Sharing my birthday with you...

First of all, I'd like to thank all of you who left very kind birthday wishes on AnD for me. You're all so wonderful, and sweet. It made my day and I was running around with a huge smile on my face (as you can see) all week because of all of you!

I had a crazily fun birthday this year, very different from paintballing last year, which was awesome! But satisfying, nonetheless :)

FRIENDSHIP IS EVERYTHING

Thanks to AnD and Jeanne, I now have a bunch of awesome, down-to-earth new friends who all came to my birthday dinner, where we celebrated with delicious French food and wine, we played a truth/ false game where people had to either recall and tell the group one interaction that they had with me (e.g. the story about how we met), or make up a complete lie and try to convince the group that it was true. Some of the made up stories were hilarious, involving saving cats, lap-dances, and being spat on. Actors have such a wonderful imagination haha


PS (check out my fake 'drunk' expression) & thank you Jo Jo for the photos


WHERE DREAMS COME TRUE

On the day of my birthday, Yalun took me to Disneyland in HK. It was my first visit there and was really wonderful. Disney brought back all my memories as a child, and gave me hope again that the world is a place where dreams DO come true, if you believe in them.



JAPAN

On the weekend, I took a short-trip to Japan, in which I first visited Hakone, one of Japan's Onsen resorts. It was so beautiful seeing Mount Fuji, living life the real Japanese way (no one spoke English there) and finding my way around. I had Japanese breakfast, slept on a tatami mattress (which killed my back unfortunately haha), and had the luxury to enjoy the beautiful scenery of the Japanese countryside. I then, went to Tokyo (I haven't been there since 2000), and enjoyed lots of great Japanese food and shopping. I love how the Japanese are so expressive in their own identities, almost each person, had their own distinctive style/ fashion. It was really cool, and the nightlife almost put HK to shame.

PS Check out the crazy festival where men where thongs!!

PPS Also, did you know they have all -female train carts so women don't get harassed!



So that was my birthday, quite a way to celebrate it and I'm very grateful to my family, my friends (old and new) for being so supportive of me, so loving, so caring. They keep me grounded, and for that, I'm eternally grateful!

Love Cx

John Legend

Music Matters is my most looked forward to event every year.

Every year, I get to meet entertainment companies from all over the world talk about their take on where the industry is, it's merits, it's problems and their take on the future of the industry. It gives me such a plethora of insight into my career and possible opportunities, so I can adapt my strategy accordingly. It is soooo much fun!

It is also such a joy to meet like-minded people who are in music to make a positive influence in the world, who sacrifice security and money to pursue their ideals, to follow their dreams. From other artists, to producers, to managers, to executives to choreographers... It is such a joy to know we are all in this together and we all intend to do great things!

The highlight was watching Jamie Cullum perform at the closing of music matters, he was such an inspiration, such an amazing performer, entertainer. He gives us all a clear goal to work towards! Such a wonderful surprise!

Music MATTERS, because music is the commonality that bridges all people, we all attach our own stories and emotions to music, and it make us feel united and not alone.

Thank you Alivenotdead and BrandedAsia for keeping this experience alive for us all, and keeping the spirit of music going!

Photo by Jennifer Thym (http://www.alivenotdead.com/rockginger)

It was only 2 days, but it felt like a good 2 months, this acting workshop has exceeded all of my expectations!

Before shooting Legendary Assassin, I had no experience in film AT ALL, not even the slightest bit of training. When I was told I got this role, after a long audition, I really thought the directors had a lot of guts to use me as a lead actress! I was a lost lost puppy in a big big world. So, the only things that I could think to do were: research the top acting books and buy them, rent all the oscar-winning movies to analyse how actors portray their characters, rent all the policewomen films available (Western and Chinese) and to go through as many behind the scenes interviews as I could possibly find. I learnt a lot this way, but to be honest, acting became a trial and error for me. What did it mean to 'raise the stakes' in a situation, how do I interpret the directors' directions, how do I create a backstory, how long do I give myself to prepare before I cry? I had a million questions, and so little answers and only until Jeanne's workshop did I really find these out.

