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Wine, Dine, & Party! (Part 2) - The Road to Toronto!!!
Thursday, Nov 19, 2009 1:50PM / Members only
Many of you may or may not know I'm here in Toronto now, arriving just a week ago on Thursday. I do hope I'll have some exciting stories to share of my adventure, but first I must cover my journey leading up to my departure from Ireland..... Which consisted of seeing many people for meal, drinks, party or what not!!!
What's cooking, Mr Miah....?
Working with the 2008 TEAM Jumping on My Shadow crowd would certainly be one of my most enjoyable experience as a professional actor. We all shared a wonderful time together, countless laughs on the road, and a fun-filled touring show, I was glad to have the opportunity to sit down for dinner with Dave and Georgina once again!
Dave Ferguson, the original Mr. Miah from TEAM's Jumping on My Shadow, played host offering to cook up a wonderful meal while we all enjoyed a few glasses of wine.
This Chilean dish Dave whipped together, king prawn Jambalaya was firey hot & spicy.....!!! Nice........
We enjoyed the food and drinks while reminising on the past fun times, when suddenly we had a surprise guest turning up.................
It was our old touring stage manager, Kate Ferris!!! It has been a good while since I've seen our Australian friend, and wasn't even aware she was back working in Ireland. So her appearance was a nice & most welcomed surprise.
We all shared memorable times together on tour, and this re-union will go down as one we'll remember also.
"Blame Canada!" Leaving Party
I'm never quite the one to hold a party, particularly not for my own cause that's for sure! Personally I much prefer to meet up with individuals over lunch, tea or coffee so we can enjoy a proper catch up rather than to attempt to speak over loud blaring music. However with so many people yet to see in so little time, what was intended to be a small get together with few friends for drinks had simply been re-arranged to an open invite to many of my friends as somewhat a going away party for me.
I was even late for my own party. And no, it was no intention to make a grand fashionable late entrance..... 
In fact it was a slow enough start, my sister Susan and her fiancee, Dave the first ones there. My buddy Ronan Barr eventually showed up though. The first one there and last one to leave too..... What a trooper (and drinker.....
).
The evening grew more eventful and more faces from the past and recent years came entering the bar.
Above are just few of the good people I got to know from my casual (in-between acting) job, the CATI call centre.
Another reason why I'm never too keen on these sort of leaving do's is because I don't know how many times I have had a leaving party from CATI and how many goodbyes I had said to the place, thinking I'm all set now after landing a comfy lengthy gig......... But give it anytime between 4-9 months I just can't get out of that place, and I end up there again when needs be....... 
Hence you might understand why I was hesitant in having a leaving party for my going away to Canada in case it might jinx my return any sooner!!! 
And then there is always my TEAM co-workers, Andy Blaikie (Mr Miah of Jumping on My Shadow 2009) and our lovely administrator, Valeria. Andy has always been a great drinking buddy, and his company shall be dearly missed............
Numerous friends from my drama training days both past and present were in attendance, including my good tutor, Neville Styles. He has given me a lot of support through out my training and career, and has remained a good friend to this day since almost 5 years I had graduated.
My on-screen nemesis from Crib of Death but always good friend, Noel Anguier. He was a fellow actor pulging away at CATI and I was delighted to get to know him. We had always talked and joked about if there was ever an opportunity to work together, and I'm actually happy we had achieved that before my departure.
Noel is actually due to head off to Canada also, but will be venturing West to Vancouver instead. I'm sure we will meet up one of these day in future.....
He did it twice before during our production of Crib of Death, why not allow Cathal to make it three strikes lucky!!!
No love lost between us though.... Hehehe..... Cathal is a talented actor I've had the pleasure to train and work with, an all-round nice guy, and one to look out for in future.
My family members also showed up with their partners and friends. My sister, Susan had recently got engaged to her boyfriend of 2 years (eh, I think that's right.....
), Dave O'Reilly. A genuine nice guy (and huge fan of MMA & UFC which is a plus.... ) and I am delighted for the both of them as they make a wonderful pair. 
So it was an eventful evening to see so many faces on the one night. There were people I didn't get to chat with more than I had wished to have, but overall I'm glad everyone there seemed to have enjoyed themselves.
How bout a cuppa...?
With the previous evenings of drinking out of the way I was delighted to get to relax and enjoy a non-alcoholic beverage with some of my other close friends.
I have known my good friend here, Mo for years and despite she has moved around, aboard and beyond and eventually back to Ireland, we had remained in touch. It was nice to get to see herself and her lovely sister, Maelys over a cup of tea and do bit of catch up.
