[hands and feet]
who says you got to have death defying stunts for charity?

the president's star charity show last night was far from doing the usual at charity shows...



there were no stunts and no, zoe did not stack herself on tables...

the closest to that was the wushu demonstration where puglists were flying and wooshing in the air...

and that was all...

apart from that, it was pure clean fun, no fake tears and staged crying scenes... the artistes danced and rocked their bodies all in the name of charity...

and it even broke last year's record!

now who says we need the stunts? bring on the song and dance!!

[networked parade]
i loved the ndp parade preview... and here's why...

the planes were awesome...



the march past was spectacular...



and boy... so many people!!!



it's the first ever networked parade!

and expect to see a lot of "live" crossovers to the heartlands to see singaporeans from all walks of life doing the singapore wave...

from jurong to tampines to yishun and marina bay...

happy birthday singapore! the future is ours to make...

[national day fever]
it's the run up to national day and interestingly, i'm not really involved in a lot of things...

just that this weekend i'll be dropping by the padang (at the grandstand no less!)...

it's the national day preview... the biggest show after the nkf scandal...

i digress...

yes... after the saga... $600,000 and peanuts.... and gold taps and branded fittings... you get what i'm saying...

and back to the topic...

i've got an ndp invite!! and it's courtesy of my uncle...

also, to celebrate national day, i've also recorded a segment for channel news asia...

catch my ndp wishes for the nation's 40th birthday on national tv....



and so that pretty sums up how i'll be involved in the nation's birthday...

that is other than the national day dinner at my cc... and the observance ceremony... of course i would love to go to the national day celebration at the heartlands if my schedule permits...

[target on sports]
it was an event targetted to let the community have a hand at learning a new sport...



the turnout was dissappointing however... contrary to reports, the turnout was a meagre 500 people...

it was an important milestone for me though....

firstly, it was the launch of the team singpore song titled "movin up" which features the voices of team singapore athletes and volunteers... yup... it was the song that a few volunteers and i lent our vocals to...



secondly, it marks the beginning of my three consecutive sundays of seeing our president his excellency mr s r nathan...

some people are so excited to meet him like as though they haven't seen him and they whip out their camera phones and snap shots of him... but i'll be seeing him for the next two sundays! it's so easy to see him lor... just go to the istana...



also, i managed to try out a few sports like hockey (which at suck at) and rowing (which is quite fun)...

thanks to the patient hockey national athlete who taught me a few techniques... a fellow saint to be exact...

pity... didn't have time to try out the rest of the stations... but got to see a few not so famous mediacorp stars playing ball...

it was a long day too....

after that i was at serangoon secondary school and caught some soccer action (again!) at the hougang cc 7-a-side soccer tournament....



i dropped by for awhile so that bro deneng could propose a basketball tournament idea to our hougang csc chairman...

then i zipped to plaza singapura's gv to check out "the island"...

and so that was how my sporty sunday went....

i'm still burnt from spending lots of time in the sun...

next week: i'll be seeing dancing sparkling stars "live" at the president's star charity...

[really star struck]
two weeks ago at the 117th ioc session... a star descended at the raffles ballroom...

don't blink... it is a superstar... really...

[launch of night clinic]
it's just moments after my second emcee stint at my new workplace...



the first one was scary... but that's another story...

and it rocks... it was quite a last minute thing and days before the event, my manager and i wrote the script...

though it was a lacklusture event, the media still dropped by...

earlier on, channel news asia replied to say that they would not be featuring the event...

ended up that they did after all...



it was a simple launch of hougang cc's free night clinic for senior citizens and an extension of our mediacal support to the community after the success of the day clinic...

and so this pretty sums up the whole thing... short and sweet...



oh yes, we had a singapore flag cake too to celebrate our advisor mr eric low's birthday...

[sports gathering]
come sunday team singapore will have a sports fiesta....

loads of stars and sporting heroes will lend a hand at this event...

and today i was at a gathering for a briefing on the day's activities...

it was held at our clubhouse also known as blue oasis...



situated at the malay heartland in the arab street area it oozes rustic charm...



the program sheet for the sports fiesta spells fun already... loads of booths of various sports will be set up all for charity...

so if you want to try your hand at riding a pony do drop by bishan park this sunday...

also the team singapore song will be launched by president nathan... so i'll see him yet again...

will post photos after the event as usual...

