I have about four weeks of free time before I begin work at Universal Studios Singapore. It's scary thinking I probably won't have this much time off until who knows when. This year alone was incredible for me. I spent a good 40% of the time not working. While some people may not be able to deal with it, I always find things to do. And I don't buy into the whole consumerism thing and have little need to spend on "wants". It makes me a richer person in both senses of the word.

I believe free time allows me to be in touch with myself. To break patterns in my life that I've fallen into just because as a human being routine feels safe.

So what fun things have I been up to? I've recently become a lot more environmentally conscious which has changed many of my philosophies about life. I've stopped playing World of Warcraft a little; the politics there just drive me crazy. I've started playing Ultima Online because of the new expansion; I've yet to find out if the game is going to sustain my interest.

I'm still working on making the novel I wrote better. I'm having a ball revisiting my cupboards where I'm getting reacquainted with collections of the past - comics, magazines, photos, greeting cards, posters...

I've been reading lots. I bought into the whole Twilight craze and I'm finishing the fourth book now. I also just counted and realized I have about 70 books in a series that I collect that I haven't read yet. It's amazing though. The Dragonlance series has so many books written about one world.

Well, no time to waste. My world of four weeks of freedom lies before me.

I don't hear my own voice as often as I used to. My sabbatical has taken me to a quiet home where my days are spent, mostly alone. I wake up in the morning to converse internally with my thoughts before I eventually sit at the table to check the ongoings of the world online. Then I put on some music and have breakfast. The rest of the morning is spent plotting and shaping out the story I am writing till I get hungry for lunch.

Lunch or dinner is always a big question for me. What shall I fill myself with today? There are no eateries within a short walking distance, so food comes from the weekly stocked up groceries from the fridge or the cupboard. Watching a nice episode from abc.com to accompany the meal is usually enjoyable.

Curling up in bed or lying under the sun by the pool, my afternoon passes with good reading material, either a magazine or book or both. These are still wordless activities. By the evening, I am immersed into the World of Warcraft where my social needs are met without an utterance of a word. I hack and slash at mobs till I am depleted of energy and my eyes begin to close.

My entry into the US was rough... again. This time I probably spent about 2 hours with Homeland Security. I'm in the country now and having a really good time but some things cannot be forgotten, not especially in a land that places so much emphasis on "freedom".

The trigger is my mentioning staying for about 2 months. It's perfectly legal to stay for less than 3 months, so I don't understand why I have been treated like a suspect. I have not done anything illegal in the country before and don't intend to.

It is unfair to put anyone through the inconvenience I had experienced for something I hadn't done. My luggage was left on the carousel for a good hour and I was going to miss my connecting flight, yet no one had the slightest ounce of basic human courtesy to even explain the situation to me. It almost seemed I had no right to ask any questions the way I was curtly responded to.

I can't believe that national security will be compromised with a little bit of respect thrown in.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was the most successful pantomime for Wild Rice thanks to wonderful support. And just when I thought I could put away the ruffles of a princely outfit, they come back in the form of a narrator's outfit for an upcoming Swatch spring collection launch I've been booked to host. What's most exciting is that I get to choose a watch! Don't envy me quite so fast because I won't have work till at least April - which translates into no income. I'll be spending my time back in the US writing, reading and recharging. Well, a bit of Disneyworld couldn't harm could it? I suppose there is some cause for envy then  : P

The month of January will see more shows closing on Broadway than ever before in a long time. With the recession in place, the promise of jobs seems a lot slimmer, so I've put my visa application on hold. There's also an actors' strike taking place in the near future. Not a good time for Hollywood either. Meanwhile, Singapore has been seeing an increase in shows, though not all local. The past week I caught Lea Salonga in the Cinderella International Tour. She was splendid as usual. I drooled over the expensive costumes and set and thought to myself how nice it would be to see some local productions enjoy such extravagance. We're not that far behind though. The pacing for the first act was slow but it picked up in the second half.

Speaking of Singapore and New York, there was a feature in the New York Times about the last village in Singapore getting reclaimed by the government. I thought it was poignant and wanted to share it here. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/04/world/asia/04village.html?_r=1&ref=world

Happy New Year!

Being in "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" has kept me pretty busy. It gets more difficult when one is sick as well. I've been trying desperately to recover until I finally went to the doctor after two weeks of trauma. (Have medical fees escalated or what?!)  I realized that despite being sick and waking up to having a voice of a frog, one can still sing reasonably well. But I still miss my voice. At least it's getting better each day. Wish me the best for the rest of the run. If you are in Singapore, try to catch it yeah? Runs till the 20th of Dec.