She shed light on so many issues: How do I analyse a script? How do I get in touch with my emotions? What parallels can I draw from my life? How do I fill the blank spaces between lines? What actions should accompany my lines if any? How do I create a deep backstory for my character? When auditioning for a role, how do I  read the lines without burying my face in the script? How do I build character arc? How do I let it go after all of the analysing? and YES I know the answer to all of these NOW thanks to her!

For the very first time, I was not acting, I was living! Each character, be it a mother, a pschologist, a lawyer, a cop, a girlfriend or a lover... I had no idea how I did after each scene, all I knew was how my chest felt heavy after a tough and depressing scene, how I was out of breath from arguing in a heated situation, how I was numb thinking about a childhood memory I tried to repress, how I was repulsed yet at the same time attracted to a serial killer....

Jeanne Hartman is an acting coach that will make you very comfortable in the sense that you can open up to her, and spill your guts out, you feel you can overcome your fear, and be each character freely. Yet, she is also an acting coach that will make you feel uneasy because she's constantly pushing you to achieve higher and higher, to take on more and more challenging roles.

Not one moment was wasted during the 2 days, as we not only learnt more about ourselves, but we learnt more about each other, and most importantly  we learnt from each other! All of us became friends, and came out feeling as though we had known each other for months, because Jeanne's technique brought us together.

I think this is a valuable workshop not only for actors, but for directors/ screenwriters who want to be better at their jobs, for singers who want to be better at expressing themselves and for any other person who wants to learn the art of communication, and the psychology of human beings. It's worth more than $3000 and these lessons will stay with us not only in the field of acting for a lifetime. Thank you Jeanne and Thank you Jason for bringing her to us!

太久沒寫博客，真很抱歉！時間過得很快，圣誕節，新年，農歷新年，情人節都巳經過去了。沒有早些問候和祝福大家，真對不起啦！

First, I would like to say thank you for all those people who took the time out to message me here on AnD.  Your words were encouraging, wise, and supportive,  and I really really appreciate that!  I also appreciate any criticism you may have regarding my career, because I know that people criticise when they care. If no-one tells you you're doing a bad job and if you're doing a bad job, you should worry because it means they have given up on you and don't care if you succeed or fail. Many of you said I shouldn't take roles where I'm just a decorative vase --I will do my best to pick good films and not disappoint you !

首先，非常感謝大家經過和留言！你們的鼓勵和支持使我非常感動！我亦很感激那些對我有批評的留言。因為我知道有你們這樣關心我，我才能進步。當我做得不太好，而沒有人去指點我，我就知道糟糕了，因為這代表你們己經放棄了我。所以請大家作為我的觀眾多多指教！ 很多人叫我要小心選擇將來拍的電影，不要做花瓶。我能力範圍內能做的，我盡量希望做到而不令你們失望。

After Legendary Assassin came out, I did a guest appearance for ''Love Connected'' and played a flight attendant who dates a guy, who has 3 girlfriends behind my back. I really hope this doesn't happen to any of you in real life,  but don't worry if it does, there are many fish in the sea!!!!

《狼牙》上映以后，我客串了一部《保持愛你》，戲裡我演譯一個空姐，講述我和森美的一個愛情故事，但他居然在我背後一腳踏三船。真希望現實生活中不會發生在任何人身上！如果真是有的，這個世界很大，有很多人的，一定要對自己有信心！

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kh4akqPNVtc


I was also honored to be invited to sing at JSG on TVB for the first time. We sung with TVB's very own live band and I was asked to sing one of Amei's song ''   聽海     '' with GEM - who is an incredible singer at a young age of 17. She's a very sweet girl and  it was great to be able to sing with her.

客串完了，我很榮幸被邀請到<<勁歌金曲>>表演。有機會跟TVB的樂隊合作之餘，他們還給我機會跟 GEM 合作點唱了阿妹<<聽海>>這首經典歌，我非常開心！而且GEM 更是一個很友善、只有17歲的歌唱高手！TVB 給我這個機會跟GEM 首次合唱，我非常感謝他們!

