Packing Up The Circus

The Show was a succes conceptually and emotionally, it all started out as another waking-up-in-the-morning-idea. Now it turned out to be a piece of work. So check it out www.naopd.info

Is Everybody in? The Show is about to Begin

Is Everybody in? The Show is about to Begin
Originally uploaded by mrfantesticles.

Schedules and the formalities; and other outstanding matters.

Front of House

Front of House
Originally uploaded by mrfantesticles.

Programme and survey forms.

The Brady Bunch

The Brady Bunch
Originally uploaded by mrfantesticles.

From left; DabewDabew (lighting designer), Rizman Putra (performer),

Midori (audience), XYN, (Stage Manager) and Ka5 (Video Man).

The Final Showdown

The Final Showdown
Originally uploaded by mrfantesticles.

This photo was taken during the curtain call, audience packed to the

brim.

The Interface for the Faceless

The Interface for the Faceless
Originally uploaded by mrfantesticles.

The interface for the action to be taken place with or without the

action.

The Big Game

The Big Game
Originally uploaded by mrfantesticles.

The possibilities of possible desired sequence all on the board created

by Super Xyn, stage manager.

The Japanese Punk

The Japanese Punk
Originally uploaded by mrfantesticles.

Found this Japanese Punk on the street, so we brought him into the

theatre.

Ichiro and Kenjiro

Ichiro and Kenjiro
Originally uploaded by mrfantesticles.

On the eve of performance day, we spent our quality time watching

Japanese Trash TV.

The Whale Soup

The Whale Soup
Originally uploaded by mrfantesticles.

Whale meat and tofu...good for you?

The Banquet

The Banquet
Originally uploaded by mrfantesticles.

The face of anxiety and lost in a typical Japanese restaurant.

KYTV performance preview in the papers

KYTV performance preview in the papers
Originally uploaded by mrfantesticles.

We got a special preview in todays papers, the Venus scene.

Still Alive in Fukuoka

Friday,25th November 2005,
11:23hrs,
FUkuoka Asian Art Museum.

We were invited to a dinner by the museum, it was pretty 'upper-cut' with all these middle-aged women in their kimonos serving us. There were like flaming hot pots on the table, they were cooking prawns and oysters while they were still alive right in front of my eyes. So you can see them gyrating to the heat of the pot. Nevermind that, I was starving, so I just dipped my food with any sauce, no I was wrong, they have different sauces for different meat.

So we had the typical Japanese come together game, where you have to go around looking for signatures, well, I was too tired, so I just sat there meddling with my food.

Then came the Whale soup, yes, soup with whale meat, I had no choice but to skip that, I couldnt...maybe because of too many documentaries about whales on discovery channel, I can't bare to swallow a whale meat into my body.

After the interesting dinner, we followed Chakrit (one of the participating Thai artist) to this totally awesome dark bar called Anderoid, and it had Godard film posters on the wall of the toilet. Plus replica of Man Rays' photography works all over the interior.

Its the eve of the performance, so its getting more and more intense, as this performance is inter-changeble, the audience will get to decide the scenes based on their claps, we have to make sure of all the possibilities and impossibilities for both the performers and technical crew.

The Daily View of Nicotine Break

The Daily View of Nicotine Break
Originally uploaded by mrfantesticles.

This is what we see daily during our smoking break, with the Drug 11

building and the Kawabata market side by side. The city is surrounded

with mountains... beautiful cityscape.

The Discussion

The Discussion
Originally uploaded by mrfantesticles.

Coffee, tea and the technical gears. Woan Wen and Ka5 discussing the

lights.

Venus: The Aesthetic of Beauty

Venus: The Aesthetic of Beauty
Originally uploaded by mrfantesticles.

Venus in her wedding gown with psychedelic backdrop.

Alarm: The Revenge of The Black Widows

Alarm: The Revenge of The Black Widows
Originally uploaded by mrfantesticles.

All in Black and ready, fishes swimming in the sea.