[star struck]
was at the recording of project superstar again... not that i have no life but there were free tickets... and that meant i could ask silver some questions for fullstop editor too... though i could have called her....



and yes there were a lot of fans... they are not even superstars yet... still people love them nonetheless... i was not a tad starstruck though...

this was hagen hogged by girls way before the "live" recording... he spent a lot of time with his fans...



and when i got into studio 4 it was an orgy of fans and superstar wannabes...

most were hugging... some were chatting... and others were taking shots of their fave contestants....



and so silver got into the next round... yes... she rocks...

will you support silver too?

[what a day]
all thanks to the public transport fund...

a lot of people are driving me crazy....

and so my desk is messy as i attend to the people applying for the public transport fund....



some don't even know what they are applying for...

said ah nia (not her real name): "government give money for ez-link card hor? wa ai apply leh..."

said ah kow (not his real name): "i want to apply for the $300 given by lee hsien loong..."

like duh?!

[appreciation time]
after a long week... after spending lots of hours... after slogging through tight schedules...

it's time for them to say thank you...

and this week, i have three appreciation dinners...

one for helping out during passion day...

one for the ioc media support team volunteers...

and one for helping out in team singapore....

then next week i have another ioc appreciation dinner... throw in the lunch with the sp board of governers next week too...

where got time? it is tough but i love it nonetheless...

it's better being busy that slacking your ass off at home...

[living the dream]
was at the nkf cancer charity show last night... and it was awe-inspiring...

i love watching "live" shows.... really...

to the extent that i won't mind putting a show of such a scale together...



and last night, the hunks ruled...

though there was no vincent ng and qi yiwu - two of mediacorp's most talked about hunks - the show rocked the girls ab-solutely...



the babes ruled too...

personally, i feel that fann's peacock dance performance rocked... and yes, i love fann...

then the accapella version of mandarin songs nearly made me cry... so nostalgic...

but what was most exciting was the stuff that you don't get to see on tv...

scenes like this...

stage manager prompting jj lin 30 seconds after returning "live" to the studios...



scene changes during the commercial break - where the stage crew rush for time to get the stage ready for the next stunt...



and the presentation of appreciation gifts to all those involved - artises, crew and guest-of-honour...

because this is the time you get to see the artistes up close and personal...



then after the show and during the reception, i caught fann being grilled by reporters...



and yes, we took a photo together like always...

[soundwaves]
after the ioc it is life as usual as i would think...

not really though...

got vip tickets for a show....

and yes... here are the lucky guys... though i got four vip tickets only three of us went... wasted...



we sort of enjoyed the pa soundwaves concert... okay.. taufik was the only celebrity there...

however it was the food that was worth looking forward to... delicious...

and the view too...



it was held at the singapore turf club.... promising a night under the stars...



there were goodie bags too... i left mine behind though... not into the free stuff they gave... other people took like three to four each... guess i'm not a greedy guy...



then tomorrow night i'll be "live" at the nkf cancer show ii...

[goodbye ioc]
after days of hard work, tight schedules and late nights, the ioc session in singapore finally ends today...

and as i am typing ioc president is busy giving his final press briefing...

but still, the spirit of the olympics will be in our hearts - in singapore...



i also had fun taking photos...

like as though i was holding a press conference...



and i met ioc comms director gisele too... and so we posed for photos...



what a sigh of relieve... eight days of late nights...

and so the legend of paris, new york, moscow london and madrid in singapore will go on...

i also got the pins of every country at the 117th ioc session...

[media frenzy]
being part of media support means that you have to know the news and pass on the accurate information...

and over the last few days, there has been plenty of media people at the 117th ioc session...

and this was the scene in the main press centre on the day of the announcement of the bid city...



and this was the media waiting at the lift lobby of raffles the stamford on the day of the london blasts...

and they managed to get an interview from mayor of london, ken livingstone... and the footage was shown "live" just minutes after... (do you see cna reporter farah abdul rahim in the photo?)



the asian broadcast channels even filmed outside of the raffles city building...



and the radio station booths in the main press centre...



at the international broadcast centre, news reporters were busy updating the results of the bidding back "live" to their country....



that probably sums up my area of work...

