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I’m an Aunt!

Everyone, say hello to baby Claire Ng Ding Yar! She arrived yesterday at 1420hrs at a healthy 3.3kg! My sister did a great job at pushing her out, without the help of any drugs might I add. Mummy and baby are happy and healthy and I can finally say that I am officially an Aunt!! She definitely has mummy’s lips and chubby little cheeks. It’s such a bummer, but because of my work schedule, I might not be able to go visit mother and baby in Singapore till mid July, I guess I’ll just make it in time for Claire’s one month old/full moon party. Meanwhile, i’ll continue on posting more pictures of this little angel as soon as I get my hands on more! 

It’s been almost a month since my last update and I’ve been so caught up with work the whole month went by in a bleep. I’m in the midst of obtaining my Open Water Scuba License (all sponsored for because it’s for work!! ). I have done a couple of dives back when I was shooting for ‘Teman’ but I only had a Discover Scuba Diving Cert and at that time, I wasn’t keen on getting a license because I thought I might not have the time to pursue diving as a hobby and I have a slight fear of fishes…..yes…..their eyes, their slimy texture, their O-shaped mouth just creeps me out! 

But during the past week, I’ve completed my confined water classes, passed my written exams with flying colours (100% yo!!) and now, I’m just waiting to go for my certification trip to Redang this weekend! The fear of fishes…well I guess I’ll just have to overcome that. I’m reading up on the internet about all the different aquatic life that I’ll be able to see in Redang, I guess if I try to make each dive more like a game of ‘identifying the marine life’, I’ll eventually forget about the fishes’ eyes and lips etc……let’s hope. :) 

Desmond from 8TV Chinese Content will be my buddy on this dive. 

You’ll be able to watch the GO! Scuba segment, 4 parts in all, on the Quickie sometime in July/August. And, you’ll want to pay attention because we’ll be giving away a couple of Scuba lessons to our lucky callers! If you’ve always wanted to try it out, this is your chance to do it for free! If you’re interested in finding out more, contact Lee (he’s our instructor and he teaches swimming as well as Scuba Diving) at 03-5630 1615 or go to their website: www.dolphinsportadventure.com.

This is it for now, till my next post, take care and be good!! 

Love, Bel

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Today’s THE day I turn 27!

Continuing on the post I wrote 2 months back- This is THE year, having set my mind up to learn new things and improve myself, here are some updates, just in time to usher in year 27 of my life:

Just when I completed the first half of my Mandarin classes with Wee Ping, my personal tutor (he used to be an 8TV presenter as well), I received news that I was confirmed for a role in a Mandarin TV series which will be aired on 8TV sometime later this year. This will be my first Mandarin TV role and although I won’t have much dialogue, the character is very complex and is the main character for that episode. We start shooting tomorrow and I’m a little anxious but very excited to learn more. Also, it’ll be a good stepping stone for me, to practice my Mandarin more and hopefully in future, get more acting roles in Mandarin series and films.

I’ve continued on with my running, but of course sometimes, with my schedule, I don’t always have time to train 3 times a week so I make it a point to run at least once a week for up to 30 minutes. I’ve also registered myself to run in the 5km Fun Run in the up coming Standard Chartered KL Marathon and hopefully I’ll be able to finish the course in 40 mins and receive a Certificate of Participation for my first ever marathon run. 

Besides the marathon, I’ve also signed on to be an advocate in  a “Fastathon” in my bid to do more for society. What is a ‘fastathon’ you ask? Well, it’s when we fast for a good cause and this cause comes in the form of World Vision’s 30-Hour Famine, which is a global movement against hunger and poverty. Participants, which can consist of individuals, associations, corporations, religious institution or any persons or groups who are passionate about irradicating poverty, will forego solid food for a period of 30 hours to put themselves in the shoes of people who live below poverty level and have to go on days without proper food. The actual Fastathon will happen end of August so for those of you who are interested in being apart of this cause, you can log on to www.worldvision.com.my to learn more on how you can contribute - whether monetary or voluntary. 

I just spent 3 days 2 nights with 29 other engaged couple in a convent for my Catholic Marriage Preparation Course (CMPC) and it was truly a wonderful experience. I just got back, literally, I’ve just put my bags down and switched on the computer and started writing this post, and although I’m tired and haven’t slept well, I feel a renewed sense of being. I’ve found my faith again this weekend, both in God and in my love for my partner whom I’ve pledged to spend the rest of my life with. It’s been a truly memorable birthday spent with my life partner and the One who will guide me through the rest of my life. 

