Secret Weapon

Hello Hello!  It's long overdue that I post some rambly type of thoughts and updates of sorts.  Where shall I start eh, ok well quickly run through the production side as everyone I know keeps asking me what I'm doing now, apart from making my condiments.

 I'm partnering up with my radio buddy and former COO of Capital FM, Kudsia Kahar,  to do a chat show!  Ding! ding! ding!, if anything the warning bells should begin as both of us are loud and proud! We'll be shooting a short pilot this week, sometime, for clients to better understand what the content of our show is about.  I don't usually shoot pilots for any of my productions, but we feel this time it requires one.  We're targeting next year to begin production and broadcasting and that's all I'm going to say for now on that show!!!

Then when we were newbies on radio

Now after all those years!

So leaving the production work aside, we all know that Christmas is around the corner! One of my besties from school, Annie does a countdown as early as possible, the groans begin in July or August when she does her "jingle jingle " post with the countdown! (as of today it's 32 days!)

This year my good pal Riz and I will be baking and selling Christmas cookies.  Hey, not just any ol Christmas cookie but special recipes from my step dad, who just happens to be a pastry chef extraordinaire and after years of being in HK, is now training up-and-coming chefs in the Philippines.

My step dad Peter with his students 

 I must say, that when I first started baking or cooking anything, my mother and step dad were really good about trying my errr  attempts (I will not tell you about the rolling of eyes and barf faces I got from my brothers!).  The first one being a simple butter cake when I was 11.  One day when they had gone out  for dinner, I decided that I'd surprise them with dessert when they got home.  Now little did I know when the recipe calls for colouring that means perhaps a few drops NOT a cap full!!! cut a long story short when they got home and I presented my cake (which was a bit brown.. ok ok slightly burnt on top... and bottom) , they gamely cut a few slices and kept a very straight face when they saw how red the inside was and only years later told me how they waited until I went to bed and fell about laughing.   I smile now at the thought because later on as I progressed through my F&B courses in school, it was my step dad who showed me all the little tricks and ways to make food taste and look so much better.

My stepdad just started testing his first batch, hope I can do the same!!!!!

Today I've just received his recipes for the cookies we used to eat as kids in Switzerland during the festive season and I can't wait to try them out.  I'll be posting the pic once they look perfect and will be taking orders in the next week or so.  If they are anywhere as good as Peter's, you will all be in for a real treat!

Bulging Eyes and Ringing Ears

Yeah of course the photo bomb

I've been researching a certain type of television program for the past week to see how they measure up to my latest concept,  and my eyes and ears are beginning to rebel from overexposure to media.  I'm sure if anyone saw me, all they'd think is, "huh, lucky for some, surfing shows daily."  Well believe me, most times it's not, especially if you see how much drivel is out there masquerading itself as a show.  (Now you understand why my kids try not to go to the movies with me, they usually shush me as I mutter a stream of comments under my breath ...)

So when the ladies organised a get together for Wednesday night, it was with a resounding yes that I agreed to go.  Suffice to say I've not gone out to clubs/bars/watering holes, whatever you want to call them, in quite a while so it was interesting to discover this new place called Elysium in town. Situated atop one of the business towers in town, it was relatively easy and painless to get there (yes this all really counts OK!) The lovely hostess guided me to the lift that whisked me up to the 31st floor, where the friendly waiters showed me to a lovely terrace overlooking the Kuala Lumpur Skyline.  It had just finished raining so the evening was cool and balmy.  I was introduced to everyone as there were fresh new faces there, one of the other reasons I went.

Great View

The young helpful young waiter efficiently went through a list of cocktails especially prepared for ladies night.  Unfortunately though, his accent was so thick I kept saying " sorry, could you repeat that " and leaned closer to hear him.  He sort of rolled his eyes and produced the menu for me to read for myself ... Oh you mean "urban legend" I said.  He gave me that look, you know the one, we've all done it before the "that's what I said" look.  Oooo kayy then.

biggest plate of nachos ever!

