EDRIC HSU

off to burma...

2009-09-04T14:48:49Z

Hey folks!

MUCH apologies for my extended absence on this blog, and my only excuse is... I have been posting it all on Facebook, and didn't have the spare energy (nor motivation) to split all the resources and post here too. And also, I'm not sure who's still reading this...

But rest assured, I'm still well, alive and kicking in Singapore (for now anyways)...

Here's a very brief summary of what transpired after I'd left for South Africa...

I was there to shoot a US mini tv series called "The Philanthropist", and in it, I played two minor roles: a Burmese citizen as well as a Burmese soldier. I had the time of my life there, and enjoyed the shoot very much. We were all treated like stars and were given great care throughout the shoot, and we got to go on 2 safaris...

And then of course, I had to get my bag stolen right under my nose. Lost my wallet and phone (as well as another production phone), but glad my passport was found with the empty bag in a nearby trash can. Who goes to South Africa to visit the police station? Me!

Anyway, after I came back, life went back to normal, with my usual illustrations and graphic design gigs and the occasional voiceover recordings and film jobs, and pretty much nothing new to report...

Until now!

Perhaps inspired by having played Burmese characters in the above shoot (I learned to scold people in Burmese!), and when another two friends said they are planning a trip to Myanmar (Burma) this year, I jumped at the chance to tag along!

So, right now I'm packing my bags as I type this, and getting ready to hop onto the flight to Yangon (Rangoon) the next morning (Saturday 7.30+am flight) with Darren and Michelle!

But firstly, I wanna thank Eusri for kindly volunteering to bring us all three from the west to the airport, and to Patrick for lending me his Lonely Planet guide...

I'll be in Burma from 5th to 12th September 2009, and will be offline and uncontactable in the meantime...

And this time, I've made sure I got travel insurance! :)

Photos of the trip will be posted on my Facebook and Flickr albums when I'm back (and I promise I'll blog regularly or more often again!), but I've already taken some in preparation of the trip. So here they are:

... On The Road To Mandalay ...

And please, leave no political jokes or comments whatsoever here, ok? :-)

Thwa Ba Oun Meh (Bye)!

off to south africa...

2009-04-23T14:07:08Z

Last week I went for a last minute casting for a minor role in a new foreign TV series, and the good news is...

I got the part!!!

Well, I can't say much about it as yet, as you know how such stuff tends to be pretty hush-hush...

But I can say this...

The shoot will be done at...

!!! South Africa !!!

And so, in an hour's time, I'll be making my way over to Changi Airport, and will meet up with a few other local actors, before flying over together to Cape Town...

To say it's a dream come true is an understatement, but this particular opportunity couldn't have arrived at a better time...

I shall be back home next Saturday (2nd May) morning...

In the meantime, I probably will be offline for the whole trip...

I've still got an hour to pack, but my spirit is already on its way there!

Wish me luck!!!

:-)

watashi no namae wa edorikku desu...

2009-04-19T17:26:12Z

Once again, I have not been spending enough time on this blog and other similar sites. Facebook have now become my main means of keeping in touch with friends and for posting regular updates. But I am still rather reluctant to let go of this blog, for it has a good several years of my life in it, and it doesn't matter if anyone's reading it or not, it was still a big part of my life then...

I shall go with the flow and see how it goes... but please first accept my apologies if I have been very late in responding to your comments...

In the meantime, I finally have something worth blogging about...

Several weeks ago, my ex-classmate from secondary school roped me in to sign up for an elementary level Japanese course at Bunka Language School...

And today, well technically yesterday, was the first lesson!

The last time I'd learned Japanese was during my teens, and although I was pretty good at it while it lasted, I had given back all that stuff years ago. But it's all coming back to me now!

The class was taught by Takahashi Sensei, and there were 14 students altogether...

Out of this, only my friend, Chia Zyn, and myself, were guys. Aren't other guys interested in learning languages? What happened?