Receiveing our Certificate of Completion from Rev. Fr. Daniel

It’s easy saying yes to getting married, but it’s a tough road staying married and engaged couple can get caught up in preparation for the wedding that they forget that it’s not about the wedding but about that one day when you decide to be one with each other for the rest of your lives.

Ok, enough with the philosophical talk for now coz I need to go get ready for my birthday dinner with my family! Thanks everyone for all the well wishes via SMS and facebook and telephone calls. Have a blessed week ahead!!

Love, Bel

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Road Trips

Sorry for the lack of updates. I wanted to blog last week but I’ve been really busy and I haven’t had a day off for 2 weeks now. The reason for our topic today is because I took 2 roadtrips in a week during the 1st week of May. Joe and I drove up to Lumut early that week, together with our photographers and makeup artist and went over to Pangkor Laut Resort for our pre-wedding photoshoot.

Behind the scenes at our pre-wedding photoshoot

And then that Labour Day weekend, my family and I drove to Singapore to see my sister who is now 6 weeks away from giving birth! We also had our first proper proper family photoshoot in Singapore. Got back that weekend and had flu, sore throat and fever - don’t worry, I went for a checkup at the hospital and I don’t have the H1N1 virus….just your common cold. Feeling much better now.

Our extended family….baby makes 7!

Anyways, although road trips can be pretty tiring, especially if you’re the driver, you get so much more out of the trip. You get freedom, to see whatever you want to see, stop wherever you want to stop, plus, you get to enjoy the scenary of the place and how the land changes from one state to the other. Sometimes, on road trips, you can even stumble upon gems that are off the beaten track. Not only that, you get to bond with whoever’s in the car with you, you get to talk and laugh and listen to your favourite tunes all at the same time and most of all, taking road trips saves you money from flying internally in a country.

Joe and I used to take a lot of road trips when we were back in Australia. We didn’t even own a car then, it was relatively cheap to rent a car there and one convenience about renting a car in OZ is that you can rent it one way! For example, you can rent the car in Sydney but return it in Melbourne! Driving around OZ was easy, all you need is a map book and if you have some sense of direction, you won’t get lost.

Hunter’s Valley in 2003

Port Stephens also in 2003. We found this secluded cove while just driving around and decided to stop to take pictures. Hidden gems like these, that are not on the map are hard to find if you rush through your trip.

While browsing through pictures for my wedding montage, I was reminded of my previous road trips around OZ, to Port Stephens and Hunter’s Valley in New South Wales and more recently, another road trip I took with my family in Perth, Western Australia.

The neverending open road….

With my family at the Pinnacles, Western Australia

One particularly memorable road trip during my days as a student in OZ was my one day trip to Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, early 2005. It was my final week in Sydney after being there for 3 whole years and I haven’t set foot in the Nation’s capital yet, so Joe and I decided, since it was just about 3 hrs away, to drive there in the morning and come back in the evening.

There were signs at every juncture, it’s pretty impossible to get lost!

Before we knew it, we were in Canberra!

Because it was a day trip, I did my research beforehand on all the places I had wanted to visit. A great place to visit to get all the information is the Visit Canberra website. Of course the Parliament House was one of the highlights.

The 81-metre flagpole at the Parliament House can be seen from afar. Did you know that the Australian flag placed on that flagpole is bigger than a double-decker bus?

Unfortunately, when we were there, the Parliament House was undergoing some renovations so we couldn’t go in to walk around. On normal days however, you can enjoy panoramic views of Canberra from the roof top or stroll through beautifully landscaped gardens and enjoy the renowned collection of Australian contemporary art, all for FREE here at the Parliament House.

Another place which I earmarked to visit while I was in Canberra was the Australian War Memorial. Let me tell you, this place is by far the most serenely beautiful place that I’ve ever been so far.

The beautifully manicured courtyard

The plaque reads, “Displayed around this courtyard are the names of the major theatres of war in which Australians have been engaged. These inscriptions are representative of battles and theatres of war in which Australians have died.”

The Wall of Fallen Soldiers (Roll of Honour)

There’s also several exhibition halls in the Australian War Memorial itself where you can see various military and war relics. There are several permanent exhibits there and one such exhibit is what they call the Dioramas.

These are actually model size of battles which happened at various places during the First World War. According to the official website, one of the memorial’s founder, Mr Charles Bean wanted the dioramas to be more than simply battlefield models. He saw them as works of art, a way of helping people in Australia to understand the devastation and danger of battle, and the sacrifice and sufferings of the people to whom the Memorial is dedicated.