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EIV3ohnoWVM
Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C__2aFgasck&feature=related


For some reason, in this industry, when you're busy you're super busy and when it's quiet, you're at home twiddling your thumbs and overindulging in too many episodes of heroes.  Work comes at the same time and goes at the same time. November / December was probably the busiest time of my life. I shot Love Connected over 2 days and on the last day I was up at 10am,  filmed overnight till the morning, then went straight to JSG for rehearsals and performance, and was done by 12pm midnight  the next day. So I was up 26 hours in a row!  I'm still getting used to that!!! My legs felt like they were giving out on me!  :) I feel sorry for my banker friends who work those kind of hours often.

這個行業其實有一點奇怪的，不知道為什麼一忙就忙個不停的，靜起來的時候就待在家裡無所事事，哈哈。十一月十二月可能是我一生中最忙的時候。記得有次早上十時起床開工拍<<保持愛你>>，拍完接住去TVB上<<勁歌金曲>>到下一天的晚上十二時才收工，一共ニ十六小時，腳都軟了！這樣奇怪的工作節奏實在要慢慢適應！ :) 想到我在金融界工作的朋友經常要這樣挨夜，我代他們可憐。

For Christmas, I zoomed off to the US to see my family there. It was such a difference being in suburbia, shoveling snow off your walkway ! I hadn't seen my grandmother since 2003!  It was such a joy to see her and it was a wonderful escape from the bustling lifestyle of Hong Kong. In between, I was also able to see some close friends in NY, Boston  etc...   Although I must say,  my body does not like the cold when it's 20 below zero, your nose feels like it's gonna fall off!!!


圣誕節的時侯，我去美國探親了。郊區的生活特別平靜，除了屋外鏟雪是沒有什麼做的。我2003到2008年沒有探過祖母了，而且可以逃脫香港繁忙的城市生活， 實在舒服開心！中間我更分別去了紐約、波士頓等等探朋友。可是美國那個時候冷得要命，負二十度，鼻子都感覺快掉下了，我一點都不習慣！！

NY Festivities

My Christmas Nails :)Nana and IBoston - Beacon Hill

Anyway, I came back shortly after new years, had a few days to adjust to my jetlag and zoomed off again to Bangkok, Thailand. Can you imagine the temperature change???? It was so nice to be in hot weather though. I shot my fourth Ponds TV Commercial with TaProd and was so happy to see the crew as they are the  most wonderful people. Thailand is an amazing place, other than it's tropical weather and delicious food, people are so open-minded, and they have these fantastic temples and other historical sights. I even randomly got a Harvard Shirt as a gift. Lol!

新年過後，我回到香港要很快地適應時差然後飛往曼谷拍第四部PONDS的電視廣告，你能想像溫度上的轉變嗎？我很開心能夠再跟TaProd的人合作因為他們非常友善！秦國真是一個令人驚嘆的地方，除了氣候溫暖和有很好吃的菜，還有很多很漂亮的廟。有人還隨意送了我一件Havard 的 T-shirt 哈哈

Day trip to Wat Arun TempleMonks with TATOOS!@?@>?


I returned to Hong Kong after Bangkok for Chinese New Years, did a few CNY jobs and started the promotion of Love Connected, I met a few really nice people  like the director Yip Lim Sum, Marie and Katy  (DJ Sammy's other girlfriends in the film) and Chloe Chu who sings the theme song of Love connected. The film finally premiered on the 17th last week.
Anyway, my last note is to all of you, I know these times have been rough with the financial crisis, I know firsthand as a lot of my friends are suffering and they and many other people have lost their jobs! I do hope we all remain optimistic, and stick with each other, especially our dearest family and friends during these bad times. It's the bad times, the hard times that bring us together, and make us stronger!

最後幾句了，我知道現在因為金融海嘯很多人都受到影嚮，我都有好朋友因此而失去了ヱ作! 希望我們一起保持樂觀，堅強的態度，支持鼓勵身邊的家人， 朋友勇往直前。

Here are some video clips that are uplifting, meaningful or funny that you may enjoy.


Love Celina





The last lecture - how to achieve your childhood dreams

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji5_MqicxS

The famous airport lady

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbVw7entkxg