One of my best friend, Christopher Noonan arrived back in Ireland from London the night before, so myself and another of our best friend, Pádraig (who is traveling to Toronto with me) got to do bit of catch up over some food and even enjoyed a cinema visit too.
Chris is always a great guy to talk to, and it certainly was nice to see him in person again. He had moved to London over two years ago to further his training in performance arts & musical theatre, and has since remained there to work in the industry. I'm sure it wouldn't be too long till he'll be joining Pádraig and I over in The Big Smoke......!
Other friendly faces I got to hook up with for some tea or food (but never had the time to whip out the camera for any photos....
) includes my Crib of Death director & partner in crime, Craig Woods; fellow AnD talented director & good friend Seamus Walsh; Róisín Deery, who also flew back from London to see Pádraig and I off; my former drama training classmate & fellow Muay Thai practitioner, Simon Fogarty who I hadn't seen in years; enjoyed a lunch time show with my former CATI colleagues, Stewart Roche, Mark Moloney, Colin Brennan. etc.
All those above and others I didn't have the opportunity to see in Ireland, I would surely miss. An year isn't too long anyway, and the internet hasn't proven to make the world so much a smaller place, it might not make any different where I am in the world now when I communicate with my friends!
That's hot, Folks!
I got to enjoy some nice hot pot goodies with my parents days before I left. I've been so busy all over the place with things to sort out and people to see, I actually hadn't been home as much as I probably should have. But managed to spend a nice time over the boiling broth surrounded with yummy food and shared a bottle of wine.
My parents. Gotta love them and miss them.
So long, Ireland!!!
After less than 2 hours sleep, my sister and I headed off to the airport where we met up with my best friend and traveling companion, Pádraig D'Arcy.
Big hugs and goodbye to my sister, Sue........
.............. And we're on our way now!
Since Pádraig and I hadn't booked our flights together, we didn't manage to get seats next to one another. We did check-in at same time though, and was in fact he was provided seat directly in front of me!
Probably worked out for the best after all, since the plane was bearly full we ended up having the whole three seat row to ourselves allow us to rest out the legs. Even lie down to catch much needed sleep we were both seriously lacking!
There were some great in-flight entertainment though.
And my special request vegeterian meal wasn't so bad after all. As far as airline food goes, Air Canada is pretty decent I must say.....
A view from above over downtown Toronto district, getting ready to land.......
And I shall sign off with my exhausted visage during the take off. As excited as I was, I was too tired and sleepy to exert or muster up a smile for the camera.... But as you read this blog - yes, I am excited to be here in Toronto and I wish to continue sharing my stories and adventures here (provided I have anything exciting to share...... )!!!!
Peace & Best Wishes from Toronto,
Alan
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Wine, Dine, & Party! (Part 1)
Tuesday, Nov 17, 2009 3:30AM / Members only
I had wanted to do a blog specifically on my trip to Hong Kong last month (which seems like ages ago now.... So miss the place.... ), but so much has been happening and I've been kept busy since my return to (and departure from!) Ireland, particularly on a social level. I thought I would share with some of the eventful evenings (and mornings) I've had in Hong Kong, Ireland, and beyond!!!
Wedding Delight
The day after my arrival in Hong Kong I learnt I was to attend a wedding dinner party of a distant cousin of mine! It was of the wedding of a distant cousin of mine, Ah-Ying 'Shadow' whom I never met before. It was a very nice occasion though and was happy for the newly weds, Shadow & Martin and all the family and friends there you seemed to have had delightful time. 
It was also good to see few relatives I haven't seen in years, including my aunt and cousin Sandy.
The guest table I was seated at was with various aunts and cousins of mine, and that's my sister Ling on the right with the glasses & baby blue top.
We all enjoyed the nice meal and drinks on offer on this wonderful occasion between Shadow & Martin.
ESPRIT & A taste of Hong Kong Nightlife!
So I'm a little behind with the report, but yes I was at the EPSRIT AnD event on Peking Rd, and it was my very first AnD event to attend also. I sure hope it won't be my last, because it certainly was good fun with excellent live music performances and I got to meet many wonderful fellow AnD-ers there.
After the ESPRIT event had wrapped up I joined my brother and his work colleagues to their friends birthday party in a rather trendy nightclub, SoHo in TST.
That's my brother Stuart on the left, with his two workmates from Fitness First, Mandy and Kenji.
And here's few of the lads with the birthday girl, Joyce.
I have never been clubbing in Hong Kong before so this was rather a good experience to get a taste of the whole nightlife in Hong Kong!