There’s also an Aircraft Hall where you get up close and personal with life-size classic aircrafts and learn how airpower affected everyday life during the Second World War and the Korean War.

Entry into the Australian War Memorial is FREE! So, if you ever go to Canberra, you have to visit this place!

Right in the heart of city lies Lake Burley Griffin. We were driving around looking for a place to have lunch and we stumbled upon the picturesque lake with a view of the Parliament House. We decided to buy some sandwiches and had a little impromptu picnic by the lake.

At first we didn’t even know the name of the lake and its significance. It was until I got back to Sydney and researched later that I found out that the lake was named after the architect who designed the city of Canberra in 1911.

We were there mid day on a weekday so it was practically deserted, but in the evenings and weekends, lots of activities happen in and around the lake. You can rent a kayak or paddle boat and cruise on the lake or if you’re more of a land person, you can rent a bike and cycle around the lake to check out other monuments in Canberra located around the lake.

Other places we managed to squeeze into our itinerary of the day….

The Australian National University (ANU), granted I just graduated at that point but I wanted to check out the campus for fun…who knows…might go back there to study again?

The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) is where all of Australia’s top atheletes train and not a very popular tourist destination. But, I just wanted to catch a glimpse of Ian Thorpe in the pool I guess…hehehe….There are guided tours of the AIS at various times but Joe and I just missed the 90 min tour when we got there so we just walked around the area for a while before moving on. Caught this guy though doing the Butterfly though…

Since I was and Mass Comm & Film Major, I thought it’d be a sin if I miss out on the National Film and Sound Archive.

Entry is again FREE and it’s basically a museum of Australia’s collection of audiovisual history including discs, films, videos and artefacts such as old cameras, costume, props and memorabilia.

Like this antique Cinema Projector which you had to crank for the film to move…imagine all those years ago, someone actually had to do at just the right pace and most probably in a small room, so our ancestors can enjoy a movie.

One thing that I didn’t plan, was for the day to end so soon and before I could make it to the National Museum of Australia (NMA), it was already after 5pm and most places including the NMA was already closed. So anyways, on our drive out of the city, we saw a sign which pointed to a lookout and since we weren’t in a rush to get back anyways, we turned into the exit and ended up here…..Till now I don’t know the name of this lookout and can’t explain to you how you can get there, but you can see the whole city of Canberra from here!

It was definitely a great way to sum up my culturally enriching road trip, on the top of the Nation’s capital.

This post might’ve been a couple years late but Canberra, Sydney and the rest of Australia will always have a soft spot in my heart. I’ve always had this plan to move back there, especially when I have a family of my own…so who knows….. I might be blogging about more great Australian road trips in the future, the ones that I’ll be taking with my own kids.

If you are planning a trip to Australia soon, why not check this website out first. There are many different routes that you can take to discover the Land Down Under and you too can experience your own great Australian road trip!! 

Love, Bel

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Shout! Awards

You might’ve watched a local movie or TV Series recently and were impressed by it’s cinematography and story line, or maybe you’re a musician who thinks that your music deserves to be awarded, well then, maybe you should nominate them or yourselves for 8TV’s SHOUT! Awards.

8TV is coming up with the first-of-its-kind, hip and cool award show in July and we want you to send in your nominations!! There are 4 main categories and 16 awards altogether in contention. All production houses, channel owners and radio stations are eligible to nominate your own shows or personalities for the awards. Below are all the award categories up for grabs!

MUSIC

Rockstar Award (For the Best Rock Act)

Popstar Award (For the Best Pop Act)

Power Vocal Award (Powerful Vocals Awards)

Flava Award (Hip Hop / R&B Awards)

Break Out Award (Best New Act)  

TV + FILM

Best On Screen Chemistry (1 pair)

Fresh TV Series Award (New TV Series including Dramas and / or Sitcoms)

Breakthrough Film Award

Favorite TV Program (Non Drama)

Favorite TV Host  

RADIO

Coolest Radio Announcer

Favorite Radio Show  

THE WORKS

Stylo Award (Most Stylish Awards)

Hot Chick Award

Hot Guy Award

The Ultimate Shout! Award (The Ultimate TV/Music/Movie Personality of the Year!)

So start sending in your nominations now because the dateline for entry is the 30th April 2009. Once the nominations come in, a panel of  judges will choose 5 finalist out of the many entries to contest for each award. Then, it’ll be up to you, members of the public to vote for your favourite. For more information, you can log on to www.shoutawards.com.my. Stay tuned for more on the Shout! Awards here as well! Have a great week everyone!