Anyway, the course was rather fast paced, as could be expected from this new system that's been touted as one of the fastest way to learn the language, and we were given many exercises and homework to do, covering conversations, writing and reading...

I love learning new languages, and I hope by the time I visit Japan again next year, I would be fluent and conversant enough to venture on my own without the help of any English! :-)

Last but not least, of course, here are the photos of my class:

Bunka
Lesson #1

More pics here:

Photos from My Japanese Class

perfectly imperfect...

2009-04-03T20:59:41Z

Do you love your loved ones because they are perfect?

Or because they are perfectly imperfect?

Check out Yasmin Ahmad's latest advert for MCYS...

Funeral

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nw0s4C0g5SM

let mother earth breathe for an hour...

2009-03-28T12:23:07Z

Support Earth Hour
Turn Off All Your Power Sources
Tonight
8.30pm to 9.30pm

*

It's all about creating the awareness
and showing you want to make the world a better place
And it's not that hard, really

You don't have to do it if you don't want to,
but if you do, do it with the right intentions.
Do it because you do care about
the ailing
Mother Earth

It WILL make a difference.

when there's nobody in the office

2009-03-07T18:06:54Z

Nobody
In The Office

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTZ7aGF_BRE

watashi wa nihongo o benkyo shimas...

2009-02-27T15:30:11Z

Phew! Several weeks had passed already since I last blogged an entry here, but the truth is, it's not like I've been busy with much. Just the usual illustrating and voiceover jobs...

I am kinda enjoying the lull, although it is slightly verging on slothfulness...

But things are about to change, for in order to counteract my inertia, I have decided to get my act together and start learning again!

So today, together with my former schoolmate Jiajun, I signed up at Bunka Language Pte School for their Elementary Japanese Course (EL1)!

The first and last time I took classes in Japanese was with my siblings back in the late 80s, at the nearby community centre, but although that was a rather good thing at that time, we didn't actually get to use what we'd learned...

I'd always wanted to pursue that further, and what better time than now?

The 8 x 3hr sessions of the EL1 course commence only in mid April, and I intend to carry on with EL2 etc and take it as far as I could muster and afford, to prepare for my Japan trip next April...

I think there should be enough time, and fun to last a while! ;-)

Ganbatte ne!!!

情人结...

2009-02-13T18:08:28Z

...

情人节
是为了
正在恋爱中的人
所设计的

就像
母亲节是给母亲的
儿童节是给儿童的
教师节是给教师的

如果你
不是个妈妈
不是个小孩
也不是个老师
当这些日子到来时
难道你会因为
不是人家的妈
人家的娃娃
或人家的老师
而觉得郁闷?

那么
如果你并不在恋爱中
当情人节来到时
你又为何要
为自己的单身和自由
而感到惆怅?

反正
所谓的
情人节
根本就不关
单身人士
的事

反正
没有情人
总好过做
无情的人
...

25 random things about edric hsu...

2009-01-30T17:03:08Z

There's this thing being passed around on Facebook where everyone's starting to share 25 little tidbits about themselves and getting to know each other better.

I won't tag anyone here since I'd already done it over at my Facebook notes, but do feel free to write 25 random stuff about yourself in your own blog too!

I didn't expect to get so longwinded in my entry, but it ended up looking like a summary of my life story... oh well! LOL

So anyway, for anyone who's interested in such things, here's...

25 Random Things About Edric Hsu

01] Some people still call me "Eddie", or "Ed" for short, and it's the name my Mum gave me when I was born.

02] I became "Edric" after secondary school, as I didn't like my old timid self before that, and I wanted to have a "different" future. ("Edric" apparently means "a rich king" in Olde English).

03] I was a talkative baby, so to shut me up during mealtimes, my late Granny would feed me little spoonfuls of her brandy.

04] I've always been fair, but as a kid, I also had brown eyes, fine brown hair and lots of freckles, and my neighbours would call me the "Angmoh Kia" ("Caucasian kid").