Back to the Ladies, so we have a former COO of radio broadcasting, 1 producer, 1 zero waste campaigner,  1 marketing and promotions whiz , 1 traffic news presenter and a high flyer from a major research company.  As you can imagine the conversation was eclectic and ranged from trips to the south and north pole to chasing escaping pets on a beach!  One thing we all had in common, we were all tired of the  chauvinistic behaviour still rampant in our  respective industries even though we've moved into the 21st century (I guess the burning of bras was not enough to break the glass celing!) and that feminism was more about equality, not who's better.  The conversation came to a head when we discussed how we could collectively begin to create a network of women to set up a form of "old boys club" in order to help each other move up the ladder.  I'm sure you understand exactly what I mean.  It was also refreshing to go out and have a lively and entertaining discussion, as opposed to being bored out of your mind with the company, conversation, place, time...zzzzz.

Pro back lighting yall he he he

As the night wound down,  the DJ started ramping it up, (must say really good choice of tunes from the lady jock).  We said our farewells.   A few of the girls had already agreed to meet up separately  for potential collaborations.  I'd say that was well and truly worth the night out.

And the best part?  We'll be meeting up again soon.  Right I have to get cracking, only two more days to our Scandelabra Showcase, now that Lisa is well and up and about, it's full steam ahead!  Look forward to seeing you there!  Keep those e mails coming in and thank you again for your subscription.

So What NOW? part 1

Ahhh this post has been a long time coming, you know , you say  "I'll do it next weekend, when I've more time to spare and in a better frame of mind', well guess what, it's not the weekend, I am in a better frame of mind and I'm no longer on air! WHY you ask, lemmie fill you in.

My partner Bel on the breakfast show, which is from 6 am to 10 am weekdays on CapitalFm, and I were sorting out our holidays, we have to schedule them so at least one of us is anchoring the show with whomever that fills in.  Bel's going before me as she's got "stuff" to do overseas, so after another intense show also due to the fact that we're still under sweeps, (sweeps are the surveys done to the radio stations to see how they are performing in all categories including against each other)  we trundle down to HR to fill out our leave application.   We bump into our Station Manager who's beginning to look like a Mexican jumping bean with all the meetings she's been hopping in and out of.

"Hey Ladies" she says, "we've got an emergency meeting this afternoon, please make sure you are there, no excuses".   Bel and I look at each other and groan, we were hoping to bugger off home right quick to decompress, both of us at the end of our tethers and ready to burn out from the grueling and intense schedule .  "Ok bawse, " I retort, " I hope it's good news".  She gives us a sheepish look and says " it's about the finances",  I give her a sharp  "I hope they arent' thinking of reducing the salaries, coz it's going to be mutiny on the bounty " .  She says " well you guys will find out at the meeting".

Forward to the meeting, we're all seated around the conference table, throwing remarks at each other, taking the mickey , it's a women's station, we can get down and dirty and no one takes offence, we're essentially sisters in the hood .  Our COO walks in and without much preamble says, "the board of directors had an emergency meeting last night and have decided to shut down the station, so as of 30th Sept, the station will run on automation"... clang goes my jaw on the table, Bel's lost it, everyone is stunned and the tears are glistening on a lot of the faces around me.  Well now, that just about gives us two weeks to pack up and go... charming.

We had worked public holidays,  worked ourselves to the bone to push the station forward to make it even more successful, worked without producers, proper budgets and publicity and now this.. whoaaa.  For those who didn't smoke or drink, this was one day when all that went out the window.

Our COO invited us all out  that evening, all the announcers drifted in eventually. Though it was a sombre night, we still managed to have a few laughs.  My COO or should I say former COO,  looks at me and says "Thanks Daph, for coming on board, and I truly appreciate all that you have done to turn the station around"  I said " I did it for you Kudsia, you inspired me to come back, you wanted to make it for women, by women and that was the hook, and I'm glad I took the time out to do so, it was quite the roller coaster ride!"  She looks at me and says "lets talk some more later ok"  sure, everyone wanted a bit of her time, she was making herself available to all the announcers to discuss what was on their mind.