Love, Bel

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Up, Up and Away!!

I was in Putrajaya last Thursday for the 1st Putrajaya Hot Air Balloon Fiesta. About 16 Hot Air Balloons from over 12 countries around the world flew over the skies of Putrajaya last weekend during this fiesta. Besides the Hot Air Balloons, they had an exhibition of other aviation sports like Para-Motor, Aero-Model and Kite Flying as well. Being in the Media, of course, I got a free ride!! I wasn’t expecting much, so I was truly surprised by the adventure that was my 1st hot air balloon experience. 

At work while the balloons behind me were all still deflated.

They use a heavy duty fan to first inflate the balloons.

We were so engrossed with our shoot, that the organizers had to rush us over to our balloon because it was already fully inflated and ready to fly! This picture was taken just before we had to run all the way across the field to get to our balloon before it took off!

We were in the Blue Balloon, Balloon No.2, from France. The basket can fit a maximum of 4 adults so Sasha (with the camera) came along with me for the ride, together with the 2 Frenchmen pilot and co-pilot (in black polo tees, Jean Marie- in basket, and Alain- outside basket on the left). All the other people were trying to stabilize the balloon before letting it fly! 

The view above me. The propane fire was so hot! It kinda singed a bit Sasha’s hair off coz he’s tall. Alain, the co-pilot told us that’s why he’s bald!

We have lift off!! The view as we were going up. We were the first balloon to take off that evening.

View from the top. We went up very fast and it was pretty scary coz you’re standing on a wicker basket with no room to move around, no safety harness and no parachutes. I was so afraid that my phone, which I was taking pictures with, might just accidently slip off my hands and fall 20 ft below.   

Silhouette of a lone balloon against the sunset

Besides the standard hot air balloons, there were some fun ones as well, like this one called Nelly B the Pink Elephant Balloon from Belgium. 

The Peacock Balloon from The Netherlands

Nescafe Mug Balloon from New Zealand

The Orange Balloon from Belgium

While we were flying further and further away from where we took off, I asked the pilot where we were gonna land and he said, in his very French accent, ” I dunno”. In my head I was thinking, what?!?What do you mean by, you don’t know!!  You’re suppose to be pilot-ing this thing!! So anyways, this was when the adventure started, the pilot tried to radio back to base to ask if he could fly over this hill coming up and he didn’t get a reply. He tried to radio another balloon, again, zilch. I started to panic a bit, our radio was not working!

So the pilot and co-pilot conferred in each other in French for a while and decided to fly over that hill. As we flew over the hill, I saw the other balloons one by one, slowly landing just before the hill. We passed the hill in one piece and were moving closer and closer into a construction workers’ settlement. Then, the pilot decided to land right where the settlement is, in the middle of nowhere. Just as we landed, all the Indonesian workers came out in their sarongs and towels to check everything out. I was a bit worried, thinking, oh no, they might want money from us or something for landing here.

But it turned out they were all really helpful, they helped pull and push our basket and balloon off a little cliff we were stuck on. They didn’t ask us for a single cent. It was just a bit of excitement for them, they all pulled out their ‘canggih’ mobile phones and started taking pictures, laughing at this little adventure of ours. We actually landed near this kampung and all the kampung folks who were at home, came out to check out all the commotion over a big blue balloon. We were suddenly surrounded by lots of people, all snapping away, asking questions, checking out the balloon and at that point I was also bitten to death by mosquitos. For a moment there, I thought we were never going to be found and might have put a night in the kampung coz we were really in the middle of nowhere, I couldn’t even explain to the person whom I had to call, where we were.  Anyways, cut the long story short, we were found about 40 minutes later, we packed up and were driven back to the take off site. 

It was truly an adventure for me. I have to say though, the ride was a tad bit too short, and coz we were flying over Putrajaya, it wasn’t as scenic as it would’ve been if we were flying over KL City. But it was fun nonetheless. Remember to check out the edited clip of my Hot Air Balloon adventure next week on the Quickie!! The organizers promised to bring this fiesta back again next year so stay tuned for more updates on the Quickie. 

By the way guys, it’s only a day left to Earth Hour. Remember, on Saturday, 8:30pm - 9:30pm, switch off all your lights to vote for earth! If you’re not sure what to do for an hour in the dark, do take the public transportation down to KL, the Quickie team will be in Capsquare, there are plenty of things happening around Bukit Bintang and KL Tower as well as 1U and the Curve. So bring your family and friends out of the house, and be apart of this momentous occasion. 

Love, Bel