And at HK$350 entrance fee, you gotta make the most of all the drinks you can order in this club! 
I even got to try my hand on some drinking games like the finger guessing game, 'chai-wu'.
Kenji and Mandy were a great laugh and fun to be around.....
They had much fun too partying all night......
.... long..................
It's been a while since I got to see and hang out with my brother Stuart since he moved to Hong Kong, so it was definitely nice to spend some good time with him and also enjoy ourselves on a night out.... till 5:30am next morning.....
Halloween (Rated: U)
So it was unfortunate I wasn't around in Hong Kong for the AnD Halloween party (which looked truly awesome!!), however back home in Ireland I did attend the party my brother Fai held..... For the little ones in our family!!!
My nephews, Sean seemed really excited and in the spirit for Halloween.....
Sean teaches his little brother the art of scaring.....
They are too adorable though to have you screaming with fear....!
There was a good crowd, adults and children at this party and all enjoyed themselves at the little gathering.
My sister-in-law, Siling with her (then) 3 months old son, Ciaran seeing his first Halloween and probably wondering what on Earth is going on...!?!?!?!
When family friend Alan squares off with little Colin here, there is a lesson to be learnt......
..... Sometimes you're just better off try picking on someone your own size......
My adorable neice, Dervla as a little ladybird.
Colin's 2nd Birthday
So it was my nephew Colin's birthday on 3rd November, and he just turned two years old. We did our usual family gathering for these occasions and this time enjoyed a bit of hot pot!
The birthday boy, Colin looking for his second servings.....
This occasion calls for a bit of champagne, eh.....?
With a bit of effort the cork did eventually come off......
..... So I could enjoy the whole bottle to myself...... 
Time for cake! Yummy.....!!!
There's no room for sharing once Colin gets his hands wrapped around the cake...!!!
And of course, the birthday boy spoilt with load of goodies......
I tried my best to get a proper picture with my nephew but he was having none of it, as he was more interested in watching TV at the time...... Ah what can you do.... He's the birthday boy after all.
To be continued: Wine, Dine, & Party all the way to Toronto!!!
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"Crib of Death" Teaser Trailer
Wednesday, Oct 21, 2009 11:50AM / Members only
Well I am delighted to share with my fellow AnD-ers the 1st teaser trailer to Tequila Mockingbird Productions' short kung fu action comedy, Crib of Death.
I have not yet made this official to the public, but would love to hear some opinions and feedback from the people on Alive not Dead first.
The trailer runs for under 40 seconds, and I hope you enjoy it!
Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9VkcsB_25YA&feature=player_embedded
Peace & Best Wishes,
Alan
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"Crib of Death" : It's a wrap!
Wednesday, Oct 7, 2009 11:50PM / Members only
Well it took it's time, but I'm glad to announce principle photography for Tequila Mockingbird Productions' Crib of Death has finally wrapped!!!
Crib of Death is a short action kung fu comedy which I have been heavily involved in, a project which I co-wrote and co-produced as well as playing the main lead and acting as fight/action choreographer. It has been tough challenging work, with the micro low/no budget production running over schedule than expected. However, with principle photography now complete I am delighted to share with you some insight of the production and behind the scenes.
THE JOURNEY BEGINS
Our first days shoot in our hero, Lee's (that's me ) apartment.
Lee with his proud collection of DVDs...
He's happy with what he see....
Bit of nunchucku work out....
Our producer, John Lawless doubling as the sound/boom operator, with director Craig Woods behind the lens.
Just doing bit of warm up, but where is Craig directing his camera....?!?!
Nothing a kick in the face won't sort out.... Hahaha!
Never get between a man & his bottle
The second days shoot on schedule was our first fight scene of the movie.
Cathal Sheahan, talented actor skilled in Kempo & kickboxing, and good friend of mine fills the role of the lousy drunken businessman, Clive.
Now, as good as Cathal is, naturally accidents do happen....
A misjudged back fist ends up finding a home right on my nose!
(Trivia: Cathal was the very same person to have kneed me in the nose during rehearsals!!! Now the guy can officially say he is the very few - if not the only one - to have given me two nose bleeds!!!)
I did get my very own Jackie Chan moment though - all is good in the hood. I'm being attended to by one of the most multi-talented Jack of all trades I've come across, Dominick O'Crouadhliocht. This gentleman was our general and special effects make up artist, lighting designer, set constructions, make-shift first aider - even for any damage inflicted to the location/house!!! Believe me, that did happen.... 
Five minutes later, I was back in action.