How's the weather Over There?

How's the weather Over There?
Originally uploaded by mrfantesticles.

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> Performers in non-performative mode pondering in thin air.

My Bachelor's Pad: Dream Kawabata

My Bachelor's Pad: Dream Kawabata
Originally uploaded by mrfantesticles.

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> The room without a view, Dream Kawabata, Fukuoka, Japan.

The Fukuokan Subway

The Fukuokan Subway
Originally uploaded by mrfantesticles.

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> A typical day in a Fukuokan Subway.

The Liason

The Liason
Originally uploaded by mrfantesticles.

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> The Liason Officers, Tomo and Kaori, translating some text.

The New Game Boy

The New Game Boy
Originally uploaded by mrfantesticles.

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> The Game Boy with C Snatch Z...

Hip Hop Indian Dinner in Fukuoka

Hip Hop Indian Dinner in Fukuoka
Originally uploaded by mrfantesticles.

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> Hip your Hop to the top with my Chicken Curry rice..

Fukuoka Story

Friday, 18h November 2005
12:13 hrs
Dream Kawabata, Fukuoka

I have been really tired the past couple of days from the rehearsals, body all aching and muscles all pumping. Things are progressing pretty all right; the daily of routine of going to the museum back and forth the apartment is far becoming too comfortable somehow.

The other night, I had a culture shock somehow or rather, some of the museum staff brought us to an Indian restaurant from Calcutta (they had a flag of India outside the shop), the waitress spoke to us in Japanese.

I wouldn’t want to mention the price of the dinner, which was a simple chicken curry with rice, with the price of the dinner I could eat in Little India till I puke masala. All was good, I had craving for some spice anyway, so it didn’t matter.

The things I love about Japan are the toilets, you could sleep in them somehow, it so clinical that it is seldom that you could find stain or anything. And of course the singing convenience store staff that will greet you from the moment you enter, and will tell you the price of every single item you have bought.

They are so hardworking that you wonder about the pride in them working, in fact the service is so super excellent that at times they just get on your nerve. Especially when all you need is a peace of mind in the morning.

And I saw a street cleaner who was in suit sweeping the dirt of the road, everything is so unreal yet real. The cab drivers look like office workers with neck-ties and all so clean shaven.

There are mirrors everywhere, for people to make sure they look A-ok wherever they go.

Sunday, 20h November 2005
00:04 hrs
Dream Kawabata, Fukuoka

It is getting nearer to the performance date, one week has passed, and we are somehow or rather progressing to something we are not sure of. Yesterday, we had the chance to rehearse in City Hall, a community centre like space where there were a lot of senior citizens in Kimono. I think they were there for some traditional dance training or something.

Citra and myself have been observing the ladies, most of them have nice features, and we realised their heavy usage of cosmetics and the aesthetic (or illusion) of fashion. I can’t imagine how would they look when they wake up in the morning.

In the evening, I had a lot of free time, so we decided to explore Kawabata area; there are quite a number of those sleazy clubs and pubs with neon lights and posters of young Japanese in scanty clothes. It’s a totally strange situation I would say, there are things I can never explain about this strangely interesting culture.

The other night, after watching a traditional Japanese Kyogen, which I almost fell asleep, they suggested an Italian dinner. Citra and myself decided to split the scene and eat at Matsuya (similar to Yoshinoya), which is 10 times cheaper than eating in a restaurant.

Norico told me, the dinner was about ¥6000 (SGD90) per head, (thank god!), I don’t think I can afford any of those dinners. For a ¥600(SGD8) lunch/dinner is consider alright, in Singapore, eating in restaurants is like one of those rare occasion.

View across the museum

View across the museum
Originally uploaded by mrfantesticles.

The tourist snaps on the way to Tenjin.

Feeling Punky In Ajibi Hall

Feeling Punky In Ajibi Hall
Originally uploaded by mrfantesticles.

Punk your heart with lotsa love...

