Mamak Cupcake: And It's A Wrap!

The SMS from the producer came at 4.17am, Monday morning: "Syukur Alhamdulillah... MAMAK CUPCAKE wrap sudah. Amin : )". Yup, after a colourful 28 days, "Mamak Cupcake" is "in the can".

And what an experience it has been for me, personally. I was on set almost every day during the final week where crucial mamak restaurant and ballroom battle scenes were filmed, it was valuable hands-on experience for me as the writer. Thanks again to our director Ming Jin who shared a lot of his plans and vision with me, as well as giving me the opportunity to talk to the actors about their lines and performances.

The ballroom scenes, especially, were very challenging as we worked with over 100 extras, and not to mention, the complicated camera angles required to fully tell the story during those fast and frantic moments.

And of course, the cupcake scenes! We had hired professional baker Satira Diana whom, along with her team, came up with some truly inventive and eye-catching cupcakes.

One of the best parts about the film, as you will find out when it hits cinemas next year, is the wonderful cast itself. And it's great to note that they themselves have full confidence in the story being told, and their total commitment was nothing less than fantastic.

And oh, apart from our excellent cast, we also had a slew of "delicious" cameos by the likes of Dato' Chef Ismail, Adibah Noor, AG and, get ready for it, Dato' Hasbullah Awang!

Yup, I can't wait to watch it myself!

Chillin' In Kuching

So, with the fam away on an overseas trip, I decided it'd be a good idea to fly over to Kuching for a writing retreat recently. Yup you read that right; I'm working on a new screenplay and I just thought that a completely different environment would help me crank out the words with a clearer mind.

And seriously, I can't for the life of me recall when was the last time I was in the Cat City. I'm pretty sure I've been back there after my judiciary days in the late 90s, but when? Cracked my head over it on the flight but still I had no answer. Ah well, at least I was on the way now.

Reached Kuching at 6 plus in the evening and on the way to the hotel, I got rather annoyed by all the roadworks. Haha. OK lah, sign of progress, what? But everything else looked like how I remember Kuching... until I got to the city and saw some new structures around the city. I mean, when did Pullman popped up here?

Anyway, I checked-in to the Grand Magherita (formerly known as Holiday Inn) and attended to the first order of business. Dinner! And just across the road was the famous Top Spot Seafood place.

Ah, I am sure I've had some good memories there. Hehe. But really, going alone was a bit of an awkward thing. But the food was too good to resist. So I took a seat and ordered a seafood dinner for one that had midin goreng belacan, buttered prawns and ambal in curry sauce. Salivating already, huh? :)

The bill came up to RM59, and I was wonderfully stuffed. I actually picked out a random stall, but I've been told that stall no 25 would be anyone's best bet.

Then it was back to room and to write the night away. And with a magnificent view of the Sarawak River in the background, it turned out to be a productive night indeed.

The next morning, it was time to head out for my Larian 40 Taman. And the park of choice was the Taman Budaya, a nice, smallish park right smack in the centre of town.

Then it was time to hit the shops and do some shopping and sight-seeing. Restricted sight-seeing that is. Since I didn't have my own transport, all I could do really was just walk along the waterfront and the main bazaar area. Which actually proved to be rather nice.

The Sarawak souvenirs they have now are rather well-designed and reasonably priced. I mean seriously, I never planned on buying kain songket when it wasn't even Raya period!

I also had a pretty delicious bowl of Laksa Sarawak at the Brooke Cafe along the waterfront.

But wait, there's a rant coming up. I got to the old High Court building, and I was not happy.

I mean, this was one of the most important buildings in the state and what do they have here now? Some restaurants and a travel agent/car rental space!  And to make things worse, the construction around the building was shoddy and disrespectful to this wonderful piece of heritage!

What a downer! But that didn't stop me from enjoying the rest of my walk.

And although this wasn't too Sarawakian, I did enjoy stopping by this cafe for a piece of cake and coffee.

The rest of the stay was mainly spent indoors, with fingers firmly on my Mac keyboard. I must say it was a much welcomed respite, and the weather was great too. Only bummer? I couldn't find a place for some great-tasting Mee Kolok. Arghhh...

Sami Yusuf's Salaam

This morning on Malaysia Hari Ini (MHI), we welcomed back international "spiritique" artiste, Sami Yusuf from the UK. I say welcome back cos this was brother Sami's second visit to our set, the first time back in April this year.

And this time around, he's here to launch his latest album, "Salaam". The album is exclusively licensed to Arteffects International and and has 16 tracks including the popular duet with Dato' Siti Nurhaliza, "You Came To Me".

When asked about the simplicity of the concept of "salaam", the very foundation of Islam itself, Sami said that it is indeed very timely to remind us all of the message of peace, something that is promoted by every religion in the world.

I just wished that we had more time to talk about the music, but brother Sami also mentioned the song "It's A Game" which is now re-released in response to the Prophet Muhammad movie that sparked controversy recently.



If you're reading this today (2/11/2012), you can meet up with him and get his latest album "Salaam" at KL Sentral later at 4pm. And there will also be a meet & greet session tomorrow at Royale Bintang, Damansara at 2pm.

You can also watch the interview again on www.tonton.com.my (search for Malaysia Hari Ini)

Mamak Cupcake: So Far, So Good!

Yup, personally I'm loving what I've seen so far of "Mamak Cupcake". Been to a few days of production, and I must say that things are looking pretty good. We've got a really professional crew on set and the cast members have just been outstanding.

Really, it was hard for me (and most others) to keep a straight face every time a scene was shot. The comedic chemistry between the actors are really good, and they're really getting into the different characters.

Yes yes, I'm biased, but just remember these words when you catch the film next year : ) In the meantime, check out some of the shots I managed to snap this past week.

Weird In Malaysia Makes A Comeback!

Click on the pic for some rib-tickling posts :)