor named Doug Jones came to talk to us, and he was HILARIOUS. i've never heard of him until now, and i'm sure none of you have either.
but get this. he was the Silver Surfer in Fantastic Four, Abe Sapien in Hellboy, the thin infected man in Quarantine, Number 7 robot in Benchwarmers, and he was also in Pan's Labyrinth, Three Kings, Men in Black 2, Buffy... he's done SO MUCH STUFF! but the reason why most people don't know him is that he's usually the one who's under all that makeup gunk/costumes, cuz he's the go-to monster/creature actor that doesn't mind all that chemical stuff on his face and body. so in real life, he's this skinny white guy in his 40s, and funny as hell. we laughed for 3 hours straight, with him telling us about his experiences as an actor, and how he's had to persevere and plunge ahead despite lots of obstacles in Hollywood. it was so cool to hear his story, and to be in the presence of an actor!! he was THIS CLOSE to jessica alba in the fantastic 4!!! and he said she was really nice and sweet. awwwwww. and he's rumored to be starring several big upcoming films, so we'll get to see more of him! coolness :)

i don't know why but i've been so tired lately. by 10pm i'm like exhausted, and i've been going to bed before midnight most nights. it's never happened before! but i'm just so tired! maybe i'm still on jetlag.
anw yesterday i got my box sent by carly from new york! so i have all my bedsheets and pillows now. before that i was sleeping on a sleeping bag. haha. and so i borrowed this cart (that's supposed to be for camera equipment) from the center, and pushed it all the way back to my apartment with my roomie. and we stopped to get groceries on the way, and then piled all our plastic bags full of food on top of the box on the cart. people kept staring. i think they thought we stole a shopping cart or something. hahaha. and then halfway we hit a bump, and everything, including the box, FELL OFF the cart. of course we were hysterical and exploded with laughter, and then this nice guy came to help us out, seeing as how we were helpless and rolling on the floor laughing.

today we broke up into small groups and shared about our expectations, concerns and hopes for this semester, and it was encouraging to see most people had similar worries... not knowing what to expect at the internship, not knowing much about film, not knowing if this industry is the right fit for them... so it was nice to have that support group. and now i'm trying to do my laundry, but IT'S CLOSED OFF and i don't know why! sigh. so creepy in the basement, too, but i don't dare to go off and leave my stuff, seeing as how my roomie got her stuff stolen.

ok can't wait for 6pm tonight!!!! JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE!

It's only been a few days

But i feel like i've already been here for months. it's weird. tons of weird/not-so-good stuff has been happening lately. my roomie got her load of laundry stolen right out the dryer, my other roomie was talking on her phone outside subway, in broad daylight, on the street in clear view of people, and this skinny white guy just whizzes by and SNATCHES the phone out of her hand!!!! her blackberry!! and after she gets over her shock of what just happened, the guy is way past gone. so the cops were called and all, but there's really nothing they can do. man, i've heard so many stories about people getting mugged in broad daylight, it's making me kinda afraid to go anywhere alone or hold any valuables in my hand. another friend got her wallet stolen at a CD shop. seriously!!! what is wrong with this place?? i guess we're all gonna be really cautious from now on, since apparently you can get robbed anywhere, anytime in LA.

ooh on tues went to The Grove in the evening (it's EVEN prettier in the evening!! pretty lights and everything! feels like a magical land. haha) to watch 500 Days of Summer. OMG if/when it comes out in singapore, PLEASE go and watch it. it's seriously the best romantic comedy i've ever seen in a while. it's different, unique, a little quirky and eclectic, but so worth it! although the ending leaves more to be desired, zooey deschanel is adorable and weird, as usual, and the story is just so cute and different from other predictable chick flicks. this movie's got more of an indie feel, but i just loved it. and the theatre we went to see it in was like some majestic ballroom! and you could tell by the steep ticket prices -- 12bucks just like in NYC. is it not enough that movies make big bucks?? do they have to rip us off too??? ooh but i learned in class that MOST movies actually LOSE MONEY! isn't that crazy?? so studios rely on one or two HUGE films like The Dark Knight or Transformers2 to recoup their losses. and here i thought they were ripping us off. although.. i still don't feel guilty for downloading movies online. hahaha.