05] I had my first kiss and puppy love in primary school, with a pretty talented girl from my class. We were too shy to do anything. Zzz...

06] I almost died in a high fever when I was about four, after being bitten by a huge red ant while taking photos at the Haw Par Villa (I was posing on top of a statue of a giant red ant, go figure). After that I started "seeing things"...

07] People thought I used to behave weirdly and talk to myself a lot as a kid, but I was actually having conversations with "spirits". I didn't even know they were "spirits" until later.

08] So yeah, I "could see dead people". Thankfully, not anymore. But I could still feel their presence sometimes.

09] It might also have something to do with my eyes, for after the fever incident, I started to develop these weird divergent eyes (also called the "lazy eye syndrome"), and had to undergo three separate surgeries to correct this. If not I would eventually go blind.

10] But because of my divergent eyes, I could see a wider peripheral vision than normal kids, giving me a huge advantage when playing hide-and-seek, or other such events. That's how I could see the weird spirit stuff that goes on from the corner of my eyes.

11] During one of my eye surgeries (I think I was in Sec 1), I actually slipped at the hospital's shower and hit my nose on the tap. As a result, I had a deviated nasal septum and a higher nose bridge!

12] I chose to "celebrate" my 21st birthday in hospital to correct the above-mentioned deviated nasal septum, so that I could breathe easier, and also to take a break from my army training.

13] All through my teenage years, I harboured thoughts of killing myself in different ways, but I'm still alive because I just couldn't decide on the best method. I think it's something to do with my being a Scorpio.

14] I was a terribly shy kid, but the only time I wasn't shy, was when I sing. So I joined school choirs, competed in and won various singing competitions as a way to get rid of my stage fright.

15] I also started working part-time, not only to earn extra cash for my studies, but to boost my own self confidence and courage. My first job was at Burger King, and I helped set up the outlet at the then new OUB Centre in 1986. I remember memorizing my schoolwork while packing burgers. My counter sales was excellent; my school results not so much...

16] I had a very wide vocal range during my school days, and I could sing all the parts from bass to second soprano.

17] But after all that shouting of commands during my Basic Military Training (BMT), I became a baritone-tenor. I could still do a mean falsetto though.

18] During BMT, I also encountered another horrific incident with the supernatural world, and it gave me my second high fever and I had to be sent to the hospital via the army medical centre's mini-bus.

19] On the way to the hospital, the above mini-bus broke down while collecting blood samples at the Central Manpower Base (CMPB), and I was asked to wait an hour while the driver repaired the punctured tyre. During that hour, I bumped into Babes Conde, who's the musical director of the SAF Music & Drama Company (MDC), and she asked me to audition for her there and then.

20] Despite my high fever, I passed the audition by singing "Memory" from "Cats", although I was actually singing the Chyi Yu version. LOL

21] I only got posted into the MDC as a full time artiste a year later, after learning how to drive a three-tonner truck at the transport camp, and spending half a year as a service medic.

22] At the transport camp and medical centre, and even in MDC, I was asked to help design posters and create comic strips and illustrations for them. Those were generally well received, and it became my other passion. It's funny how Fate works, but that's how I "trained" to be doing what I'm doing right now.

23] After the army, I worked a couple of years at the Housing Development Board of Singapore as a draftsman, and singing at gigs on the side, and eventually saved up enough to get myself into Queensland University of Technology, in Brisbane, Australia. It was the best time of my life, and definitely a life-changing experience, and that's also when I got bitten by the travel bug.

24] For a decade, I'd paid my dues working day jobs in Architecture, and later on, an IT firm, all the while acting, singing and dancing in the nights and during weekends.

25] I wish to retire early, either in Australia, or in one of the lovely islands of Greece, such as Corfu.

:-)

summer heights high...