On The Way to Tenjin

On The Way to Tenjin
Originally uploaded by mrfantesticles.

Ultraman-like buildings on the way to Tenjin.

Hard Worker Instigator

Hard Worker Instigator
Originally uploaded by mrfantesticles.

Mr Ka5 in control at Ajibi Hall, Fukuoka Asian Art Museum.

The Game Boy revamp Made In Japan

The Game Boy revamp Made In Japan
Originally uploaded by mrfantesticles.

Taro San as the new host in Fukuoka, the reherseal space is called City Hall.

Learn How to Speak English on a Friday night on TV

Learn How to Speak English on a Friday night on TV
Originally uploaded by mrfantesticles.

How Do I look baby?

Nippon Rocker on The Prowl

Nippon Rocker on The Prowl
Originally uploaded by mrfantesticles.

Random pix out spontaneous reaction to situation of workshop.

At the subway,on the way home from a Kyogan Performance

At the subway,on the way home from a Kyogan Performance
Originally uploaded by mrfantesticles.

We had a day off yesterday, and we got free tickets to watch a

traditional Japanese performance, but I almost fell asleep during the

first half of the piece.

The exhaustion of creation

The exhaustion of creation
Originally uploaded by mrfantesticles.

Kenjirosan asleep at the wheel after an exhausting rehearsal.

The Poster/flyer that has been distributed around Kawabata area

The Poster/flyer that has been distributed around Kawabata area
Originally uploaded by mrfantesticles.

Not Available On Print Date: The Collaboration between KYTV, Greasy

Blindspot, C Snatch Z and CItra Pratiwi.

Eel Tempura deep fried

Eel Tempura deep fried
Originally uploaded by mrfantesticles.

Tempura-ed Eel, yes, look like goreng pisang, but its heavenly fresh, I

think they fried it while it was still alive or something.

The Meeting Room

The Meeting Room
Originally uploaded by mrfantesticles.

This is the meeting room: Citra in a I-am-working-post, the background,

Tomo (our curator) and Norico san.

Outside Apartment

Outside Apartment
Originally uploaded by mrfantesticles.

Remember Oshin? The small cute buildings in front of our apartment.

Konichiwa from Fukuoka, Japan

13th November 2005
11:10hrs
Dream Kawabata, Fukuoka

SQ flights are always the best, fantastic service, online check-in, great food and of course a personal in-flight entertainment. One of those rare moments I love about Singapore.

We reached Fukuoka at around 0800 hrs,Kenjiro-san was there to fetch us from the airport, weather is good, not so cold. They have put us up in a nice cosy apartment not far from the Asian Art Museum. I have yet to see the city, but I don’t think it is as busy and chaotic as Tokyo.

Once again, ‘Wish you were here’ is playing at this moment while I am typing all these. Well, knowing me being such a klutz, I have yet to find the bloody water heater, so I took shower with super cold water. Yes, I can be a dodo sometimes.

The apartment, it is a typical Japanese loft with everything, a mini kitchen, washing machine, a toilet bowl with those little buttons that whenever I use it I feel so lost. Like when you have just finished up your business, it will assist you in cleaning up the mess you have made.

We will be meeting Norico Sumiyama, the dancer from Dumb Type for a get-together-session, hopefully things will work out well the next couple of weeks as long as the heater is working in the apartment.

13th November 2005
23:10 hrs
Dream Kawabata, Fukuoka

I took a power nap while waiting for Ka5 and Citra, at around 1pm I woke up and realised the hunger was screaming out of the domain of tummy kingdom. There we were discovering Fukuoka Asian Art Museum.

The museum is located in a big super bourgeois mall, we were searching for a quick and cheap meal before the meeting, and there we went around Kawabata area. Well, finding a nice place to eat was not easy especially when everything was in Kenji. We decided to settle for a sandwich, yes, there was a photo of a fresh sandwich outside the shop.

