It’s been a crazy hectic last few months so I haven’t really been on the ball with my blog updates. After I wrapped up filming the newest season of The Amazing Race China Rush, I soon zipped off to Bali for some R&R with the family. It’s incredible how much these kids mature and grow within the span of a month too.
When we arrived in Bali, I knew my first task at hand was to clean up Jonas’s hair…
His school is not a big fan of the “Mohawkian” hairstyle so I’ve been abstaining from it. However, with him out of school and dad back home, it was time to deliver the goods, and his new do is ready to rock once again!
As we made our way into town at Seminyak and Kuta, we soon discovered just how bad the traffic has gotten over the years. In the past, a big portion of Bali’s charm was the “small tropical island feel.” But now, getting anywhere (even if it’s not too far) takes at least one hour, and we were shocked to find this out every time and everywhere we went. Fortunately, Bali still has still retained its cultural aspects including this funeral procession on one of the streets…
Since getting anywhere in Bali ended up taking an exorbitant amount of time, you know I was more than inspired to “jump for joy” once I got out of the car!
On one of these occasions, I got a little too inspired and decided to jump off this wall in order to attain even more air. Unfortunately, I landed incorrectly and totally busted and bruised my heel! Ouch! And the best part is the only thing I got to show for it was this lousy shot that completely missed me getting airborne at all!
Since I could barely walk and had to limp around everywhere, I was relegated to enjoy those Bali sunsets that I enjoy so much…
Sunset or not, the kids just had a great time chilling at the beach and searching for seashell…and don’t we all miss the simple pleasures in life.
Even though the various drivers know that they’ll be driving and waiting around all day, they’re always down to pop off a shot with a tourist like me!
And of course, if you happen to have kids, then you’ll most likely know what Waterbom is all about. It’s a waterpark for everyone of all ages, and you know we had to go there cuz that’s definitely one venue they’ll never forget, especially when Sage takes it to the air!
Since I was hobbling around everywhere with my bruised heel, I just tried standing around with Jonas to get hit by water balloons…
That’s a quick rundown of our downtime in Bali. Now, I need to get ready for a few shoots this week before I’m off to Beijing to host Miss Universe China! This will be a completely new experience for me because I’ll be doing it live and in Chinese. I honestly don’t know how it is all going to turn out and you know I am definitely daunted with the task, but there’s only one way to find out so here I come!
Til then, thanks for stopping by and here’s one more sunset for you to enjoy!
And just like that, I am back in Singapore after spending the last month or so in China wrapping up the newest season of The Amazing Race China Rush. As much as I would have liked to remain in Shanghai to explore new and interesting opportunities, I figure I’ll have more time in the near future so I caught a flight back to Singapore once we confirmed all the shots for the production were completed and no “pick ups” were needed.
After waiting almost two hours on the tarmac at Pudong International Airport, our plane finally took to the skies. I expected the traffic in the city of Shanghai would be bad, but I never expected even the runways at the airport would incur a major traffic jam. Oh well…
Once I returned home, I was excited to be back with the family. And since it was my birthday this past weekend, I traded in “flying the skies” to “riding some waves” back at Wavehouse Sentosa. Even though the weather didn’t really want to cooperate with my plans, I still made a fun day out of it with my family and friends including Jimmy, Marc, and Jac!
Even though I was still quite worn out from the intense filming of the race coupled with a day on the waves, it was now time to get ready for walking the red carpet at the closing ceremony of Screen Singapore at Shaw Lido later that evening, and all the Fly Entertainment artists (George, Betty, Mindy, Crispian, Adele, Nadia, Li Lin, Jimmy, Rebecca, Brendan, and Alaric) looked splendid…
Once my number was called, it was time to waltz down the Red Carpet and share what I’ve been doing over the past month in China…
…and I was pleasantly surprised when Bobby got the crowd to wish me a Happy Birthday!