been through several camera labs and equipment labs.. learning how to operate the crazy complicated cameras and equipments.. my head's just exploding with way too much information, and i'm pretty sure i'll forget it all. but it's so comforting to know there are other clueless people like me! there's english majors here, even an art history major! i guess most people, like me, come to this program with a basic interest in film, and they wanna find out for sure if this is where they wanna head into after graduation. we had a student film screening last night, where people got to show off their projects from previous classes, and i was totally blown away! i thought, from what i'd seen before, that student films are pretty crappy. and they usually are. but some of these pieces we saw were sooooooo professional and good! i was surprised!!! they were creative, funny, unique, and had a good message to tell. it was pretty cool, although the pressure's on, since everyone here is talented in some way.

talking about pressure... SO MUCH INFORMATION stuffed down our throats the last few days! i feel like i'm about to explode. so much homework i don't even wanna think about it. a couple who started the Hollywood Prayer Network (to support and pray for Christians in Hollywood), came and talked to us today and said we HAVE to know films if we wanna click with others in the industry and have something intelligent to contribute to conversations. so we have to watch the top 100 films on some list. omg. i looked it over, and i haven't seen like 95% of the films!!!! panicking now. this is what i get for watching mindless chick flicks all the time!! plus another huge topic in conversations is politics. GREAT. two things i'm clueless about. gotta go read up on that, because i gotta know the lingo in hollywood!!

and also we have to write a freaking script by wednesday to compete against each other cuz only 5 scripts will get picked to be made into movies in our Hollywood Production Workshop class. STRESS to the max. since obviously i'm a writer and i want to do good in this area. but i'm totally drawing blanks when it comes to story ideas. i mean, the film is only gonna be 10mins max. which means 10 pages of script. which means.. super short and crammed! and as you can see, i love to write. ALOT. people have trouble writing enough to meet the minimum, i have trouble writing lesser to be under the maximum. that's always been the case. sigh. will have to keep brainstorming.

but back to the couple who came and talked to us today... they were so cute and it was so refreshing to see people still happily married after so long in hollywood. they've worked with all kinds of famous directors, producers, actors... and they're still so grounded in the Lord and they've touched countless lives just by being an example of Jesus' love! it was pretty awesome to hear their stories. so i shall be committed to praying for one person at my office and pray that God will use me to touch that person's life. they keep telling us that most people in hollywood are jewish, which is surprising, and that people are so hungry for someone to listen, because everyone in hollywood lies and cheats and deceives. and their god is not money, it's worldview. some people will fight to the death for their beliefs in politics, saving the environment, gays... everything. it's all so overwhelming.

so anyway, i got to know more people here and there... some people here really look like some of my friends at taylor, it's weird. but everyone's really getting to know each other better, so it's cool. last night we watched Into the Wild at someone's apartment (another great thing about not being at taylor? no open house!! meaning we can go to anyone's apartment anytime! boy or girl! haha).. it was a pretty good movie. very thought provoking and a true story too! it was kinda slow and long, but still recommended. this guy actually removed all traces of his existence and went on a journey to alaska, meeting weird people along the way. he'd conformed to the expectations of his rich parents until after he graduated from college, then he 'ran away' and just started hiking by himself. it's crazy! i can't imagine living like that.. not really having any purpose but just drifting along and hunting for food everyday.

ooh and yesterday we tried to go see the Jimmy Kimmel live show in hollywood, because Robin Williams was a guest star, but we were too late and tickets were gone :( but it's ok, there are plenty of other shows!!! this is like new york all over again!! so many free shows to go to!!! Boys Like Girls is coming to the jimmy kimmel show a few weeks from now, and i signed up but only got standby tickets. hopefully someone cancels out.

so yeah. a lot to think about. have to write about my expectations for this semester, and honestly... the reason i applied for this LA semester was to get away from Taylor. plain and simple. it's not like i hated it there, i love my friends and all, but i just NEEDED to go somewhere else, somewhere where i have more freedom, where there's more stuff to do, more people to meet... i don't know. at that point in time last semester, i was running away a lot. like to new york and then now to LA. but now that i'm actually here... i think God brought me here for a purpose. i mean, i know that, and i'm excited to find out what it is :)

Livin' it up in LA

I'm in LA!! Livin' up the sunny california life! and so far i'm liking it alot! haha.
Anyway, backtracking to the past few days... whoa. it's been kinda overwhelming. the flight here was alright, went by really quick. 7hrs to japan + 8hrs to LA. i slept a lot, was so tired. but of course watched movies also, being the kiasu singaporean i am. watched ghosts of girlfriends past, obsessed, coraline and something else i can't remember now.