The meeting went well, Norico san arrived with her costumes and we had a good 2 hour discussion about the show together with Kenjiro san and the help of American accented Kaori san.

The evening we met up with the director of Singapore Art Museum, Kwok Kian Chow aka KC for dinner who is here for a meeting with the museum. Well, like they say who can resist a good dinner when you are in an expensive country. Free loaders or bang loaders, it doesn’t matter, we had a great meal at this restaurant with 2 ships under one roof. There you have the opportunity to fish at the same time, me being a non-fisherman, decided to give Edwin a friend of KC, a Singaporean who is working here in Fukuoka to give it a try.

We managed to catch a good fish, and the food was luxuriousy fantastic, a good start for the first day I guess.

Then after the we-can’t-afford-that-kind-of dinner, we decided to go for the public bath or also known as Ohnsen. For the second time, one can never resist the experience of a public bath in Japan, it was mind-blowing for myself I guess, they have like assorted Jacuzzis for different parts of the body.


15th November 2005
01:01 hrs
Dream Kawabata, Fukuoka

I woke up late for rehearsal late today; my clock is still in Singapore time format (shit). The apartment is so cosy, that you don’t realised that its already late morning. Reached the museum with everyone on their laptops checking their mails. We had a session of mapping the whole show, which is confusing at its best. As usual, what is KYTV performance without its confusion?

Norico san our reliable collaborator/translator for food brought us to a coffeeshop where I had soba and tempura. The standard price for lunch is Y450 which is SGD$6 - $8, so there is no point figuring out how much is this or that or else, you will starve to death.

Japan is definitely more expensive than Berlin surprisingly, in the afternoon we were invited to a Fukuoka Fashion Show where there were a large number of trendy young Fukuokans straddling their style.

Joyce Fang, the head curator was there as well, so I had a nice time talking to her while walking to the venue. The fashion show was ‘ok,’ as it was the first time I was ever in a fashion show, I almost fell asleep but struggled hard to keep myself awake because we were given a complimentary sit at the front row. The admission fee was not cheap; it was about close to $30.

We had our first real rehearsal session, myself, Citra Pratiwi (Indonesian collaborator) and Norico Sumiyama. Norico has been performing for 20 years, so a very much respect to the performer who has performed with Dumb Type. Citra conducted a Balinese dance workshop, well I haven’t been doing real dance exercise, it turned out pretty alright, well my movement was stiff and rigid, but I believe things will get better as we go along.

In the evening, we met with the rest of the workshop participants, it was a mixture of young and old, as usual, we were lost in translation, that is the best thing about being in Japan, you just get lost in communication and the message that is passed through can sometimes be accurate or just misinterpreted.

After the meeting, we were brought to a nice restaurant, which of course (er hmm), we had to pay our share that I wouldn’t want to mention the price. But we had sashimi and other raw seafood delicacies, I am not big fan of raw food but I will only do this in Japan apparently.

I realised something, never wear your socks with holes, because most of the eating place require you to take of your shoes most of the time. If you think you are so rock n roll, spare the embarrassment and get a nice looking socks (hee hee).

The Space

The Space
Originally uploaded by mrfantesticles.

Ajibi Hall-2 stages-No seats and a screen.

Daily Ritual

Daily Ritual
Originally uploaded by mrfantesticles.

Kenjiro Matsuo and his gear, this was taken at about 10pm, a meeting we

had after 12 hour daily intensive rehearsal/workshop routine.

Evening in Fukuoka

Evening in Fukuoka
Originally uploaded by mrfantesticles.

An evening in Fukuoka, it is getting colder here in Fukuoka, winter is

coming soon.

The meeting

The meeting
Originally uploaded by mrfantesticles.

The Nippon-Syonanto meeting, from left Kaborg, Norico and our

translator by default Kaori.

The Workshop

The Workshop
Originally uploaded by mrfantesticles.

This is the Swarm of Fish scene, part of the workshop conducted by

Norico Sumiyama.