2009-01-30T07:25:08Z

Recently, my friend Ernest introduced this awesomely hilarious Australian comedy to us, and it's called "Summer Heights High"...

We watched the first four episodes out of eight in the first season's specially-imported DVD, and already can't wait to get our hands on future seasons!

Written, produced, directed and starring the amazingly talented, award-winning, Chris Lilley, this show pokes a lot of fun at life in a fictional Aussie public school...

The main characters include a limp-wristed drama (queen) teacher Mr. G, a 12-year-old Polynesian troublemaking boy Jonah Takalua, and a 16-year-old popular private school girl Ja'mie King, who just got "downgraded" into this public school... who all just "happened" to look alike! ;-)

And after reading disjecta's entry on this show, I felt I should do my part as well, and share these videos available on Youtube to those who are not so um, privileged...

Just kidding! :P

Check these out...

Summer Heights High

(Click Here If You Can't See The Above Playlist)

Warning:

Don't watch if you're easily offended, close-minded, or too young for such stuff...

:-P

梦...

2009-01-28T19:53:00Z

梦

我爱做梦

在我的梦境里
我也许是老鹰
无忧无虑，飞扬在天边云间
我也许是骏马
无拘无束，奔驰在辽阔原野
我也许是海豚
自由自在，游乐于浩瀚海底

我爱幻想

在我的想像中
我可以当歌手
弹着吉它，以歌声扣人心弦
我可以当画家
天马行空，绘画出心中所愿
或是旅游作家
相机与笔，陪伴到海角天涯

在我所有的梦境里
我都是一个独行侠
从来不曾有人相伴

可是我从不觉孤单
也不怕独自游走
只求有朝一日
能脱离尘土
找到自己
梦中的
天堂

special start to the year of the ox...

2009-01-26T23:48:50Z

26th January 2009 was a special day indeed, not just because it was the first day of the Chinese New Year, but also my sister Alain's birthday...

On top of that, we witnessed the partial solar eclipse that occured during the late afternoon!

Although this certainly wasn't the first solar eclipse in our lifetime, it was the first time we were able to see something...

I wasn't able to capture any photos of the actual eclipsed sun directly with just my usual camera equipment, but I had learned that by using the "Pinhole" projection method - using a piece of paper with a hole in it to "project" the image of the eclipse onto another piece of paper, we could view the eclipse safely without injuring our eyes in the process...

And here are the photos I took of my nieces, Sheryl and Shermaine, trying out this method, while my brother Eric held the "Pinholes"...

Partial Solar Eclipse 2009

Clouds obscuring the partial solar eclipse...

Sheryl and Shermaine with the four projected partial solar eclipses...

Four partial solar eclipses...

A closer look...

The above photos were taken around 4.45pm to 4.50pm (Singapore time), which was a whole hour before the supposed full effect of the eclipse, by which time the sun was not only 72% covered by the moon, the whole thing was obscured by thick clouds...

Still, it was a lot of fun!

Will post more about the food we ate for the Chinese New Year in the upcoming posts, so do stay tuned... :-)

welcoming in the happy new ox year...

2009-01-25T16:44:16Z

Finally, the Happy Ox has arrived!!!

I wish everyone reading this will enjoy...

A
Happy
Blessed
Healthy
Creative
Beautiful
Abundant
Prosperous
& Wonderful
Year of the Ox!!!

Edric Hsu

Bryan Gan

The above image was created for Bryan's Omhealth blog: http://bryanomhealth.blogspot.com/
Click on the pics to access the bigger versions through my Flickr pages!

random sights through more jelly eyes...

2009-01-15T22:41:30Z

After having fun taking photos with the two Jelly Lenses I bought off the web, and having known that Action City is selling it too (cheaper!), I decided to add a couple more Jelly Lenses to my collection...

So when squido was out shopping for these cool little gadgets the other day, I asked him to help me buy too...

Here's what I got...

