This past Sunday I had the opportunity to shoot with Irwan
again. Those of you may recall a few shots with him a few weeks ago, and
hopefully some more to come. Irwan is as I mentioned an incredibly nice and
patient guy. This was seen as evidence from Sunday.
Our plan was to meet up at 10 am. I received a text from
Irwan at 8:30 confirming that he would be on his way. We were going to shoot in
Sentosa today. Being the guy that I am, I asked if we would have a beautiful
accomplice for the shoot. In luck Irwan found one. A beautiful dame from Brazil, I had met her
before, she speaks limited English and is quite shy. Irwan and I also
discovered one more thing about her. Tardiness. In a world of being
professional to keep clients, photographers and agents happy, being on time is
a big thing. As I have discovered already many people in Singapore are
chronically late. After an hour of waiting she finally arrived.
Once we got to Sentosa things went smoothly, doing a couple
individual shot as well as some couples shots. I look forward to seeing them,
Irwan has been pretty busy lately so it will be a little while until we get
them, but I will post them in here for you.
I have some other good news! I have confirmed a job for
March 3 with Crocs. I laughed pretty hard about this. Especially when
conversing with mom on this regard.
Crocs? She says animal or sandals. I say sandals brand, but it’s for
glasses. She then asks eye or drinking. You have to hand it to mom I kind of
set her up for this.
Last week I was also shortlisted for a job with Holiday Inn.
It is kind of interesting in the castings I have had lately because many say I
have a unique look. This could be a bit of a double-edged sword, but I like to
think of myself as an individual. For
this casting they wanted a 25-30 yr. old Caucasian male, with a good natural
smile. Score that’s what sets me apart,
I am happy 99% of the time and in turn am always smiling. My smile looks
something like Arnold in terminator when Jon Connor is teaching him to smile.
I have taken my cardio up a notch the past couple days and have
been killing it on the bike. Doing that hour of cardio at a higher intensity.
Usually taking it to the 500-calorie mark in the hour. It’s been fun and flying
by as Breaking Bad has gotten really intense lately.
Over the weekend I did a shoot with Irwan again. This time Juliana
joined us. I look forward to seeing some of the new shots. As I mentioned last
time it became easier to work with Irwan as the shoot went on, this day we
started right where we left off, it was much easier to understand his creative
direction. I still need to post the pics from the first shoot.
But back to today. After I got home from the gym, I was soaked in
sweat. I dropped almost a kilo. Which is close to 1L of water. Had a quick
shower, and then Andrew my roommate came it. He looked like he was having a
rough time; face was quick pale and sounded tired. Then I noticed his foot. Now
most the time you don't notice these things, but on a pair of white converse
high-tops, red blood stands out pretty well.
Andrew explained to me that he cut his foot the previous night
(around 5 am) and it bled a lot. After taking off his shoe you could see it was
evidently still bleeding quite a bit. This explained to me right away that it
was the blood loss causing the pale skin and fatigue. We called our agents and
let them know what would be happening. Then off to the hospital via a quick cab
ride. Upon our arrival they provided us with a wheel chair and off we went to
emergency.
I tell you this was the shorted hospital experience I have ever
seen. Andrew was pre screened within 20 minutes, and x-ray, stitches and meds
within an hour and a half. For fast and efficient and polite. I am not sure
exactly how Andrew found the whole experience other than a couple stiches and
some painkillers. He stayed cheerful, here is the pic.
Tardiness again, I am always wanting to write but not taking the time. However there have been some important things going on and I thought I would share.
My time is Singapore is coming to a close. My contract technically ends tomorrow. I have been working yesterday and I will again today, promoting Blanc de Perle a new skin whitening product. This event has proved to be more challenging than any promotional event I have worked in the past as Singaporeans are much more shy and afraid to accept a friendly hello, than North Americans. Long days as well, yesterday was 4 hours of just standing and today will be 5. That is life though, I hope to help make today more fun and interesting to get the time to fly by. There is a props photobooth after all so I may just get people to jump in and take pictures with me.
