Wow…it is seriously getting harder and harder to access various websites here in China, and this includes my own site here! China has got The Great Wall, and now they’ve got these increasingly steeper and all-encompassing “Great Firewall” for all of us to contend with! It’s already impossible to log onto Twitter, Youtube, Facebook, and other Western social media sites without a VPN, but I never expected it would become so agonizingly slow to even get to my own website. Oh well…we do what we can with the tools we have been given, right?
Other than spending more time than I would like trying to weave around China’s Firewall, I’ve also had the pleasure to do a bit of traveling recently, and that included being invited to Kuala Lumpur once again. Malaysia Airports had organized an “Indulge to Win” contest for airport shoppers at any six of their international shoppers. The concept is simple…just spend at least RM 250, and you stand a chance to win an RM 1,000,0000 Shopping Spree. And just the other week, I had the pleasure of announcing the big winner out of the seven finalists. Needless to say, the “1,000,000 Indulger” was more than happy to go a seriously major shopping spree at any of the various shops at the airport. The other six finalists didn’t win the big grand prize, but I think they were also quite happy to win RM 10,000 each to shop too.
I always enjoy heading to Malaysia, and it was extra special time at KLIA with all these big time winners. Once the festivities were over, it was time to get set for my first Men’s Health cover shoot in Malaysia. I’ll plan to post up some of the shots from that shoot in my next entry. Until then, have a good one and don’t forget to do some major shopping at Malaysia Airports cuz you just might be their next “One Million Indulger” next time!
It’s been a pretty crazy last few weeks of work and travel, and I just happened to have a day back in Shanghai to change out the wardrobe before I fly off tomorrow morning to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to make an appearance for the “Indulge to Win” competition at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport KLIA. Before then, it’s been fun returning to Singapore for a short stop and reuniting with fellow Fly Entertainment artistes at Nylon magazine’s one year anniversary party…
During this time back in Singapore, I also had the pleasure of watching Pangdemonium’s newest theatrical production “Rabbit Hole” starring Adrian Pang and Janice Koh. I remember watching the movie version a while back, but the subject of losing a child certainly takes on a much deeper impact when you are a parent oneself. Life just seems so much more meaningful and richer…even without the need for more money! Hah!
From Singapore, I made a quick stop in Hong Kong to meet a director for a potential film role, but the best part was finally catching up with my old (but still young) acting buddies Hong Kong movie star Daniel Wu and Terence Yin. I still remember meeting them in Hong Kong on the streets of Causeway Bay in 1998, and it’s always nice to be able to catch up with them. Like I always remember…you can always make new friends, but you can’t make new old friends!
After a one night turnaround in Hong Kong, I flew back to Shanghai for the day before assuming hosting duties for the third stop of the 2013 Porsche Carrera Cup Asia PCCA racing season in Zhuhai. I worked on the entire 2012 PCCA season, and it’s always a pleasure to work with Porsche China on the most prestigious and biggest single car make racing circuit in Asia!
…and with the blazing speed of a Porsche Carrera Cup GTIII Cup, my newest BFF “Michelin Mini Man” and I had to bid farewell to a fun-tastic weekend!
As always, the best part of a trip is always returning home and walking home to touching messages from my beloved children…
I love you, Sage and Jonas!!!
And now…it’s time to change the underwear, socks, shirts, and pants for my next journey to KL tomorrow morning! Have a good one and maybe I’ll see ya there!
Last weekend, the newest season of the Porsche Carrera Cup Asia began its first race in China. After making a stop in Sepang, Malaysia, a few weeks earlier, the drivers were tearing up the tracks during the same weekend as the Formula One in Shanghai. This year happens to also be the ten year anniversary celebration for the Porsche Carrera Cup Asia so you know everyone is really revved and pumped up for an exhilarating time ahead. Of course, nothing happens overnight including the set up for the gala dinner and official launch party so it’s interesting to see everything come together literally overnight just in time for the guests…
As the dancers practiced their routine for the night’s performance…
…the events team was busy getting everything set up.
As everyone worked late into the night, we were fortunate there was a delicious New York Style Pizza in the proximity so twenty boxes of the finest pizza in Shanghai were sent to us for nourishment…
And before you knew it, everything was in place…minus my suit!
So again, it was time to suit up and get on stage to officially welcome everyone to another big season for the PCCA with my co-host Paisley Hu!
As I’ve said before, it’s not always easy having to get in front of everyone and MC in both English and Mandarin with various “distractions,” but somebody’s gotta do it…
…and I look forward to doing it again next month in Zhuhai!