Once we got inside the building, it was time to catch up with old friends I hadn’t seen in a long time such as Van Ness Wu…
That night, we were also treated to a screening of Tom Hanks’ newest film called “Larry Crowne,” and everyone was excited to have the man himself in the house to address the audience…
…and once that was done, it was time to head out to the MBS Art Science Museum for the After Party, where we caught up with old colleagues Chen Han Wei and Joanne Peh from Mediacorp…
…and let’s not forget Raffi from AnD and Archie Kao from C.S.I.!
Yeah…it was one busy birthday this past weekend, and I just wanted to thank you all again for making it such a memorable one. It’s never fun getting older each year, but having you all in my life definitely take the edge off of it! Hah!
Take care and don’t forget to check back with my next update of what’s to come!
Here’s a video of my buddy Derek Hawkins cruising down the slopes of Squaw Valley in Lake Tahoe, and I must confess it’s a lot harder trying to videotape him while I’m riding too…
Luckily, I got him all in frame so it’s all good!
Nice smooth switch to fakie too, “DairEK!” Ya Rock!
After a whirlwind tour of California over the span of three works for fun and work, I’ve landed back in Singapore! Initially, I was hoping to post up some blogs and pix of my adventures in the US, but between work meetings and family duties, it proved to be too much for this guy to handle. Nevertheless, it was one of the most memorable trips I’ve had going back to the West Coast, and it’s definitely the most I have probably driven up and down the state of California.
Now, what exactly did I do back there? I guess you could say it was a lot of the same thing, especially when it comes to what to eat. Li Lin is a huge fan of The Cheesecake Factory so we made a few pit stops here. Of course, the funny thing is that even though The CHEESECAKE Factory is famous for its ridiculous assortment of cheesecakes…
…Li Lin absolutely loves and only insists upon their carrot cake. And actually, I’d have to say it’s the best carrot cake I’ve ever had myself so kudos to her.
Besides filling our bellies, we also spent some time at the malls checking out the latest goods. At the Culver City Mall, there just happened to be Open Auditions for FOX’s new reality show “X Factor” with Simon Cowell. I’ve joked around with friends that I would totally be down to audition for “American Idol” if I happened to be anywhere near the casting calls. Even though this wasn’t AI, I think it was close enough. So did I end up grabbing a mic and belting out some tunes like this gentleman?
Unfortunately, the open auditions were starting the next day, and I just could rearrange my date with destiny!
One of the true highlights of this trip was having the rare opportunity to wipe off the snow (or actually dust) off my true blue Burton Jim Rippey snowboard from almost fifteen years ago and taking it up to Lake Tahoe for a ride down memory lane…
Ironically, it was on this board that I once completely shattered my wrist and ultimately decided to embark on this journey into the wacky world of entertainment. Fortunately, there were no injuries and nothing but beautiful weather for a great day of snowboarding at Squaw Valley…
And on that sunny note, I’d be scoot on outta here and get some work done because The Amazing Race China Rush is coming right around the corner again soon!
Last night, I had the pleasure of attending Carlos Santana’s concert in Singapore at the Indoor Stadium. After grabbing at quick bite at Burger King (which is exponentially inferior to Carl’s Jr BTW), we headed into the stadium for the performance to begin. Quite honestly, I have never really heard that much music from this legendary musician so I was excited to see–and hear–it all.
After we found our seats, my friend Jimmy T gestured to us that he recognized the man sitting directly in front of him. Does he look familiar?
The next thing I notice is Jimmy is swapping business cards with him. What does this guy do?
Soon, we discovered that this man is none other than Steve Gary “Woz” Wozniak, one of the founds of that tiny little fruit company you might have heard on occasion called Apple Computers! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Wozniak
“The Woz” is a good friend of Carlos Santana and also happened to be in Singapore to give a speech. Before we could dive into the finer points on how he got started in the computer biz, Mr. Santana took the stage…
…and with his guitar strumming and fingers blazing, he entertained everyone attendance.
Just when we thought the show couldn’t get any better, Carlos Santana’s wife Cindy Blackman took to the stage and blasted through a 15 minute solo set on the drums!