Last week I met with 3 magazine, Men's Health (which is my dream to be in), Icon/Peak and Augustman (which is like GQ). This past week, I met with Revolution Magazine, had a casting for Crocs sunglasses, a condo developement, a floor hockey thing, and one more I can't remember now. So as you can see things are starting to pick up.
The challenge of course comes with my contract being over and having to front my own money for rent and food if I decide to stay, or move on and start all over in another city. The pressure is on.
However, I went to Malaysia yesterday for a few hours and bought myself another 30 days in Singapore. So I am good immigration wise. I also had a chat with my mother agency, my next city will be Bangkok. I am sorry to those I haven't had an opportunity to share this information with yet, but just wanted to get this out there, it was only decided yesterday.
Today I cancelled my Feb 19 flight to Canada or should say that my flight has been put on hold. So my exact return to Canada at this point is indefinite. My trip to BKK hasn't been sorted out yet, but should be within the next 2 weeks. I am aiming for a 2 month contract there.
In terms of living, I am not sure exactly what is happening with the room I am renting now. I have another week here, then a few friends have offered me a place to lay my head at night if necessary. Thank you!
As I continue on my journey, I continue with my daily workouts. Tuesday was another chest day, and I decided I would take a quick video of the start of my jungle gym workout. This one just tore apart my chest, and gave a nice little pump for my back. Of course I had fun, and had the right sound track.
This time I did:
5 minutes (actually 4 min and 49 seconds to be honest)
I decided on this title as it’s fitting for what the past 5
days have been like for me, as well as Bohemian Rhapsody has been stuck in my
head. Thanks to David and his Facebook status update. Soundtrack time:
I think this has been the longest time since and update.
Things have become quite hectic for me over the past few days, my calendar is
starting to look busier, more photos are coming in and my days in Singapore are
closing in on an end. Every day I am enjoying more and more and they are going
by faster and faster. Friday, I went and
printed my photos and had them arranged into my book. I also found out I am
booked for a 2 day job for a skin whitener this coming weekend. White suit,
white pants, white shoes, white boy, I am probably going to blind someone.
On Thursday, a photographer who added me on Facebook had
posted that he was looking for models for a test shoot. Being the opportunist I
am, I contacted him and set things up. Oops, I had forgotten one of the things
a model should always do. Confirm with their agent, so the following morning I
contacted the ladies at the agency, and received approval. On Saturday myself
and my roommate Andrew were to shoot with Irwan. To be completely honest, I became
skeptical about working with the particular photographer, as communication
would be a challenge. *Irwan had a very high fever when he was a baby and as
result he lost his hearing ( my apologies for incorrect information). A naïve mindset finds this very difficult.
Although I trust my agents and they commended his work so I moved forward with
the shoot on Saturday.
Irwan was a great guy. Incredibly nice and sincere. While it
was a little challenging to communicate to start with, Irwan did incredible
with it. Whether showing a facial expression for us to mimic, or a motion, or
writing in a notepad/iPad. As we worked together the day became easier and
easier to shoot. I am excited to see what the shots will look like. He took us
to Fort Canning an old Military fort laced with history and beautiful spice
gardens. My phone was off for most of the shooting so unfortunately no
pictures, but I really would like to go there again. I didn’t know what a star
fruit tree looked like, or coriander plant or cocoa tree. All, which I thought,
were super cool.
The shoot took most of the day on Saturday. After finishing,
I came home, worked out and then headed out with Rafael, my Brazilian/American
buddy to another friends house. This was probably the most incredible house I
have seen in Singapore; oddly enough it was a duplex. Actually second most,
that one from the Condo shoot was incredible (how do you top monkeys trying to
steal food off your bbq?). The homeowner works in commodity trading and is
doing quite well. He was a pretty cool guy, very good storyteller. Naturally I
was curious about the industry. I called the night early as I had fun plans for
the next morning. Fortunately I was able to share a cab with a new friend that
get this is lactose and gluten intolerant as well. She told me about the best
place in Singapore I haven’t heard of “crust” which makes gluten free pizza
with goat cheese. Cha Ching!!!! Can you tell I am excited?