More Jelly Lenses

Random Sights Through Jelly Eyes

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Above are shots taken with the 3 Image Mirage and Starburst Jelly Lenses, at the Church of Sacred Heart...

My verdict:

These ones bought from Action City seemed to be less "sticky" than the ones I got from grannysnaps. But still great for providing more fun options in photo-taking. Pretty cool effects despite the strong tunnel-like vignetting caused by the lenses' translucent plastic bodies... which could be cropped off or eliminated by zooming...

I like!!!

random sights through jelly eyes...

2009-01-11T20:42:52Z

To add on to my current crave for some slightly off-beat photography, and to my collection of plastic toy cameras, I have recently gotten hold of a couple of interesting lenses from grannysnaps to give my random snaps a quirky twist and some special effects...

These are called "Jelly Lenses", and they look like cute mobile phone accessories. But when you peel off the back cover from the sticky "jelly" adhesive pads, you could stick them onto the lenses of your mobile phones and digital compact cameras...

The special effects for the different lenses include: Wide Angle, Spark, Stretch, Mirage, Heart (with colour filter), Star (with colour filter), Starburst, etc...

For now, I have the Wide Angle and Spark lenses, and they look like this...

Jelly Lenses

And here are the effects of both the Wide Angle and the Spark Jelly Lenses (see if you could tell them apart), taken over the past few days at various locations (image intensive)...

Random Sights Through Jelly Eyes

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The quality of images after applying the Jelly Lens might not be the best, but nonetheless, it's a lot of fun!

And for S$6-15 each, depending on where you get it from, it's very affordable!

my current camera collection...

2009-01-09T03:04:39Z

I love being in front of the camera, after all it's part of my job!

But I also enjoy being behind the lens...

I have always been an avid fan of photography, and as with many other things in my life, my motto is to keep things simple, basic, carefree and at a low-budget...

Although digital cameras will always remain as my priority tool, at the moment I am completely fascinated with cameras that are a bit left of centre...

Also, I absolutely love the Lomo style of photo-taking, with no rules, and with the simplest of equipment. The photos don't even need to be clear or sharp!

From a heavy vintage camera from the 50s, to a plastic action sampler, to my camera phone, basically anything goes to capture that fleeting fond memory...

So, I'd made a sort of inventory of the active cameras I have at hand, and in no particular order, here's...

My Camera Collection
January 2009

Clockwise from Top Left:

1) Samoca 35 III - a 3rd hand Japanese camera from the 1950s, it's my latest acquisition from Weidong. S$50.

2) Polaroid Amigo 610 - this 2nd hand camera (70s?) obtained from a flea market in Brisbane was a Christmas gift by Eusri.

3) Praktica Sport - found this 80s Panorama camera at my neighbourhood film processing shop. S$20.

4) Holga 135 BC - this plastic toy camera was my birthday present, also from Eusri, who'd included the Holga 12 MFC flash unit.

5) Quad Cam Galaxy (35mm 4 Lens Action Camera) - a Korean plastic toy camera that I'd bought from Granny Snaps!. S$35.

6) Split-Cam Image Fusion - yet another plastic toy camera, from China, with image manipulation capabilities, also from Granny Snaps!. S$39.

7) Fujifilm F40FD - my trusty one-and-a-half year old 8.3 megapixel digital camera that I never leave home without. S$447.

8) Nokia N78 - my 3.2 megapixel mobile phone camera, which takes pretty good photos despite its limitations. S$298.

I have yet to play with the Quad Cam Galaxy, the Split-Cam, the Polaroid (which is already destined to be a display unit), or the Samoca, but I'll come around to them soon enough when I get the chance...

I did, however, bring the Praktica Sport and my Holga 135 BC out for a walk just the other day, and will be posting the pics I took with them soon after this...

In the meantime, anyone here who liked the results of my photography and wishes to contribute to my hobby in any way, or have already done so, will be greatly appreciated! :-)

how i started my 2009...