And then i got to LA, lugged all my 3 bags around till i found the taxi stand, prayed hard that the taxi driver would be nice (and thank god he was), hopped in, and started toward Miracle Mile. it took us like an hour to get there, and i gave him google map directions that dad printed out the night before, and we still got lost several times. but he was nice and didn't charge me more. and at least i was only 5 mins late to registration. so i got registered, realized i didn't have enough money to pay registration fees, went to the bank, realized i only had a 200dollar limit to withdrawing cash from my debit account, went back and lugged my bags to my apartment with the help of a very nice guy.

So i'm living at this place called park la brea apartments, which is HUGE. it's like a town by itself! there's like 12,000 people living here, there are tower apartments, houses, cafes, a swimming pool, a gym, a small movie theater, everything! i don't even have to leave this place if i don't want to. (but of course i do). and there's Kmart right outside, with Ralph's and Trader Joe's and the 99 cent store and The Grove... omg. i'm in total paradise. NO MORE CORNFIELDS for the next 4 months! i don't know how i'll ever drag myself back to indiana after stints in NYC and LA.

Anyway, my apartment's pretty nice. HUGE living room, we call it our 'dance floor,' and plan to have many rockin' parties here. haha. nice kitchen, with everything from pots and pans to a fridge to a dishwasher. two bathrooms, two rooms. i have 4 other roommates, and i share a room with two other people. they're all SUCH nice people! i'm so glad this is a Christian program, because i was initially really apprehensive about moving to a huge, corrupted, cutthroat, money-minded city like LA, but it's been SO awfully encouraging having all these great people around me who share the same anxieties and offer good support. And yeah, they've talked about how our internships might be horrid, our bosses might treat us like the lowly unpaid interns we are, but it's ok, as long as we keep in mind who we answer to and who we are in God.

So yeah, they keep stuffing information down our throats. info about LA, about living in our apartments, about internships, about our 3 classes, everything. it's really overwhelming, but at the same time, really exciting, and i can't wait to get started. Although this really feels like an extended vacation. everyone agrees that this is TOO GOOD to be true! i mean, i get to spend a semester in awesome LA, with sunny weather, great people who love God, an internship in Hollywood... where's the catch??? -- as my roommate so correctly described it. we actually sat out in the sun by the poolside yesterday, absorbing sunny rays and doing our homework - reading a screenplay. THIS IS THE LIFE! haha. but i'm sure it'll get much busier and crazier as the semester goes on. And then we went shopping last night, at The Grove, which is RIGHT NEXT to my apartment complex. and OMG. it was SO COOL! it was like disneyland, but an adult version! quaint shops side by side with big brand names, a little trolley bus thingy going round the outdoor mall, shops by the side, shops everywhere, a farmer's market.. it was so cool i loved it :) Also, some guy told me Disneyland is FREE when you go during your bday, so i'm definitely gonna try!! even though my bday's on a tuesday.

Only thing is, our classes are held in this building, like 20 mins walk away from my apartment. which isn't so bad, but compared to taylor, where i walk 5 mins to class, it's far. haha. and under the hot sun, it's even further. now i totally regret bringing all my long sleeved shirts and jackets. sigh. it's SO HOT! but classes have been fun. the LAFSC offices are in this tower, and there's computer labs, edit suites, tons of camera equipment i don't know how to use, a tiny classroom/lecture hall, a lounge, TONS of DVDs and books we can rent out... oh and there's so much to do here! live bands, comedy clubs, broadway shows, it's like NYC again!!! only there's no public transport. i haven't seen a bus here. NOT ONE! which makes me kinda nervous cuz i don't drive and i'm sure i'll need to take a bus to my internship. sigh.

oh and there are these DEMON BIRDS (as my other roomie calls them), that SCREECH AND SCREAM every, single, morning. AT 5AM! it's insane! they go on for a whole hour, and all of us (except one, she sleeps through it all, lucky) have been getting up at 5am. also cuz our apartment's on the ground floor, so we hear all kinds of noises at ungodly hours. like the rubbish truck clearing the trash, random people talking in the morning.. it's really annoying. i might have to become a morning person this semester.
But other than that, everything else is good. ooh although.. people do get mugged here more often. my roomie lost her load of laundry the second day we were here. some idiot took all her jeans and shirts! and obviously she couldn't get it back. sooo.. i guess i'll have to sit there and WATCH my laundry go round and round in the machine every time. for 45 mins. and then the dryer. sigh. and the basement's creepy too.