Burr. This air conditioning in Starbucks is freezing. It
reminds me of the top of Pocaterra. Those that joined me do you remember?
My original plans for Sunday were to head to the beach like
last week. But I caught a hint of opportunity and decided to jump on it. A
friend of mine works for Johnnie Walker in KL and posted on his FB that they
were doing a quick mock up shoot for an internal conference and needed
volunteers. As I have always mentioned I
love doing photo-shoots, they are fun, you get to perform and you get to meet
new people and that is exactly what I did. I finally tried Johnnie Walker
Black. It was very good, just a touch of sweet, with a balance of vanilla and
peat and a slightly smokey finish. I love my smokey drinks, but many single
malts I find a little overwhelming for me.
We also did some shots for Smirnoff. It was a fun cool day, and for
lunch they brought us pizza. Hold up? Pizza. Yeah I couldn’t eat it, so I
headed to Vivo City and found Thunder tea Brown rice dish, check it out. I was
pumped the first time I saw brown rice at a food centre in Singapore.
I almost forgot, I found this at the Fair price the other
day. Pretty sure, I jumped and clicked my heels Fred Flintstone style when I
saw this. Buy 2 get one free. BONUS!
I ended up missing out on the beach and a fun time with the
guys, but I hade my own fun in a different way, and also had the opportunity to
network and discover an intriguing Jazz Club.
I took a nap and hit the gym quickly on Sunday, night and
got to bed nice and early. Monday was to be another big day. And Monday
certainly was!
For those of you in Halifax it’s a 12 hour time change,
those in England its 7 and in Calgary it’s 15. This means that Superbowl starts
at 7:30 am. So naturally I set my alarm for 7:29am and then tried to find it on
the TV. My landlords don’t have ASN (All Sports Network), so after missing half
the first quarter I finally found an online stream. I thought this was one of
the better superbowl games I have watched, and also decided that Giants are my
#2 team because they are always exciting to watch. Nail-biting at times but
exciting.
Following the game literally immediately after I departed to
head to meet with a mutual friend of Mel’s and talks some nutrition. I very
much miss this aspect of my career. It is actually a little funny how many
people in the past week have asked me for nutrition advice. Just as much if not
more confusion here as there is in Canada and the whole grain alternatives are
much harder to find.
After brunch I met up with the ladies at the agency to pick
up my allowance. We had a great chat about the upcoming weeks.
I have another blog coming maybe tomorrow. I got on a tear today at starbucks, and wrote 1200 words and only spoke of half of what I wanted to share, so be prepared for a novel. Things have been busy lately which is good. Today was chest workout followed by an hour on the bike. Made a little video for you. This is pre fatigue chest workout. It is designed to full muscles with lactic acid, and make you push to the limit, before you even start with any weights.
The Rundown:
5 minutes As Many Rounds As Possible (I am I forgot to count for myself today)
10 pushups
5 Hanging twists to one side
Repeat, alternating the side you twist to.
I have found myself to be much more pleased when I decide to
write on my own accord. Despite the lower frequency of blogs, I feel like my
thoughts are coming out in a much more organic kind of way.
After getting photo’s back from my shoot with Chris, I was
advised that getting “ more ripped” would be a good idea. That being said, my
diet can’t really change much, as I am limited by money in my choices. I have
been eating fairly healthy since arriving, so the tweak will actually be less
carbs in the evening, and they will be replaced by larger mid-afternoon snack,
keeping calories consistent. In getting ripped I am aiming to maintain the
exact same body weight but gain more definition.
How do I do this? Take a look at this video log I made this
afternoon:
Essentially what I am doing is 2 per day workouts. The first
one consists of a low intensity cardio session. My resting heart rate is around
50 BPM, while doing the cardio (bicycle/recumbent bike if my butt gets sore) I
bring it in a 90-110 range and hold for approximately 1 hour or 1.5 episodes of
breaking bad. The other workout is my standard strength training workout. I have significant development in my back, so focus is greater on chest, shoulders and legs. Now and again, I will be tossing in GSP Fight Conditioning workout. Partly because I find it so fun, and also because its killer high intensity cardio/strength training.