2009-01-01T15:56:59Z

Fireworks from Mount Faber Hill at the very beginning of 2009

my 2008...

2008-12-31T15:20:17Z

Phew!

Finally, a year of mixed emotions, uncertainties, and crazy work schedules has come to an end, and a fresh new start awaits right around the corner, a couple of hours away...

I had more or less cut down on a lot of excesses, be it in clubbing, food, shopping or other unnecessary expenditures, and I hardly go out much these days, but it hasn't been an easy year for me, that's for sure...

Well, as they say, it can only make me stronger and a better person...

So before we go on to an exciting 2009, here's a quick glance back at some note-worthy events of in...

My 2008

* Travelled to Phuket (January), Hokkaido and Tokyo (February) and Bangkok for Songkran (April)...

* Acted in Channel U's "Perfect Cut" and Mediacorp's all-new "Red Thread" drama series, Kid's Central's (or was that Okto?) supernatural-themed "Moon Face II" series, as well as in the "Behind Closed Doors" documentary drama series. Another series that I appeared in is "The Ring", for the Singapore Prison Services...

* Acted in my first stage production after two years, "Das Experiment: Black Box"...

* Appeared in the trailer ad for "A Nation In Concert", as well as a TVC for "The Bank of New York Mellon" (shown overseas), and KFC's "Chinese New Year 2009" ad, and Land Transport Authority's "Mr. Buckle Up" ads for 2009...

* One of my stock images was selected for the poster of a huge bank chain in Taipei, the Taiwan Shin Kong Commercial Bank...

* I recorded voiceovers for "Snow City Singapore" and "Magic - The Science of Illusion Show" for Science Centre Singapore commercials, as well as sung the rap jingle for the "Mr Buckle Up" ad which will be shown to school children in 2009...

* I have been providing weekly illustrations for Bryan's "I-Weekly" articles on Health and Beauty, and finally developing a comfy drawing style of my own...

* I designed concert posters, flyers and programme booklets for DynamicWorkz, for their "Cello & Piano Duo Recital by Joshuan Roman & Benjamin Loh" and "Beethoven Complete Piano Sonatas" concerts...

* I'd met up with long-lost school mates from my River Valley High School days, as well as from Queensland University of Technology where I studied...

* I'd brought friends from Taipei from the popular Indie band, Sodagreen, all around Singapore, as shown in my "Local Sights Through Foreign Eyes" series, and in return, they treated me to the "Sodagreen - Sing With Me Tour" concert at the Max Pavilion...

* I experimented in photo shoots of my own, ranging from "The Dark Side", "Light Sketches", to my "Pseudo Lomo", "Emo Nemo" and "Merman" series...

* To create a higher profile for myself in the acting and commercial industry, I signed up for an Official Artist Profile on AliveNotDead.com, an international website that caters to all performers and their supporters...

* I have been considerably less active on Livejournal, and more on Facebook. In fact, you can almost always find me on the latter site..

* I have lost many "supposed" friends (but well, that's no real loss anyway) through their own self-expose, but I have also made some really nice new ones. I am truly grateful to those of you who have gifted me with your unconditional friendship!

* I have had numerous computer trouble, but thanks to squido and stingerx, as well as my old friend Bryan Gan, I am now able to type out this entry smoothly and without problems. Touch wood!

* I am spending a lot more time on my own, which is really very nice, and also with my family, which can never be replaced...

I have probably a lot more I could add, but for now, this will suffice...

That's already plenty of activity and events for a year that I was supposed to "do nothing"! :-)

I am looking forward to a wonderfully fresh and exciting new year in a few moments, so for now, I want to wish everyone reading this...

Have A Wonderfully Blessed 2009!!!

emo nemo #005 - randoms...

2008-12-25T14:57:36Z

Firstly, let me wish everyone here a Merry Christmas and may everyone have a Wonderful New Year ahead!!!