Even Li Lin was impressed with her artistic display and pure raw talent and skill!
Carlos and Cindy certainly epitomize the “Power Music Couple!”
Thanks for a great show and a fantastic evening, Mr. Santana! We can’t wait for you to return to Singapore once again soon!
Also, thanks to my boy Jimmy T for hooking up for tickets to this most memorable experience. My ears are still ringin from last night’s fun!
Yesterday, my favorite Li’l Man turned freakin FIVE years old! Wow…Time sure flies. I still remember when he could barely walk and/or talk! Of course, we wanted to make sure he had a memorable and fun birthday party so we held it at Wavehouse Sentosa.
Jonas and his buddies all took turns with the body boards on the Flow Rider…
…and while they were riding waves and waiting to cut the birthday cake, they had even more fun splashing around in the wading pool.
As the sun slowly started to set, it was time to cut this super cool Super Hero birthday cake that Mommy made especially for the party…
And since we just “happened” to be at the Wavehouse, you KNOW I couldn’t resist riding some waves myself on the Flow Barrel in hopes of improving…
Just when I think I’ve figured it out and made some progress…
…it’s back to wiping out and getting washed away!
All in all, the party and Wavehouse were just too much fun, and I can’t wait to return again soon and “wipe out” some more!
Until then, I’d just like to thank Wavehouse once again for the joy and happiness on this little guy’s face…
At last! All the holiday festivities for the Lunar New Year are essentially done. I was hoping we might go away during this period like we normally, but we decided to stay in Singapore due to the fact that we couldn’t book any tickets anywhere AND especially to the ridiculous cost of airplane tickets during Chinese New Year. On the hand, I’d probably raise the price of air tickets to an astronomical amount too if I were running an airline so I guess I should complain too much.
Fortunately, we had some great friends and family who stuck around in town too so we all got to celebrate the Lunar New Year with them all. One couple organized a full-blown Chinese New Year bonanza complete with a Lion Dance and a Rabbit to officially “hop” into the New Year. Even though these Lion Dances probably aren’t the best thing for one’s hearing, the children always absolutely loved every moment of the performance…
We all know that keeping kids occupied and entertained is no small feat. Even our “Roger Rabbit” realized it too that night and had to take a seat for his (or her) tired feet…
Of course, it’s always nice to see the children satisfied with all the festive celebration…or are they just happy that they’ll be getting some more 红包 (“hong bao”) red packets?
Over the past weekend, I finally decided to give the FloBarrel at Wavehouse Sentosa another “go” since the last time, which was a few months back. When I went snowboarding in December, I injured my shoulder pretty good so I have been quite tentative about riding these man-made waves again. My shoulder is still nowhere near 100%, but my desire to improve and carve up some more waves simply compelled me to return to this favorite spot of mine in Singapore…or Sentosa.
I always hope to bring down a few friends of mine to give it a shot too, but every single one of them always has one reason or another to decline. I understand it can be somewhat intimidating in the beginning (or anytime) with all the passerby’s watching you fall over and over again, but we all have to start somewhere, right?
Once I realized I’d be riding solo again, it was time to hit the waves…
Since I got so tossed around and pounded last time, I opted to wear a rashguard this time while I figured out how to get more comfortable on these waves…
The frustrating thing is that once you think you’ve made a significant improvement in your skill level, you’ll regress more than a few steps back on the following ride. Although that can be annoying, the joy of riding and learning this new sport is well worth all the setbacks tossed my way…including all the bumps and bruises…
I don’t know how much further I can go from here, but it is a New Year and so it’s definitely the ripe time to forge forward on more than a Dare…and with no Fear!
Finally, here’s the latest video of one of my rides this past weekend.
Happy Chinese New Year and hope to see you riding some waves of your own down there!