Here rehearsing a high jump kick as Cathal watches on what's a ahead of him....
The location was insanely hot, and our production designer, Aoife Concannon was at hand to give us all a cooling down.
I'm just a cook....
The proud yet arrogant French chef, Pierre is played by Stav Dvorkin. Stav is professionally trained in stage combat and I completely trusted him in the role, particularly when he had to handle two (slightly blunted) real kitchen knives (prop knives do cost money....). Unfortunately none of our photographers were available on the days shoot, so none of the action was captured on photo but I can promise there is a good slice-full of action involved in this kitchen bout.
Let the games begin....
One of our hardest shoot would undoubtedly be in the attic featuring our main antagonists, Cheese and Chives.
Two fine actors, Noel Aungier and Jason Gilroy as the do-no-good brothers, Cheese and Chives. Here awaiting (in character) for their make up to be applied.
Noel with some intense video gaming as his character, Cheese.
Noel was also on board as co-producer, and a outstanding job he has done with his contribution throughout. When he was not in front of camera, he always made the effort to attend the shooting days to lend a hand where needed. Respect.
The conditions filming a fight scene in the attic were extremely tough. The room was cramped, hot, stuffy, and suffocating lacking in oxygen. But we did pull through, and I do think we made some magic happen....
Shall we dance....?
Kerrie O'Sullivan fills the role of the sweet but deadly, Lola. This beautiful actress is a trained gymnast and has some lethal high kicks on her! Here she is getting some instructions how to kick my ass!!!
On paper, this scene was to be the our final shooting day to wrap. However it didn't quite happen that way, and due to other delays and issues the remainder of the scene (1st half of it) wasn't completed until over 3 weeks after!
I was very pleased with the result of this scene, and was glad we had the time dedicated to get it done right.
You taking the p*ss...?!?!
No doubt the hardest of all shoot we've encountered was the scene set in the toilet.... Initially we thought we had the perfect location to set up the scene, and might even break some Guinness Book of Records in film making to be actually filming a full on fight scene in the most confined toilet room measuring 200cm x 80cm (that enclosed an actual toilet, a sink, a shower basin, and 4 people in the room - two of them towering at 6' 4"!!!). That is insanely tight!!!!
However the space proved unpractical at all, shots and angles near impossible to get right. The results of what was captured on the day probably most dissatisfying and nothing close to usable.... We thought we were at a lost.....
Fortunately, thanks to Craig and Dom's genius work and creativity, and the commitment of our cast member 'Tiny' James Akpotor (who is not one bit tiny!) we got the ball back on the roll and managed to recreate and shoot the whole scene again, and we made something much more pleasing and brought much needed life back into the scene.
Here's me taking the reigns and ordering 'Tiny' James about!
So we literally wrapped on the scene and the whole short film on Sunday 4th October, and I was so glad we got the second chance to make this scene with 'Tiny' James right.
Welcome to our Crib....
So Crib of Death was filmed in 9 whole days over a period of 7 weeks (the whole production was designed to work around peoples availability). There were many blood, sweat, and tears (mainly all excreting from me... ) and tons of hard work and dedication from all involved, but there was lot of fun to be had as well from this fulfilling experience.
And meet the unsung hero from Crib of Death....
.... My very own stunt double, mini-Lee!
The little Crib family....
So it's been a long hard journey, but let's hope it's all worth it.
Many thanks to Claire Weir and Nella Synge for providing majority of the photos and their kind assistance throughout the production.
Peace & Best Wishes,
Alan
PS. Hong Kong, here I am!!!
One final note, I have arrived in Hong Kong this morning Tuesday 6th October (since over 2 and half years ago) and I'm so excited!!!
I will be here for three weeks (sadly not around for the Halloween party though... Boooo.... ), so if any fellow artist or good people out there in Hong Kong ever wish to hook up, exchange ideas or whatever, don't be afraid to drop me a line through here on AnD. Thanks!
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Entering the "Crib of Death" - Rehearsals
Monday, Jul 27, 2009 10:29PM / Members only
First and foremost, I would honestly consider myself an actor with martial arts abilities rather than a martial artist who can act, even though I started out in Tae Kwon Do before I dabbled in anything to do with acting. I had stressed a number of times though I never seem to be able to demonstrate any of my fighting skills onscreen much at all. Especially in Ireland, chances for such projects involving action or martial arts to come around are slim to none!
It's been a long time coming but I will finally get the opportunity to do my very own martial arts action movie!!! Now that's something you won't see often coming from Ireland....
