A very merry Christmas to all who still has this blog on your bookmark! May 2013 be an amazing and excited year for all of you. And also for this blog too. Haha! I'm a Christmas tree!

#GPOY

I've heard a lot about how beautiful this little town is but nothing could ever prepared my eyes for what I'm about to see. I've spent three years in New Zealand and this was my first trip ever heading down to the south island of New Zealand. Okay, my second one actually. I did make a trip down to Queenstown two months ago but it was solely for work purposes so I did not really get to enjoy what this beautiful town had to offer. I would say one of the most spectacular moment is when you're flying in to Queenstown on the plane. One glimpse outside the plane's window and the view itself is absolutely breathtaking. This picture always reminds me of the famous quote from Game of Thrones. "Winter's coming" For this trip, I managed to score a reasonable accommodation deal via Travelbug . They had a "secret deal" where the the hotel was not revealed but claimed it as a 4.5 star rated hotel for $130 a night. Since I had no luck on most o...

Here's another random commentary from my mom when I took her and my sister to Huka Falls, Taupo. My mom cracks me up sometimes with her most random comments and metaphors.

This was filmed when my mom and my youngest sister came over to Auckland for a visit during Christmas last year. I brought them to the Auckland Zoo and thought instead of taking pictures like I normally do, I'll just record some family moments with them. Little did I know, my mom decides to be a commentator for this trip. Yeah, my mom can be really random with her thoughts and comments. Quite the entertainer, I might say.

So I'm in the office right now and one of my colleague brought in her kid with her. She's probably no older than 5 years old, running around being a carefree child. Ah, those good old days. My colleague decides to pass her iPhone to her kid and let her entertain herself. Next minute, she puts on LMFAO's "Party Rock Anthem" on repeat. So far, I think this is the fifth time she's been listening to it. I remember being that age vaguely. Every now and then, I would spend my nights reminiscing my childhood days. And just last night, Calla gave me a link to one of her favorite TV show, Ocean Girl , when she was younger. She was telling me how back when she was a kid, she's always wished she'd grow up to be like Neri when she was older. That somehow got me thinking about what TV shows I used to watch when I was little. Then I remembered, there was this show called Kid's Songs or something that sounded like that. After a few minutes of doing some Google ...

In case you've been living in a cave for the last month or so, here's the latest viral music video that came out of South Korea. And much to everyone's surprise, not only it has gone viral within South Korea but it went viral - WORLDWIDE! The song is so catchy to the point that everyone wants to do their own Gangnam Style remake in their hometown. There's  KL Style ,  Chicago Style ,  Singapore Style ,  Indonesia Style ,  Sabah Style  and even  Gandalf  wants to have a piece of the Kpop fever. Perhaps what took me by surprise was Brunei style! I know most Bruneians tend to shy away from the camera. It's not surprising seeing that it is a small country after all and majority of the audience are quite harsh 'critics'. Plus, knowing there is a high probability that someone you know might see you making a fool of yourself normally makes you think twice about being in front of the camera. But seeing that it's Gangnam Style fever everywhere,...

Few weeks ago, when Calla's cousin was visiting from New York, we decided to go on a short road trip to Matamata. For those who don't know, Matamata is the area where Sir Peter Jackson shot the scenes of Hobbiton for his famous Lord of the Rings trilogy movies. We were actually pretty lucky  to see the actual hobbit houses used in the movie sets because if you were to visit few years ago, the entire area was torn down after completing the shoot for LOTR. Photo credits: wandermelon.com But now it's been restored as Sir Peter Jackson re-used the area to film his next trilogy, The Hobbit. Seeing that this is now a famous landmark for tourist attraction, they have decided to leave the hobbit houses as it is. I mean really, who would wanna travel all the way here just to see holes in the ground? The journey to get to the movie set from Auckland City wasn't too bad although once we got into Buckland Road, we were a bit lost as the GPS does not actually lead you direct...

Just thought I'd share a cute video of Calla's niece, Livi, saying hi to me. YouTube Video - Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Don't forget your roots my friend,  Don't forget your family, Don't forget your roots my friend, the ones who made you, the ones who brought you here.  This , is New Zealand music. 

If you're reading this post, chances are your iPhone screen looks like this at the moment due to your non responsive home button. With the assistive touch option on. Yes, that can get extremely annoying when you're using your iPhone cause you'll always need to move that dot around the corners of your phone. It's like having an annoying pimple on your iPhone that just won't go away.  My iPhone 4's home button failed on me a few months ago out of the blue and since then, I've been having that assistive touch switched on. If your phone is still under warranty, you might have a better luck of getting your home button fixed/replaced without paying any money but if your iPhone is no longer under warranty then you might have to spend some money getting it fixed.  I've been looking up online to see what are the options available to get this problem fixed without emptying my wallet. Most of the searches I've gathered online show step by step instruct...

Since I've got a long break while being on a shoot, I thought it would be the right time to give this blog a good update on my post-graduation life. It has been quite a roller coaster journey jumping into the working world right after completing university - especially if it is your first job in a foreign land. Yeap, on 23rd of April 2012, I started my role as a video production assistant at a local event/video production company called MadAnt Productions . Whoop! Whoop! Office Again, like I said in my past post, it has been a great blessing for me to be able to score this job - especially when it is highly relevant to my major and doing things I am passionate about. I remember the days of working in the quarry, almost everyday I would question myself my purpose of being there. I don't know about you guys, but I think one of the worst feeling in the world is coming into work everyday and asking yourself daily, "...what the hell am I doing?! " I remember...