The Street outside the Asian Art Museum

The Street outside the Asian Art Museum
Originally uploaded by mrfantesticles.

We are staying just around the block, so its a 5 mins walk to the

museum everyday.

Eve of Chaos, the next 20 days of History

Well...well...well, here we go again, the travelling troupe of hope is embarking on a new journey yet again, facing a new direction, bags have yet to be packed, and I am still doing laundry at this moment. I am not sure what's in store in Fukuoka, hopefully things will be alright over there, its about 15 degrees there. So its not too bad, this time round we have no idea of what the performance is going to be like.

Only after the intensive 1 week workshop, then we will see the work, at this moment all we have are ideas, it might work, it might not work at all. But at the end of the day, like it or not, the show must go on!

I will try my very best to update this journal, and of course, the pix and all that jazz... let's do it...

Preparing for another Nippon experience

I have been ridiculously busy the past couple of days, when suddenly a surge of 'lifeline' work came piling up the desk amidst the festivities. Right now, we are in the mode of chaos all over again preparing for the Triennale in Fukuoka, Japan. This time round its longer than usual, 18 days in all. As for myself, this is going to be a soul-searching one definitely as I have to battle with the 'I' in within me.

I believe you have heard of Frankestein, there is one in everyone, its a matter of taming that inner beast preventing it from spilling out of the normality of being human. At the end of the day, its important to realise not to get too self-absorbed, it might just end up becoming an uncalled psychological growth.

So there you go, life goes on and on, no matter how much you despise it, but hey ho, we live only once. You can take the punches, because you are numb to it, you know because it is just life as life is what it is and was.

The possibilities of a miracle is thin, but you hang on to the very edge in making sure that you won't fall completely into the dark abyss of the gruesome unkindness of fate. Positivity is the new friend and the setting sun becomes a sombre moment of desperation.

Desperation to survive another day as a wiser and better person, once again the story goes of the man who got eaten up by himself. har har har

The Joggler Waggler

The Joggler Waggler
Originally uploaded by mrfantesticles.

If you are unfamiliar with World Joggler Day, a special tribute to

Joggler McKenzie, this is my rendition of your favourite joggler pose,

the smiling joggler.

November Special: The Joggler

November Special: The Joggler
Originally uploaded by mrfantesticles.

Let's give it up for our November Special: "The Joggler"

Things Change, but The Music Remains The Same ...

Things Change, but The Music Remains The Same ...
Originally uploaded by mrfantesticles.

Rock n Roll will save your life once more, re-configuring at Velvet

Goldmine, Haji Lane, SIngapore.

Sista Zeesta

Sista Zeesta
Originally uploaded by mrfantesticles.

I Haven't seen my sister for ages, it was nice to see her at the party.

Lovely...

Happy Help Thee..

Well, the festive season is here again, what else is new? For myself, the year is becoming sombre, partly because the downers are more than the uppers, not like last year. But every year can't be the same, there is always tragedy, happiness, sadness, boredom, etc; we all should be grateful that we are still alive and breathing.Aren't we?

The business of the heart is never easy, no one said its easy...it is not something you can change overnight. To conquer that, is more than what it takes to handle...

Anyways, why should we feel down when everyone is up? Happy Diwali to all the Hindu devotees and Selamat Hare Raya to all our Muslim brothers and sisters.

Despite, the torrential downpour of emotional catharsis, there are a few good news here and there, Cake Theatre has invited me to be in their new production next year called 'Queen King', with a stellar cast of Norlina Mohd, Nora Samosir and maybe Karen Tan. This is definitely the opportunity to learn a thing or two from the pros, yeeha!

Throughout my entire life, I've had only 2 surprise birthday parties, and normally, I don't know how to react to it...but its nice to see people make an effort to come and see you getting older. Life will carry on, as long as you wake up in the morning feeling conscious, and you look at yourself in the mirror and tell yourself that one day you are going to look like a prune.

Its better to keep shut than too talk without thinking....cheers!