Crib of Death is a short kung fu comedy project that was in developement for good number of months, which was co-written by myself and my dear friend Craig Woods, whom will be directing, while I will star in and act as fight choreographer.
The original idea of Crib of Death came from something I had always wanted to do - a homage to my idol Bruce Lee and his original concept of his incomplete project at the time, Game of Death. I won't go into details of how we came up with the story just yet, but instead will share with you some insights of our rehearsals which had been tough, but a fun and interesting process....
Craig and I had always wanted to work together on some project, and were happy for this opportunity to come along care of the company he co-found, Tequila Mockingbird Productions, and the story treatment I had pitched to them.
As you can see, I get to don the yellow & black jumpsuit outfit made famous by Bruce (and in more recent years, Kill Bill). It looks slick, but I gotta admit the zip was pretty poor quality. The first one which arrived to me was already damaged, so I got a new replacement sent. And after only having worn it twice, the zip snapped! It was just the zip was of cheap quality. (I wonder if Mr Justin Lin had the same problem, considering the amount of the very same costume was used in Finishing the Game!!!). Thankfully I managed to get the zip replaced for a much better quality and durable one. Thank you ZipYard for such a wonderful job done!!! 
Above are few members of the cast (and my opponents) in the movie. All comes in different shapes and sizes, but one thing in common they all still tower over me....
Look at all the happy faces in the snaps.... That won't last for too long when the real work kicks in.....
Noel Aungier, who plays the main antagonist and villian of the piece, takes a side kick to the face....
.... Craig and I had a disagreement with the re-writes, so he gets it too!!!
As the saying goes though - if you're able to dish them, you gotta take them....
Here's me getting a taste of my own medicine from Cathal Sheahan, and being manhandled by 'Tiny' James Akpotor! James is a beast of a man, but really is a huge friendly giant.
Noel and Jason Gilroy, as the villianous brothers Cheese & Chives, rehearse their dual attack....
.... While I dance my way out of Kerrie O'Sullivan's character, Lola's attack! Kerrie is one amazing high kicking lady too!
I really am just chilling here on my break between rehearsal....
.... And here Craig works the nunchucks with his greatest effort....
Our producer, John Lawless with Kerrie review some pictures of the rehearsal.
The Sony EX3 camera which Craig invested in and which we're using to shoot Crib of Death. It's an impressive piece of technology and should give us a good quality movie.... (Fingers cross....)
So we have one more weekend of rehearsals left to go, then it's time to shoot (over a period of three weekends)!!! I know we are still somewhat at the early stages of this whole short production, but already I feel I have learnt quite a bit having tested myself on a number of levels especially in the rehearsal period so far. Time will tell how I will hold up when it comes to the shoot, but there ain't no holding back now.... 
And of course there would be a bit of price to pay when it comes to creating some intense fight scenes.... This weekend gone was probably the worst off though, with a bit of a miscued timing between Cathal and I resulted with me eating a knee to the face, drawing blood from the nose.... Sure enough I survived, and a bit of blood ain't gonna stop me. No pain, no gain....
Will hope to continue to update about Crib of Death here on AnD in future. So watch this space....
OTHER NEWS....
Laws of Attraction
It's funny how once I started working on my own project based on a Bruce Lee movie, fortunate has it I would get the dream opportunity to audition for the very role made famous by Bruce Lee himself - Kato from The Green Hornet!!!
Never would I have thought casting directors in LA would turn to me here in Ireland to read for the role, but I am ever so grateful for such an opportunity (Thanks also has to go to Mr Stephen Chow....). I enjoyed the chance to work with the scenes provided and on the character, getting an audition tape done to be sent out to Hollywood, and regardless of the outcome I just know I've done my part and let's just see what may happen....
As my friend pointed out to me, it's the laws of attraction that presented that very opportunity.... If you want something badly enough and create your own opportunities....
.... BANG!!! The rewards will hit you and come your way. I never thought of that myself before, but I see his point.... And long may it last I hope....
The latest Wai clan member
Here's the latest member of the Wai 'Ga-Ban'!!! My brother & sister-in-law had their third child on Friday 24th July. He's a real cutie... No name decided yet....
Look how cheerful Sean and Colin are knowing they have a new little brother!!!
And finally....
A huge Happy Birthday to my idol, Donnie Yen Chi-Tan!!! You rock, man!
Peace & Best Wishes,
Alan
Stats
- The youngest of six siblings and his family originally from Hong Kong, Alan Tak Wa Wai was born and raised in Dublin, Ireland on 26th June 1983...
- Occupation: Actor , Martial arts
- Gender: Male
- Total visits: 13,197