I'd been neglecting my Emo Nemo series for a while (since September actually), but besides the usual busy schedule excuse, it's also mostly because film photography on a simplistic Holga toy camera requires good natural lighting... something that's not really happening in our "tropical winter" rainy seasons...

Anyway, my friend Bryan requested a photo shoot at the gardens for him and some of his products (mostly on his own camera) to post on his Omhealth website and blog, so I took that opportunity to bring along my Emo Nemo...

And here are the results:

Emo Nemo 005
Holga 135 BC
Lomography X-Pro Slide 100
Cross-Processed Slides

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Hope you like these!

You can also visit my other Lomo-style pics here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/myemonemo/

Constructive comments and feedback only please! :-)

my photo visited taiwan before me...

2008-12-19T08:34:54Z

Wow, can't imagine how time flew by these past few weeks. I'd thought after "Das Experiment", I would be out of work for a bit, and could stretch my legs and spread my wings... so to speak... and just enjoy a good year-end break...

But apparently, Fate had other more exciting plans for me!

Besides my usual illustration gigs, I also got jobs for recording voiceovers for TV and cinema ads for the Science Centre Singapore as well as Snow City, and also got cast in a music video ad to teach school children about certain aspects of road safety! I even landed my first (minor) "recurring" role in a new English local drama series, "Red Thread"!

More about that in upcoming posts!

I'd also found time to catch a few movies, and would highly recommend everyone go watch the Malaysian film, "Muallaf", and the Taiwanese surprise hit movie, "Cape No. 7"!

I'd long wanted to visit Taiwan, especially after watch "Cape No. 7", but I had never yet found the opportunity to set foot there...

So imagine my surprise and amusement when my Taiwanese friend, Frank, called me the other day and asked me if I had been to Taipei recently...

Apparently, he saw my face on a bank billboard advertisement in Taipei!

Anyway, he took a few photos of that ad and emailed me, and here they are...

Taiwan Shin Kong Commercial Bank

Above images taken by Frank

This image was taken off the bank's website

Well! To think that my photo visited Taiwan even before I did! LOL

Haha, it turned out the image that the bank had chosen for their ad was from one of my earlier stock images photo shoots with Asia Images studio, and taken by the photographer Cedric Lim...

Although the stock images shoot was fun and a rather good source of income, of course, I'd much rather have been cast for that ad and have it shot in Taiwan (and get due payment for that!)...

Anyway, I'll be back here posting more stuff and especially my back-log of tons of photos, so be warned!! :)

underwater...

2008-12-06T19:29:42Z

In addition to the set of underwater photos in my previous entry, I also got my friend Stan to take a video footage of me swimming...

Being immersed fully in a body of water gives me the greatest pleasure and peace, and I have always wanted a little something to represent that feeling...

So, out of the blue (so to speak), I've decided to create the following video clip with all the resources from yesterday's shoot and my very first attempt at using Windows Movie Maker...

Hope you will enjoy it...

UNDERWATER
-Edric Hsu

Your constructive comments and feedback are most welcome!

the return of the merman...

2008-12-05T21:51:36Z

A photographer friend, Stan Ngo (check out: www.dragonshutter.com), who's now based in Sydney has just returned to Singapore for a break, and after shooting a couple of female models in the day, he invited me to do some test shots for him...

We were trying to come up with different ideas and themes for the photo shoot, and I thought since I am such a water freak, why not do an underwater shoot for the fun of it?

Thankfully, he knows someone who stays at a new condo with a nice big swimming pool that's relatively empty...

Just in case, I decided to use my own Fujifilm Finepix F40fd instead of his expensive DSLR camera, and I managed to find a waterproof bag (kinda like one of those specially designed Ziploc bags) for cameras that allows for underwater photo-taking!

So, here are the results (with a little bit of "mermanish" effects created by yours truly)...

The Return of the Merman

The images would have been much clearer and sharper if we had used the DSLR and with a proper underwater casing, but I kinda like the surreal effect here...