    

I've written three chapters of the book I'm working on and I must say that attempting to be a writer has changed me in several ways. It's improved my vocabulary, I am able to form more complex sentences in a shorter amount of time writing or speaking, I've learnt to listen to my thoughts a lot more and a new hunger for knowledge has led to a deeper concern for world issues and rights.

You be the judge of that. Two entries back, I talked about a new blog I created in place of my Friendster one. You're welcome to compare the older entries with the new ones.

So what's this book I'm writing? Well, it's about a person's search for home and though there are many parallels to my life, it's quite loosely based. It hasn't been picked up by a publisher yet but then again it's not ready to be. But wish me luck any way yeah?

I've begun to purchase Singaporean books because I realise all this time I hadn't taken too much of an interest in my own country... which is a little sad. But no time is too late. What started it all was an urge to write my own book. So now I'm writing a sort of memoir, but the facts are twisted to protect people's privacy. I realised that I couldn't write if I didn't already know what was said about the country, so I embarked on a journey and picked out some local titles to have for my perusal.

I couldn't help thinking that the lead up to all of this was my decision to step out of my country. And not just leaving it, but actually moving somewhere to live for a certain period. If it's something you can afford to do, I say do it. It will change you as a person, open your senses, challenge you in many ways and teach you things.

And if you can't, there are always books to read, like the one featured below. The ones I've enjoyed include "A Year In Provence" by Peter Mayle and "Eat, Pray, Love" by Elizabeth Gilbert. Or maybe my own book when it eventually gets published!
  

I caught some nice movies since my last posting here. "Prince Caspian", "Wall E", "27 Dresses" and "Mamma Mia". I thought the first Narnia movie was better, that "Wall E" was amazing (I agree wholeheartedly with the NY Times review), "27 Dresses" was an enjoyable chick flick and "Mamma Mia" well, wasn't the most successful musical to movie adaptation.

I have yet to see "The Dark Knight" which I hear is amazing. A fellow Singaporean actor is in it! He plays the main bad guy asian dude. Go Singapore! And I think we're gonna get the silver medal for table tennis at the Olympics. The match is being played as I type this. It seems we've lost our chance for Gold. But this would be the first medal since 1960 for weight lifting.

Now I don't know if I'd call this an achievement, but I think I'm now the first naked guy on Singapore TV in a locally made show! Or at least the closest anyone could come to being naked. The appropriate areas were pixelated of course. I played a scum of the earth toy boy. You can see the picture here. Alright, it's a wrap for now!

My friendster blog just ran out of space for uploading anymore pictures, so I've got a new picture feature blog at dwaynetan.blogspot.com! It's great cos you don't have to register as a user to leave comments on this one. The first entry is a rather heavy one about battles in the world and it comes at a point in my life where I feel I'm fighting many battles. I'm sure the entries will lighten up as I also begin to play with the cool insert video link function!! Can't wait!

I'm finally done with the show "Magicbox". Anyway, some good things that came out of that include new found friendships and a bag of card tricks I can use on passersby for pocket money, so I don't have to starve the next time I'm in NY.

Has anyone been following the Legally Blonde Search for the new Elle Woods? It was really great to be able to see what the panel thought of the potentials during the audition process. This Broadway show is gonna be around for a long time to come I'm sure. The hype its marketing team has generated is excellent. Looks like the trend is now adapting from screen to stage. I know there are plans for musical versions of "Little House on Prairie", "Shrek", "Princess Bride", "9 to 5", "First Wives' Club", among others. It's great for capturing new audiences but I certainly hope originals don't stop happening either.
 

I'm enjoying a wonderful book at the moment about a pianist who subs on Broadway. It's current (with references to shows like "The Little Mermaid" and "Legally Blonde"), so true at times and also funny and gay! It's featured at the bottom of this blog entry.

Okay, so the word about the show I was talking about with Debbie Gibson in it, has likely been postponed to March next year. =( I also found out that someone has been making charges to my US credit card (which is still with me by the way). Nonetheless the bank has blocked the card and will issue me a new one. They advised me to make a police report but it really doesn't help that I'm in Singapore. In any case, the loser picked on the wrong guy. A poor struggling actor like me ain't gonna have NO money in the bank. LOL!

My show "Magicbox" opens in three weeks! Let's hope it goes well! If you are in Singapore do come see the show. More details are available in the "Upcoming Shows" section of my profile. I've also added some details of the shows I'm booked for till the end of the year! Yay!