Last week, I had the pleasure of flexing those bilingual jaw muscles once again as I hosted Moet & Chandon’s gala launch event to officially announce their newest brand ambassador. As with all these large events, the client always requests me to arrive much much earlier than before the actual start time in the evening…
The “wrapping paper” hasn’t even been removed yet, but I made my way over to the Shanghai World Financial Center many hours before the start of the event in the evening so I could be present should they need me for impromptu rehearsals and last minute checks. Once we got everything ready to go, it was time to don the always reliable “penguin suit” once again for another formal evening ahead…
And before you knew it, the press and media were all packed and ready to have me announce on behalf of Moet & Chandon’s their newest brand ambassador at this beautifully designed wall of champagne glasses…
…which happen to none other than Fan Bing Bing (She is the female in the red dress )
If you don’t know who she is, then you wouldn’t know that she is mainland China’s biggest movie actress at the moment. In fact, she will also be starring in the new “Ironman 3″ and “X-Men Days of Future Past” sequels coming to a theater near you someday sooner or later! Of course, these starlets can’t stick with one outfit for one evening so Fan Bing Bing had to come out with a second outfit for everyone to see…
All in all, it was a fun night with obviously a lot of champagne, and I’m glad I didn’t have to go through the trouble of changing my outfit so I was more than ready to get my party swerve on!
Back here in Shanghai, the weather is finally starting to warm up, which also means that it’s time to start getting busy again. A few nights ago, I had the pleasure of going to the newly opened luxury services apartments in Pudong called the IFC Residences to work on a shoot to market this venue. I’ve decided to recount this day in reverse chronological order just to change things up so we ended the shoot (and evening) with a (literally) chill social scene on the outdoor patio area…
When you see the poor female talents freezing their skinny bones off, these are the days I am happy to be a man and get to wear a suit! Earlier that day, we did some shots in my “home for an hour” as we got to highlight the accommodations along with its riverfront view at night, which was actually really nice…
Before I had reached my room, I had just come out of the men’s locker room after a swim from the pool located on the penthouse floor…
…and the view from the swimming pool was epic. In between takes, I practiced sashaying my hair even though it’s definitely too short for any worth filming!
And even though we started the day in the pool area, don’t you think we should have ended the day and night with this shot relaxing in the jacuzzi?!
If you can work AND play hard at the same time, then Why Not?!@$%
This past weekend, I had the pleasure of going to Sanya, Hainan, to take part in the 9th Annual BMW Asia Boating Awards. Created by Asia Pacific Boating and China Boating magazine, this event started in 2005 and officially kicks off the big luxury exhibition which showcases the best in yachts and private planes called Hainan Rendezvous. It was my first time to this tropical island, and I couldn’t wait to get out of the chilly conditions in Shanghai so I didn’t mind putting on a tuxedo in the torrid conditions…
The awards show went swimmingly well, and we had twenty different awards to announce during the course of the presentation. Representatives from over twenty countries were also present to take part in this prestigious event that recognizes the very best in the maritime industry here in Asia.
Of course, I can only “take the heat” for so long so not before long, it was time to take off the tux and enjoy the warm weather. And the next thing you know…I was so light I seemed to start floating away into the sky…
Waking up to this sunrise each morning wasn’t too bad of a view…
Even though I didn’t have too much time to chill out, there’s always a plethora of places to just rest and relax…
If you do come to China, then you should try to check it out, and the Intercontinental Hotel Sanya Resort was truly a pleasure to stay at too! Thanks again to the General Manager Geoffrey and his service staff for the impeccable service! Albeit brief, it was a most enjoyable experience in Sanya, and I do hope to return one day again soon!
And on that note, it’s time to kiss the Sanya sun goodbye…for now!!
Late last year, I did an interview in Malaysia for Astelier magazine under their Chivalry Style column. Unfortunately, the English version isn’t out yet, but the Deputy Editor Jeff Lee was kind enough to first send me a Chinese version…
If you got the technology to read the interview in Chinese, then here’s the link (because I could not get the article transferred to my website for the life of me) below. 这张访问的英文版还没出来所以我先跟你分享中文版的吧？
Earlier this year, I worked on a beauty and fashion TV show for Hunan satellite 湖南卫视 (the second largest broadcast network in China) called “我是大美人“ (Roughly translated as “I am a Beauty Queen”) as a producer and host. Now, while the image of a “beauty queen” most likely doesn’t pop up when you conjure images of me, the locale was from Southern California so now it all makes some more sense. I had a great time visiting all the cool and hip venues back home and even had some time to “sorta” teach my fellow Chinese co-hosts how to understand the basics of surfing down in Santa Monica. Here’s a segment from the show with some surf (and my face) in the turf along with me rippin out some mean Mandarin for you all impromptu freestyle!
Even though I am not in Singapore, I finally got my “virtual” eyes and hands on a recent fashion shoot I did for Esquire magazine that came out this month. Upon first look, I am wondering why the white background is still present in each of the shots? Do you think it looks better this way? Personally, I would’ve preferred to stand on top of a suspension bridge or slide down some tile roofing or skydive off some commercial plane myself, but we sometimes need to make sacrifices for the sake of art!
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