Will experiment with more such stuff soon, when I have the time... :-)

Anyway, as always, all my photos are not to be distributed or re-used without permission...

das experiment: black box - shut down...

2008-11-29T20:58:10Z

Finally, for now, the show's over...

It's been an intense ride throughout the rehearsal process and the actual stage run, as anyone who'd watched the show could attest to, and in some ways, it has taken a toll on me...

It's nothing short of like having lived another person's life for that amount of time, with a full roller-coaster ride of ups and downs. And mine certainly wasn't an easy character to flesh out in the whole scheme of things...

But it's been a really great learning experience for me, and I am very honoured and pleased to have worked with such a talented cast and production team...

There's even talk of bringing this show to Kuala Lumpur next year, but of course, for that to happen, we will have a lot more polishing up to do...

I will definitely miss all of them, and have absolutely no idea how my life would be again without these people...

Anyway, we've just had our closing party and things was great and ended up just crazy. But those photos will appear in the next entry...

For now, here's a special shot of the entire cast, director, producer, and writer of...

Das Experiment: Black Box

L-R: Sazali, Jimmy, Andrew, Karl, Koey, Claude, Theo, Chandran, Gerald,
Mario, Beatrice, Samantha, Rodney, Rick, Oliver, Jonathan and Edric

Pretty cool eh? ;-)

Will post a bigger version of the above image when I have it...

Meanwhile, it's time for me to get some rest...

my upcoming tvcs...

2008-11-28T10:34:58Z

It's been a crazy past few weeks, and most of my energy was spent on the play, "Das Experiment: Black Box"...

There are only two more shows left, that is, for tonight and tomorrow. So those who'd yet to catch our performance, please don't miss it!!!

Besides working on this highly intense play, I'd also made full use of my day time to be involved in two more upcoming television commercials this week...

The first TVC I did a couple of days ago was a voiceover recording for Science Centre Singapore, which will be aired on selected channels (like Kids Central, I think) very soon...

Here are a couple of photos I took at Caleb Wong Studio...

Science Centre Singapore TVC
VO Recording

L-R: John Tan, Edric Hsu and Caleb Wong

Caleb's home-based but very well equipped studio

And filmed yesterday, my latest TVC was for Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC), by McCann Erickson Advertising and The Reel Thing Productions, which will be aired during the next Chinese New Year...

Come meet my new "family"...

KFC CNY 2009 TVC

L-R: Mr Teo (Grandfather), Yvonne Khong (Grandmother), Vanese Ng (Mother), Keena Ouh (Daughter) and Edric Hsu (Father)

Mr Teo and Yvonne with the director, Lum Chee Kin

Vanese and I with the director, Chee Kin

My latest "wife", Vanese

My latest "daughter", Keena

My latest "mother", Yvonne

Producer Jo Lee, Vanese Ng, make-up artiste Doreen, and I

My latest "family" sans "grandmother"...

Slate Info

Director of Photography Leang Lung See

Location

Okay, I gotta rush to the theatre for the 2nd last show now!

Will post more stuff later! :-)

das experiment - todayonline's review...

2008-11-17T15:33:01Z

We've had three very intense and exciting shows so far since our opening night, yet each show felt so different...

It's just like an unseen creature that feeds on itself and grows organically to adapt to various situations that occurs...

Well, it's not a short run, but it WILL end on 29th November, so I really hope nobody will miss out on this roller-coaster ride that might or might not happen again so soon in our local theatre...

For those who are still making up their minds, here's a review of our show...

Today Online's Review of
Das Experiment: Black Box
17th November 2008

Putting the "behind" in "behind the scenes"

(Source: http://www.todayonline.com/pdf_open.asp?id=1711MVR035)

Will be removing the comments feature on this entry, so that those who wish to give your honest feedback and comments, can leave them all over here:

AUDIENCE'S REVIEWS AND FEEDBACK

:-)