Went grocery shopping to stock up our fridge. man, the 99cent store is a LIFESAVER! everything there truly is 99 cents OR BELOW! i got 6 packets of ramen for 99 cents altogether! so that was cool. and then Trader Joe's, which i was introduced to in NYC and totally love. there's tons of organic and natural stuff there, so i got lots of fruits/veggies/stuff that i don't have to cook cuz i don't know how to cook. haha. my roomie suggested we alternate cooking weekly for family-style dinners, and i was like.... uhhh i don't know how to cook. now i feel dumb. can't cook, can't drive. seriously!

Anyway.. i think that's about all. i just wanna say again, the people are so nice. and it's such a change from being around non-Christians in the New York program. and they're all so funny. we've only known each other for a few days, but we already have so many inside jokes, it's crazy! today my roomies and i were watching this show called 'Home Delivery' during lunch (yes, we have a TV and DVD player! YAY!), and totally laughing until we couldn't speak. it was meant to be touching and sappy, but we found it hilarious. the TV production was awful. it was like they were trying to squeeze 10 mins of actual footage into 30 mins for the show. so lots of repetitions and what not. totally lame. but so funny. and i fed them my dried mangoes. and told them about singapore and its no-gum policy -- that never fails to amuse americans. they're all like, 'seriously?? omg!! i can't believe this!! wait till i tell my friends about this!! how could you live without gum??'
and i'm like, it's really no big deal. and then i tell them about how we smuggle gum from malaysia into singapore. haha

oh i have my internship interview on friday morning... so pray hard i'll get a good internship that's suitable for me, and that i'll get nice people to work with and not crazy tyrant bosses. oh and LA's 15 hours behind singapore.
ok that was a very messy update but gotta go to class now. that's all! :)

Now boarding

This is probably the most 'mah fan' trip ever. After discussing about the trip for days and days, we finally got to booking the tickets two days before we leave. it was a wonder there were even tickets left. but now that it's settled, bangkok here we come! :)
i'm kinda glad i'm not going for a week, so i get to come home and spend more time with the fam. and friends.

Musing

I love how the Dawgz (friends from cedar) are still pretty much the same, even though we've all gone down different paths since secondary school. we still laugh about the stupidest things, we make the stupidest comments, and we do the stupidest things. but it still cracks me up.
and i love how we've kept up our bi-annual sleepovers, complete with stuffing our faces with junk food that's evolved over time (from unhealthy chips and maggi mee and chocolate to gummy dinosaurs and sushi and dried mangoes) and lame chinese movies (usually starring edison chen/daniel wu/any other cute male actor) we'd never watch in any other situation.

if you're wondering how we got our name, limpin dawgz, it was a rip-off from linkin park, the rock band. we 'attempted' to form a band (jokingly, of course) in secondary school, with different weird positions for each of us, like red-bean shaker and triangle-hitter. and then there were our self-written songs, like 'p-o-p is pop, p-o-p is still pop!' we cracked ourselves up just thinking of silly songs like that.

i'm glad i still keep in touch with some of my sec sch friends.

not so much NJC friends though. everytime i think of NJ, i think horrific nightmarish experiences. i got my first taste of biasedness and being prejudiced against just 'cause i wasn't following the normal singaporean kid science-route. boy, there were tons of discrimination against the arts students (all 40 of us), and how we hated that. but what i forgot about were the great times we had fighting against the system, and how that common enemy bonded us together. actually, thinking back on the times i had with my clique, we did have many good times together. memorable ones too, like climbing the school gates like desperate prisoners wanting to get out. i guess i was better off than them, since our form teacher liked me (apparently i looked 'guai'), and would let me get away with murder, while the rest of them got reprimanded for anything and everything. and so they made fun of her ruthlessly all the time. i felt kinda bad for her; she was short and single and walked with a limp. i always thought there must be something awful in her past to make her act this way now, but i never got to ask her about it. and then i was just glad to get out of junior college.

i guess the memory of awful teachers and being treated unfairly suppressed the good memories with friends. although NJ really is a school filled with studious chinese-speaking people. my friends and i would be hanging out in the empty canteen during break, slacking away, and we'd wonder where the rest of the student population was. later we found out they were ALL squeezed into the library, mugging away, months before exams. being an avid last-minute studying person, i was obviously horrified. but then i got my 3 As, so that proves you don't need to be a nerd to do well in school. kinda sad i don't really keep in touch with my JC friends, but i guess we never really had much in common anyway.

that being said, i love the surprise of finding an old friend on facebook, and looking at how they've changed over the years :)