[fame, fortune and happiness]
the 117 ioc session is a fun and enriching experience said ephraim loy in his closing speech... okay... i am kidding...



apart from famous including the guy luc besson who directed the french video which they used for the paris presentation...



i also saw the powerful and rich including new york senator hillary clinton...



and the mayor of new york michael bloomberg...



then i also managed to snag david beckham's autograph while he made his way out of the raffles ballroom where the announcement of the results was held...



and it was really fun seeing the happiness and disappointment on some faces after the announcement of the results...

my heart was thumping as the results were announced... and so, see you at london 2012!

you really have to be there to get the feeling - you hear tonnes of people cheering at the raffles city atrium...

then above at the rccc, delegates swarm in and out and whiz by you while they prepare for the final lap...

happiness....

[meeting royalty]
i attended all the press briefings today...

since nine in the morning, i was at the rccc and was tasked to man the press briefing room at the rccc vip lounge...

and so the order goes - paris, new york, moscow, london and lastly madrid...

so which had the best attendance?

based on my what i saw, moscow's press conference had the lowest attendance....

and the highest media attendance goes to the london press conference...

it was quite an insight though some conferences were delivered in russian and spanish and i could not understand....

[the search for raul]
i'm sure now everyone knows about the boo-boo yesterday...

and so, i made a guide to spotting sporting celebrities... courtesy of lianhe zaobao...

they did a story on all the famous celebs who will be arriving and i made a copy and kept it in my file...

and so while going for my duty today, i finally met him...

it was all splashed in the news today... the hype of all the celebrities arriving in singapore...

and yes... this time i saw him and recognised him immediately...

although i am not a soccer or real madrid fan....

i met raul!!!!



and i also got his autograph... and it's so cool meeting international sports idols...



at the opening ceremony just now many ssc staff managed to get beckham's autograph...

i guess i'll have to wait patiently until i go for the london press briefing tomorrow...

[ioc goodies]
one of the many reasons why doing media support is so cool is because i get to meet the people reporting the news from the world - have seen a reporter from the financial times, from hong kong, japan, indonesia and almost everywhere in the world...

and because i'm doing media suppport, i am just a few steps away from the desks along the agencies rooms outside the main press centre...

some of the things you can find on the desk include press releases (where you get details on sports stars arriving), media kits, goodies such as wristbands, collar pins, cloth fans, postcards, magazines and cds....



but because they are so popular, they run out fast...

among other things, it is the lack of knowledge on world sports idols that is a disdavantage to me...

i may even not know who walks beside me during my stint at the ioc...

take yesterday for example... i mistook ian thorpe for raul and asked for his autograph... but at least now i know how ian thorpe looks in real life!



and because of that mistake, i now know how raul looks like...

if only david beckham will walk by.... i'd surely know it is him...

chances are still aplenty though... and only time will tell if i get to rub shoulders with him...

[media frenzy]
as the ioc session heats up, the media starts jet-setting to sunny singapore and they throng the rccc...



and that was how the scene was at the hotel lobby about an hour after raul arrived...

heard from photogs that he was enveloped when he arrived at the lobby...



and at the international broadcast centre, more tv stations are arriving and setting up shop...



here you get to see reporters giving "live" updates to the world...



when ioc president jacques rogge gave his wrap of the board meetings for the past two days just now it was full house...

imagine more than 10 cameras filming the briefing and close to 30 photogs taking photos in a cramped room.... imagine having to face the flashes of 30 cameras... (i am almost blind man)... which press conference in singapore gets so much exposure?

and today mediacorp sent a lot of reporters down to feel the action - i saw huang zhihao, diana ser, johnson choo, dominique low, farah abdul rahim and a few other reporters.... (i don't know their names though)...

i also met a chinese press reporter who said that she would be meeting beckham for an interview tomorrow... and no, i won't leave any details here... mum's the word...