For the next two and a half weeks, Bel and I had to pretend to our audience on air  all was ok, we had to ensure the show was still on point, to not slip up, it was  hard, we couldn't  tell our regular contributors why we were not having them on the show, we couldn't  accept any more invitations to interview, we were not really answering our company e mails, so when the final day came and we were given the green light to say farewell on air, it was a lump in your throat, eyes glazed with tears, trembly and wobbly lower lip emotional moment.  We had established so many regular callers, contributors, NGO's , amazing people who were pushing boundaries for women, enriching our lives as women.  Bel was leaving on the same day, and we clung to each other, "gonna miss you mate" we both said at the same time. We had created such a strong bond, I feel we'll always have that special connection.

I kept waking up at 5 am in the morning for the next few days after our final day on air,  freaking out I was late for work, only to realise I didn't have to wake up!  I sat around watching my kids, reading facebook posts, scrolling through twitter and prepping for my trip to Hong Kong.  I had  previously booked and sorted my vacation to my hometown of Hong Kong for my school reunion, on one hand I was really looking forward to it, and on the other obviously I was concerned as I was now out of a job.  I spoke to my mother that evening and she said "Go Daph, enjoy yourself, relax, be with those who know you and I'm sure you'll figure out what you're gong to do next"   I also spoke to my school chum Annie as we're still close and she said the same, my other bestie said "go bonkers in Honkers!" 

As the days got closer to the big reunion date in Hong Kong,  everyone started to post frantically on our reunion wall on Facebook, I forgot about the sting of being made redundant, .... well I told myself here's to the next adventure,  Hong Kong here I come!  (you'll have to read the next blog for that little nugget!)

splash page

*We have the PO!* says Jo Jo*s text to me, and two minutes later she calls, in her sublime Polish accent * what do you want me to do with it? and who*s gonna pick up the original copy*
I smile, and say * Jo, it is the weekend now, just go and chill out* She says * I just wanna get this over and done with * and rings off. We are now officially with a major sponsor for our Air Time, which is ICI Dulux, and a huge weight lifts off all of our shoulders. My exec Producers have been working really hard to pull in all our Developers, they had just come back from Penang, which was a successful trip.

The phone goes off again * Why did*t you call me back* Jer Jer my Media Consultant and good friend says. * I was in the middle of texting you* I reply. *Tsk, Just call me* He says. * Ok we have an Agency should we need to use one* He informs me.
Great stuff, everything is coming together and shaping up really really well. Our show is confirmed to go on air on the 5th Ja 2011, we had just had a meeting that morning with the Broadcasting station.

Sometimes I have to take a deep breath and count all the good things that have happened in the last few months, my show is really taking off, and when my web designer sends out the link for our splash Page www.artoflivingshow.com, it just makes it all so REAL. I have the Film Director I want on board, and excellent Editor whom I have worked with before, Make up artist as well, now we are just waiting for the Clothes Sponsor and BMW to confirm.
I also received a wonderful e mail from the MM2H Agents Association, and they are happy to endorse the show with the MM2H logo! Truly truly good news, we had been negotiating with them for months now.

Now the real work begins, I have to start storyboarding all the developments we are going to showcase, and gear my self up as I will be hosting the show as well... Am I a control freak.. naahhhh

With all this going on, obviously my social life is down to zero! However, I prefer being the Hermit for now, staying focused on my goals is paramount at the moment. (My excuse for staying home and I am sticking to it!) Ok Ok so the occasional cuppa with an old friend from waaayyy back can still be arranged... I am only human!
Next week, we will be sending out the press release and we start the opening graphics for the show.. SO EXCITED!

Thank you Ana for our text logo. XXX
Dx