It's no coincidence that despite having gone through a whole semester of absence to be with my family for my brother's health concern that I still managed to graduate with the same people I started uni with. It's no coincidence that I managed to secure a job relevant to my degree. It's no coincidence that I was able to secure this job after a good long holiday especially when the economy is struggling here. Chinese New Year 2012 Holiday with friends, Bali 2012 Bali trip 2012 It's no coincidence that I am picked out of all the applicants who applied for this job. It's no coincidence that a job is the only thing i wanted for my 25th birthday. God is good.

I've never been the one to raise my hand, That was not me but now that's who I am, Because of you I am standing tall, My heart is full of endless gratitude You were the one who guide me through, Now I can see and I believe it's only just the beginning I guess I've learned to question is to grow, That you still have faith is all I need to know, I've learned to love myself in spite of me, And i've learned to walk on road I believe This is what we dream about But the only question with me now Is do I make you proud? Stronger than I've ever been now, never been afraid of standing out, Do I make you proud? Do I make you proud? I miss you, pa. Always and forever. 

Live, Love, Laugh.  

Live. Love. Laugh.

It's been 18 days since i got back here. So far, I've applied for most , if not all of the production/television related roles I've found online. Rejection emails i have received so far - two. The optimist side of me tells me that it's still okay because I have yet to hear from the other applications I have submitted while the pessimist side of me is telling me I should've changed my last name from Cheng to a European sounding name for some of my job applications. I can understand why employers might brush off applicants with Asian sounding names cause truthfully, there are quite a number of Asians here who still sound fresh off the boat with their English. But then again, being fresh out of uni after two years of writing academic essays that makes me sound like a sir, shouldn't they at least consider us? I know I'm still at the early stage of my job hunt seeing that most of my friends who have been living here for a long time took at least a few mo...

A couple of hours ago, my Facebook newsfeed started showing a lot of my friends sharing this video on their wall. My first thought was "Oh, another viral video on Facebook" . And then i noticed it's about 30 minutes long so i assume it has to be a short documentary. True enough, the whole KONY 2012 video is a documentary condemning the acts of Joseph Kony using Uganda children as his soldiers. And of course such video will normally have appeal to "spread the word" or "donate" to help fund this cause. After watching this entire video, of course I had to share this on my own Facebook wall to continue the virality. I mean instead of some brain dead jokes and memes from 9gag, it's not everyday you get to circulate something educational with such a great cause. And then comes drama. I forgot there are always people out there who tend to question everything or are a little skeptical about stuffs like these. Not too long after I posted my video, a fr...

"I've talked to nearly 30,000 people on this show, and all 30,000 had one thing in common: They all wanted validation . If I could reach through this television and sit on your sofa or sit on a stool in your kitchen right now, I would tell you that every single person you will ever meet shares that common desire. They want to know: ' Do you see me? Do you hear me? Does what I say mean anything to you? ...Some days, I had to judge just a little bit. But it's helped me to stand and to try to do that with an open mind and to do it with an open heart. It has worked for this platform, and I guarantee you it will work for yours. Try it with your children, your husband, your wife, your boss, your friends. Validate them . ' I see you. I hear you. And what you say matters to me. '" -  Oprah Winfrey on her final episode of The Oprah Show. Validate someone today. Be an inspiration. 

For all of you who didn't have a great start to 2012, here's another chance! May the lunar new year of the dragon bring everyone great health, wealth and prosperity! I'm thankful for family and friends to welcome me back home. Gong Xi Fa Chai!

Like every year, i would always name out a list of things i wish to achieve for the year. I guess my  last year's resolution  did not go as well as planned but that shouldn't deter me from making resolutions for 2012. I think i've only achieved 3 out of my 8 resolutions which is pretty sad. But nevertheless, 2011 was another memorable year so time to look forward!  Now, what am i hoping to achieve for 2012? 1. Be a fully independent working man Now that i'm officially done with university, i guess it's time to put what my mom invested in me to full use. I'm hoping to score a full time career with any video production company seeing that my major is in television/video production. At this stage, i will be staying in New Zealand for another year since i'm entitled to apply for a graduate work visa so hopefully, it will be another fruitful time. Sorry  RTB , my plans to take over you have to be put on hold. :P 2. Attend church more frequently It's bee...

So we're finally in 2012. The year that's suppose to end. Or the year that might end. That's one of the first few things that crossed my head when the world was welcoming 2012 with cheers and alcohol. While  most people i've talked to would immediately assume nothing's going to happen on  21st December 2012 , it doesn't quite convince me about the possibility of it not happening. That thought was triggered right after watching this video.  ©viralvideocenter.com That was 100 years worth of war, killings, natural disasters and significant moment. And towards the last 5 to 10 years, you can see there's an increase of natural disasters globally. While it has been a great blessing being born and raised in Brunei, a country that is quite free from natural disasters (besides the occasional flooding due to rain and poor sewage system), I cannot help but wonder how petrified I'd be if I were to be caught in any of the disasters. A friend of mine al...