I just returned from a fun time with the family in Niseko, Japan, for some serious snow sports. Fortunately, we arrived just as the snow started to fall because I heard hardly anyone got to ski much earlier this month in December. Actually, this is really rare for Niseko because it is supposed to historically get tons of snow by this time. Weird. Something must really be going on with our planet because both North America and Europe have already received large amounts of powder, which is very unusual. Even though the ski resort did have snow everywhere you looked, it just didn’t have enough at the beginning of our trip to open up many of the runs.
To get the kids warmed up to the idea of chilling out in the snow, we got them all prepped on a plastic sled to the night before their first day of ski lessons…
…and this was already enough to put smiles on their little faces.
Luckily for us, the entire place just started to dump snow on the night of our arrival…
…and before you knew it, some of the lifts were opening up for operation even though visibility wasn’t great from the wind and snowfall.
Li Lin really enjoyed getting back on skis, especially in these fresh powder conditions…
…but I will always stick to my trusty old snowboard. In fact, I used to snowboard a lot when I was a lot younger. And during one of my excursions to the snowboard park, I completely shattered my wrist and had to get it surgically repaired. After the operation, I had these three huge nails protruding out of my wrist to keep the area immobilized. It was seriously one hairy situation…and not something I hope to revisit ever again.
Of course, I believe that riding a snowboard is like riding a bike. Once you’ve got the fundamentals down, then it isn’t too difficult. However, I let my confidence get the best of me when I attempted to videotape our friend coming down a run here…
Fortunately, nothing happened to me on that fall although I did mess up my shoulder on an earlier fall that trip. I don’t enjoy falling and getting hurt as much as the next guy (or gal). But then again…if you ain’t falling, you definitely ain’t getting any better. So that’s my excuse for pretty much wiping out everywhere down that mountain after not having boarded for over six or seven years.
Regardless, it was still too much fun and I hope to get back up to the snow before it all melts away this season. But before that, I’ll settle with my shoulder healing so I can lift my arm up past my waist!
There’s only a few days left before the finale of The Amazing Race Asia! Are you excited? I can’t wait to announce who the winner will be for this pulse-pounding fourth season finale. As if the race wasn’t enough of an adrenaline rush, I went to try out the big barrel at Wavehouse Sentosa this past weekend. I’ve always been on the smaller and tamer Flow Rider so I didn’t know what to expect.
Well, after getting pounded repeatedly with each successive wipeout, I finally started to understand the “motion of the (manmade) ocean”…and had waves of fun!
While some rides saw some improvement over the previous runs…
…I would occasionally wipe out quickly and get washed through the tube which swirls its victims around like a giant toilet bowl!
I don’t know how many times I must have fallen that day, but my daughter Sage couldn’t bear watching me “getting hurt” anymore and pleaded with me to stop.
And like any old Dawg that doesn’t learn new tricks, I of course continued a while longer.
Today, I am certainly paying the price with a body that is bruised and battered. But that doesn’t really matter because I had one helluva fun day!
And if you have seen the newest trailer for the finale episode of TARA4, then I have a hunch you know what the teams might be doing too, huh? ;-P
Yesterday, we went down to Wavehouse at Sentosa for some more wild and wet fun. It also happened to be the International Flow Championships so we had the privilege of watching the very best in this sport demonstrate to all of us mere mortals how you really ride these cool man-made waves.
Normally, I just take pictures of the day. However, I felt that videos might do a better job in justifying all the “wipeout” fun we had so let’s start by showing Li Lin demonstrating to the kids how to ride the bodyboard.
Once everyone had a turn on the bodyboard to get warmed up, it was time to give the Floboard a try. And when you first learn to ride the Floboard, you’d better be prepared to “pay your dues.”
Li Lin was a great sport about it, and she was really close to riding these waves by the end of the session. I’ve been on the Floboard a few more times so I worked on getting some “deeper carves.”
Of course, if you really get into this flowriding experience, then maybe one day we will all have the opportunity to see you tear it up on the “big barrel” machine like this pro that day!
Totally Awesome, huh? Now, does this look like something you’d wanna try? ;-P
Finally, a Huge Shout Out and Thank You to Terry and his staff for a rip roarin fun time once again! You totally Rock!
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